Ethno World 5 Professional & Voices

ETHNO WORLD 5 PROFESSIONAL & VOICES contient plus de 240 instruments et voix ethniques enregistrés professionnellement avec la plus grande exigence, rassemblant plus de 18000 samples dans les catégories « instruments à archet » « Instruments à cordes grattées », « Bois et Cuivre » « Instrument à clavier », « Cloches », « Métal », « Peau frappées », « percussions ethniques », « Gongs et bols » et une toute nouvelle rubrique : « Voix et chœurs ».

Plus de 2500 enregistrements de solo et phrasés vocaux issus de toute la planète constituent une toute nouvelle catégorie remarquée de ETHNO WORLD 5 PROFESSIONAL & VOICES. Les nouveaux Taiko Drums et Big Ethnic Tom Drums permettent aux compositeurs de musique de films de créer des enregistrements très impressionnants, à partir soit des sons séparés jouables sur mesure ou à partir de loops inspirantes. Dans la catégorie Woodwinds on peut désormais trouver la Ney Flute (Iran), la flûte Pivana également en version ténor (Corse), la classique flûte de pan et des sifflements humains. Dans la catégorie « Metal » on peut trouver une très grande panoplie de sons de cymbales Crash, Splash, Ride et China Cymbals avec des coups individuels, des Swells et des loops, le gong Big Feng et des sons raffinés de Windchimes. Dans la catégorie « Cordes grattées » ont peut désormais jouer un Bandura d’Ukraine.

ETHNO WORLD 5 PROFESSIONAL & VOICES fonctionne avec Kontakt 4 Player et a été minutieusement programmé pour atteindre une nouvelle dimension. Une nouvelle interface permet entre autre un accès direct à de nombreux paramètres et une utilisation intuitive des instruments présentés. Au travers de l’intégration des Reverbérations à Convolution les instruments sonnent encore plus naturels.

**Upgrades
When ordering an Upgrade from EW3/4 Professional (DVD) your legal registration will be checked when activating EW5.
When ordering an Upgrade from a Download Pack (EW4 or EW Selection) you have to enter the serial number of your download license as a proof of purchase into the message field at the checkout. Your order will be shipped after a successful verification! 

Bruno Cariou - Composer:
"Just a note to let you know I’ve been using Ethno World quite a lot recently and find it just amazing, be it the licks or the playable instruments.
My whole new set “Prince of India” uses instruments from EW-5. That library is just an endless source of inspiration!
Thanks a lot for this work!"

Bruno Cariou - www.cinematicworks.net

Instruments and Voices:

Bell Type Instruments:
Bamboo Vibraphone
Belltree
Bhutan Bells
China Finger Cymbals
Dream Catcher
Gamelan Crash Bells
Glockenspiel
Iran Fingercymbals
Metallophon
Mini Bells
Saron Gamelan
Shanghai Baby Piano
Small Burma Bells
Small Tubular Bells
Tibetan Cymbals
Tibetan Singing Bells
Vietnam Bells
Windbells
Windchimes Ethno World

BOWED INSTRUMENTS:
Dilruba
Egyptian Fiddle
Erhu
Esraj
Gaohu
Ih Khuur Bass
Jinghu Operaviolin
Morin Khuur Strings Ensemble
Morin Khuur Violin
Small Morin Khuur
Western Fiddle Licks

CONSTRUCTION SETS:
China Set 100
China Set 120
China Set 140
Mid East Set 100
Mid East Set 120
Mid East Set 140
Mid East Set 80

 
GONGS & BOWLS:
Big FengGong
Big Rako Bowls
Big Tibetan Singing Bowls
Gong Besar 18“
Java Gong
Mongolian Gong
Rin Singing Bowls
Tam Tam Besar
Thai Gong 14“
Wuhan Tam Tam

 
KEY INSTRUMENTS:
Dallape Accordion
Melodica
Scale Changer Harmonium India

 
METAL TYPE INSTRUMENTS:
Bass Kalimba
Cymbals
Hand Cymbals
Jews Harp
Kalimba Kibirizi 15 tuning Plates
Kalimba Kibirizi 5 tuning Plates
Kalimba Hugh Tracey
Metal Squares
Military Cymbals
Mongolian Jews Harp

 
STRINGED INSTRUMENTS:
Acoustic Bass Vester
Balalaika
Bandura
Banjo Framus
Banjolin
Big Erhu Plectrum Violin
Bouzouki Sakis
Ceylon Guitar
Contra Guitar F - Bass
Cora
Cümbüs
Domra
Dra-Ngen
Grand Monochord
Joochin Dulcimer
Kantele
Mandolin Truxa
Oud
Oud Licks
Resonator Guitar
Santoor Saberi
Saz Licks
Sitar
Small Erhu Plectrum Violin
Small Kantele
Steel String Guitar Falcon
Tampura
Tanbur
Timple
Turke Saz
Ukulele
Zheng Harp
Zsoura Sakis

 
VOICES & Choirs:
Boy´s Voices
Bulgarian Female Voices
Cameroon Male Voices
Chinese Voices
Ethnic Chamber Choir
European Ethnic Choir
Fouxi European Ethnic Voices
Gregorian Chants
Guinean Male Voices
Human Whistling
Lipa European Ethnic Voices
Mongolian Female Solo Vocals
Mongolian Male Khoomii Overtone Vocals
Mongolian Male Solo Vocals
Mongolian Male Subtone Vocals
Mongolian Vocal Ensemble
Nanina European Ethnic Voices
Native American Original Chants
Native American Style Chants
Neda Iranian & Arabian Voices
Paulo European Ethnic Voices
Peruvian Male Voices
Ponchi European Ethnic Voices
Turkish Male Voices
Ukrainian Traditional Songs
Wolfgang European Ethnic Voices

 
WOODWINDS & BRASS:
Bamboo Flute
Bawu
Ceylon Snake Charmer
Ciaramella
Dagoba Flute
Didgeridoo
Duduk
Dung Dkar Conch Trumpets
Dvojacka Doubletone Flute
Flute Phrases
Fujara Flute
Fujara Overtone Flute
Hawaiian Shellhorn
Hotchiku
Hulusi
Indian Snake Charmer
Irish Low Whistle
Irish Traverse Flute
Kena
Krumhorn
Launeddas
Low Whistle Licks
Mancosedda
Mexican Piccolo Flute
Moceno Bassflute
Ney Flute
Ocarina
Overton Irish Whistle
Overton Irish Whistle Licks
Panflute
Panflute Canira
Peruvian Double Ocarina
Peruvian Ocarina
Pinkillo Flute
Pivana Flute
Rag Dun Horns
Recorder
Shakuhachi
Shenai
Sheng
Shiva Flute
Susato Whistle
Tenor Pivana Flute
Tenor Recorder
Tin Whistle LIcks
Uilleann Pipes
Various Ocarinas
Zukra Bagpipe

 
WORLD DRUMS:
African Donn Donn Drum
Bass Cajon
Bass Skin Udu
Bendir Framedrum
Big Ethnic Tom Drums
Big hand Drum
Ceremony Drum
Darabuka
Derbuka
Djembe
Dolek
Flat Udu
Gon Bops Cuica Drum
Gran Military Cassa
Indian Tablas
Iran Bongos
Kanjira
Madal Drum
Military Snaredrum
Mongolian Framedrum
Mongolian Hengereg Drum
Moroccon Conga
Oceandrum
Piccolo Military Snaredrum
Pitched Timbales
Small Cassa
Small Derbuka
Surdo
Taiko Drums
Talking Drum
Tambourine Drum
Traditional Bongos
Tunis Ceremony Drum
Waterdrums
Yambu

 
WORLD PERCUSSION:
African Rice Shaker
African Xylophone
Afuche Cabasa
American Woodblocks
Angklung Gamelan
Balafon
Bamboo Windchimes
Baobab Shaker
Castanets
Chi Gong Balls
Chicken Eggs
Cola Shaker
Drum Pots
Gamelan Wooden Cowbell
Gon Bops Cuica
Gopichand
Headless Tambourine
Log drum
Metal Guiro Shaker
Mixed Wood Percussion
Mongolian Bones Shaker
Nut Shaker
Rainmakers
Rattle Shaker
Schellenkranz
Shaker Sets
Shell Shekere
Small Chickeneggs
Small Maracas
Spring Drums
Tamborcito
Tambourine Drum
Traditional Cowbells
Tunis Tambourine
Various Maracas
Wood Shaker
Wooden Bells
Wrist Jingles

Please notice that a few of the instruments are not available as playable patches but as sampled phrases.

Ethno World 4 Selection

You are looking for an inexpensive access to the world of professional Ethnic Instruments?
Then you are ready for the limited edition of Ethno World 4 Selection in our download shop SoundsOnDemand.com

Démos video

	Trailer
	Derbuka
	Duduk
	Joochin
	Mid East Set
	Nanina
	Native Style
	Paulo
	Quechua
	Shakuhachi
	Zheng Har

Plus d'information

Systemrequirements

NI Kontakt Player 4 included in this product!

The latest version of Kontakt Player is available through your Native-Instruments Service Center.

PC

• Windows XP (SP2 )/ Vista/ Win7 (32/64 Bit),
• Pentium or Athlon XP 1.4 GHz, min. 2 GB RAM

Mac

• OSX 10.5 / 10.6
• Intel (!!!) Core Duo 1.66 GHz, min. 2 GB RAM

for all

• 1GB free disc space for player installation
• additional hard disc space according to the library size
• internet connection for product activation required (on any computer)
• DVD drive

Note on Support for KONTAKT Player products:
Native Instruments only provides Registration/Activation support for KONTAKT Player products. Technical support is managed by the manufacturer of the respective products/libraries.

Product activation:
An internet connection on any computer is required to authorize / activate the product (Challenge/Response).

Revue de presse

Sound On Sound Sept 2011

abridgement

Ultimately, this is a fairly expensive library but one that is classy enough to justify itself to discerning composers of world or new age music, or anyone in search of deluxe exotica.

complete review

Computer Music UK, July 2011

This latest edition of Marcel Barsotti’s Ethno World is subtitled Professional & Voices, and it brings voices and choirs to the mix. It adds 15 categorised folders (199 patches) to the existing ethnic instrument package of over 600 patches across ten categories. As a whole, Ethno World now covers massive ground, including stringed, wind, keyed and percussion instruments from around the globe, as well as newly recorded solo voices and an ethnic chamber choir.

The `ethnic` tag denotes both the source and intended application of the library. However, in use, you’ll find much of the instruments section simply grouped by type rather than source location, and we had to head to the manual to discover that Saron Gammelan, for example, is from the indonesian island of Lombok. By contrast, and more sensibly, the voice library is more specifically labelled (Bulgarian Female Voices, Peruvian Male Voices, European Ethnic Voices, and so on), and this often makes instrument selection quicker.
Also very positive is the implementation of Kontakt 4 features. Not only do you get a fivetab interface (quick edit, effects, group edit, microtuning and performance), but new features include sample start time, legato mode, humanise and use of K4’s Beat Machine and Time Mashine II features to enable loop-by-loop adjustments. Use of these last two is clearly indicated in the patch names (BM or TM) and is a massive bonus for anyone wanting to sync or tweak the many percussion or instrument loops on offer. Also rather useful is the inclusion of separately tabbed effects within the main effects page, and unbelievably for an instrument of this type, resonant low- and high-pass filters with envelopes.

EW5 is not a cheap package (existing users benefit from a competitive upgrade deal), but if you have the time to explore and tweak, there’s a lot here that will appeal to producers working in most musical genres.

M.A.O. Forum Feb 2011

 M.A.O. Forum Feb 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wgN3_wnON8

EQ Magazine US 1/2011

Marcel Barsotti continues to enlarge his Ethno World library of exotic instruments, adding 10GB of content to the EW4 library–there are 240 instruments and (new to V5) 25 solo voices; the voices alone add more than 3,800 samples and phrases.

The audio engine, Native Instruments’ Kontakt 4 Player, gets stronger with each release. The Player’s effects are outstanding (love that convolution reverb), as is the flexible routing. You only realize the Player has limitations if you use the full version of K4–with which EW5 is compatible. Also, EW5 skillfully uses K4’s scripting and articulation to provide serious expressiveness, and many files exploit the Beat and Time Machine options.

Instrument categories include bell, bowed, gongs, keyboard, metallic, stringed instruments, woodwind and bass, world drums/percussion, and even construction kits for China and the Mideast. Voices come from literally from all over the world, and the recording quality can’t be faulted.

$480 may seem like a lot, but do the math: That’s $24 per GB of expertly-crafted, well-organized, classy content–and probably all the ethnic sounds you’ll ever need (well, at least until EW6 appears). Outstanding.
 

Ethno World 3 Music Tech 11/2005

Ethnoworld 3 Complete combines the first two volumes of the Ethnoworld series with 40 new and rare ethnic instruments in a single ROMpler, powered by Native Instruments’ Kompakt Player.

The collection includes more than 170 instruments, complete with a number of different playing techniques that can be accessed using the Dimension keys in Kompakt Player. The instruments have been gathered from across the globe and include some you may not have heard of, such as the grand monochord – a sound box from Germany with 50 strings. 

All of the instruments sound superb, and with careful planning it is possible to achieve a performance that sounds close enough to the original instrument to fool all but the most experienced ears. Many of the instruments include some stock phrases. There aren’t enough of these to make effective use of them in a musical context, but if you aren’t sure how any of the instruments should be used, it’s a good means of trying them out.

There is, of course, still room for expansion. While the library includes a good number of exotic instruments, there are a number of obvious examples that have been left out, such as the Shamisen, one of the most popular Japanese instruments (a Shamisen sample library is available through Discovery Sound and was reviewed in Issue 30. 

A wonderful collection of exotic instruments from around the world. Given that most of us will never get the opportunity to play such a diverse range of instruments, this library is the next best thing.

9/10
MTM RECOMMENDED AWARD  Review: ETHNO WORLD 3 COMPLETE  Music Tech, November 2005

Ethnoworld 3 Complete combines the first two volumes of the Ethnoworld series with 40 new and rare ethnic instruments in a single ROMpler, powered by Native Instruments’ Kompakt Player.

The collection includes more than 170 instruments, complete with a number of different playing techniques that can be accessed using the Dimension keys in Kompakt Player. The instruments have been gathered from across the globe and include some you may not have heard of, such as the grand monochord – a sound box from Germany with 50 strings. 

All of the instruments sound superb, and with careful planning it is possible to achieve a performance that sounds close enough to the original instrument to fool all but the most experienced ears. Many of the instruments include some stock phrases. There aren’t enough of these to make effective use of them in a musical context, but if you aren’t sure how any of the instruments should be used, it’s a good means of trying them out.

There is, of course, still room for expansion. While the library includes a good number of exotic instruments, there are a number of obvious examples that have been left out, such as the Shamisen, one of the most popular Japanese instruments (a Shamisen sample library is available through Discovery Sound and was reviewed in Issue 30. 

A wonderful collection of exotic instruments from around the world. Given that most of us will never get the opportunity to play such a diverse range of instruments, this library is the next best thing.

9/10
MTM RECOMMENDED AWARD 

Ethno World 3 Future Music 12/2005

AS YOU FLICK through the pages of the glossy manual that comes with this collection, it provides a detailed history on all of the instruments included, and from the off it’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer diversity on offer. 

Listing the complete set of instruments contained within Ethno World have would probably take this entire spread, but just as an example you’ve got a good selection of wood shakers, bagpipes, gongs, sitars, flutes, tubular bells… in fact, we’re looking at pretty much every conceivable ‘world’ instrument that you can imagine. During my time on the magazine a fair few of these types of collections have passed through my hands, and each one has been a mixed bag – mainly because there are so many instruments out there that can come under the ‘world music’ umbrella. 

But this is a heavyweight collection – weighing in at a hefty 5GB – and has got the lot. It seems that no expense has been spared in the recording of this one: the depth and tonal quality to each sound is absolutely superb and a cut above most of its competitors. And because the samples themselves are on the large side, it can take a little while to load them when switching between patches, but the sheer quality makes them well worth the wait. 


Review: ETHNO WORLD 3  Future Music, December 2005AS YOU FLICK through the pages of the glossy manual that comes with this collection, it provides a detailed history on all of the instruments included, and from the off it’s hard not to be impressed by the sheer diversity on offer. 

Listing the complete set of instruments contained within Ethno World have would probably take this entire spread, but just as an example you’ve got a good selection of wood shakers, bagpipes, gongs, sitars, flutes, tubular bells… in fact, we’re looking at pretty much every conceivable ‘world’ instrument that you can imagine. During my time on the magazine a fair few of these types of collections have passed through my hands, and each one has been a mixed bag – mainly because there are so many instruments out there that can come under the ‘world music’ umbrella. 

But this is a heavyweight collection – weighing in at a hefty 5GB – and has got the lot. It seems that no expense has been spared in the recording of this one: the depth and tonal quality to each sound is absolutely superb and a cut above most of its competitors. And because the samples themselves are on the large side, it can take a little while to load them when switching between patches, but the sheer quality makes them well worth the wait. 


 

Ethno World 4 Music Tech Mag. 5/2008

World music sample libraries are plentiful, but few are quite as diverse as this. Keith Gemmell broadens his horizons…

Our world has shrunk dramatically in the twenty-first century – telecommunications and cheap air travel have seen to that. As a consequence, the demand for ethnic music to accompany the myriad of travelogues and countless other globally inspired media productions is continuously expanding. Small wonder, then, that film composer Marcel Barsotti’s sample library, Ethno World, has grown from a mere 1.4GB of content to 9.5GB in just seven years.

Now called Ethno World 4 Professional, the fourth edition contains more than 200 professionally recorded ethnic instruments and more than 14,000 samples. The GUI has been upgraded too, and is now powered by NI’s ubiquitous Kontakt 2 Player. That means that users can take advantage of the Kontakt 2 audio engine to transpose instruments and playing styles into any chosen key, not possible in EW3.

What’s new?

In addition to the new interface and audio engine there are many new interesting instruments. One is the bowed Morin Khuur, a fretless violin-like affair dating from 12th-century Mongolia. Like most of the instruments it’s supplied as a series of loops in a variety of tempi as well as single notes. Keyswitch articulations (Best Service calls them dimension keys) enable you to select different playing styles on-the-fly. That’s fine, but it’s not always a simple matter to play a melodic line and achieve the required result without further programming. That said, if you go with the flow and use the dimension keys to influence the composition process, unexpected and sometimes inspiring results are quickly obtained. The same goes for the loops, which are great for kick-starting compositions.

Returning to the Mongolian theme: an entire Morin Khuur string ensemble is also available. A first for Ethno World, this makes it possible to create a complete string arrangement with up to nine different key switches, similar to large orchestra libraries. Mongolia features quite heavily in the other new categories, too, notably voices (solo, ensemble, male, female) and world percussion (gongs, bones, drums and Jews harp). Other newbies include a generous helping of woodwinds and brass plus a joochin, which is similar to a European zither.

The sheer number and variety of instruments on offer is mightily impressive – eleven distinct categories with further sub-categories, including two sets of Chinese and Middle Eastern construction kits.

Good player

The sample player has been very well implemented. Each instrument is loaded with a common performance view and parameter set with which you can adjust the offset of start notes in milliseconds and assign controllers other than a keyboard to trigger samples. You can also apply parallel harmonies here. Two freely assignable intervals can be added; convenient for building exotically tuned pads.

Other player views include group effects (volume tuning, filter, envelopes), microtuning (graphical fine-tuning, modes), effects (reverb, modulation, delay, dynamics) and automation. The latter comprises eight slots with dropdown menus for selecting just about any controllable parameter.

If you compose or produce music that encompasses a broad range of world styles, Ethno World 4 Professional could be for you, particularly if you don’t already own many sample libraries. It’s packed with high-quality instruments that can be tweaked to suit your performance style. If you’re not such a good performer, this set also has you covered by providing a vast number of licks and phrases that yield speedy results.

SUMMARY

Why Buy

-High quality samples
-Sheer instrument diversity
-Lots of licks
-Walk on by
-Fairly expensive

Verdict

Quantity and quality:
amazingly diverse set of world instrument samples, licks and phrases plus an easy-to-use, well-implemented interface.

Rating: 9/10

Review: Ethno World 4  Music Tech Magazine – May 2008 World music sample libraries are plentiful, but few are quite as diverse as this. Keith Gemmell broadens his horizons… Our world has shrunk dramatically in the twenty-first century – telecommunications and cheap air travel have seen to that. As a consequence, the demand for ethnic music to accompany the myriad of travelogues and countless other globally inspired media productions is continuously expanding. Small wonder, then, that film composer Marcel Barsotti’s sample library, Ethno World, has grown from a mere 1.4GB of content to 9.5GB in just seven years. Now called Ethno World 4 Professional, the fourth edition contains more than 200 professionally recorded ethnic instruments and more than 14,000 samples. The GUI has been upgraded too, and is now powered by NI’s ubiquitous Kontakt 2 Player. That means that users can take advantage of the Kontakt 2 audio engine to transpose instruments and playing styles into any chosen key, not possible in EW3. What’s new? In addition to the new interface and audio engine there are many new interesting instruments. One is the bowed Morin Khuur, a fretless violin-like affair dating from 12th-century Mongolia. Like most of the instruments it’s supplied as a series of loops in a variety of tempi as well as single notes. Keyswitch articulations (Best Service calls them dimension keys) enable you to select different playing styles on-the-fly. That’s fine, but it’s not always a simple matter to play a melodic line and achieve the required result without further programming. That said, if you go with the flow and use the dimension keys to influence the composition process, unexpected and sometimes inspiring results are quickly obtained. The same goes for the loops, which are great for kick-starting compositions. Returning to the Mongolian theme: an entire Morin Khuur string ensemble is also available. A first for Ethno World, this makes it possible to create a complete string arrangement with up to nine different key switches, similar to large orchestra libraries. Mongolia features quite heavily in the other new categories, too, notably voices (solo, ensemble, male, female) and world percussion (gongs, bones, drums and Jews harp). Other newbies include a generous helping of woodwinds and brass plus a joochin, which is similar to a European zither. The sheer number and variety of instruments on offer is mightily impressive – eleven distinct categories with further sub-categories, including two sets of Chinese and Middle Eastern construction kits. Good player The sample player has been very well implemented. Each instrument is loaded with a common performance view and parameter set with which you can adjust the offset of start notes in milliseconds and assign controllers other than a keyboard to trigger samples. You can also apply parallel harmonies here. Two freely assignable intervals can be added; convenient for building exotically tuned pads. Other player views include group effects (volume tuning, filter, envelopes), microtuning (graphical fine-tuning, modes), effects (reverb, modulation, delay, dynamics) and automation. The latter comprises eight slots with dropdown menus for selecting just about any controllable parameter. If you compose or produce music that encompasses a broad range of world styles, Ethno World 4 Professional could be for you, particularly if you don’t already own many sample libraries. It’s packed with high-quality instruments that can be tweaked to suit your performance style. If you’re not such a good performer, this set also has you covered by providing a vast number of licks and phrases that yield speedy results. SUMMARY Why Buy High quality samples Sheer instrument diversity Lots of licks Walk on by Fairly expensive Verdict Quantity and quality: amazingly diverse set of world instrument samples, licks and phrases plus an easy-to-use, well-implemented interface. Rating: 9/10  

Ethno World 4 ComputerMusic 2/2009

Weighing in at around the 10GB mark, this isn’t the biggest ROMpler we’ve yet encountered, but it’s certainly one of the most comprehensive within it’s intended range of applications. 200 instruments and kits are on offer, covering ethnic instruments from around the globe. They are divided into 11 instruments categories: bell type, bowed, gongs and bowls, key, metal type, stringed,voices, woodwind and brass, world drums, world percussion and construction sets.

Each of these categories is broken down into subsections for each instrument, each of which may contain one or more patches. Most of these are tuned instruments, which are chromatically-pitched affairs, although it’s possible to configure micro-tuning if you’re after authentic exotic tunings. In addition, the Kontakt Player 2 patches feature performance controls, including humanisation and harmonisation settings, an automation panel with eight assignable controls, group effects with low- and high-pass filters, volume and tuning sections, and individual instrument effects with reverb, delay, EQ compression/saturation and phaser/chorus effects.

The chromatically-tuned patches are great (although some of the notes have a little more expression that you might wish) and the library has plenty of kits made up of licks. These are short but sweet, and you get quite a few, making a great alternative to the chromatic patches, as you get more of an authentic played feel. With multiple licks, you can piece together sequences, though it would have been more convenient had these and the construction sets been included as good-old audio files too. There are also plenty of drum kits that include loops as well as single-hits, and these live up to the same standard as the rest of the patches.

While Ethno World 4 isn’t perfect, and is rather expensive, its high volume of top-quality content makes it a great buy for world music and soundtrack producers.

Rating: 9/10   Review: Ethno World 4 Professional  Computer Music – February 2009 Weighing in at around the 10GB mark, this isn’t the biggest ROMpler we’ve yet encountered, but it’s certainly one of the most comprehensive within it’s intended range of applications. 200 instruments and kits are on offer, covering ethnic instruments from around the globe. They are divided into 11 instruments categories: bell type, bowed, gongs and bowls, key, metal type, stringed,voices, woodwind and brass, world drums, world percussion and construction sets.

Each of these categories is broken down into subsections for each instrument, each of which may contain one or more patches. Most of these are tuned instruments, which are chromatically-pitched affairs, although it’s possible to configure micro-tuning if you’re after authentic exotic tunings. In addition, the Kontakt Player 2 patches feature performance controls, including humanisation and harmonisation settings, an automation panel with eight assignable controls, group effects with low- and high-pass filters, volume and tuning sections, and individual instrument effects with reverb, delay, EQ compression/saturation and phaser/chorus effects.

The chromatically-tuned patches are great (although some of the notes have a little more expression that you might wish) and the library has plenty of kits made up of licks. These are short but sweet, and you get quite a few, making a great alternative to the chromatic patches, as you get more of an authentic played feel. With multiple licks, you can piece together sequences, though it would have been more convenient had these and the construction sets been included as good-old audio files too. There are also plenty of drum kits that include loops as well as single-hits, and these live up to the same standard as the rest of the patches.

While Ethno World 4 isn’t perfect, and is rather expensive, its high volume of top-quality content makes it a great buy for world music and soundtrack producers.

Rating: 9/10