Version 2 of MOTU Ethno Instrument (Mac OS X / Windows 7 and Vista; $395 MSRP) adds more than double the instruments, loops, and phrases to the world / ethnic virtual instrument software. Other notable new features include preset searching, microtonal scales, advanced time stretching, and much more.

The 21 GB Ethno 2 library is chock full of new sounds from Asia, Africa, Europe, the Balkans, the British Isles, Latin America, Australia, and numerous other locations. Sounds were recorded from taiko drums, large African drums, 30 new instruments from India, Balkanish voices, Arabic voices, Persian voices, gongs and bells, and extended cymbalum. The updated software also adds hundreds of urban India loops in the style of Slumdog Millionaire.

You can browse presets by searching geographic regions or instrument categories, or by typing in an instrument name or other text phrase. Click on the search results to audition, preview, and load sounds into separate parts. Version 2 now supports unlimited parts, so you can quickly build ensembles of instrument sounds, loops ,and phrases with no limits on the size of the ensemble.

Myriad non-Western tuning and scales and microtuning presets are also provided, all organized by world region or by scale type. The microtonal presets conform to the Scala open file standard (.scl) for microtuning. Scales can be freely applied to any instrument presets, allowing you to mix and match microtuning scales with sounds from anywhere around the globe.

Furthermore, version 2 has enhanced time-stretching capabilities, improved effects processing, and new keyswitch presets. MOTU expects to ship Ethno Instrument 2 in the first quarter of 2010.