Ventus Ethnic Winds Ocarinas

The fifth entry in our VENTUS Ethnic Winds series features three ocarinas with unique timbres, ranges, and styles. Includes 12+ playing techniques per instrument and over 900 pre-recorded phrases! An ornament system allows for unique, authentic performances and TACT (Total Articulation Control Technology) provides the ultimate solution for fully customizable mapping.

The Ocarinas

We are pleased to present to you the most deeply-sampled trio of ocarinas ever released – a Costa Rican Pendant Ocarina, a Triple Ocarina and a Chinese Xun – the fifth entry into our Ventus series of solo ethnic woodwind instruments.

Pendant Ocarinas date from the time of the Incas and were used as instruments for festivals, rituals and ceremonies. They usually have 8-9 holes and are often shaped like animals (ours is a toad). The Triple Ocarina is a multi-chambered ocarina with a broad range of about two octaves plus a fifth. The Chinese Xun is an ancient eggshaped aerophone that dates back 7,000 years and was been used primarily in the performance of palace music.

In capturing these lovely instruments, we explored the full range of playing techniques: from expressive sustains, vibrato, flutters, and accents, to staccato notes and bends, pitched release articulations and special extended techniques. Each instrument features either 11 or 13 articulations paired with a combined total of over 900 phrases.

Ventus Series Concept

We started the Ventus Ethnic Winds series to take you on a journey all over the world, capturing the tones of beautifully performed solo woodwinds outside the Western repertoire. Along with that goal, we want you to be able to create authentic performances without technology getting in the way.

Each Ventus instrument shares several key features, along with a common user interface:

1. Traditional playable articulations alongside a large pool of pre-recorded phrases that you can quickly drop into a composition for instant color.

2. An innovative ornaments system designed to automagically create decorative techniques in real time with no extra sequencing or tweaking needed.

3. Our unique Total Articulation Control Technology (TACT) to unify and simplify the process of creating your own personal mapping setup for every instrument.

With these three features, combined with our hallmark depth of sampling and attention to detail, we know that our Ventus Ethnic Winds will become a source of endless inspiration.

Content:

• Over 5,500 24-bit samples recorded through warm ribbon & room mics
• Three unique ocarinas
• Up to 12 articulations
• Bends, vibrato, extended techniques
• Over 890 phrases. multiple lengths & styles
• Phrases also provided as WAV

Features:

• Beautiful unified VENTUS interface
• Dozens of under-the-hood tweaking controls
• Ornament system for effortless authentic performances
• Phrase playback editor
• Easy FX rack with analog-modeled EQ, compressor, delay & reverb
• TACT - Total Articulation Control Technology for easy customization of all playing techniques