Koto Nation

Impact Soundworks Koto Nation was created to truly capture the beautiful sounds of three traditional Japanese instruments: the Koto, Bass Koto, and Shamisen, as performed by koto legend Masayo Ishigure (Memoirs of a Geisha w/ Yo-Yo Ma and John Williams). The instruments were intimately mixed and recorded with multiple dynamic levels and round-robin variations for maximum realism and playability.

This library includes a massive number of samples spanning a wide variety of both traditional and extended playing techniques, programmed for the Combinator and NN-XT. Articulations include sustained picks with a plectrum, pizzicato, octaves, glissandi of multiple types and speeds, vibrato, tremolo, mordents (pitch bends), and mutes, as well as ‘modern’ techniques such as atonal glissandi, finger scrapes, string hits and hard plucks.

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. The Combinator patches can be used for further tweaking and sculpting.

Simply put, this is the most comprehensive library of Japanese plucked instruments ever recorded. Plus, Koto Nation can be used in any musical genre, not just traditional Japanese music: everything from video game, TV, and film scores, to driving electronic music, rock accompaniment, atmospheric music, New Age and chillout!