Bamblong

The Bamblong is a small bamboo idiophone similar to a marimba or angklung, meticulously hand-crafted from sections of cut and carved bamboo from Southest Asia. It is comprised of a row of tuned bamboo logs that serve as resonance chambers, each ranging between 11⁄2 - 21⁄4 inches in diameter and 8 – 14 inches in length, with sound holes cut into the top of each one. The actual playing surface for each log is a thin bamboo plank suspended on pegs over each bamboo log. When played with recycled rubber bicycle tire mallets, the instrument has a smooth and mellow, yet very crisp and clear musical note, with a quick decay.

We recorded it first in a very close, intimate dry setting to capture the full warmth and tonality of each note. This gives it a rich, strong presence and total creative flexibility and also allows our Bamblong to work extremely well with any reverb or spatializing effect you like. We deep-sampled the instrument exhaustively, with an average of 20 dynamic velocity layers per note and 10 round-robin variations per dynamic layer. We also recorded strikes and rolls using nylon jazz brushes for a unique raspy effect. In addition to the dry studio articulations, the bamblong was also recorded in a large glass and stone recording hall for a bright, organic live sound. This “wet” version of the Bamblong is ideal for use in symphonic arrangements and blending with other concert percussion.

All four notes of the bamblong were deeply sampled using rubber mallets and jazz brushes, with up to 24 velocity layers and 10 times round robin per note. The notes have been carefully hand-tuned and spread across 4 octaves. Micro-tuning and width allow you to fine-tune how the angklung sits in a mix with other instruments. The “width” in particular controls the amount of stereo panning based on key position, simulating the natural stereo width of the instrument in an orchestral environment. In addition to strikes, we also recorded rolls with release samples using the nylon brushes.

Features

• Dry, Studio-Recorded Multisamples with Mallets
• Dry, Studio-Recorded Multisamples with Brushes
• Dry Brush Rolls w/ release samples
• Wet, Hall Looping Sustains w/Release
• Sustaining tonal pads and evolving atmospheres

Kontakt Format

This library is designed for the full retail version of Native Instruments Kontakt 5.1 or later. Kontakt is an industry-standard advanced virtual instrument / software sampler platform. 

Check out screenshots of our custom graphical user interface for Kontakt in the image gallery above. They provide a wide range of sound shaping parameter controls, each one totally automation-ready in your host environment or Kontakt's stand-alone mode.

This is a standard Kontakt open-format library, so the free Kontakt Player doesn't support this open-format Kontakt library. However, the sample directories are fully accessible to allow user customization, import and mapping into other wav-compatible software, sampler and synth formats.

The special Libraries tab doesn't support this open-format Kontakt library, but you can use the standard File browser tab, or import this library into the Kontakt database and Quickload tools for easy navigation, loading and organization.

Product Specifications

• 1.56 GB installed
• 2,519 Samples
• 17 .nki instrument presets
• 16 & 24 bit / 48kHz uncompressed PCM wav samples
• Unlocked Kontakt presets and wav samples to allow user customization

System Requirements

The full retail version of Native Instruments Kontakt version 4,5 (or later) is required to use .nki instrument presets included in this library. The free Kontakt "Player" and "Add Library" import process do not support this standard open-format Kontakt library. Windows XP or higher. Mac OSX 10.6 or higher. Dual Core CPU, 2 GB System Ram, SATA or SSD hard drive recommended for this library.