Hi all!

I'm working on a peice that I'd really like to add some African percussion to.

this is a new approach for me as I've always recorded live, or used included softsynths in Sonar.

My question: Lets say I want to add some African percussion to my tool-set but don't want to spend hundreds on a whole package with like 10 GB of samples! :-) I don't mind spending money of course, but where can I find instruments and players that I can just add to as I need them?

I hope the question makes sense. I'm wondering if I can purchase individual samples for a softsynth already in Sonar or something like that, or if there's a better option.

Hope the question isn't more confusing than the answer :)

Gavin

Native Instruments "Battery 3" has some great percussions kits, notably an Afro-Cuban kit amongst others.  And it's fairly easy to set up and use right away.  It also comes with KILLER drum sounds, and I use it quite a lot.

I'm sure there are numerous others as well.

Good luck and keep us posted with your results!

That looks awesome Tony... however it's too much (size) for what I'm looking for. 12GB for samples!

Are there packages that are smaller for more specific instrument groups? I don't need 100 drum kits :)

Lets say some day I decided I need a really good triangle (as a small but realistic example). Do any companies sell individual instruments that can then be used with one standard player? Again, I'm very new to using samples, etc.

Gavin

Check "big fish audio" sample disk company..  

There's just a tremendous amount of sample products out there - maybe it will help to categorize how these products are packaged.

Loops and Waves

Some packages are loops and or one hits. These are usually wave files. These are quite easy if you are using audio loops for your drum track. It is possible to take these and load them into synths that allow you to build your own instruments, but it's quite a bit of work.

Instrument Libraries


These are packaged for direct usage by a synthesizer. Libraries are specific to particular samplers, such as Kontakt, Dimension, etc. It's important to know what type (or types) of library files your sampler uses. Some samplers can handle more than one type of file.

Synth/Libary/Embedded System


This is a system that includes its own sampler as well as it own samples. These packages generally use multi-layered samples that can change timbre somewhat in response to velocity. ToonTrack makes drum packages such as EZ Drummer this way. However, instrument libraries (as above) can also be crafted using multiple-layers for samplers that that have that capability - i.e. Kontakt.

There just a whole lot of google-surfing that needs to be done to find what you need...

So I typed "triangle sample into Google.  I got this as one of the results:

http://www.audiosparx.com...m/sound_group_iid.2209

had a page of 20+ traingle samples each sold separately for $1.50 - $6.00.  You can audition each one.

hth 

Grif

This is all awesome information!! thanks to each of you!

Gavin

kontakt libraries. quick search gives http://www.native-instrum...y-kontakt/west-africa/ and http://www.kvraudio.com/p...rum-by-total-composure

Another place to look is http://www.freesound.org/
These are free wavs so the quality may vary from sound to sound however this to be my first choice when looking for sounds or sound effects.
Good luck.