"Spirits From Ainu" And "Okinawan Tradition" Reviewed by MTM
This review was first published by Music Tech Mag in June 2004.
Note: In the demos above the first one is "Okinawan Tradition", the second is "Spirits From Ainu".
Discovery Firm is back doing what it does best with a pair of new titles in its Ethnic World series: Spirits From Ainu and Okinawan Tradition. We've looked at several other collections from the Japanese company over the past year or so, and generally been impressed with the quality of the samples which, in many cases, feature somewhat obscure (to Western ears) instruments, but are always beautifully recorded and sound absolutely authentic.
Very much in that same mould, Spirits From Ainu and Okinawan Tradition both explore musical traditions which few people in this country would be familiar with, but which nevertheless offer a rich and fruitful source of sampling material.
Spirits From Ainu focuses on the music of the Ainu people from Hokkaido in Northern Japan. Sadly, only two instruments are featured in this collection: the tonkori - a five-stringed instrument sounding a little like a shamisen, but with a distinctive quality all of its own; and the mukkuri, which is played in front of the mouth, rather like a Jew's harp. There's a good range of sounds from each instrument - but particularly the tonkori, which includes around 180 loops and a further 50-plus chord samples. In addition, there are seven vocal pieces from singer Umeko Ando, a female vocalist singing in the Ainu tradition. These are somewhat limited in range, but make up for this minor criticism thanks to the length of the vocal performances, which in some cases extend to complete songs.
Again, Okinawan music is probably not familiar to many in the West, and perhaps wouldn't distinguish itself from Japanese music. But there are differences, not least the distinctive range of instruments which include the fue (a type of flute), the sanshin (three-stringed lute, apparently with its origins in China) and the sanba (a type of percussion instrument comprising flat wooden plates struck together between the thumb and fingers). Vocally, the range here is rather broader, too, with both male and female voices and a fascinating range of material.
Most people are either into world music or they're not. But, as ever, Discovery has produced a pair of well-crafted libraries which would stretch even the most adventurous samplist. If you're new to this style of music but want to experiment with it in your own recordings, these samples represent an excellent starting point. Lovingly created and superbly recorded, both CDs will enthral world music fans. Okinawan Tradition offers a particularly rich and varied library of sounds.
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