AdamKmusic
Senior Member
I'm working on some Ancient Egyptian - Ancient Middle Eastern tracks for a potential production library. Can anyone recommend any good kontakt libraries or any Zebra/Diva soundsets?
Check out Ancient Era Persia.
Yeah thats one thing putting me off, never used the player it's built in before.Ancient Era is not Kontakt-based.
I would go for NI discovery series middle east instead. besides it's around $150 less than Ancient Era if I remember correctly
Select playable instruments and ensembles, or completely customizable phrases and patterns – create traditional soundtracks or bring unique textures to contemporary tracks.
It has both loops and playable instruments. No legato though AFAIK, but for such instruments it shouldn't be a deal breaker afterall IMHOIs the Discovery series loop based or can you play legato/melody lines etc?
If you don't want to buy a genre-specific library, then I would recommend Best Service's Ethno World 6 (instruments) for Middle Eastern music. UVI's World Suite actually has more Middle Eastern instruments but EW6 has a much better Oud IMHO. It also has has a Bendir frame drum, a Darabuka, and an "Egyptian Fiddle."EW RA was another one I spotted, only thing is I'm a little hesitant to drop £200+ on libraries which are very much settled in one specific genre.
While you're at it pick up Strezov Sampling's Duduk freebie (originally an Armenian instrument, but played in Iran and elsewhere)
The discovery middle east is nice, but it can't beat the Ancient Persia Era library. Don't let that sampler put you off. Really worth it for just this library (and it's a free player and quite stable nowadays).
Okay, sorry for trying to help.The OP
Please listen to what the OP wrote. Money is an issue for him. He is hesitant to drop a lot of money on a library that is very settled in one specific genre.
So that means: no RA, no Ancient Era Persia, no Koron, no NI Discovery Middle East, no Evolution Series Middle East, no Breath of Anatolia, no Zero-G Middle Eastern Percussion, no Volko Alaturka Drum, etc etc etc.
And as he did say ancient Egypt, we might want to stick with instruments that are primarily played there. And libraries that work better for classical playing, not contemporary or pop.
If money was no object and he only wanted to buy a single library, then the choice is Tarilonte. If he starts picking up a lot of solo libraries, he might as well spend a bit more and get Ancient Era Persia.
So, either convince him that he can't achieve acceptable results without buying a Middle Eastern library. (He didn't say no, he just said he was hesitant.) But if he's firm, that means buying something that has middle eastern instruments, but not just middle eastern instruments. That means a world library or a rompler.
I didn't say that all the instruments in Ethno World 6 are good, which is nonsense--there's a wide range of quality. I said that the oud in EW6 was better than the one in World Suite. I have listened to a lot of ouds live and on YouTube, and own many VI Ouds-- and the oud in EW6 is decent and usable. Absolutely not the best oud available--for me that is Ancient Era Persia, and if I remember correctly, that's the favorite of VI:Control member Egyptian composer @Batrawi
This I believe: the thing that makes the most difference with VIs is how well you play them. I think it's true with acoustic instruments too.