Vintage children’s instruments
Channel the magic and mystery of childhood with this unique collection of playful sounds. Produced in collaboration with composer and multi-instrumentalist Richard Harvey, Abacus offers a diverse array of lovingly sampled vintage children’s instruments from the early 19th century to the 1980s. With almost one hundred instruments selected from Richard’s personal collection, Abacus provides composers with an authentically nostalgic toolkit, perfect for fantasy, adventure, mystery, horror, storytelling, gothic, animation, historic, educational, or family-centric television advertising.
Created with Richard Harvey
Richard Harvey is a prolific composer and multi-instrumentalist who has collaborated with artists such as Hans Zimmer, Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello, and guitarist John Williams. He’s conducted, composed, orchestrated, and played on numerous film and television soundtracks, including The Lion King, The Little Prince, The Da Vinci Code, Prince Caspian, Disney's live action Mulan, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Richard is an expert player and collector of unique musical instruments, with an unparalleled collection of more than 700 instruments—old and new—from around the world. His previous collaborations with Orchestral Tools, Andea and Phoenix Orchestra, drew on his deep expertise in traditional instruments. Now through Abacus, Richard is sharing his incredible instrument collection with the composer community.
Highlights
A musical toy shop
While many of the instruments of Abacus were designed for children, they were performed and sampled by experts. All of the instruments are represented as faithfully as possible with actual pitch ranges plus instrument-specific mapping and articulations. They were captured through five mixable mic positions, giving you a high degree of control over the sound. In short, this collection is a cornucopia of playable nostalgia, perfect for fantasy, adventure, mystery, horror, storytelling, gothic, animation, historic, educational, or family-centric advertising.
All musicians are children
"When I wanted unusual, magical, even childlike effects, I often couldn’t find the sounds I needed. I've spent years sourcing the instruments to recreate those special, evocative, nostalgic echoes from my past or my imagination, and now I'm sharing this lovingly amassed collection, as high-quality samples, with my peers. Let me help you celebrate the child within!"―Richard Harvey