SYNCHRON HARP
Vienna Symphonic Orchestra

SYNCHRON HARP

Regular price R 3,080.00 R 0.00 Unit price per

Concert harp with full pedal mechanism

The harp is a fantastic instrument, but also very complex. Even great composers have found it difficult to write adequately for the harp and its diverse possibilities. The instrument also makes great demands on the player. It is almost impossible to play a demanding piece from sight without having prepared an advantageous pedaling. On the other hand, sounds can be elicited from a harp like no other instrument. Her magic unfolds in the interplay of harpist, instrument and space.

  • Lyon & Healy Style 30 Concert Grand Harp
  • Tailor-made synchron harp player
  • Complete pedal mechanism of the port 
  • Chromatic and Pedal Mode
  • Glissandi by swiping the white keys
  • Quick access to preconfigured pedaling
  • Masterfully crafted mixer presets

With Tina Žerdin, the long-time harpist of the Synchron Stage Orchestra, a wonderful Lyon & Healy Style 30 Concert Grand Harp in the outstanding acoustics of the Synchron Stage Vienna, as well as Chief Recording Engineer Bernd Mazagg, the best possible conditions for the highest quality recordings existed.

However, the aim was also to provide composers and musicians with a software instrument with which they can easily compose for the harp and effortlessly play even complex pieces authentically on the keyboard.

This is how the Synchron Harp Player was developed, which functionally corresponds one hundred percent to the real instrument, but offers other advantages. In Chromatic Mode , the harp can be played like any standard keyboard instrument. In pedal mode , the software simulates the pedal mechanism and the possibilities of a real harp. Only the white keys of the keyboard, which represent the seven strings of an octave of the harp, are played. It is possible to play a harp glissando by swiping the white keys as if you were playing the strings of a real harp.

Pedal mode

There are seven function keys (keyswitches) to control the seven harp pedals, with which the individual tones of the basic scale (C major) can be retuned. The respective pedal position (lowered, normal, raised) is determined by the strength of the key. There are many more ways to choose pedaling as well. Keys, keys, their family of scales (major / minor, seventh chords, pentatonic, whole tone series) and variants (major, minor, harmonic or melodic) can be selected. A pedal matrix with a total of 144 storage options can also be accessed with keyswitches. You can also create your own pedaling and use a stepper, similar to an organ stepper, to cycle through the registrations when playing live.

Since only the white keys are used to play the strings in Pedal Mode, the black keys provide a large number of function keys to call up or create pedaling, depending on the preferences and requirements when composing or playing live.

It's great fun exploring the different scales. Start with a preset, swap out a pedal or two, and listen to the result. We guarantee that you will be inspired to create harmonious combinations that you would not have thought of in your usual composition process! In addition, everything you set in the software player can also be performed on a real harp, so you can be sure that your composition can be played on the instrument, as long as you consider that switching the pedals takes some time in real life needed. The Synchron Harp Player's user interface even displays harp pedal diagrams, such as those used to record pedaling in a score.

 

Chromatic mode

In Chromatic Mode, all notes are played like on a piano keyboard and only keyswitches are required for the selection of articulations (normal, flageolet, bisbigliando), the end of notes (sounding or muffled) and the change to pedal mode. So if you're playing the harp like a piano, you can quickly switch to Pedal Mode to play glissandi over the white keys and then quickly switch back to Chromatic Mode.

More controllers

All articulations are in the variants dying away (ringing) and attenuated / étouffé (damped) available. The end after releasing a key (Release) can be shortened or lengthened with Release Control . With Dynamic Range Control the volume range of the harp can be increased or decreased. The “Glissando Smoother” function is activated automatically as soon as the software detects a glissando, ie the rapid succession of adjacent tones. Here you can adjust the attack behavior of the notes to play softer glissandos, like a harpist gently stroking the strings instead of plucking each one. With the Velocity Controllerthe velocity can be assigned to a CC controller, e.g. B. the ModWheel, whereby all notes are struck evenly when playing glissandi on a keyboard.

Multiple microphone positions

In order to capture the harp with the wonderful surround sound of the large hall of the Synchron Stage Vienna in the best possible way, seven separate, phase-coherent microphone arrangements were used. All microphone signals are available separately in the mixer window of the Synchron Harp Player.

Preconfigured mixer presets deliver a wide variety of sound characteristics "out-of-the-box", from close and dry to distant with plenty of surround sound, from muffled to concise, from natural dynamics to highly compressed. The signature presets provide further variants, such as B. Intimate, Solitary, Muffled, Sharp and many more

As with all Synchron Libraries, you can output your harp sound in stereo, 5.1 surround and 3D audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and Auro 3D.

System requirements

Mac:
  • macOS 10.13 or higher
  • 64 bit
  • Intel Core i3
  • RAM: 8GB (16GB recommended)
  • SSD hard drive recommended

Windows:

  • Windows 8-10
  • 64 bit
  • Intel Core i3 or AMD Athlon 64 X2
  • RAM: 8GB (16GB recommended)
  • SSD hard drive recommended

This product requires activation!

This can either be done on your computer (without additional hardware) or alternatively on an iLok USB dongle that can be purchased separately . The iLok USB dongle can be plugged into any computer in order to use the protected software on several computers. Your licenses can be managed as you like using the iLok License Manager and protected against loss or theft by additional insurance ( Zero Downtime with TLC ).

To activate the product you need an internet connection on any computer and a free user account on www.ilok.com . Use the Vienna Assistant to download and install your software products and sample libraries authorized via iLok  .

Please check with the software manufacturer which iLok version is required as a minimum if you want to use a hardware iLok!

AAX native, AU, Mac, VST, Win