Nuno Silva’s Hammered Dulcimer
A deeply sampled hammered dulcimer.
The hammered dulcimer is a stringed instrument played by striking its strings with small handheld hammers.
This deeply sampled library was performed and recorded by Nuno Silva.
The library includes a full range of traditional dulcimer articulations alongside contemporary techniques.
All articulations feature two round robins and a scripted repetition engine for natural variation.
Most were recorded with both wooden and felt hammers across multiple dynamic levels.
Listen to Nuno Silva’s Persian Santur
Highlights
Idiomatic Articulations
16 authentic articulations, including sustains, damped, strikes, tremolos, and harmonics.
Round Robin
2x recorded round robin + variation engine to give endless possibilities.
Dynamic Crossfades
Tremolos with continuous dynamics.
Microtuning
An easy to use micro tuner. Allowing you to shift the pitch of individual notes ± 100 cents.
Velocity & Ahdsr
Velocity curve and AHDSR envelope.
Hammer Types
Both wooden and felt hammers for most articulations.
What’s Included
Sustain
This is the default articulation. The hammer striking the string and the note ringing out. You can control the decay time using the envelope.
Damped
Similar to the sustain but less resonant, providing a rounder sound that tails off a little more quickly.
Strike & Mute
For these Nuno hit the string then a moment later palm muted it. The result is a short, staccato articulation with a definitive stop.
Triple Strike
Three notes played as a quick triplet. Great for use as an ornament or to add texture.
Harmonics
A bell like sound with a short release time.
Tremolo
Tremolo consists of repeated strikes on the same note, creating a sustained sound using looped samples. Three dynamic layers can be crossfaded with the Tremolo DXF knob to control playing intensity.
Jim Bows
A Jim Bow is a small bowing device that draws across the dulcimer’s strings to produce a sustained, textured tone.
Ebow
An Ebow uses electromagnetic excitation to sustain the dulcimer’s strings, producing a long, continuous tone without repeated striking.
Tech Specs
| Format | Rhapsody 3.3.0+ |
| Samples | 24GB | 10824 @ 24-bit / 48kHz |
| Size (installed) | 11GB @ 24-bit | 6GB @ 16-bit |
| Articulations | 16 |
Documentation
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a sample library?
A sample library is a virtual musical instrument.
They are created by recording 1000s of individual notes on a real instrument.
These recordings are then chopped up into individual files, called samples, and mapped in software so that they can be triggered using MIDI.
Is it Apple Silicon Native?
Yes, the instrument runs within the free Rhapsody Player, which runs natively on both Intel and Apple Silicon systems.
Can I use it in commercial work?
Yes absolutely! For full details please see the software license.
What is a hammered dulcimer
The hammered dulcimer is a stringed instrument played by striking its strings with small handheld hammers.
The strings are stretched over a wooden soundboard, which gives the instrument its characteristic resonant tone.
Hammered dulcimers are found in musical traditions across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, with variations in tuning, construction and playing technique.
Does it work in Pro Tools?
Yes. The library runs in the free Rhapsody Player which is available as an AAX plugin for use in Pro Tools.
Does it work in FL Studio?
Yes, but FL Studio occasionally brings up unique issues.
If you run into any problems in FL Studio there are two things you can try straight away.
- Firstly, make sure you are using an audio buffer size that is a power of two: 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, etc.
- Secondly, enable FL Studio’s align tick lengths option. You can find this in Options > Audio Settings > CPU > Align Tick Lengths.
If you’re still having problems with Rhapsody Player in FL Studio please contact us and we’ll do what we can to get you up and running.
How do I install it?
The instrument runs within the free Rhapsody Player.
Check out the getting started guide for detailed instructions.
Does it support microtuning?
Yes, in addition to Rhapsody’s standard coarse and fine tuning controls, this library includes a dedicated micro-tuning grid. This allows you to shift the pitch of individual notes ± 100 cents.