Precision Sound has released MBira bva Zimbabwe, which they tell us is a twenty-two key MBira with added machachara ("sizzler") to give a buzzing sound. The buzzing is traditionally important because it is believed to attract the ancestral spirits.

A Precision Sound spokesperson told us, "We have deconstructed the sizzler from the original tone, so that you can mix between the chromatic tone, the release noises, and the sizzler sound, all within the Kontakt interface. You can also adjust the sizzler's decay independently, to find your perfect balance between the tone of the MBira keys and the buzz of the sizzler. We sampled the MBira bva Zimbabwe library in two velocity layers, and recorded four round robins for each of the chromatic metal keys, sizzlers, and release samples. The instrument was close-miked in stereo, and the library contains 252 24-bit WAV samples. The key range of the instrument is from B1 to C5."

The MBira bva Zimbabwe features:

• 252 stereo 24-bit WAV samples
• Chromatic metal key notes and release noises
• Percussive "sizzler" samples from the MBira body
• 1 program for NI Kontakt 3-5 with scripted interface
• 3 programs for NI Kontakt 2
• 3 programs for Logic EXS24

Pricing and Availability:

MBira bva Zimbabwe costs 20 $ (+11 $ if you want it on DVD)

More information:

• MBira bva Zimbabwe

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