Post Description

The deepest koto, bass koto and shamisen library ever released, featuring world-class performer Masayo Ishigure! 2 mic positions, extensive dynamics and RRs, FX patches and extensive traditional and contemporary articulations.
Koto

The national instrument of Japan, and one of the oldest stringed instruments in the world! The koto has 13 strings with an equal number of movable bridges allowing the player to adjust tuning, something that is often called for in pieces. It is traditionally played using three finger picks used to pluck the strings, but a variety of other techniques have developed as well such as finger tapping, harmonics, pizzicato, etc.
Bass Koto

Developed in the early 20th century, the bass koto is a much larger version of the standard koto which adds 4 additional strings and allows for much lower pitches to be played. Its deep, warm sound and large range has made it popular in some forms of Japanese traditional music as well as contemporary music.
Shamisen

Like the koto, this three-stringed developed centuries ago and became an integral part of Japanese music, perhaps most associated with its role in traditional theater where it is still used. It is typically played with a large plectrum, and can be played solo, used to accompany singing or other instruments. Many playing styles have evolved over the years - we recorded a shamisen constructed and performed in the classical jiuta style, as opposed to the tsugaru style typically used in rock or pop music.
Special FX

Also included in the Koto Nation library is a set of 9 "FX" patches, which apply online and offline processing to the core audio to take it in new, musically interesting directions. These sounds range from granular pad textures to warm sustains, drones, airy resonances, percussive hits, distorted synths and eerie ambiances.
Content

    Nearly 4,000 detailed samples
    Close and room mic positions
    Koto, bass koto, and shamisen
    Traditional and extended techniques
    Bonus FX patches
    Bends and mordents
    Beautiful menus of glissandos

Features

    Fresh new UI reworked in 2017
    Easy mic mixing, per-artic ADSR
    Flexible microtuning
    One-touch filters, CC-learnable
    TACT for 100% custom artic control
    Built-in FX rack

nJoy!