Weighted Strings are a set of two amazing creations created by master instrument inventor Bart Hopkin: the Weighted Lyre and the Weighted Zither. These experimental, handcrafted instruments use small weights on the strings to change the ratio of overtones and create unusual, beautiful sounds. Made from wood and metal, they have a rich acoustic essence that resonates brightly with every note you play.
The lyre has 17 main strings, plus three additional strings that run across a narrow neck and can be tuned to frets. The scales on the lyre’s strings are carefully placed to prominently emphasize the octave overtone. The zither has 34 chromatically tuned main strings. Unlike the lyre, the weights on these strings are not positioned to highlight any particular overtones. The resulting overtone recipes are extremely inharmonious and random, varying from string to string, with very inharmonious tonal qualities.
We carefully sampled every interesting sound we could get from these instruments using three stereo microphone positions: Close, Room and Contact. We’ve also included a wide selection of custom effect presets and plenty of our signature ambient audio content created from raw acoustic sources to give you complete creative freedom.
