Detailed sampled ethnic instruments.
We came up with the idea for Sitar Nation in mid-2007, after noticing that despite the growing popularity of ethnic instrument libraries, few products sampled non-Western instruments with a level of depth expected from a modern sample library. We spoke with numerous composers and producers who were unhappy with the current offering of ethnic instrument samples which only provided an “overview” of sounds and lacked the detail necessary to provide realistic solo performances.
The sitar, tampura, tabla and baya were chosen for our library not only because these instruments have remained a foundation of Indian classical music for centuries, but also because they have even permeated Western music since the 50s and 60s. Sitar Nation is the first library to capture these instruments with a level of detail and realism normally reserved for violins and pianos, allowing the composer to control and play these beautiful sounds without relying on excessive programming.
The patches cover a variety of important playing techniques for all four instruments. This, combined with extensive sampling for velocity and round robins, allows you to carefully reproduce authentic sounds OR simply add flourishes of flavor to your compositions with a minimum of time spent.
Also included with Sitar Nation is a set of FX patches which take the core audio content into new directions. The result is a wide variety of highly useful sounds, from drones and percussion to chimes, pads and keyboards.
Handcrafted, Gourdless Sitar
Performed by Thomas Flanagan, the sitar we recorded is a custom-made instrument crafted from wood that seasoned for seven years! Articulations include plucking (thumbed and picked), mordents (quick “turns”), strums of the chikari (rhythm) strings, whole tone bends, glissandos at different speeds and both major and minor tonalities, basic phrases and tremolos. Thorough velocity and round robin sampling was used for many articulations, with up to four layers and three round robin groups.
