Hopkin Instrumentarium: Handsome Dan zither Kontakt instrument by Soundiron

Hopkin Instrumentarium: Handsome Dan – Zither Instrument for Kontakt

Hopkin Instrumentarium: Handsome Dan is a Kontakt instrument from Soundiron based on an experimental 14-string zither designed by Bart Hopkin. It offers plucks, slides and glisses with a dreamy, floating tone.

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KontaktWindowsmacOS

AVAILABLE ATPlugin Boutique

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01Overview

Handsome Dan is a sample library from Soundiron built around a custom zither created by instrument inventor Bart Hopkin. The instrument is a flat wooden sound box with 14 strings split into two segments by a center bridge. Its sound comes from sympathetic vibrations in the unplayed segment, which the design picks up through a magnetic pickup. Soundiron recorded the instrument for the Kontakt platform, covering plucks, slides and glisses across multiple microphone positions.

Best for

Dreamy ambient pads
Plucked zither textures
Slide and gliss melodies
Experimental sound design
Atmospheric film scoring

Developer: Soundiron
Category: Kontakt Instruments
Requires: Kontakt
Store: Plugin Boutique

02Key features

What you get

Based on a 14-string zither with a center bridge
Plucks, slides across intervals, and glisses up and down
Four layers available for mixing and matching articulations
Two stereo microphone positions: contact and mixed mics
Up to 8x round robin and 6 velocity layers per note
Custom FX presets included
Sound-designed ambient content built from the raw source
Open-format Kontakt library

03In depth

Sound Character and Playing Techniques

The developer describes the tone as dreamy and ethereal, with a floating, swelling presence. The strings are played mainly on the side away from the pickup, usually with a slide or plectrum, and the pickup captures harmonic resonance in the unplayed strings.

The library includes plucks, slides across a variety of intervals, and glisses up and down. Each of these is available in all four layers, so you can mix and match articulations and layers to shape a part.

Soundiron sampled the zither with two stereo microphone positions: contact mics and mixed mics.

Sampling Detail and Included Content

The library uses up to 8 round robin variations and 6 velocity layers per note, which gives repeated notes more natural variation.

Soundiron also included a selection of custom FX presets and sound-designed ambient content built from the raw acoustic source. These offer a starting point for producers who want to go beyond the straight instrument sound.

04Specs

Will it run?

Formats, systems and requirements as listed by Plugin Boutique. Missing details are left out, not guessed.

Developer	Soundiron
Type	Plugin
Category	Kontakt Instrument
Requires	Kontakt
Formats	Kontakt
Operating systems	Windows, macOS

05FAQ

Questions, answered

What is Handsome Dan?

Handsome Dan is a Kontakt instrument library from Soundiron, sampled from an experimental 14-string zither designed by Bart Hopkin. It features plucks, slides and glisses.

What do I need to use Handsome Dan?

You need the full retail version of Native Instruments Kontakt, version 6.2.2 or later, to load the .nki instrument presets. The free Kontakt Player does not support this library.

Which operating systems does Handsome Dan support?

The library runs on Windows 7 or higher and macOS 10.12 or higher. A dual-core CPU and 2 GB of RAM are listed as minimum requirements, and an SSD is recommended.