The Sound Board

VSL. have released the Synchron Harp (which is not a synchron-ized version of their old harps, but an all new recorded instrument).

- Lyon & Healy Style 30 Concert Grand harp
- 92 GB of samples, up to 8 velocities, each string sampled in each pedal position
- New Synchron Harp Player recreates the pedaling mechanism
- Chromatic and Pedal Mode
- Play glissandos simply by gliding over the white keys
- Quick access to pre-configured pedalizations
- Masterfully crafted mixer presets




Special intro price (until Dec. 13th):
- Standard: € 145 (regular € 195)
- Full Library: € 255 (regular € 345)

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Sounds very nice and great set of features!

Quite ingenious, I do miss the prerecorded glisses in the original, a real time saver but that library was a bit too dry for orchestral mockups in general but because of the mass amount of arts it still is my go to harp lib. Probably will take this for a spin.

Yes, sounds lovely indeed. Very detailed, delicate sound. 8 dynamic layers is more than anything else out there by quite the margin. And the overview in the player is easy on the eyes, so usability should be good.

However, am I in the minority here about feeling that actual recorded glissandi are absolutely necessary? The playable ones are a feature that many other libs include but in my experience there's a difference between what can be pulled of with scripting/playing and an actual glissando performed on a Harp. I seriously lack that sense of momentum that is there with the real thing. Also, programming glissandi to be just right is a bit of pain in the workflow.

I feel like there's a real gap in the market for just a great sounding glissando/arpeggio Harp that covers a vast territory. Hm, maybe I'll have to do it myself.

They seem to have missed to edit something out in the very last seconds of the second video. Another very rushed release!

Another concern is at 8 velocity layers running your hands over the KB quickly I can "imagine" a large cpu hit. With a pre- recorded gliss of course the hit is minimal.

No problem with core overload within Logic Pro here.

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So what do ya’all think. The original Vsl harp is in just about everything I write. How does the synchron compare? There’s just something ‘magical’ about their original harp. It sits so perfectly in the mix all the time.

ComposerGuy wrote: ↑Dec 20, 2021 3:30 am So what do ya’all think. The original Vsl harp is in just about everything I write. How does the synchron compare? There’s just something ‘magical’ about their original harp. It sits so perfectly in the mix all the time.

You can make it sound like the original harp from 20 years ago if you want or need to. But now you don't have to spend a whole bunch of time finding the right 'verb/delay combination to make it fit any specific mix scenario.

Plus... myself and all my composer friends love the new way to do arpeggios. Saves tons of time.

Also, I find the new bisbigliando and harmonics sound a bit better than the original.

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A very fine library, I agree.
And convincing across the dynamic range which was less the case with the old harps.

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Thanks guys.

How would you guys rate this harp compared to the OT Harps? I'm looking for a new one and trying to decide between the two.