Three Instruments from the Studio to Pianobook
Before these instruments found their way onto Pianobook, they were never projects designed for release or distribution. They were simply tools I built for myself because I needed them in my work as a composer.
Each one began with a different story: an instrument left behind in the studio after a recording session, an Omani drum whose sound I wanted to document and turn into a playable instrument, and a collection of small percussion sounds I needed to expand the palette available to me while composing.
Over time, these personal tools became three libraries that I shared for free with the Pianobook community.
An Instrument Left in the Studio — Valencia Tar
The story of Valencia Tar began spontaneously during a period when I was working on material connected to Khaliji Drums of Arabia.
A percussionist friend was in the studio recording percussion for one of my projects, and after the session he left a Valencia Tar in the studio.
I liked its sound and thought: why not try sampling it?
The next day, another friend happened to be at my studio for a recording session. I told him about the idea, he got excited about it, and the small experiment turned into a proper recording session.
After editing the recordings, I loaded them into an empty Kontakt instrument and started experimenting. The result was better than I expected, and the instrument became genuinely useful while composing — so useful that I worked with it for a while before it had any real interface.
Later, I built a simple GUI for it, added practical tools such as EQ, reverb, and pitch controls, and gradually developed the scripting.
I then started sharing it with a few friends and found that they were using it in their own work as well.
When Pianobook appeared, it felt like the right environment for Valencia Tar to leave the studio and become available to other musicians.
The library later became available through Pianobook in versions for Kontakt and Decent Sampler.
Documenting an Omani Sound — Rahmani Drum
Rahmani Drum came from a different motivation.
The Rahmani is an important percussion instrument in Omani traditional arts. It is a deep-sounding drum traditionally made from wood and skin, and it is used across a number of different arts and performance traditions.
It is also important to say that the Rahmani is not a single, uniform instrument.
Across Oman there are different types, sizes, and uses of the Rahmani, varying by region, art form, construction, and playing style. The instrument I recorded for this library is one of the types used in Dhofar, in southern Oman.
My goal was to preserve the character of the instrument while also making it practical in a musical production.
I recorded it with 4 Round Robins and 4 Dynamic Layers, so that each hit would not repeat in exactly the same way and there would be more variation and responsiveness while playing.
I used the same basic concept I had developed for Valencia Tar, but gave Rahmani Drum its own visual and musical identity.
Once the instrument had become part of my own work, I shared it through Pianobook as well, in versions for Kontakt and Decent Sampler.
For me, this library was more than simply sampling a drum. It was a small attempt to document a sound I know from my own musical environment and turn it into an instrument that a composer or producer anywhere could use.
A Solution to a Recurring Composing Problem — Chimes & More
The story of Chimes & More began with a completely different practical problem.
After many years of composing, every composer develops a collection of sounds they return to again and again.
Certain shakers, chimes, rolls, small percussion instruments, and other colors that you reach for whenever you need extra movement or texture in an arrangement.
Whenever a project allows, I always prefer to record what I need specifically for the piece. But that is not possible every time.
Sometimes there simply is not enough time to organize a full recording session for a handful of small percussion details.
The problem with constantly relying on the same set of virtual instruments is that certain sounds begin to repeat from one project to another.
It reached the point where some close friends could occasionally recognize my work because of particular sounds I kept using.
So I decided to expand that collection myself.
I went back to work with a percussionist friend, and we recorded a broader collection of the sounds and details I tend to need while composing.
I gathered them into a single Kontakt instrument, and Chimes & More became part of the toolkit I use in my own work.
It later became connected to the Khaliji Drums of Arabia project and used the same interface concept, but I also wanted it to be available independently.
Its purpose is very simple: to give a composer a wider palette of percussion colors when they need them, without having to organize a full recording session every time they need a shaker roll, a chime, or one small detail.
Years later, I shared Chimes & More through Pianobook as well.
Three Stories… One Idea
Valencia Tar, Rahmani Drum, and Chimes & More did not begin as a planned series.
Each one grew out of a real need in my work as a composer.
One began with an instrument left behind in the studio after a recording session; another with a desire to record an Omani sound and turn it into a playable instrument; and the third with a practical problem I kept encountering while composing.
What eventually connected all three was the decision to share them.
That is one of the things I love about the world of sampling.
A recording can preserve a sound. But when we build that sound into a good, playable instrument, we are not only preserving it — we are giving another musician a new starting point for an idea that might not have existed without it.
That is why I liked the idea of Pianobook from the beginning.
Sounds that began as personal tools inside a studio in Oman, then became available to musicians and composers in different parts of the world.