Cinematic Southeast Asian instruments
Discover the musical pulse of an expansive geographical region distilled into a curated collection of instruments. Sångara—a library of over 70 percussion, wind, and stringed instruments from various parts of Southeast Asia—was made in collaboration with the inimitable composer and multi-instrumentalist Richard Harvey.
Sångara brings new colors to your composing palette, perfect for scoring, eliciting vivid mental images, or fabricating rich and cinematic worlds of sound.
A diverse collection of wind instruments, stringed instruments, and percussion from various parts of Southeast Asia.
Created with Richard Harvey
Through conducting, composing, orchestrating, and playing on numerous film and television soundtracks, Richard Harvey has made an indelible mark on the industry. Not only has he worked on celebrated soundtracks such as The Little Prince, The Da Vinci Code, The Lion King, Interstellar, Luther, Disney’s live action Mulan, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, he has worked with some of the biggest names in the business: Hans Zimmer, guitarist John Williams, and Paul McCartney to name a few.
In addition to his compositional and performing work, Richard is an avid collector of musical instruments, with over 700 from all around the world. He’s made it his mission to share them with the composing community. This is his fourth collaboration with Orchestral Tools, picking up where Phoenix Orchestra, Andea, and Abacus left off.
Highlights
Includes instruments never sampled before
Up to 6 mixable mic positions, including vintage spot mics
Instruments recorded chromatically for maximum versatility
Plucked strings, bowed strings, winds, and percussion
Features a one of a kind, custom-made kong wong yai
Authentic representation of the instruments in their natural ranges
Distinctive instruments with distinguished sounds
Sångara contains a massive selection of instruments, some of which have never been sampled before. The instruments are all sonically unique. In this video, we explore the history behind some of these instruments.
Burmese saung-gauk
A 16-string arched, horizontal harp with a long neck decorated with a bodhi tree leaf.
Thai phin
The strings of this fretted, two-stringed instrument with a pear-shaped body are plucked with a pick.
Kong wong yai
A circular rattan frame houses tuned gongs that are played with hard or soft mallets. For melodies or harmonic texture.
Indonesian and Thai angklungs
Bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The base is held in one hand while the other hand shakes the frame.
Kong wong lek
A circle of tuned gongs struck with soft or hard mallets. Higher in pitch than the kong wong yai for more ornate melodies.
Kentongans and grongs
Usually made of bamboo, these hollow percussion instruments are varieties of slit drum with a snappy natural sound.
Java kacapi anak
A zither originating from Indonesia, somewhat similar to a Chinese guzheng or Japanese koto.
Saw-u
A two-stringed, bowed instrument from Thailand. The lowest of the saw family with a dark and mellow tone. The body is made from a coconut shell and cowskin.
Khaen
This free-reed Lao mouth organ consists of bamboo pipes connected by a hollowed out wood reservoir into which the player blows.
Percussion
From the driving beat of the Sumatran frame drum to cymbal rolls on the turtle-shaped Balinese ceng ceng, Sångara has a wide variety of percussion instruments and articulations from which to build rhythmic foundations or add accents. With articulations including hits, damped hits, dynamics, rolls, effects, and a few phrases, there are worlds of inspiration to be found here.
Tuned percussion
For creating harmonic textures, rhythmic melodies, or tonal accents, Sångara provides a wealth of metallophone and xylophone options. We’ve sampled everything from the crystal-clear tones of a custom-made, chromatic kong wong yai to the bright and natural-sounding Thai and Indonesian angklungs. These sounds bring images and emotions to the fore.
Wind instruments
The wind instrument assortment features eight various pi instruments. This family of quadruple reed instruments has a distinctive sound that can easily cut through a mix. Their articulations include all the ornaments, slides, staccatos, and phrases to spark your imagination. From bamboo sulings to rotated wote panpipes, there are also eight flute instruments for melodies of all varieties.
Stringed instruments
Not only do instruments like the Thai phin and Burmese saung-gauk boast ornate looks, these plucked string instruments have distinct tones and techniques. Sångara also features several zithers, a hammered dulcimer-like Thai khim, and two bowed instruments with distinguished, mellow tones. This collection brings traditional harmonics, grace notes, tremolos, and bends into a contemporary composing toolkit.
A wide range of articulations, from experienced local players
Sångara was recorded at Karma Studios in Thailand, drawing on the knowledge and skill of experienced local musicians. In addition to common sustains and staccatos, many of the instruments feature articulations with a long tradition.
Instruments performed by Richard Harvey (woodwinds, zithers, percussion), Elaine So (drums and tuned percussion), Pongsakorn Lertsakworakul (drums and tuned percussion), Matas Masungsong (drums), Tossaporn Tassana (ranats), Somnuek Saengarun (reed instruments), Lertkiat Mahavinijchaimontri (strings), Pornnapa Netaumporn (Thai khim), Tinnakorn Attapiaboon (Thai wote and percussion), Sombat Simla (Thai khaen)
Special thanks to Chamnongchit 'CNC' Harvey, Matas Masungsong, Ponsakorn Lertsakworakul, Professor Anant Narkkong, Chris Craker
Runs in SINE
Mic merging
Preserve your system resources: Fine-tune your mix using multiple mic positions, then merge into a single channel within the player.
Greater usability
SINE is designed to complement the compositional workflow. Create on the fly with auto keyswitch options, and easy remapping tools.
Download single instruments
Choose only the instruments and mic positions that you currently need—no need to download the entire collection at once.
Spectrum
Sangara by Richard Harvey
Cinematic Southeast Asia
Karma Studios, Bangsaray
Works with Orchestral Tools’ SINE Player—NOTE: Latest version required!
Size
91 GB of samples (30 GB SINEarc compressed)
24 bit / 48 KHz patches
SINE system requirements
Mac: macOS 10.13 or higher | Intel Core i5 or similar | Apple M1 chipset supported | At least 8 GB RAM (16 GB+ recommended)
Windows: Windows 10 | Intel Core i5 or similar | At least 8 GB RAM (16 GB+ recommended)
Formats supported: Standalone, VST, VST3, AU, AAX