Bamboo Bundle

Angklung

The Angklung is a traditional tuned percussion instrument originating from Indonesia, dating back to roughly the 7th Century AD. Over the past thousand years, it has spread widely throughout Southeast Asia and Polynesia and can be heard in a variety of traditional and modern music, from gamelan orchestras to pop bands and jazz ensembles. The Angklung is actually best thought of as a set of several individual single-note instruments, each one comprised of a pair of bamboo tubes in a higher/lower octave pair sounded by a loose rattle. The result is a uniquely full, clear but short-sustaining, dry note. We sampled 18 Angklung notes, tuned over a major scale spanning nearly 3 full octaves. We close-miced them in a dry studio and out in a large open hall with 3 mic positions (close, mid, far). We recorded each up and down stroke separately, with 48 round-robin variations per-velocity/per-note for the dry (24 up/24 down) and 16 round-robin per-velocity for the hall samples (8 up/8 down). We also recorded natural hand-played sustaining loops at different speeds and intensities, with smooth dynamic cross-fading between layers and adjustable release samples. And finally, we created a set of ambient soundscapes crafted from the raw source recordings that complement the sound of the instrument.

Our integrated arpeggiation system allows you to create realistic sustaining angklung rolls with the multi-sample presets that have completely fluid attack, sustain and release behavior, with precise real-time speed/tempo and intensity controls, with optional host tempo-syncing and velocity graphing. You also have full control over the tightness and character of the instrument with our host-automatable attack, offset, release, swell, micro-tuning, eq, convolution reverb and more excellent sound-shaping features.

Bamblong

The Bamblong is a small bamboo idiophone similar to a marimba or angklung, meticulously hand-crafted from sections of cut and carved bamboo from Southest Asia. It is comprised of a row of tuned bamboo logs that serve as resonance chambers, each ranging between 11⁄2 - 21⁄4 inches in diameter and 8 – 14 inches in length, with sound holes cut into the top of each one. The actual playing surface for each log is a thin bamboo plank suspended on pegs over each bamboo log. When played with recycled rubber bicycle tire mallets, the instrument has a smooth and mellow, yet very crisp and clear musical note, with a quick decay.

We recorded in a very close, intimate dry setting to capture the full warmth and tonality of each note. This gives it a rich, strong presence and total creative flexibility and also allows our Bamblong to work extremely well with any reverb or spatializing effect you like. We deep-sampled the instrument exhaustively, with up to 24 dynamic velocity layers per note and 10 round-robin variations per dynamic layer. We also recorded strikes and rolls using nylon jazz brushes for a unique raspy effect. In addition to the dry studio articulations, the bamblong was also recorded in a large glass and stone recording hall for a bright, organic live sound. This “wet” version of the Bamblong is ideal for use in symphonic arrangements and blending with other concert percussion.

Bamboo Stick Ensemble

The Bamboo Stick Ensemble is a classic scoring percussion library for Kontakt captures the tight, powerful clack of long, heavy raw bamboo poles, played more as a weapon than as an instrument. We struck, clashed, bent, dragged, scraped, shattered, and pounded them into splinters, with solo and ensemble articulations. Beyond just pure epic war percussion, the Bamboo Stick ensemble features haunting drones, screeches, roars and nightmarish horn-like wails that we produced by brutally grinding the resonant bamboo against stone.

Our Bamboo Stick Ensemble has been featured in many major motion picture soundtracks and serves as a powerful display of just how far you can take a simple non-traditional object like a bamboo pole. To get just the right mix of power and edge, we took a number of large bamboo poles and sampled them meticulously as mighty epic percussion instruments. When striking and scraping a stone floor with them, the result is an interesting blend of aggressive slaps, clacks, screeches, drones and even howls. We recorded this library in a favorite lush tile and stone recording hall, with the specific goal of achieving the most massive and powerful epic percussion hall sound we could get. True epic percussion can only be done in a natural hall. We recorded 10 round robin variations per velocity layer, with an average of 5 layers per note. The swooshes have a very rounded, whistling quality to them. They become tighter and more percussive as you move up their key range. The haunting sustaining drones, screaches and wails were created by dragging the end of the bamboo shafts against the ceramic tiles.