Impact Soundworks has released Plectra Series 4: Turkish Oud for Native Instruments KONTAKT. They say that, produced by Dimitris Plagiannis, the library features a highly detailed set of recordings capturing a masterwork solo oud with all crucial articulations. An elegant, custom-built Kontakt script provides mixing tools, on-board effects, and extensive microtuning options.

This sample library is the latest in Impact Soundworks' Plectra Series of plucked and strummed stringed instruments from around the world, which also includes a Kazakh dombra, a set of Celtic and Appalachian harps, and an 8-string acoustic bouzouki, the latter of which was also produced by Dimitris Plagiannis.

Andrew Aversa, lead developer at Impact Soundworks, told us, "Until now, no sample library existed that captured the oud in any depth, and so we couldn't be happier to make this instrument available to all composers and producers. It's also our goal to make instruments as intuitive and playable as possible, so Plectra Series 4 is designed to be played with no tweaking right out of the box."

To further the design philosophy of playability and ease-of-use, the Turkish Oud is contained entirely within two patches: one for strummed chords, and one for everything else. No keyswitches or MIDI CCs are required for realistic performances, and all articulations can be triggered simply through normal MIDI playback. A custom Kontakt script powering the instrument automatically handles fingering, string selection, and chord voicing.

Plectra Series 4: Turkish Oud is comprised of 3,800+ 24-bit WAV recordings, captured using two microphone positions which can be mixed and panned by the user. Playing techniques include sustained picking, hammer-on and pull-off legato, glissando, tremolo, natural vibrato, and string noises. Each string of the oud was recorded chromatically in every position with up to 4 dynamic layers and 4 round robin variations per note (2 upstrokes and 2 downstrokes).

Pricing and Availability:
Plectra Series 4: Turkish Oud is available now at Impact Soundworks for a discounted intro price of $99 (list price: $119). This deal expires October 27, 2014.

More information:

• Turkish Oud

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