BianZhong BZ Bells App for iPad released

[sosayweall]

Kong Audio presents BianZhong BZ Bells App for iPad, a sample-based App capturing the captivating set of ancient Chinese bronze Chime-bells lost in time till a few decades ago.

The biggest bronze chime-bells set ever found in China, ZengHouYi's (Marquis Yi) BianZhong (Chime-bells) has become a sensational Chinese national treasure since its excavation in 1978. Created about 2400 years ago, its unique oval design made each bell to have two tones. BianZhong Chime-bells were used for ritual and festival activities in the court of the feudal lords and kings during the Autumn and Spring/Warring States period (5th Century BC).

Sampled on-site at HuBei Chime-bells Orchestra, the serene and timeless sound of BZ Bells transports you right back to the Chinese palace at the beginning of the Chinese civilization.



Highlights:

• Sampled from the exact bronze replica of ZengHouYi BianZhong at HuBei Chime-bells Orchestra.
• Switchable between playing three racks individually, or playing them all on one page.
• User can reverse the order of each rack when each rack is played separately.

Price: $0.99.
For more info, please visit the App Store:
https://itunes.apple.com/cn/app/bz-bells/id956078325
Or the developer's own site:
http://www.chineekong.com/bz_bells.htm

[woggle]

Hi - for the larger sample sets of the bells are there any details on what is offered? Things like decay times, round robins, different velocity layers and so on

thanks,

[jc_vt]

Would be great to be able to hear some sample/demo sounds

[sosayweall]

@woggle,
BianZhong are sampled with natural decay time without looping. No velocity layer in BZ Bell. For detailed Bian Zhong, please use Bian Zhong/Pro VSTi version instead.

@jc_vt: No audio demo for the BZ Bell App. However, here's the official demo track for Bian Zhong Pro. BZ Bell's samples are from the same sample pool of our sampling of Bian Zhong VSTi.
https://soundcloud.com/user411343147/bi ... chengzhiyi

[woggle]

Hi thankyou for replying so quickly. It is the Bian Zhong/Pro VSTi versions that i am interested in - are there details on those? All I have been able to find is the number of bells and download size of 6gig - and I am not sure which version the 6gig applies to

thanks, woggle

[sosayweall]

Hi woggle, Bian Zhong Pro is actually around 3.6 GB. Did we write the wrong size in our descriptions? Oh my. I'll have to fix that. For Bian Zhong Pro, the max velocity layer numbers in presets are 8, and it has no round-robin. Every note was sampled with natural decay time with no looping, which can be shorten using amp envelope in QIN engine player if needed.

The Pro version contains two bells sets, one 23 bells set and the other one 65 bells set. The 65 bells set is the actual replica of the ZengHouYi Bian Zhong. But it's too heavy for touring (HuBei Chime-bell Orchestra needs to hire a bunch of farmers to assemble and carry these bells wherever they go, and that's not an easy task), so HBCO actually usually uses the 23 bells set for touring, in accompany of the Chinese orchestra. So the 23 bells version is sufficient for some smaller performances, and the 65 bells set is used for more vital occasions. But of course since both the sound and the note ranges are different, the 65 bells set is much better in every way.

[woggle]

thanks for that info,
woggle