Sounds From Around The World
From the far corners of the globe comes one of the most diverse collections
of ethnic instrument samples ever. World Traveler consists of rare playable
multisampled instruments that can be used in many different styles of music.
You'll get a lot of instruments not available together on any other world
instrument libraries, including sounds from the Middle East, the Mediterranean,
Africa, East Asia, Australia, Native America, and Northern Europe.
This library features ethnic stringed instruments like a Greek Bouzouki,
Turkish Saz, Indian Sitar and Tambura, Spanish Nylon Guitars, Russian Balalaika,
Mariachi Bass, Finnish Kantele, Zither, Psaltry, Hurdy-Gurdy and Hammered
Dulcimers including an Indian Santoor. But, that's just scratching the surface!
World Traveler also has African, Latin and Exotic percussion maps, Accordions,
Harmoniums and wind instruments like, Australian Didjeridoo, Native American
Wood Flute, Pan Flutes and more instruments than we can list here! World
Traveler is great for adding exotic textures and ethnic flavor to western
music or for playing in authentic styles of music from around the world.
Producer's Notes:
Having instruments from all over the world available in one place is powerful
for use in many different styles of music. World Traveler contains mostly
playable multisampled instruments as opposed to riffs and phrases. This gives
the user a tremendous amount of flexibility to make his or her music with
the ethnic flavor of a diverse group of stringed, wind and percussion instruments.
You'll find sounds that come from Finland, Latin America, Africa, France,
Germany, Italy, Greece, Spain, Japan, India, China, Switzerland, Hungary,
Armenia, Russia, Australia and more, all on this disc! Besides using these
instruments to reproduce traditional ethnic music from various regions around
the globe, there are many eclectic uses for these sounds in modern pop and
TV/film scoring applications. Artists such as Peter Gabriel, Bjork and others
have incorporated exotic percussion, wind and stringed instruments into their
modern pop and film score arrangements and have achieved a unique sound as
a result.
It's our hope that people will use this library in many interesting ways
to add a depth of character to their recordings and to bring the sound of
instruments from all over the world to the ears of others no matter where
they are!
Many of these instruments were a discovery for me. (Perhaps I still haven't
discovered the correct spelling of some of them too! There are many opinions
on this subject!). I was fortunate in 1993 to tour on Peter Gabriel's WOMAD
festival (World of Music Art & Dance) playing keyboards with world class
Indian “Double Violinist”, L. Shankar (sorry we don't have samples of his
custom made 10 string double necked electric violin… a fascinating instrument).
On this tour I was able to see bands from all over the world perform on a
variety of interesting wind, percussion and stringed instruments. I spent
a lot of my time researching these instruments to find out what to capture
for a diverse sample library such as World Traveler. I was even able to buy
some exotic African percussion instruments from the “Drummers of Burundi” and
others that had brought instruments to sell at the fair. In each city I would
meet musicians and sometimes set up sample sessions to capture as many exotic
tones as I could.
Like my sampling craze for vintage instruments over the years I have
also collected a massive archive of ethnic instrument samples for release
on this and future sound libraries. In addition, I asked long-time friend,
Klaus-Peter Rausch over in Germany to capture some exotic instruments around
his area of the globe to make this collection even more diverse and powerful.
The World Traveler sample library contains samples of rare and unusual instruments
that we hope you will enjoy.
- Dave Kerzner (CEO, Sonic Reality)
This collection features a great selection of stringed, wind and percussion
instruments. The Spanish Nylon is an absolute blast to play “Flamenco Style” runs
on. We recorded local guitarist, Chris Schmidt, on a rather expensive custom
nylon guitar (that we almost didn't want to give back!). The Bouzouki is
another favorite of mine that was recorded in LA with our scary multi-instrumentalist,
Gene Siegel. The Greek Bouzouki is like a large baritone mandolin. I am fond
of this instrument also because it was used on the intro to a song called “Last
Plane Out” by a band called Toy Matinee (a group of musicians I used to play
with).
The Hurdy Gurdy is one of my favorite instruments mainly because it is
so bizarre. It is a stringed instrument where you crank a wheel that has
rosin on it and bows strings that are pitched by keys you can play with
your other hand. It is a fascinating instrument and one that dates back
many centuries of folk music from France, Hungary and other places around
Europe. The one we sampled belongs now to Mike Campbell (guitarist for Tom
Petty, so if you hear a Hurdy Gurdy on their records chances are it's the
same one). It was a basic model from Lark in the Morning. I am personally
on a mission to find a more deluxe Hurdy Gurdy for my personal ethnic instrument
collection. We will of course sample that too (for the upcoming Interactive
Hurdy Gurdy library… just kidding).
Some of the multi-struck tremolo instruments are quite fun to play such
as the Ukulele, Mandolin and Hammered Dulcimers. If you get good at the
programs that switch velocity layers between a straight tone and the tremolo
you can convince most people into thinking it's the real deal. Also, adding
in the elements of harmonics and/or drones with the Sitar+Tambura and several
other programs can be quite enjoyable.
The Zither is an antique I picked up for my personal collection. It is
from the 1800's and is made of Rosewood. So many of these instruments from
around the world have such a beautiful design. The Finnish Kantele is another
beautiful instrument. The one sampled for this library was borrowed from
guitarist, Lyle Workman. I am particularly fond of the slightly out-tuned
velocity-switched pitch bends on the attacks. This sound reminds me of early
Pat Metheney records which had a very moody vibe.
The reed keyboards are an ethnic music staple and there is a nice cross
section of them here in this library. We have an Italian Accordion, Squeeze
Box, Indian Harmonium, Bandoneon and a full sized Noble Harmonium to choose
from. The flutes and recorders are another particular favorite. Friend and
associate producer, Klaus-Peter Rausch from Germany, recorded some of the
recorders and flutes. He is also responsible for sampling the very cool
Alp Horn from Switzerland. This is the giant sized horn seen in those Swiss
mountain-set cough drop commercials.
You may notice that some instruments are familiar to you just by their
sound even if you've never seen one in person. Try playing “Stairway to Heaven” on
the GS Recorder for a smile. The Duduk is a double reed instrument from Armenia
and you'll find its breathy part flute/part oboe quality makes it an expressive,
powerful instrument. The Australian Didgeridoo, which was also recorded by
Klaus-Peter, is quite a trip. There are plenty of drone variations to choose
from at long natural durations.
The percussion section can be used to build up some serious rhythms.
The two sections of African percussion can keep one busy playing for hours
in a trance. Try just banging on multiple keys at once in a chosen rhythm
and it can easily sound like an ensemble of tribal percussionists! Some
of the instruments such as the Djembe and Shika are deep and expressive
which will lend a nice dynamic to musical styles ranging from world music
to rock to dance to soundtracks and more. The Indian percussion section
gives you the definitive sounds of Tablas and Clay Pots. Combine that with
a Sitar performance and you'll sound like you are in the heart of Bombay.
The Latin percussion section is filled with standard percussion instruments
used in many styles of music. Congas, Bongos, Shakers, Cow bell, Timbales,
Guiro, Cuica, Triangle and more are mapped to the GM standard with multiple
velocity layers to give you an easy to use yet expressive selection. Overdub
some Mariachi Bass, Spanish Guitars, Spanish-style Trumpets and you can
get most people to dance immediately
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