The "Cylindrum" is a massive custom built tuned percussion instrument ranging over 4 octaves, so a percussionists dream come true. We spent over two years figuring out how to build and record the whole thing, since there is a rather complicated set of mathematics behind cutting and tuning all of the pipes to create each note. It operates using the principle of open and closed air column resonance. Overall, it sounds like some kind of strange organic synthesizer morphed into a broad array of tuned tom-toms.
Our Cylindrum library contains three separate variations of the instrument (light, dry and wet). The light version is made from a series of 1-inch Schedule 40 PVC water pipes that were played by tapping fingers over one end, with a microphone positioned at the opposite end. The dry version was made a series of 4-inch ABS corrugated plastic tubes with an open-ended rubber head played with a paddle. The wet version was a steries of 3-inch ABS corrugated plastic tubes with felt mallets on a a 3/8" thick rubber head, performed in our signature hall. It has more overtones and percussive feel than the dry and light versions – resulting in a sort of tuned tom-tom sound. The 1" light version was recorded in mono for a more focused sound, while the 4" dry and 3" wet versions were recorded in stereo.

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