Kong Audio unveils the 13th addition to their Chinee Series line of VSTi plugins: ChineeGuqin
GuQin is probably the most "culturally significant" among classical Chinese instruments, for it has been the symbolic vessal of the ancient intellectuals and nobles' pursuit of harmony since a thousand years ago.
GuQin is among the few most distinctive and representative classical Chinese instruments ever. The written record of it can be traced back to at least 3,000 years ago.
It's a zither similar to GuZheng, but since GuQin does not have bridges, it is far more versatile in terms of tones and playing techniques, it is also much harder to master.
GuQin has a special place in the Chinese history as a symbol of the high-culture of the nobles and intellectuals (Junzi, Superior Man). It's also seen as the vessel for pursuing harmony. Even Confucius played and taught GuQin. During the last two tumultuous centuries of China, however, GuQin's tradition was almost extinct. Nowadays the Chinese have resumed the tradition and are trying to revitalize it.
GuQin is usually accompanied with a lower-pitched flute. ChineeNanxiao, or some other xiao in ChineeWinds are good choices of companion. The style is usually more personal and inward.
In 2003 , GuQin music is recognized as Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Kong Audio have developed an Intelligent Legato for the purpose to recreate the playing style of GuQin, which greately enhanced its live playability. The interwoven flexibility of Intelligent Legato and the deep planning of sampling, plus the cleverly designed patch arrangement, make ChineeGuQin their most playable plugin they have made so far.
Kong Audio also sampled the "silence" (string-sliding), which is essential to GuQin music.
Specifications:
425 MB meticulously crafted sample sets.
Windows XP/VISTA. 512mb RAM. NO 64-bit HOST support (Still can be used in 32-bit hosts under 64-bit Windows OS).
Works in VSTi compatible hosts.
All samples are recorded in 1-bit/2.8 MHz.
Existing customer can get ChineeGuQin with a time-limited (till January 12th) special deep discount.
ChineeGuQin VSTi
Find more instruments here.