The Quilcom SIM-KZ: Finally!
Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2021 1:41 pmFrom the User Guide:
The SIM-KZ aims to simulate that most wonderful and widely revered instrument known in the west as the Kazoo. It has its origins in Africa hundreds of years ago, known there generally as a mirliton, which is a type of membranophone. The accomplished player will skilfully hum melodies into the mouthpiece to entertain and entrance the tribe. A thin membrane attached to the tube produces an additional vibration which is passed into the air, along with inherent resonances influenced strongly by the design of the body and construction materials chosen.
In order to help develop a better synthesis model I splashed out and bought several different types and analysed their characteristics and, as usual, no samples are used.
The SIM-KZ is an audio effect plugin and only processes the sound on its input which would normally be from a microphone, but you could try other monophonic (single note, no chords) sources of course. The left and right inputs are connected internally for monophonic processing. As your skill develops you will probably find that humming with mouth closed close to the microphone will give the best result. Professional concert Kazooists often make a plosive sound to give a sharper, well defined start to a note, like “doo-doo-doo”.
YouTube video:
https://youtu.be/HexzyKhG0gQ
Download all the stuff:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5xnbqw25gs2qi ... 1.zip?dl=0
Now go and make great music!
The SIM-KZ aims to simulate that most wonderful and widely revered instrument known in the west as the Kazoo. It has its origins in Africa hundreds of years ago, known there generally as a mirliton, which is a type of membranophone. The accomplished player will skilfully hum melodies into the mouthpiece to entertain and entrance the tribe. A thin membrane attached to the tube produces an additional vibration which is passed into the air, along with inherent resonances influenced strongly by the design of the body and construction materials chosen.
In order to help develop a better synthesis model I splashed out and bought several different types and analysed their characteristics and, as usual, no samples are used.
The SIM-KZ is an audio effect plugin and only processes the sound on its input which would normally be from a microphone, but you could try other monophonic (single note, no chords) sources of course. The left and right inputs are connected internally for monophonic processing. As your skill develops you will probably find that humming with mouth closed close to the microphone will give the best result. Professional concert Kazooists often make a plosive sound to give a sharper, well defined start to a note, like “doo-doo-doo”.
YouTube video:
https://youtu.be/HexzyKhG0gQ
Download all the stuff:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5xnbqw25gs2qi ... 1.zip?dl=0
Now go and make great music!