Kong Audio Chinee Series GuanZi and Sheng KONTAKT

January 12, 2020 0

5 views

Characterized by the triste tone, GuanZi (literally means Pipe) is a one-of-a-kind double-reed instrument from China.

Originated in Central Asia, like many other existing Chinese instruments, GuanZi was embraced dearly and became an integral part of Chinese instruments ever since the great Tang Dynasty (7th -10th centuries).

GuanZi was once one of the standard instruments of court music. It was also used in military and festival events, as well as monumental, burial ceremonies. It is, sometimes, considered to be too distinctive to be a team instrument though, hence resulted its slightly being overlooked today.

Innovative Approach to the Pitch Envelopes
ChineeGuanzi is arguably the most expressive plugin in the whole Chinee Series so far, due to the innovative combination of pitch-envelopes with keyswitching in the patch programming, all of which blend seamlessly together with the priceless actual knowledge about the physical instrument itself.

Please note this is the only sampled-based product that we are aware of featuring such a huge focus on the pitch-envelopes to make an instrument as lively playable as possible. We’d be very interested in knowing if there is any other similar product on the current market.

Sheng
The Mouth Organ of Concord

As one of the earliest and most commonly recognized Chinese instruments, Sheng, a free-reed, mouth-blown instrument, which can be traced back to at least 3,000 years ago, has withstood against time and still is a vital key piece in today’s Chinese music. Sheng is also said to have inspired the creation of Accordion and Harmonica.

Sheng is extremely versatile and expressive in its own right, with a wide note range, as well as much the broad tonal textures, as demonstrated in our official audio demo.

Due to its portability and the polyphony nature, Sheng is also one of the few common accompanying instruments in Chinese music. It’s a must-have piece for scoring a more comprehensive Chinese-theme music.

A special note on the recording musician: He Yuan, who is a distinguished performer, composer, professor, and also an active member of the classical Chinese music community. He has won many provincial and national awards in various categories, and He has toured overseas many times. With the help of He, the nuances and intrinsic delicacies are faithfully captured.

Kontakt 5.7.3+