Versilian Studios has announced the release of Etherealwinds Harp II CE, a freeware lever harp virtual instrument in VST and AU plugin formats for PC and Mac. Also available is a sample library in SFZ and WAV format, based on the same source material.
Etherealwinds Harp II is a multi-format sound library of a 34-string lever harp, recorded by Versilian Studios and Etherealwinds during an eight-hour studio session. It is described by its creators as “possibly the most complete lever harp library in existence”. Since it is a successor to a popular freely downloadable instrument, Versilian Studios decided to release a feature-limited “Community Edition” of the library which can be downloaded completely free of charge. User registration is not required, as the download links can be accessed directly on the product page linked below.
The free CE version of Etherealwinds Harp II is based on 232 audio samples (16-bit WAV format) in total, with two round-robins and two velocity layers per sampled note. An additional set of 23 vocal phrases and sound effects from the full version of the library is included as a bonus.
The plugin’s user interface features an ADSR section for controlling the envelope, along with volume and pan controls, and a reverb mix knob. A virtual MIDI keyboard is located at the bottom, whereas the stereo volume meter is placed on the right side of the instrument panel. Generally speaking, the instrument sounds very nice. The low number of included round-robin variations does result in artificial sounding phrases from time to time, but this can be remedied by manually altering note velocity values in the piano roll.
In addition to the VST and AU plugin versions, the library can also be downloaded in WAV format. The provided SFZ patch can be loaded in several popular sampler instruments, including popular freeware plugins like sforzando, Zampler RX, and Grace. This is a great option for users who need more sample editing functionality than what is offered by the VST/AU instrument version of Etherealwinds Harp II CE.
Etherealwinds Harp II CE is available for free download via Versilian Studios (94.9 MB download size, RAR archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU plugin format for Windows & macOS).
Last Updated on October 10, 2017 by Tomislav Zlatic.
