Samplephonics has announced its Ethnic Folklore sample library containing a selection of beautifully played ethnic string loops and samples from instruments including a Dulcimer, Oud, Balalaika, Bouzouki and Guitar.
The sounds have been captured using a custom vintage Neumann U87 for utmost clarity and played by renowned musician Steven Byrd. A range of styles have been incorporated, ranging from traditional folk melodies to more gritty rock infused loops.
Perfect for film composers and sampling enthusiasts alike, the sounds can be used as full construction kits to build a track around, or individually chopped up and processed for more experimental sounds.
The sounds are available to download in 24 Bit wav format, 100% royalty free and ready to use in music, library or production tracks. Inject real class and flavour into your music with this exquisite collection of instrument loops and samples.
From the same family as mandolin and lute, the teardrop shaped bouzouki’s history dates back to antiquity, evolving from a six-string instrument to eight strings in the latter half of the 20th century. The front of the body is flat and is typically inlaid with mother-of pearl designs. Played with a plectrum, the bouzouki has a sharp metallic sound.
Still widely played in Greek folk music, the bouzouki has become increasingly popular in contemporary American folk and progressive bluegrass music.
For this signature Bouzuki bundle, EarthMoments sampled and recorded a young prodigy from a traditional Greek family, whose playing has distinct influences of contemporary music styles.
While the soundscape carries a strong classical signature, the sets of both traditional and contemporary phrases gives you the flexibility to easily incorporate the samples into your compositions.
World String Series – Bouzouki features
426 MB content, 24-bit quality.
16 120BPM 3.4 Bouzouki Loops.
60 155BPM 3.4 Bouzouki Loops.
47 75BPM Bouzouki Loops.
20 85BPM Bouzouki Loops.
10 120BPM Bouzouki Loops.
15 Free Tempo Bouzouki Loops.
The sample pack is available to purchase for £24.95 GBP.
Impact Soundworks has released Highland Harps, a new Plectra Series sample library featuring a collection of stringed instruments.
Continuing our Plectra Series of plucked, picked and strummed string instruments from around the world comes this collection of traditional folk harps!
Featuring the lyre, lap harp, and celtic harp, this KONTAKT 4 sample library evokes images of the Irish countryside, Appalachian splendor, tall tales and a heart mug of mead beside a crackling fire. The intimate, close-miced sound is ideal for traditional, folk, medieval and Renaissance music as well as modern scores in any number of styles.
Highland Harps features
Lyre, celtic harp and lap harp recorded across 14 ‘Natural’ patches.
2.28gb of NCW-compressed samples.
Dry, intimate recordings suitable for a variety of styles.
Plucks, hammered playing, harmonics.
Traditional bow and ebowed, percussion and glissandi.
10 ‘Designed’ patches with pads/ambiance and plucked-style sounds.
Scripted interface for easy tweaking, effects and humanization.
Kontakt 4+ format.
The sample library is available to purchase for $49 USD. A bundle of Plectra Series 1 (8-string Acoustic Bouzouki) and 2 costs $79 USD.
Impact Soundworks has released Plectra Series 1: 8-string Acoustic Bouzouki, a bouzouki sample library for Native Instruments Kontakt (previously released by Handmade Sounds).
Designed, recorded and produced by Dimitris Plagiannis, our first entry into the Plectra Series of virtual instruments is a classic instrument of Greek music. Reminiscent of the European mandolin but with a deeper, richer tone, the bouzouki has its roots as one of the oldest musical instruments. No sample libraries existed that truly captured this beautiful instrument in great depth and detail, until now!
Our 8-string acoustic bouzouki has been thoroughly sampled and produced with all the love and care you would expect from a next-generation virtual instrument. Extensive, custom scripting by Dimitris has been created to simulate real playing as accurately as possible. From dynamic changes to up and down strokes, string selection, note speed, legato slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs and more, every facet of bouzouki performance has been painstakingly recreated.
Demonstration of the 8-string Acoustic Bouzouki.
8-string Acoustic Bouzouki features
Handcrafted, 8-string Greek bouzouki in Kontakt 4+ format.
Carefully tuned and recorded in 24/44.1.
Multiple dynamics and strokes.
Close and room mics.
Advanced intelligent scripting.
All 8 strings sampled.
Hammer-on, pull-off, legato slides.
Tremolo and pitchbends.
Sampled chord strums.
Easy to load and play.
The sample library is available to purchase for $59 USD. Handmade Sounds customers who purchased the original Bouzouki 8-string Acoustic library can get a $10 USD refund and a free download of the updated library.
Handmade Sounds has released Bouzouki 8-string Acoustic, a Greek bouzouki sample library for Kontakt which captures the unique sound of the bouzouki and simulates a realistic playing technique.
The library is comprised of 1500+ 24-bit samples and a single Kontakt instrument patch. Note on and release samples were recorded chromatically–that is, every fret of every course, sampled at soft, medium and hard velocities, down and up strokes, hammer-on, pull-off, slide and tremolo articulations. There are also multiple takes for customary major, minor and diminished chords and multiple noise samples including body resonance, fret and pick noises.
Extensive scripting has gone into the patch. This script simulates real playing by processing the velocity, speed and legato of the played notes and applying a number of rules that affect the final sound, e.g. appropriately positioning the notes on the correct fret and course, muting strings where needed, micro-tuning and fading sample attacks, and more. Additionally there are 12 keyswitches that allow full manual control of course/fret positioning and articulation.
Demonstration of the Bouzouki 8-string Acoustic for Kontakt by Handmade Sounds
Bouzouki 8-string Acoustic features
1547 24-bit/44.1-kHz, full-length samples (no loops other than tremolo articulation).
Chromatically sampled; all 27 fret positions, all 4 courses.
Soft, medium, hard velocity levels for each note.
Alternating down/up strokes for each velocity level.
Sustained, Hammer-On, Pull-Off, Tremolo and Slide articulations, all chromatically sampled.
1, 2 and 3 semitone Hammer-On and Pull-Off samples per note.
Sampled major, minor and diminished chords, with all customary inversions.
Realistic playing noises layered at adjustable levels.
Automatic or manual control of course/fret positioning, articulation and up/down stroke.
Adjustable thresholds for fast/slow auto-positioning, fast/slow picking, forced down-stroke.
Mono/Poly voice modes, for solo or polyphonic playing (4-voice max, one per course).
Real-time fretboard display of the note position/articulation for precise control.
Pitch-bend wheel triggered slides.
Velocity controlled slide duration.
Basic effects suite (EQ, Compressor, Reverb, Limiter) in user interface.
Bouzouki 8-string Acoustic for Kontakt v4.1.1 or higher (full retail version is required) is available to purchase as a download for 49 EUR.
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