3. Copy the BalalaikabyAndreasBick.exs and BalalaikaVibratobyAndreasBick.exs files to your 'SAMPLER INSTURMENTS' folder (on the Mac this is located on your hard drive e.g. Mac-HD > LIBRARY > APPLICAITON SUPPORT > LOGIC > SAMPLER INSTRUMENTS)
4. Copy the two folders with the Balalaika samples to a place of your choosing (preferably the same LOGIC folder so Logic can find them easily).
5. Start Logic and create a new instrument track with the EXS24 loaded - the Balalaika sample sets should be available as a patch.
The Tremolo of a Balalaika for me is a perfect way to add an upper melody line to a film music track and to incorporate a fluffy texture in the mix. On the Balalaika the tremolo is played with the right index finger as you can see in the video below. For the recordings of these samples I had a fantastic player from Belarus in my studio who played each possible note on the Balalaika. This also means that playing chords like in the video with these sample instruments might sound a bit odd because the timing of the finger strokes will run out of sync. But for solo lines the samples work fine. By the way the Balalaika Vibrato instrument is a special technique where the player holds his right palm on the strings behind the bridge while performing the tremolo. This adds the vibrato and makes the sound even more soft and silky. All samples are unprocessed, therefore it might be useful to filter the lower mid frequencies to decrease the "wood" thudding part of the sound.