Koto Sample CD Receives Music Tech Magazine Value Award
The Koto Sample DVD received the Music Tech Value Award in the July 2009 issue # 76 of Music Tech Magazine.
The review was kinda a downer to read in some parts of the review, but nevertheless was lucky enough to be featured in MTM issue 76 which actually sold out. I can't find an issue to save my life, but fortunately the kind crew over at MTM was kind enough to send me their "last" copy.
Even if it didn't get the best review I was looking for it still got a good response from the producers and DJs that bought the album to use in their own productions.
Since the magazine was sold out and from the word on the street no reprints coming in the near future I have posted the review here for those of you who want to hear what MTM had to say about Koto sample DVD.
I Love Tibet Review by: Music Tech Magazine
Reviewed by: Website: http://www.discoverysound.com
We always enjoy reviewing ethnic sample libraries from Discovery Sound because, quite frankly, they never disappoint Interesting content and immaculately produced recordings are the norm.
As usual, the entire album appears to have been well planned from the
outset and adheres mainly to a simple ACID/WAV/REX2 format for the three main instrument categories: wind,
strings and percussion. That goes for
the vocal samples too: a rich variety of spoken words, phrases and songs by men,
women and children, plus solo mantras and group chanting by Buddhist monks. In addition, a couple of the stringed instruments are available in Kontakt
format and the wonderful Tibetan percussion, bells and cymbals are also presented in
All in all, this is a delightful collection, and considering the cost of the location recording, it's good
value for money. We recommend a visit to the
The Legend of China receives Reason Freaks 10/10 Award
Reviewer: Butch Manning
Manufacturer: Discovery Sound
Like: Quality and sheer volume of usable samples.
Dislike: Not mu
chRating:
What do we get?
We get 1 data CD absolutely jammed with a total of 387 Rex2 and Acid/Wav samples.
1 audio CD that 339 also includes a .zip file with 73 folders for multisampling, and
another with some very impressive Lei Qin (a Chinese stringed instrument) sound
effects.
The Meat and Potatoes of the matter.......
Discovery became legendary whern they released this collection onto the market in 1999.
It caused a huge stir, and with good reason too. The quality of the recordings, and the
sheer amount of samples in this library made it a hard one to ignore for people looking
for a range of authentic sounding Chinese.....um......flavors (did that last bit make sense?).
Percussion
The Percussion folder contains 21 loops, and 78 one shot phrases and samples. The
loops section may not be that large, but the quality is great, and provide a fantastic
example of eastern rhythms. The One Shot Phrases and samples folder is just as
enormous in content as it is in diversity. To travel phonically into a nightmarish world
of Chinese suspense thriller movies, you have to check out the "yun luo" samples.
My favourite.
Stringed Instruments
I love stringed instruments. All of them. Whenever I hear of a friend or family member
going to some exotic location or other i always give them some money and say "Hey,
bring me back some wierd lookin' instruments......". Invariably they almost always get
nabbed at customs for having animal skin echo chambers, or lower mongolian longhaired-
elk tail strings. What a waste. Of the instrument. Not the elk. But i digress......
The loops are where this collection shines. The string folder contains 101 loops, and 36
One shot samples and phrases. There are many types of authentic chinese stringed
instruments here. They are...
Bowed
* Ban Hu
* Er Hu
* Gao Hu
* Jing Hu
* Ma Tou Qin
Plucked
* Pi Pa
* San Xian
* Yang Qin
* Zheng
* Zhui Qin
Many of these instruments were familiar to my ears when i first heard them, and until
now my mind had put them into the "Eastern String Sound" catagory. Not hard to hear
the subtle differences now that i can listen to them closely. It's a bit like my sister
listening to an acoustic steel stringed guitar, and a classical nylon stringed guitar.
She can tell the difference, but only if i am playing it in front of her ;-)
Vocals
The vocals folder contains 18 loops and 74 one shot phrases and samples. From
beautiful, whispered dialogue to all out comedy gold, there is a lot of content here for
the vocal sample digger. A fair chunk of the samples here are from chinese theatre, with
funny voices and sound effects. The only drawback i can see is that it didn't come with a text
file that translated the samples into english. I would love to know what they are saying,
as this might have been one more thing that would make me use it. I do like finding samples
that say something profound. It's even better when they are in another language, because
it gives it an air of mystery. Oh well. They do sound great as is.
Wind Instruments
The wind instruments folder contains 58 Loops, but only 1 one shot. I fear that this may
have been a folder packing oversight, as i can't see the point of putting just 1 sample in there. However, The loop folder has more than enough to keep me interested. There are eight types
of Chinese wind instruments showcased.
* Da Guan
* Da Suo Na
* Di Zi
* Qu Di
* Sheng
* Xiao Guan
* Xiao Suo Na
* Xiao
The samples range from happy uptempo phrases, to more melancholic "Yes Grasshopper"
sounding phrases, usually depending on the sound of the particular instrument. Rich, full
recordings. A warning that you shouldn't have the stereo up too loud when browsing these
samples, as the frequencies some of the reedier sounding instruments hit could make your
ears bleed. In a good way, ofcourse.
Extras
The CD contains two zip files of bonus material. The Lei Quin effects mimick the noises
of farm animals with astoundingly good results. This kind of playing is usually heard in
traditional chinese puppet theatre as an accompaniment to the action on stage. There
is an extra 273mb of samples. These are set out in 73 folders for multisampling. But wait,
that's not all. Did you say Steak Knives??? Well, we don't have any of those, but, there is
a great range of atmospherics included in the audio CD. These were recorded in market
places, street corners, apartments, restaurants, and even some straight from local TV.
All in stereo.
Conclusion:
Discovery deserves all of the praise that was heaped in wads upon it when this collection
was first released. When i got this, there was so much good usable stuff that i hardly new
where to start. Admittedly, in my opinion, this sample pack seems more suited to movie
and theatre scores, but anyone looking for traditional sounds would find it irreplaceable.
Never have i heard such a fantastic slice of life from one culture. Except maybe the Alma
Flamenco Release, but even that didn't have the diversity that this does. Butch give this a
well deserved RF award. Well done discovery ;-)
Original Album Created Using Koto Sample CD
In 2009 composer Steven Odden created an original masterpiece, "Poems of the Moon, Sky, and Sea" using the sounds and music from Discovery's KOTO sample DVD. Some may wonder what can be created using sample software and this review is one fine example.
Here is what Steve Odden has to say about KOTO sample cd software.
"When I thought up Poems of the Moon, Sky, and Sea I was reading Tale of the Genji and looking at the art work of Amano Yoshitaka.It was The art work in Tale of the Genji by Amano Yoshitaka that influenced me to create all the tracks for the cd and create the story.
Poems of the Moon, Sky, and Sea is a love story about the Moon, Sky, and Sea. Each track tells a story through music with sampled instruments.
The sounds and instrumnets are all part of the telling of this story.
I was able to create this CD because of the high quality samples on the KOTO sample CD. The main instruments Shakuhachi and Koto in sound totally authentic and give a very real performance.
My love of Inuyasha and Princess Mononoke turned me on to older styles of Japanese music. I consider the traditional Japanese music to be very impressionistic, like the paintings of that time.
I have always wanted to compose some sort of Japanese fairytale soundtrack; finally I was able to because of KOTO!"
You can hear samples of what Steve created by downloading them from Discovery Downloader.
8 Bit Family on Layman's Reviews
Review of Discovery's "8 Bit Family" by Laymansreviews.com.
Add some retro crunch to your productions with Discovery's classic sample collection
Considering the amount of work synth and plugin developers put into
producing powerful, dynamic new sound rendering engines capable of all
manner of vibrant, pristine tones, it seems a little odd that we then
put so much effort into making them sound... well... a bit rubbish. If
we're not crushing bits or downsampling, we're layering all manner of
distortion and saturation effects in a bid to dirty things up a little.
This is particularly prevalent in current electro and house music, with the
latest crop of uber-hip producers just as likely to break out a SID
emulator as anything else in a bid to give their tracks that extra
chip-sound crunch.
Of course, sometimes emulation doesn't quite
cut it. In which case you're left with the option of reaching for the
old Gameboy and a soldering iron, or investing in a sample CD such as
those in Discovery Sound's 8-bit Family range. Volume one was
originally released in 2003, but the sounds contained in this (now very
reasonably priced) collection are arguably more relevant today than
they were six years ago.
The library consists of a broadcollection of sound loops, effects and sequences culled from original video game sources for the last word in authenticity.
The 8-bit chipsets may have been restricted to little more than basic triangular
and rectangular waveforms and a noise generator, but the sound
designers of the day saw this more as a challenge than a limitation,
fashioning a distinctive and familiar palette of drums, bass, leads and
warbling "chords", all of which are present and correct in Discovery's
collection.
The CD contains the expected selection of ACID wav
and REX2 files, with EXS24 and HALion maps provided for good measure,
while the breakdown of sounds available is comprehensive:
Bass-loop: 11 files
Construction-kit: 38 types/186 files
Drum-loops: 31 files
Drum-hit: 32 files
Misc.loop: 43 files
Soundeffects: 37 files
EXS24/HALion: 27 programs/216 samples
Summary
It's hard to find any real fault with the 8Bit Family sample CD, as this is
one of those products that does pretty much exactly as it promises on
the tin. The samples are plentiful and well-captured, including chunky
grooves, bleeping beats and some satisfyingly crunchy construction kits
for building your own chip-tastic rhythm tracks. Loops are cleanly
structured and neatly chopped.
The CD layout is logical and consistent with many other sample CD libraries, although we'd have appreciated slightly more descriptive naming of files to help in
finding the right sound when scanning through. And of course, the very
nature of sample CDs mean they're inherently limited in their variety
and flexibility.
Minor quibbles aside, this is a well-considered
collection of chipset sounds, and at the current price, well worth
considering as an addition to the arsenal of anyone looking to add that
touch of retro authenticity to their productions.
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