A Unique Synth Crafted From Mallets

Handcrafted Audio says that following the success of the Handcrafted Piano, Handcrafted Mallets reworks a marimba and a vibraphone into a modern software synthesiser. With nearly 30,000 samples captured through a high-end analogue outboard chain and 600+ presets, it is designed to be a complete cinematic and electronic sound creation toolkit for composers, songwriters, and producers.

The Toolkit for the Modern Producer
Just like the previous release from Switzerland-based Handcrafted Audio, this NI Kontakt
player sample library features acoustic and electronic sections. It comes with three main
instruments: the Handcrafted Marimba, the Handcrafted Vibraphone and the Handcrafted
Mallet Synth, all exceptionally expressive with sonic possibilities never heard before

The synth section alone includes over 500 presets in 20 categories, making it extremely
easy to find a sound that suits your music. The range goes from punchy dry basses and lush
cinematic pads to fiery arpeggios and lively granular soundscapes.

Designed to Inspire
Like the Handcrafted Piano, the Handcrafted Mallets are built to respond the way physical
instruments do, letting you achieve a vividness and depth rarely found in digital products.
The capability to inspire, as if you were playing an analogue instrument, makes it a
must-have toolkit for any composer and producer.

A single note is enough to fill an entire cinema or concert hall.

Hyper-Realistic Expression and Spatial Control
The marimba and vibraphone were sampled with extraordinary attention to detail. The
instruments have a combined total of almost 30,000 samples, three microphone positions
and two pre-rendered outboard reverbs. Unlike most other sample instruments that use a
strictly rigid velocity mapping, here the velocities are flexible for each pitch, with the velocity
range of each sample based on the loudness of the original sampling performance. This
adds a significant amount of additional depth.

The sound of the instruments can be shaped precisely by using the two main sliders:
The timbre slider, the equivalent to the felt slider in the Handcrafted Piano, allows fluid
movement between soft and hard mallets and almost infinite grades in between. The
distance slider controls the instruments' spatial position with extreme precision - you can
physically feel the instrument moving closer and further away. The range goes from dry and
intimate solo performances, to lush orchestral settings, up to nearly surreal far-away
positions.

The vibraphone additionally features a true pedal system that imitates the natural behaviour
of the physical instrument. It also comes with an elaborate motor recreation that modulates
not only volume, but also pitch, spectral movement and spatial perception and can be
controlled via a speed and a depth slider.

To complete the acoustic palette, the marimba also features a muted patch, and the
vibraphone features a muted patch, a bowed patch, and a patch performed with sticks.

A Unique Approach to Synth Design
At the heart of the library is a synthesiser built entirely from the original mallet recordings.
The marimba and vibraphone samples, already mixed through analogue outboard gear,
were reprocessed into more abstract sounds and exported into over 200 sound sources.
These sound sources are then used in an oscillator-like fashion, with further modulations
inside the Kontakt instrument itself, yielding over 500 available presets with pretty much any
sound you can possibly think of, including pads, leads, plucks, basses, and even sound
design and percussion.

This workflow ensures that the synthesiser keeps the physical integrity of the original

instruments, paired with the colour of many legendary vintage audio hardware pieces such as the Fairman Tube Master EQ, the DW Fearn VT-7 compressor, the Rockrüpel Comp.one compressor, and the Lexicon 960, Bricasti M7 and Quantec Yardstick reverbs. This chain of detailed sampling, analogue processing and inventive reprocessing makes the sound of the Handcrafted Mallets entirely unique, with no remotely comparable product on the market.

Arpeggiator and Sequencer: Endless Options and Flexible Tempo Shapes
Another highlight is the built-in arpeggiator and sequencer. The smart randomisation buttons
allow you to quickly create any sort of arpeggio, velocity, pitch or panning shapes. While
these patterns are generated randomly, they are done so in a smart and musical manner,
ensuring that each click creates a completely unique yet inspiring sequence. This means
that instead of wasting time painstakingly programming each step, you instantly get to
explore endless creativity.

The arpeggiator and sequencer also include another unique feature: flexible tempo. When
enabled, it can be used to easily perform incredibly complex rhythms and rubato
performances that break out from a rigid grid system and add an idiomatic feeling. This can
also be used in more intricate ways, for example, to achieve granular synthesis.

Compatibility
Handcrafted Mallets runs in Native Instruments Kontakt Player (or the full version of Kontakt)
versions 7.6.0 or above, which are supported on PCs running Windows 10 or above, and
Macs running macOS 11 and higher. VST3, AU and AAX plug-in versions are available,
along with a standalone application.

About Handcrafted Audio
Handcrafted Audio was founded by film composers Michael Künstle and Matteo Pagamici
together with Tonmeister Daniel Dettwiler. The team brings together the perspectives of
composer, sound creator and recording/mixing engineer in equal measure, with the goal of
creating instruments that go beyond traditional sampling.

Pricing and Availability:
Introductory pricing: $139 until August 31, 2026 ($199 full price)

More information:

• Handcrafted Mallets