Xylogator – Free Toy Xylophone Ableton Live Instrument

Meet the Xylogator, a toy xylophone in the shape of your favorite ginormous lizard. (Actually, alligators are not lizards, but archosaurs…but that’s another discussion!)

With wheels under his feet, and a convenient mallet gripped in his spring-loaded teeth, he’s ready to make music anywhere. I took him home from the thrift store complete with crayon vandalism from the previous owner.

What’s most important for us, however, is that he was ready for sampling. While he can be played by hitting a little key at the end of each bar, I found that sound to be too “clacky” and thin, lacking resonance…so I recorded using only the striker. Even though I setup only one velocity layer, each note has multiple round robins for a natural effect.

Try the FM modulation adjustment, which can give a variety of natural-sounding “struck metal” tones, or with a bigger twist of the knob, weird distorted effects. Enjoy!!