Publisher : Soniccouture
Format : Kontakt (5.6.8+)
Quality : Stereo 44.1 kHz 24 bit
Description : African Balafon
French musician Jean-Philippe Rykiel told us about a unique type of African balafon, in which each key has a snare drum that vibrates when pressed, giving it an interesting buzz.
Commonly found in parts of northern Ghana, Burkina Faso and southeastern Mali. Hardwood keys are suspended above calabash gourds. Small holes in the calabashes are covered with silk or paper, which, when resonating, produces a characteristic buzzing sound.
Rykiel has a long history of collaborating with West African musicians, working with both Salif Keita and Youssou N’Dour. However, regarding the balafon, he was familiar with a virtuoso musician from Burkina Faso named Mamadou Diabate, who now lives in Austria. He asked Mamadou to play this instrument during the recording, which he himself conducted.
Then the recordings came to us, and the result was the instrument that you can see. We hope you find this tool interesting and inspiring!
New in version 2.1 :
Added NKS controls for stereo swapping, phase reversal, and amp and filter scaling
