Occult Audio has launched Splintered Violin, a new virtual instrument built around raw, unprocessed violin performances and an integrated granular engine. Recorded at Occult Audio HQ, the library focuses on preserving the natural noise, imperfections, and extended techniques captured during the sessions.
Splintered Violin is designed as an expressive string instrument that moves beyond conventional orchestral sampling. The recordings retain incidental sounds and aleatoric gestures, with no corrective editing applied. According to the developer, the intention is to present the violin in an unrefined state, allowing subtle textures and performance details to remain intact.
The library includes fourteen articulations covering a range of sustained textures and short gestures. These techniques were selected for their expressive character and extended performance approaches rather than traditional orchestral roles.
Long Textures include:
- Bellicose
- Circolare
- Harmonics
- Sul Pont
- Swells
- Trills
- Bend
- Chatter
- Slides
- Gliss
Short Gestures include:
- Pizzicato
- Spiccato
- Col Legno
- Clusters
At the core of Splintered Violin is a granular engine built from 26 source audio files taken directly from the original recording sessions. These files form the basis for time-stretching, reversing, and other granular transformations. Users can also import their own audio material for processing within the same engine, enabling integration between external sounds and the included violin sources.
The instrument allows real-time blending of granular-processed material with the organic articulations. This structure positions Splintered Violin as both a sample library and a compositional tool for reshaping recorded material.
The included preset library features 80 factory presets divided into three categories:
- Organic textures derived directly from the violin recordings
- Granular-based sound design patches
- Hybrid presets combining acoustic articulations and granular processing
A central Movement Engine is integrated into the interface, designed to provide modulation and animation across both the articulations and the granular engine. This system enables evolving changes in texture and timbre over time, whether working with unprocessed performances or transformed material.
In addition to the factory presets, Splintered Violin includes 30 guest presets created by Belfast-based artist VERGE. These presets explore darker and more industrial-oriented soundscapes, with a focus on cinematic textures and evolving atmospheres. VERGE describes the instrument as particularly suited to generating drones, soundscapes, and underscore elements for film and media contexts, including psychological drama, horror, science fiction, and documentary scoring.
Splintered Violin is positioned for use in documentary, drama, experimental composition, sound design, and ambient production. Its design scope centres on string textures that emphasise extended technique, tonal variation, and transformation rather than traditional orchestral realism.
Splintered Violin is available for £65.00, with an introductory sale price of £39.00.
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