Silk

• Incredibly detailed Silk Road instruments from China, India, and Persia, part of the most ambitious world instrument collection ever created
• Created by award-winning sounds producers Doug Rogers and Nick Phoenix
• 25 GB instrument: 20 GB’s of multi-samples and 5 GB’s of authentic performances
• Recorded legato intervals for erhu, zhonghu, jinghu, electric cello, kemenche, duduk, 30-piece string section, dilruba, bansuri
• Master musicians recorded at EastWest Studios, using vintage Neumann microphones, Neve consoles and Meitner converters
• Now included in OPUS, along with individual downloads, custom keyswitches, and dozens of MIDI Tools and Mixer Effects

MASTERS OF THE SILK ROAD

Effortlessly pull your listeners into the ancient world of your choosing. Produced by award-winning sounds producers Doug Rogers and Nick Phoenix, Silk features a large collection of world instruments from the lands of the Silk Road: China, India, and Persia. These bowed, plucked, and wind instruments were performed by master instrumentalists who have spent years perfecting their craft and were recorded using vintage Neumann microphones at legendary EastWest Studios. Using SILK’s broad range of articulations, live-recorded legato and full phrases, you can quickly create an ensemble that sounds like it was recorded in a time and place far removed from our own.

UNIQUE, AUTHENTIC PERFORMANCES

This collection of instruments enables you to create subtle changes to the musical scale, carefully tailored to each instrument. Not only does this make your mockups sound far more authentic, but as producer Nick Phoenix says, “Silk is revolutionary in that the microtuning and scales actually teach users how to employ these sounds in an authentic way.” Because Silk includes multiple recordings for every single note, including individually captured legato transitions, you’ll be able to quickly create convincing performances with minimal CC automation. However, you can also automate subtle aspects of the performance such as portamento time. We made sure every instrument captures the most expressive performances possible from each musician. To further extend the amount of variation on each note, SILK uses a script which selects one or more of three randomly selected options to keep the sound a little different on each repetition:

• Using the sample for a nearby note (for example, a half step higher or lower) and retuning it to the needed pitch.
• Starting the note a tiny amount before or after the specified start time.
• And detuning the sample a few cents (hundredths of a semitone) higher or lower.

INSTRUMENTS FROM CHINA

The haunting lament of the erhu. The gentle raindrop-like plucks of the pipa. The playful call of the dizi. Within moments, you have an entire ensemble of Chinese instruments ready to be performed. As the most extensive section in Silk, these Chinese instruments allow you to weave a beautiful tapestry of the Far East into your music.

INSTRUMENTS FROM INDIA

From the unmistakable sound of the tanpura to the lyrical melodies of the dilruba, Silk allows you access a tremendous range of sounds from multiple iconic instruments of India. Whether you’re looking to create a raga or take advantage of Silk’s microtonal instruments, you have all the tools you need right here.

INSTRUMENTS OF PERSIA

Using Silk’s deeply sampled collection of ancient instruments from the Persian Empire, you can evoke the atmosphere of an ancient bazaar or even a sprawling desert with rolling sand dunes. Featuring such instruments as the duduk and qanun, the realism of these samples is unparalleled.

30 PIECE STRING SECTION

European strings were first introduced to the Middle East during Napoleon’s failed attempt at capturing Egypt in 1798. Featuring a different tuning style, characteristic performance techniques are very decorative with melismas, slurs and slides, trills, wider vibrato, and double stops.

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF WORLD INSTRUMENTS EVER CREATED

Silk is just the start of journey. Together with RA, Gypsy, StormDrum 2 and StormDrum 3, you’ll have the most comprehensive collection of sampled world instruments available in the industry.