While sampling the church organ in the town church I made this organ stop combination that had an ethereal quality.
I put all the other sounds aside for a while due to this vision: What about combining even more sound sources together? Like having a giant church organ with even more sound opportunities.
For some reason, while editing sounds I kept watching these pictures of arctic norwegian churches and spectacular mountains on Baffin Island. What was first maybe a more spacey sound idea tilted to northern lights, crystal clear lakes, sun reflections on icy landscapes etc. Now the ambience was set.
So the concept of Ethereal Keys is you having a giant keyboard creation with interconnected sound sources such as church organ, tonewheel organ, electric organ, harmonium, analog synthesizers, solo vocalist & choir, electric guitars and various wind instruments plus mark tree.
To match the arctic theme the sound ideal is not “authentic” by itself but rather more “frozen” in character. A bit like having a synth from the 90’s but with much larger memory capacity and better PCM samples. The human voices, for example are not intended to sound “natural” but more like aural snapshots found under the arctic ice.
Please note: Some of the presets use the modulation wheel to gain access to more layers of sound and parameters. Always remember to check it out. The key range is also different across the presets. As the presets contain various layers edited individually, please remember that altering the knobs in the GUI will affect the sound as a whole.
The advanced Kontakt 5 user can of course edit the layers separately at will. Welcome to the musical permafrost!
RECORDINGS
The church organ was recorded with 5 microphones at 24 bit 96KHz to obtain the most realistic samples with natural reverb. At the processing stage noise was reduced and a tape simulator plugin was added.
The harmonium was recorded with two microphones at 24 bit 44,1KHz.
The synthesizers were line recorded in stereo or mono at 24 bit 44,1 KHz except for the Matrix 12 that was recorded in 16 bit 44,1KHz through an old, digital mixer with a specific, crisp sound. The Sub Phatty was recorded at 96KHz and dithered to 44,1 KHz.
The L-100 organ was recorded with two microphones pointing at the rotating speaker of the cabinet at 24-bit, 44,1 KHz.
The B20CR was line recorded at 24-bit, 44,1 KHz.
DevaLaya was recorded in a vocal booth at 24-bit, 44,1 KHz.
The Lesjöfors Choir was recorded in a church with four microphones at 24-bit, 44,1 KHz.
The electric guitars were line recorded at 24-bit, 44,1 KHz.
The wind instruments etc were recorded in a vocal booth and studio room at 24-bit, 44,1 KHz.
PRESETS
Arctic cathedral
Church organ with added pad and fat synth sounds when playing at harder velocity. Pitch control is added to the synth layers.
Cold mass
Church organ with added choir when playing at harder velocity. The modulation wheel controls a solo voice layer. Pitch control is added to the choir layer.
Distant sun
Choir, solo voice and pad with added electric organ pedals in the lower range. Pitch control is general.
Ethereal organ
Church organ.
Fairness of light
Solo voice with non-looped bottle blow. The modulation wheel morphs between ohs and ahs. Pitch control is general.
Fluffy clouds
Double pad in fifths with string-like pad added when playing at harder velocity. Pitch control is general.
Frozen angels
Choir and solo voice. Pitch control is general.
Heavens backyard
Tonewheel organ with non-looped flute. The modulation wheel controls a chimes layer. Pitch control is general.
Ice flute
Electric organ flute with spring reverb. The modulation wheel controls vibrato. Pitch control is general.
Last breath
Non-looped harmonium with non-looped bottle blow. Pitch control is general.
Let there be light
Solo voice with church organ and pad. The modulation wheel morphs between ohs and ahs. Pitch control is added to the solo voice and pad layers.
Miles of white
Square wave sound with electric organ pedals in the lower range. The modulation wheel that controls vibrato and pitch control is added to the square wave layers. Pitch control is added to the square wave sound layer.
Night of obscurity
Double pad in fifths and chimes with string-like pad and choir added when playing at harder velocity. The modulation wheel controls a solo voice layer tuned down a fourth. Pitch control is general.
Organic friendship
Church organ and tonewheel organ. The modulation wheel controls a pad layer. Pitch control is added to the tonewheel organ and pad layers.
Permafrost
Non-looped pan flute, pad, square wave sound, chimes and electric organ pedals. Playing at harder velocity adds more pan flute. The modulation wheel controls a layer of non-looped bottle blow sound. Pitch control is general.
Polar experience
String-like pad that contains a bit of synth noise. Playing at harder velocity opens the cutoff filter. The modulation wheel controls LFO. Pitch control is general, 1 octave.
Stratosphere
Non-looped electric guitars, tonewheel organ and pad. The modulation wheel controls vibrato and pitch control is also added to the guitar layers.
Sweet memories
Solo voice and pad. The modulation wheel morphs between ohs and ahs. Pitch control is general.
The fabulous five
Church organ, tonewheel organ, pad, choir and solo voice. Pitch control is general.
Tubular world
Non-looped electric guitars, tonewheel organ, pad and choir. The modulation wheel controls vibrato and pitch control is also added to the guitar layers.
Weightless
Non-looped pan flute and pad. Playing at harder velocity adds more pan flute. Pitch control is general.
Wind sweeper
White noise to create polar wind effects. The modulation wheel controls a combination of cutoff filter and resonance which affects the intensity.
SAMPLED INSTRUMENTS
Church organ Built in 1790 and modernized 1981. Newly renovated and expanded in 2015. The timbre sampled is a secret stop combination.
Hammond L100 (Slow Leslie)
Yamaha Electone B20CR (Flute and Bass Pedals)
Harmonium Synthesizers
Roland JX-10
Moog Sub Phatty
Oberheim Matrix 12
Female vocalist: DevaLaya Guleng (Ohs & Ahs)
Choir: The Lesjöfors Choir (Ahs)
Additional sources: Large bottle (with various amounts of water), Pan pipes, Flute, Mark tree, White noise, Electric guitars, Fender Stratocaster, Hagström Viking
