Impact Soundworks Instruments of Japan Virtual Instrument Bundle, Download

Eight distinct percussive instruments, three classical stringed instruments in Koto Nation, and a deep-sampled Ventus Winds Shakuhachi.

Note: This bundle is NOT fully compatible with the free Kontakt Player.

- Kageyama Taikos -
The power and presence of Japanese drums, recorded with a focus on authenticity and versatility. Kageyama Taikos shines in traditional music and epic orchestral works, but it's equally at home wherever your imagination takes it: pop and rock, jazz fusion, tense underscores, and anywhere else you need expressive, nuanced performance. Featuring master percussionist Isaku Kageyama on nine distinct solo instruments (expanded in 2023!).

Concept
Taikos have been an essential part of traditional Japanese music for thousands of years. Their deep, resonant, yet crisp sound is unmistakable, whether played solo or as part of a massive ensemble. In the last century, their prominence has risen far beyond the borders of Japan, appearing in major film & television scores, video game soundtracks, and international events. We wanted to devote a sample library entirely to taiko, with several accompanying percussive instruments, played by a master to open up as many options for inspiration as possible.

We brought these drums out of the more common ensemble or concert hall setting, focusing instead on an intimate studio sound. These detailed, up-close recordings result in a much more versatile sample library, allowing you to use it in any style of music you can imagine. We've recorded every drum in this set in great depth, spanning many articulations, dynamics, and variations.

The Instruments

Chudaiko
• 18-inch mid-sized drum recorded on the front and reverse sides; crisp edge, rich resonant center
• 16-inch drum recorded on the front and reverse sides

Odaiko
• 32-inch large drum; deep, booming sound with a dry edge, rich central wash
• Also recorded on the reverse side

Shimedaiko
"Tightened" drum, higher register to soar over other percussion

Okedo (1.5 & 1.4 shaku size, approximately 18" & 16.75")
"Barrel" drum; heavy attack and clear definition

Atarigane (Low and High)
Played with a mallet; clear, metallic sound

Hyoshigi
Wood blocks; full, resonant sound

Console Modular FX Rack & Mixer
Console is a fully-featured mixer, modular effects rack, and pedal board, designed to give you full control over your mix. Effects include multiple EQs (digital and analog-style), compressors, spatial FX, modulation FX, amps, distortion pedals, reverbs, and more.

Each mic channel can be loaded with up to 8 FX in any order, plus another 8 slots on the master channel, with support for send routing as well. The new "Galois Reverb" added in Kontakt 6 Player sounds fantastic as an alternative to our included custom IRs.

Features
• A diverse set of traditional Japanese drums performed by a taiko grandmaster
• Inspiring 3D-modeled UI
• Per-drum tonal shaping and tweaks
• Extra performance controls
• Easily create custom mappings
• CONSOLE FX rack and mixer

- Koto Nation -
The deepest koto, bass koto and shamisen library ever released, featuring world-class performer Masayo Ishigure! 2 mic positions, extensive dynamics and RRs, FX patches and extensive traditional and contemporary articulations.

Concept
We created Koto Nation out of a desire to see traditional Japanese instruments receive a deep, thorough sampling treatment, much like our acclaimed North Indian sample library Sitar Nation. While there are a handful of libraries which include samples of the koto and shamisen, they feature only the most basic articulations and few (if any) velocities or round robins. To our knowledge, the bass koto has never been sampled at all! Given the popularity of the shakuhachi and taiko in many Western film soundtracks, we wanted to allow film composers, hobbyist producers, ethnomusicologists, anime fans and everyone in between access to these classic instruments and complete the repertoire of traditional Japanese sounds available.

This library includes a massive number of samples spanning a wide variety of both traditional and extended playing techniques all recorded by koto legend Masayo Ishigure (Memoirs of a Geisha). This includes close and stereo room mic positions! A total of 25 main patches spread among the three instruments cover all crucial playing techniques, such as sustained picks with a plectrum, pizzicato, octaves, glissandi of multiple types and speeds, vibrato, tremolo, mordents (pitch bends), and mutes, as well as extended techniques such as atonal glissandi, finger scrapes, string hits and hard plucks.

Multiple dynamic and round robin layers were recorded for each articulation, as well as variations in speed or tonality where appropriate; for example, the koto tremolo can be played at two main speeds (with fine speed control), mordents can be set to whole-tone or half-tone, glissandi can be played slow, fast and in ascending, descending or mixed order, and so on. This incredible depth of sampling allows for unparalleled realism, allowing the instruments to stand alone in a solo context as well as in a larger composition.

Instruments

Koto
The national instrument of Japan, and one of the oldest stringed instruments in the world! The koto has 13 strings with an equal number of movable bridges allowing the player to adjust tuning, something that is often called for in pieces. It is traditionally played using three finger picks used to pluck the strings, but a variety of other techniques have developed as well such as finger tapping, harmonics, pizzicato, etc.

Bass Koto
Developed in the early 20th century, the bass koto is a much larger version of the standard koto which adds 4 additional strings and allows for much lower pitches to be played. Its deep, warm sound and large range has made it popular in some forms of Japanese traditional music as well as contemporary music.

Shamisen
Like the koto, this three-stringed developed centuries ago and became an integral part of Japanese music, perhaps most associated with its role in traditional theater where it is still used. It is typically played with a large plectrum, and can be played solo, used to accompany singing or other instruments. Many playing styles have evolved over the years - we recorded a shamisen constructed and performed in the classical jiuta style, as opposed to the tsugaru style typically used in rock or pop music.

Special FX
Also included in the Koto Nation library is a set of 9 "FX" patches, which apply online and offline processing to the core audio to take it in new, musically interesting directions. These sounds range from granular pad textures to warm sustains, drones, airy resonances, percussive hits, distorted synths and eerie ambiances.

Features
• A trio of plucked instruments at the core of traditional Japanese music
• Evocative user interface inspired by Japan
• Easy mic mixing, per-artic ADSR
• Flexible microtuning
• Flexible articulation mapping
• Built-in FX rack

- Ventus Winds Shakuhachi -
The debut instrument in our VENTUS Winds series of beautiful solo instruments. Includes 15 playing techniques and 600 pre-recorded phrases - 6,000 samples in total! An ornament system allows for unique, authentic performances and TACT (Total Articulation Control Technology) provides the ultimate solution for fully customizable mapping.

Concept
Our first foray into sampling traditional Japanese instruments was Koto Nation, released in 2008. Since then, we've received countless requests to explore the shakuhachi next, making it the perfect choice for the first volume of Ventus!

The shakuhachi is an ancient end-blown flute used in Japanese music for over 1,300 years. Performing the instrument and using techniques like vibrato is significantly different than Western flutes and recorders. Its five (pentatonic) holes can produce several octaves of pitches with breathy, serene, and emotional tones.

Our shakuhachi library is performed by Josh Plotner, who captured all key articulations and playing techniques of the instrument: from straight sustains and vibrato to bends, ornaments, and phrases.

About the Ventus Series
We started the Ventus Winds series to take you on a journey all over the world, capturing the tones of beautifully performed solo woodwinds outside the Western repertoire. Along with that goal, we want you to be able to create authentic performances without technology getting in the way.

Each Ventus instrument shares several key features, along with a common user interface:

• Traditional playable articulations alongside a large pool of pre-recorded phrases that you can quickly drop into a composition for instant color
• An innovative ornaments system designed to automagically create decorative techniques in real-time with no extra sequencing or tweaking needed
• Our unique Total Articulation Control Technology (TACT) to unify and simplify the process of creating your own personal mapping setup for every instrument

With these three features, combined with our hallmark depth of sampling and attention to detail, we know that our Ventus Winds will become a source of endless inspiration.

Features
• A beautiful and evocative bamboo flute to evoke the traditional sound of Japan
• Beautiful unified VENTUS interface
• Ornament system for effortless authentic performances
• Phrase playback editor
• Digital & analog-modeled FX rack<