Checking Out: The Gurdy by Insanity Samples
Insanity Samples is promising is the most complete and fully featured Hurdy Gurdy sample instrument on the market . . . and they just might have pulled it off!
Jump to the Videos of The Gurdy
Jump to the Demos of The Gurdy
Checking Out: The Gurdy by Insanity Samples
Insanity Samples’ The Gurdy for Kontakt is an absolute joy to play, delivering an authentic, characterful sound that inspires creativity. The instrument shines in its flexibility, letting you chromatically tune each of the strings to suit your needs, which opens up a wealth of possibilities for composers looking to craft unique textures or period-inspired scores. Whether you’re scoring a Shakespearean area film, a scene aboard a pirate ship, or just want to add a rustic, ancient quality to your music, The Gurdy captures the essence of the hurdy-gurdy beautifully. Personally, using this instrument has given me a newfound appreciation for the physical hurdy-gurdy itself—its quirks, its voice, and its charm.
That said, the biggest critique I have is around the key switching, particularly the fixed C1 crank trigger. While you can remap nearly all other keyswitches directly from the interface, the crank remains locked to C1, which can be limiting if, like me, you’re traveling and working with a smaller two-octave keyboard. In my case, I had to record the crank part first and then overdub the melody, since I couldn’t access all the keys in real time. This won’t be an issue for those with a full-sized keyboard, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re working on the go. Even so, the depth, flexibility, and authenticity of The Gurdy make it a standout and inspiring addition to any composer’s toolkit.
In this video we have a look and listen to the patches to hear how the instrument plays right out of the box.
The Gurdy normally sells for a $129 from Insanity Samples
Facts
Downloads as 6GB on Disk
Fully Chromatic Drone String Functionality
3 Core Mic Signals:
Large Condenser, Pencil & Dynamic
Up to 8 Round Robins
Performance Dynamics
up to 4 phases including a ‘Buzzing Bridge’ top end
Aftertouch Functionality
Fully Adaptive Overlay Threshold Functionality
Requires FULL Kontakt 5 over higher
The Gurdy normally sells for a $129 from Insanity Samples
Demos of The Gurdy
Videos of The Gurdy
