2+2+1 is a 14-string zither featuring multiple bridges that divide each string into three segments.

Two of these segments are longer, producing a lower-octave tone, while the shorter segment, half the length of the others, resonates in the octave above. When you pluck any segment, sympathetic vibrations occur across all three segments, amplifying the instrument’s unique sound. These vibrations, combined with the way the bridges drive the soundboard, create a warm, woody, and resonant acoustic timbre.

The unison and octave relationships between the segments generate shared resonances whenever one is plucked, while the natural imperfections in tuning produce subtle chorusing effects. This interplay of harmonics results in a distinctive tonal quality.

In this library, each note is sampled in two distinct ways. The first captures the natural, open-string sound with its rich sympathetic reverberations. The second features the plucked sound of a single segment with damping. To achieve this, we used a foam rubber pad placed under the strings near the bridge of the plucked segment. The damped sound is notably percussive, decaying quickly, but is enriched by the reverberation of the adjacent undamped segments, giving it an extra layer of warmth and an appealing natural reverb tail.

We’ve faithfully sampled every interesting sound we could get out of this zither, with two stereo microphone positions: Close mics and Contact mics. Upper and Lower plucks (open or damped), and glisses (harmonic or atonal) are available in all four layers of our flexible GUI to easily mix and match. With up to 8x round robin and 6 velocity layers per note, you’ll be swimming in lush timbres in no time. We’ve also included a wide selection of custom FX presets and plenty of our signature sound-designed ambient content, crafted from the raw acoustic source to give you complete creative freedom. If you’re looking to solve your next musical equation, 2+2+1 is the perfect addition to your sound palette!

Contents:

The Kontakt interface includes a suite of automation-ready sound-shaping controls to give you total creative flexibility. You have control over swell, attack, release, offset, vibrato, filter, pitch (coarse & fine), articulation switching, cross-fading and layering, and so much more.

This library comes with an adaptable LFO system, with selectable LFO shape, modulation target parameter, speed, intensity, tempo-syncing and fade-in time. You can also apply your choice of 12 lowpass, high-pass and FX filters, with assignable modulation targets such as velocity, modwheel, expression, after-touch, key position and step-sequencer table control. Our customizable arpeggiator offers a velocity table and control over arp direction, timing, swing, randomization and duration. We’ve included a key and scale lock system to constrain your notes to common scales and keys for easy melodic composition and live performance.

The interface is rounded-out by our modular FX rack panel, with 27 different DSP effect modules that you can assign in any of 8 available slots, in any order that you wish. You’ll find classic phaser, flanger, delay, distortion, amp and cab simulators, compressors, EQ, rotator and so much more. The Reverb effect includes our favorite convolution reverb impulse responses, including 99 different rooms, halls, chambers and outdoor environments, plus another 40 custom FX impulses to radically transform the sound and open up whole new worlds of musical possibility. We’ve added a great bank of FX rack chain factory presets to get you started!

Features:

• Experimental Zither pluck and gliss articulations in two mic positions: Close, Contact Mics
• 20 ambient pads and evolving drones created from the source content
• 21 Powerful Kontakt .nki instrument presets
• 5,544 stereo samples in unlocked .WAV format
• 10.5 GB Installed
• Made for the full retail version of Kontakt (version 6.2.2+)