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Spotlight Collection: West Africa

Spotlight Collection: West Africa Spotlight Collection: West Africa
Spotlight Collection: West Africa by Native Instruments is a Virtual Instrument Audio Plugin and a Software Application for macOS and Windows. It includes, and is therefore "powered by", Kontakt Player, which functions as a VST Plugin, an Audio Units Plugin, a VST 3 Plugin, an AAX Plugin and a Standalone Application.
The OS and Format icons below are for the latest version of Kontakt Player. The version numbers are for Spotlight Collection: West Africa.
Product
Version
1.3
Product
Version
1.3
Instrument
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FOCUS ON RHYTHM

Spotlight Collection: West Africa features a collection of beautifully sampled percussion and melodic instruments, playable individually or as customizable ensembles with highly inspirational pre-programmed patterns. The rhythms of all percussion instruments are also easily editable via the built-in sequencer for instant polyrhythmic groove creation. This instrument is truly a magnificent addition for producers of contemporary and traditional music.

DISTINCTIVE Instruments

Spotlight Collection: West Africa features percussion instruments including djembe, dunun and bells, which can be used in the ensemble. Additionally included are the calabash and krin, which can be used as solo instruments. Pitched instruments recreate the unique melodies of the kora, ngoni, bolon, balafon, and fula flute.

The sounds of each instrument have been carefully sampled in high detail, with the possibility to change between traditional and chromatic scales for pitched instruments. WEST AFRICA is an authentic and easy-to-use tool for producing modern rhythms with timeless traditional sounds.

INSTANT POLYRHYTHMS

The roots and conventions of West African music involve a number of instruments playing together to produce complex polyrhythmic textures. SPOTLIGHT COLLECTION: WEST AFRICA allows for the easy recreation of traditional ensemble playing with one touch of the play button.

The included 74 pre-programmed ensemble patterns give you instant access to stunning rhythms and melodies, easily triggered with one key, while another key triggers additional solos, fills, and single hits. The percussion patterns are also fully customizable with a visual pattern based sequencer and groove controls. When used within a host, the internal sequencer can be synchronized with the tempo and song position.

GLOBAL INFLUENCE

African musical traditions and West African percussion in particular have long been accepted as the roots of many contemporary musical styles. The influence of African music is felt in the rhythms and motifs of blues, rock, soul, funk, hip-hop, disco and house. African music has become a source of genuine creative inspiration for forward-thinking producers across the globe.

Renowned producers and musicians from some of the world's biggest bands have forged strong links with West African music and musicians, while cutting-edge artists producing house, techno, dubstep and UK funky draw directly from the percussive power of the region. West African artists are also seeing a rise in popularity in Europe and the US, with a new generation of fans exploring the musical cultures of one of the world's most fertile musical regions.

{See video at top of page}

Latest User Reviews

Average user rating of 4.00 from 1 review
Spotlight Collection: West Africa

Reviewed By Krakatau [all]
September 2nd, 2014
Version reviewed: 1.0.0 on Mac

I won't enter into a too detailed description of the plugin itself, but being experienced on western African cultures, i might have a good critical view on this instrument.

Regardless of it official focus (giving an african colors to western music production) i admire here something that isn't obvious judging by the demos songs that you may listen on NI site, ...but these guys have made a tremendous work in reproducing as accurately as possible the original grooves and scales of traditional musics of this area of subsaharian Africa.

For the Insiders, populations of Mali and Guinea are mainly from Manding cultures that own likely the most compatible scale to be adapted to chromatic intervals, This to say that it was an intelligent choice because the majority of negro-african scales, (as the Senoufo ones from instance, that lives in the same area) are frankly achromatic, also to consider that manding scales are probably the only ones in entire Black Africa to be heptatonic (rather than pentatonic)...so very obvious to adapt to a corresponding diatonic scale (among the melodic instruments, listen to Bolon and especially the Kora tuned in a root scale, almost identical to a C Myxolidian, and of course all the balafons that nearly matches a C major scales natively !)

As said above i, for one, appreciate the accuracy in reproducing all the traditional music listed, especially the ones written into complex signatures, that are very typical from western africa, (but perhaps less compatible with all the invading binary signatures of almost all international/commercial musics)

The articulations are brilliantly laid out and let you recreate with incredible fidelity you own interpretation of these rhythms, i have instantly the feeling to be back in Burkina Faso when playing it !, ... this is where this library really shines and apart some short sampled phrases, the very well conceived, included sequencer is undoubtedly the main responsible of the crime .

A few regret though, some western-african instruments are missing, the Kunde, (a plucked string instrument common in Burkina Faso) for instance and, way more emblematic : Longa, tama, etc...all the talking drums of these african countries...too bad !!.

Also, the multisampling and articulations of all these instruments are very well made for the peculiar context (to emulate traditional western-african bands efficiently), but poor for a use out of this ethnomusical context as lead, single solo instruments interpretation in a foreign context, as a skilled performer of the real instrument would be capable. On that purpose the Djembes included into Culture, for instance, benefit of both a more effective multisampling and key's distribution through the keyboard (for both hands) to reproduce a djembe's solo interpretation easily at your fingertips.

Nevertheless, i just think it' would be unfair to not underline that this plugin reach fully it challenge, considering it primary purpose to give a touch of authentic traditional black-african feel at most aspects (sounds, phrases and complete grooves) to a modern production, and this at a reasonable price...

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Comments & Discussion for Native Instruments Spotlight Collection: West Africa

Discussion
Discussion: Active
Sycopation
Sycopation
6 May 2015 at 9:37pm

I really love the samples from this plugin / sample set, as well as those from NI Cuba.

However, I'm a bit disappointed that there is nothing on offer from NI for the music / instruments typical to Asian countries. You could do a whole plugin just on Indian percussion instruments. Actually, you could do a whole plugin just on the various ways / styles to play tabla. And what about Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia, The Pacific Islands etc? And the Middle East? NI Balinese Gamelan sounds good for what it is, but it's not quite "drums."

Does anyone know of a plugin / sample set that features such instruments? Specifically, I'm looking for the wav files - the instrument/plugin itself is not important to me. Somethign that has the supior soudn quality lke NI. I can fidn little one-off stuff online (djembe set here, tabla set there), but they lack the sonic breadth and sound quality that NI accomplished with West Africa and Cuba.

Thanks.

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