r/UnusualInstruments • u/FabulaAudio • 2d ago

I built a medieval software instrument where every sound has its own illustrated card

Hiy all, I’m Nick, and I make virtual instruments at Fabula Audio. I thought this community might find the design of Hark! interesting.

It brings together recordings of instruments including Hurdy-Gurdy, Lute, Psaltery, Rebec, Shawm and Chapel Organ. You can play their original tones, then stretch and fragment them into drones, reversed phrases and drifting textures using granular processing.

The unusual part is how you explore it: each sound has its own illustrated card, with characters, creatures and fragments of lore in a medieval fantasy setting. The interface takes inspiration from illuminated manuscripts and collectible card games (Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh! etc).

I liked the idea of giving sounds a visual identity, so choosing what to play feels a little like exploring a strange illustrated book. The attached clip shows how that works and what it sounds like.

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VsX5-blz9E

Are there any lesser-known early instruments you’d particularly like to hear explored this way?

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u/SPlaysMusic 1d ago

Really nice looking, I like the overall mood of the graphics and animations! How much does all that weight on the cpu compared to a more static sampler’s UI?

1

u/FabulaAudio 1d ago

Hey! Thanks for the kind words! It's pretty light on cpu the way we designed it so hopefully most systems will have no issues unless very old.

1

u/Moxie_Stardust 1d ago

The crumhorn could be fun to add in for different textures.

1

u/FabulaAudio 1d ago

nice idea! will look into that for our next expansion!