The Bowed Bucket is what came out of the combination of a plastic barrel, a wooden bar and cello strings. The barrel was fitted with tuning lugs and then holes were drilled through which individual strings pass, using the bottom wall as a bridge so that the sound is projected outward and downward. Then a wooden block was attached to the bucket and the strings were pulled up.
We played with the bow, plucked the strings, hit the drumstick to get tons of tonal sounds, and then programmed them into stand-alone instruments. Then we manipulated all of this raw material to create atmospheric pads and ambins.
Bowing the strings produces a surprisingly clean yet rich and robust sound, with plenty of boom and low frequencies. This sound is a bit like an electric cello, but with a unique rawness and body.
We recorded various bowed articulations from both the inside and outside of the kick drum. We’ve also connected our custom polyphonic Sim-legato and Uberpeggiator systems to some of the instruments. And of course, as a bonus, we’ve also created a number of very cool leads, pads, ambient buzzes, FX presets to expand your creativity.
