Yo what’s good!
It’s been a while since I did a Native Instruments review….so I’m back with another one for ya!
This time we’re taking a trip to West Africa to see what types of percussion and melodies we can come up with.
Let’s check it out!
So what is West Africa?
It’s a Kontakt/Kontakt player library dedicated to creating complex percussive and melodic polyrhythmic sequences.
The main focus of the library is not only the percussion instruments but also the included polyrhythms.
Not only do you get the tons of premade rhythmic phrases, you can go in and edit each phrase, each drum, and the mixer settings for the entire ensemble to your own liking.
The collection of instruments, coupled with the patterns and editable controls make this more of a West African workstation than simple another ethnic library.
Quick Specs
- content: 3gb (1.3gb compressed)
- format: Kontakt 4 and Kontakt 4 Player
- price: $119
How does it sound?
Simply put….very good!
I’m a fan of ethnic/world instruments and libraries, and I feel there’s nothing like some authentic percussion to add extra flavor to a track.
What I really dig in this library is the actual tone and sound of the percussion instruments. They sound very live and very natural.
The rhythms and patterns are cool, and I love that you can tweak them to your own specifications, but the sound is what gets me the most.
So I’m loving the fact you get each drum as a solo instrument, not just as part of the ensemble/performance.
You also do NOT want to overlook the melodic instruments here. There are some great sounds from flutes to what I call a “bass” and even a “guitar like” instrument.
NO I don’t know what each of these instruments are called, NO I can’t pronounce them, and NO I haven’t heard of them before.
Unlike the percussion, most of the melodic instruments were new to me, but I like them and as with any ethnic instrument, I welcome them to the tool kit.
So what’s the bottom line?
bottom line is that I like it, not only does it sound good but it has a lot of control over the sound/performance.
I love that you can mix each element in the phrases, change the phrases, even change the drum sounds that play in the phrase.
It’s all custom order here.
I give this library 4.5 out of 5 subs, I loved the sound of it the first time I heart it a few months back, however the more I dug into the controls I really saw the power and “fun factor” the library had to offer.
I’m glad you don’t get “just” the patterns. I’m glad they gave you individual instruments that you can play outside of the context of the patterns and riffs.
Go on over to NI and check it out: Native Instruments West Africa library
leave me a comment below, let me know what you think
Good stuff bro. Loved the sounds of this library since day one.
@Madbull Studios, no doubt fam, really good sounds in here
I love this kind of stuff so I’m pretty sure I will grab this.
But right now I am so wrapped up in a business project that I wouldn’t have time to use if I did lol, so for now I’ll hold back.
Some great sounds in there, though, for sure.
@Jon, I hear ya bro, sometimes we gotta wait lol. Thanks for watching.
GREAT JOB JOE,LOVE THE SOUNDS.THANX TO YOU I DONT HAVE TO WONDER ABOUT THE KITS AND SAMPLE PACKS.I JUST WATCH ONE OF YOU VIDS A PICK ONE. PEACE
@Jammey, no doubt fam, glad to help for sure!!
is this free?
@orel, the price is listed under the video in the post, no it is not free.
This is George Duke-Soul Treasures, the Mouth and the Scarbee Bass packs are really tempting me to purchase Komplete 8 when it drops. I can say from my personal listening exposure to African drums these are pretty good. Too bad they didn’t throw in the Afro-Brazilian/Afro-Cuban instruments like the Berimbau and various Congas…that would’ve been the icing on the cake.
@jamari, yeah maybe they will save that for Brazilian pack or something? But I agree, I really dig the percs and sounds here man. Thanks for the comment as always, it’s appreciated.
@saintjoe, if NI keeps this up along with the pending new functionality of Maschine there’s going to be a lot of people finding it hard to pry themselves away from their labs.
@jamari, exactly yo!
@jamari, Ain’t that right bruh!
@jamari, It’s African! in factWest African….
@everythingbutthegirl, indeed it is
Hey Joe!
Seriously man you need to get in touch with your roots brother! LOL
This is one serious piece of kit man. Just got back last month from a festive in the UK called WOMAD ( world of music and dance). I could of spent a fortune on some of the instruments. But now NI have produced a very close likeness in sound to some of the joints I was playing.
Great little review.
As all good females do….. I’m off shopping!
Peace bruh!
@everythingbutthegirl, ha I hear ya, there are so many instruments I have no clue how to pronounce but I love the sound lol. This has a few of them for sure. I do still love live percussion, and slowly building up my own lil percussion library, but stuff like this is good as well for the quick access and ease of use.
@saintjoe, Just rock with the sound!
@everythingbutthegirl, that’s exactly what I do 🙂
Yeah this is a must get for me. I’ll probably wait til Christmas though. Love the sounds!!!
@iRonicLee, ha no doubt brotha, where you been son!
Hmm I don’t know about this one…
@LuvLuv, like anything, depends on what ya like. If you’re an ethnic sound lover you’ll enjoy it, if that’s not really your style, probably not.
thanks for the comment!
@LuvLuv, Thats cool….
SJ,This is one of the cleanest percussion kits I’ve heard in a very long time. Your review is appreciated. NI have given the user complete control of the instruments which is an A+. Thanks again for bringing this one to our attention.
@Baddboy2000, I agree, I was pretty impressed when I heard it. Thanks for checking it out.
Me definitely coping this on payday. I always find these types of sounds to be like music therapy. Good looking out SJ!
@FISHER the Sandwich, no doubt bro, def glad to help. Thanks for watching!
Hey SJ thanks again for your help the other day, very kind. Just browsing this on your site. I was playing around with this yesterday and noticed that for most instruments on Kontakt (when playing as VSTs in Live) you can change the tempo/bpm in Live and the Kontakt tempo will automatically change too. But for West Africa (in mine at least) it seems to stay the same, no matter what I do in Ableton. No doubt this is just some newbie question so forgive me if it’s a dumb one…
Oh no I have just realised what a dumb question that was, please ignore it 🙂 Somehow I struggle with these things and the moment I ask you I figure it out, even sometimes before you have answered. That is the sign of a true saint, my man 🙂
Well, glad you got it man 🙂
I need it but i can’t find it
Native Instruments website.