Cassette Mallets.02 for SFZ preset pack artwork for Sforzando

Cassette Mallets.02 for SFZ: Tape-Recorded Mallet Instrument Samples

Cassette Mallets.02 for SFZ is an SFZ instrument library by THEPHONOLOOP that offers three experimental mallet instruments recorded on cassette decks. It runs in any SFZ player, such as Plogue Sforzando.

REQUIRESSFZHost synth sold separately

All presets for SFZ

AVAILABLE ATPlugin Boutique

Download Now

Opens the store in a new tab

01Overview

Cassette Mallets.02 is a successor to Cassette Mallets.01 and expands the experimental mallet sound with new instruments, more decks to choose from and the .02 interface. The three instruments cover different sound territories, from a mix of glockenspiel plates on a thin steel plate to a granular xylophone pattern made with mallets on a bed mattress spring. The developer notes that it complements the Cassette Keys .01 and .02 libraries well.

Best for

Vintage mallet textures
Lo-fi percussion
Experimental chord pads
Tape-style melodic parts
Granular xylophone patterns

Developer: THEPHONOLOOP
Category: Expansion Packs
Requires: SFZ
Store: Plugin Boutique

02Key features

What you get

2,565 uncompressed 24-bit WAV samples totaling 1.63 GB
Three instruments, each recorded on three cassette decks
Dynamic layers: five for Sounds 01 and 02, four for Sound 03
Three two-minute noise samples, one set per deck
Noise knob with independent volume and filtering
Built-in simulated round-robin for faster passages
18 basic presets, with and without round robin per deck
Organic sound with many small imperfections

03In depth

Sound Character and Recording Approach

The library's three instruments each take a different route. Sound 01 mixes old glockenspiel plates recorded on a thin steel plate. Sound 02 combines a two-octave xylophone with corrugated sheet resonances. Sound 03 uses the same xylophone recorded with three mallets attached to an old bed mattress spring and a copper wire, producing a random, granular pattern. All three are further shaped with additional synthesis techniques to fill out the sound and widen their range across the keyboard.

Every sound was recorded on three different cassette decks, giving the library an organic character with many small imperfections.

Noise Control and Simulated Round Robin

Each note was denoised with a high-quality algorithm to prevent noise from stacking when several notes play together. Some noise remains in the samples to avoid denoising artifacts. A noise knob adds tape noise back in, and because it works independently of the instrument, you can set its volume separately and apply parameters such as filtering. A five-voice chord brings in one noise sample rather than five stacked copies.

Simulated round robin is built in. It makes faster note passages sound more realistic and adds to the instrument's overall nonlinearity. The 18 basic presets include versions with and without simulated round robin for each deck.

04Specs