AudioLove

Bringing together an eclectic collection of altered and invented string instruments, cellist and bassist Gabe Noel presents us with Uncommon Strings. “During the 2020 lockdown I began experimenting on all my goodwill instruments lying about, tweaking and putting cello/viola strings on everything.” A nylon baritone “chellar,” fretless nylon Mandola, and fretted cello are just a few of the instruments that comprise the pack. Every loops includes a companion bass part, spanning folk, funk and everywhere in between.

Found Sound Nation presents this sample pack of desert blues inspired electric and acoustic guitar performed by Malian virtuoso Garba Touré. Recorded at his studio in Bamako, this pack features Garba’s signature riffs and chord voicings, inspired by traditional West African music and American rock. Garba’s electric trills and jagged melodies on Fender stratocaster and jazzmaster are complemented by gentle acoustic strums and hypnotic grooving.

Exploring the hazy sound palettes of psychedelia and neo soul, BLK DECO’s first sound design collection is steeped equal parts in nostalgia and lo-fi futurism. Designing and layering new patches from scratch and running keys through guitar pedals and amps, BLK DECO weaves a lush tapestry of kaleidoscopic tones for use across genres.

As melodic as it is rhythmic, and as hypnotic as it is spiritual, the nyatiti, a 5000-year old eight-stringed lyre is understood by many as the musical lifeline of the Lüo community, and as one of the most recognizable and influential traditional instruments native to East Africa. For this sample collection Found Sound Nation worked with Rapasa Otieno, an acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, to capture a wide breadth of intricate sounds from his hometown, including sounds of the nyangile (percussion), gara (bells), obokano (lyre), and ong'eng'o (percussion). 

Movements of the Sea takes us on a sonic adventure in aquatic mysteries. Joyful, sunlit melodies and lush seascapes comprise the collection, featuring nylon string guitar, analog synthesizer, pianet, glockenspiel and shakers. The sample collection was produced and performed by Isik Kural. Born in Istanbul and based in Glasgow, Kural’s songwriting and sound design bring radiance to environmental productions.

Live Hip Hop Drums is a collection of down-tempo grooves between 80 and 100 BPM performed live on drum set and percussion by Charles Van Kirk. The grooves are inspired by Motown’s influence on hip hop and were recorded with a combination of Coles ribbon microphones, Telefunken tube microphones and class A preamps. Each sound is presented with two different versions of processing: one clean and one "crunchy" to mimic a vintage lo-fi sound. Notably, each loop has a corresponding layer of auxiliary percussion composed of shakers, tambourines and drum rims that can be mixed in separately to add texture and motion.

Found Sound Nation presents this sample pack of traditional Korean instruments in collaboration with Jiha Park. Recorded at Sunday Chips Studio in Seoul, this pack primarily features Piri (double reed bamboo oboe), Saenghwang (bamboo mouth organ), and Yanggeum (hammered dulcimer). Drawing from her background as both a composer and performer of these traditional instruments, Jiha uses improvised playing techniques to create rich harmonic loops highlighting their sonic identities. 

Kirina is a Griot village in Mali, home to 70 generations of musical and cultural heritage. The Griots play an essential role in Malian culture; they are the keepers of oral history and traditions, passing them on through music and poetry. Kirina has been preserving its unique musical and cultural heritage for more than 700 years and L'Ecole de musique de Kirina is a school dedicated to this preservation.

Interlocking Guitars is inspired by Steve Reich's work with rhythmic phasing and tesselationss, in particular the work he's done in collaboration with Pat Metheny. Guitarist and producer Marcel Camargo wrote, performed and produced all of the sounds you'll hear here. While the pack largely stays within this universe, it also includes loops with multi-layered chords played on nylon string, baroque-inspired loops and a few that venture into different musical styles while still exploring the concepts of rhythmic phasing and interlocking parts. 

Drawing inspiration from the iconic rhythm sections of Hitsville USA, this drum collection relives the Motown sound with its signature driving, in-the-pocket pulse. Built in 1959, the Motown studios on Grand Boulevard in Detroit, utilized custom reverb chambers in the ceiling to achieve the signature splash heard across their records, and this effect has been carefully reconstructed throughout this sample collection. Shimmering kits and crispy breaks await fresh exploration across genres.

La Paz-based musician Andre Alvarez collaborates with Found Sound Nation to share a plethora of sound and indigenous instruments from the Andean region of Bolivia, from the warm and expressive tarka and moseño flutes and beyond. The Andes are the longest continental mountain range in the world today, home to a staggering diversity of landscapes - from deserts to forest; volcanoes to glaciers - inundated with breathtaking fauna and flora. For the millions of people living in this region across the South American continent, the mountains are not only a source of sustenance, but they breathe their life into the language and culture; inextricable from the rich musical creations and traditions that have blossomed for centuries. 

Fierce Percussion takes simple, small acoustic percussion sources to explosive and expansive sonic territory. Philadelphia drummer and percussionist ZONE Drums crafted this collection for producers seeking organic sounds twisted with intense processing and unique color. Shakers, woodblocks, djembes, bells, noise-makers and more are pushed through distortion, analog dirt and endless character for bold, one-of-a-kind percussion.

Distorted breaks with ZONE Drums is a deep dive into processed breakbeats and textural live drums across genres, from rock and drum and; bass, to jungle, hip hop and beyond. Speedy breaks and booming low-end distortion make these acoustic drum samples ready for the gnarliest uptempo tracks. To curate this pack ZONE Drums shuffled through seven different live drum kit setups and dozens more processing chains to bring a vast sound palette. Played entirely live, this pack will bring the human feel and non-programmable swing to your hard hitting productions with the grit, punch, and clarity of electronic drums. 

This sample pack was composed by David Crowell, a New York based composer who is a former member of the Philip Glass Ensemble (2007 - 2016) and has been commissioned by ensembles such as A Far Cry, Argus Quartet, JACK Quartet, Sandbox Percussion and others. The pack was performed by acclaimed instrumentalists Iva Casian Lakos on cello and Josh Henderson on violin and viola. The music is based on a series of short string quartet etudes ranging from fast moving pizzicato ensemble stacks to lush, open drones. Each etude is delivered in its full form in addition to loops of its component parts. The strings were engineered by Anthony Gallo at Virtue and Vice Studios in Brooklyn with a collection of vintage microphones into a Neve 8026 console. The sample pack was mixed and edited by Charles Van Kirk. The sounds are rich and clean, with the full humanity and rawness of the performances preserved.

Found Sound Nation presents this sample pack of handmade Indonesian ceramic instruments performed by composer Tedi Nurmanto. Recorded at Kosmik Studio in Jetawangi, this pack includes a vast assortment of artisanal pitched and atonal percussion, from delicate sadantana bowls to booming terracotta drums and mesmerizing terranika (ceramic xylophone). Also included are a range of traditional ocarinas, clay flutes and other one of a kind wind instruments, which explore a variety of entrancing Javanese melodies and winding rhythms.