Leave it to the folks at Tonehammer to uncover the musical qualities of a washing machine -- The sample library and virtual instrument maker, Tonehammer, has released Laundronium, an all-new sample library for Native Instruments Kontakt featuring the unique sounds of one of the most used yet unappreciated appliances, the washing machine.

With Laundronium, you will get a variety percussion instrument-like sounds -- everything from soft, gong-like, harsh, warbly, trashy, tight, muted, dreamy, and bassy to warm and sweet tones.

All presets are arranged both as tuned and untuned percussion, with mode switching at the push of a button. The "Überpeggiator" is built into nearly every preset, along with automatic sound-shaping knobs and tools, and a range of highly textural bowed articulations with round-robin staccato and long sustains with release.

In making this sample library, Tonehammer did indeed string up a washing machine to get its bowed and plucked sounds. By bowing various edges and surfaces, Tonehammer produced strong resonant metallic and screaching tones. The library also includes a selection of multilayered special effects, drones, and ambient soundscapes, with advanced tone-shaping and FX control features.

The SFX section includes over 100 mechanical sounds produced by a full heavy wash cycle, from gurgles, sucks, sloshes, sprays, drains, fills, churning, pounding, slamming, roaring, spin-ups, and downs to slams, thuds, beeps, clicks, whirrs, hums, clanks, and blasts.

The Laundronium sample pack features the following:

• 1.22 GB (installed) of samples and Kontakt files
• 47 Kontakt .nki files (open format)
• Total of 1,045 samples
• 44.1 kHz stereo PCM WAV format (24-bit)
• Custom convolution reverb impulses
• Bowed and plucked string articulations
• Finger and mallet tuned and untuned percussion articulations
• Custom performance, legato, FX, and arpeggiator controls
• Requires the full version of Native Instruments Kontakt 3.5 (or later); does not support the free Kontakt Player

About this release, Tonehammer writes, "The idea of the washing machine as a piece of musical equipment, while not unheard of, has been fairly limited in its scope. Generally you’ll see the white cube playing a rudimentary spin cycle beat behind a mediocre guitarist who is only vaguely aware of the naturally occurring music which is constantly present in our modern human environment. The washing machine will play this beat dutifully, knowing that it isn’t respected for musical talent like its ancestor the washboard.

"We spend so much less time with the modern washing machine, than the folks of previous generations did with the washboard, that we’ve become coldly detached from it. The washing machine happily does all the work, never complaining, and still we complain about laundry day. If we just took a little time to talk to our washing machines we may find out that they are quite into music. And not just Zydeco, either. As it happens, the washing machine is as far beyond the washboard in musical capabilities as it is in laundering talent."

Until June 5, 2011, Tonehammer will be offering Laundronium for the introductory price of $29. After that date, Laundronium will go back to its regular price of $35. For more information, please visit tonehammer.com.