23rd September 2010
Impact Soundworks has released Koto Nation: Classical Instruments of Japan, a new sample library for Native Instruments Kontakt (versions 2 and above).
Koto Nation is a world instrument sample library featuring the Japanese koto, shamisen and bass koto, the latter of which has never been sampled before, according to ISW. Created over the course of 13 months by producer Andrew Aversa, the library is designed to capture the spirit of these beautiful classical instruments so that composers can use them either in a solo or ensemble setting with incredible realism and accuracy. With 5x dynamic layers and 5x round robins for many patches (the shamisen reaches 8x round robin variations.), the library is very expressive and capable of playing in a wide range of styles.
Among the included articulations are picked sustains, pizzicato, glissandi of many types, extended techniques (scrapes, hard plucks, atonal elements), octaves, slides, pitch bends, multi-speed tremolos, vibrato, mutes, hits, harmonics and more, as well as an entire folder of special FX patches that use Kontakt's built-in processing as well as offline techniques to produce entirely new sounds from the core audio material.
With nearly 9GB (4,000+ samples) of unlocked 24-bit/44.1khz content, ISW describes Koto Nation as "the deepest library of its kind".
Priced at $99, Koto Nation: Classical Instruments of Japan is available as a direct download via the Impact Soundworks website.
KVR Audio, Inc.
www.kvraudio.com