In every region of the globe, there are various kinds of music that could be established as a high form by the so-called "learned" individuals (hey snobs, I'm talking about you). While Europe has its own established "serious form" in what we can call as the European Classical Music tradition and America in Jazz, the huge continent of Asia has classical music traditions in Arabia, India, and East Asia. While people ranging from some somewhat serious casual listeners to the ethnomusicologist may have already known the impact of these musical identities, Southeast Asia has its own serious traditions in the form of the Kulintang from the Philippines and the Gamelan of Indonesia. The Native Instruments Discovery Series Balinese Gamelan takes us on a sonic journey to Southeast Asia.

The Discovery Series Balinese Gamelan is a library for Kontakt that has been sampled from the London Symphony Orchestra's Semara Dana Gamelan Ensemble by acclaimed sound-design house Soniccouture. Numerous velocity layers were painstakingly sampled from these instruments to capture the much sought-after realism composers and musicians require. As the Gamelan in itself is an orchestra, this collection has the core instruments (Gongs, Jegog, Calung, Penyaceh), the Gangsa, and the kettle gongs Trompong and Reyong. This library can be used with the free Kontakt Player or the latest Kontakt version, can be switched between "Original" mode for classic Balinese tuning or "Concert" for a much more familiar western tuning. The optional "synth" version permits manipulation beyond the Gamelan's natural sound for creation of interesting timbres.

How serious would you consider the Southeast Asian serious percussive traditions such as the Gamelan? Claude Debussy once remarked that the Gamelan had such intricacy and complexity that in comparison, the percussion of Europe is only trite circus music, so it's no wonder that composers are considering the sound of the Gamelan into their own works. As it can be quite difficult to obtain, much more learning how to play actual Gamelan instruments can take a lifetime of work, the Native Instruments Discovery Series Balinese Gamelan will be a welcome addition to your arsenal. Usage with the free Kontakt Player is fine as it is a product straight from Native Instruments so you will not expect that annoying timeout as seen in the use of third-party libraries. A copy of Discovery Series Balinese Gamelan sells for 79.00 USD.