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List of Japanese Instruments VSTs

kessel

wagakki-electro-otaku
Hi,

I'm going to copy/paste a post I did on a different forum just in case someone is interested in japanese instruments as VST and if you do know some more to add to this list

For those interested in japanese VSTs, I did some research on Japanese VSTs months ago, I ended up buying some of these as well as some others are on my future purchases list. I put here a list of the VSTs I liked the most in case you are interested:

- Sonica JP Koto 13, Tsugaru Shamisen and Shakuhachi. They are the best in my opinion, ended up purchasing the three of them in the last sale action who took place because of the 10th anniversary of Sonica Instruments:

- BFD3 Expansions Taiko + Kabuki & Noh Percussion, which are actually a product by Sonica JP too, but they did it for FXpansion, so you can only purchase for FXpansion's BFD now:

- Nagoya Harp by UVI, a very unique instrument and the only VST version I know of it:
https://www.uvi.net/nagoya-harp.html

- Premier Sound Factory Koto and Shakuhachi, for me the only VSTs that can compete with the Sonica JP ones, maybe I end up getting these some day too as a second option and if I need a different color in my compositions:

https://www.premiersoundfactory.com/shak ... premier-g/

- Koto Nation from Impact Soundworks also included in the Propellerheads Reason shop as a Rack Extension for Reason, good to go if you are starting with these sounds and do not have that much money. Even when the name is Koto Nation it also includes a sampled Shamisen:
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/koto-nation/
https://www.propellerheads.com/shop/product/koto-nation/
- Ventus Shakuhachi, a shakuhachi with a nice sound and a different color than the previous ones:
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/ventus-shakuhachi/

- ShamiKoto by Syntheway, which is actually an emulation made by computer as far as I know, depending on what you are writing might be interesting though:
https://syntheway.com/ShamiKoto.htm

- Here are some other japanese flutes like Shinobue, Ryuteki and Hichiriki, I personally didn't like the quality though, but maybe of interest for somebody else as the prices are pretty affordable:
https://legatone.booth.pm

Here are som additions taken from this same thread or found during the years so I can keep all instruments listed on the first message
- Native Instruments Asia Collection includes a Japanese Instruments section:

- Chronicles Miyabi by Evolution Series

- Taiko Creator, probably my favourite taiko VSTi so far

And for those interested on Chinese instruments this could be also a good reference too:
https://www.chineekong.com/main.htm
 
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In case someone is interested, there is a 48h sale for 8dio Taiko VSTs:

https://8dio.com/instrument/the-new-epic-taiko-ensemble-and-solo-bundle/
 
No such thing...an instrument of that type is a "VSTi". "VST" means Virtual Studio Technology and is the technology used to create a VSTi. Just thought you'd like to know. Carry on! :) :)

Very useful list for those looking for Japanese instruments!
 
No such thing...an instrument of that type is a "VSTi". "VST" means Virtual Studio Technology and is the technology used to create a VSTi. Just thought you'd like to know. Carry on! :) :)

Very useful list for those looking for Japanese instruments!

Thanks for the correction, I was never good with abbreviations, and I also learned something new :)
 
Speaking of Japanese traditional instruments, the first things that come to my mind are Sho and Hichiriki (篳篥). In fact, it is Hichiriki that plays a main melody in Japanese classical music Gagaku. So I'm wondering why there is almost no Hichiriki VI on the market.
 
Yes Taiko Creator is great. My favourite Taiko library.

There's also Evolution Series World Percussion Taikos, and In Session Audio's predecessor Nine Volt Audio had Taiko 2 which pops up for sale every now and then, but I prefer Taiko Creator now.
 
Yes Taiko Creator is great. My favourite Taiko library.

There's also Evolution Series World Percussion Taikos, and In Session Audio's predecessor Nine Volt Audio had Taiko 2 which pops up for sale every now and then, but I prefer Taiko Creator now.

Yes, I've finally purchased it as I'm actually working on a song where I need exactly that kind of sound and as it's still on st. Patricks day sale I did it. I find it has the best Taiko sound I've found in any demo and seems to be really flexible and easy to use.
 
Speaking of Japanese traditional instruments, the first things that come to my mind are Sho and Hichiriki (篳篥). In fact, it is Hichiriki that plays a main melody in Japanese classical music Gagaku. So I'm wondering why there is almost no Hichiriki VI on the market.
I've been looking for Hichiriki plugins but to no avail so far, just checked out the OP's link to Legatone, but it didn't sound very like what I was expecting. Would be much appreciated if anyone finds anything worth sharing :]
 
I've been looking for Hichiriki plugins but to no avail so far, just checked out the OP's link to Legatone, but it didn't sound very like what I was expecting. Would be much appreciated if anyone finds anything worth sharing :]

I tried the Shinobue demo by Legatone and finally discarded their plugins, the sound is very artificial and doesn't even have different sample velocities to make it sound realistic at all. Hope we can find something similar soon.

I would keep an eye on sonica japan instruments, they have included a Gagaku Orchestra in their plans for 2019 and Gagaku orchestras also may include Hichiriki. I only wonder when they are finally going to release that Gagaku Orchestra since almost half 2019 year is already over and they haven't released anything new yet.

The info on their plans is all the way down this link:
https://sonica.jp/instruments/10th_anniversary/

This is quite good.

Yes, Sonica Japan has become my first reference for japanese instruments after I got the koto 13, the tsugaru shamisen and the shakuhachi from their website, their work is very good in every term and I hope they keep doing such a good work on future releases. Other developers I really keep in mind are premiere sound factory and insession audio, their taiko creator is great.
 
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