TEXTURE AND SHAKERS
The *Chakchas* are an idiophone made from several dozen dried pig hooves, which are perforated and threaded together, allowing them to produce sound when struck against one another. This ancient musical instrument originates from the Andean region of the Americas and can create either gentle or powerful sounds, depending on how it is played.
Installed size: 70 Mb
20 Audio Files
80 Kontakt Sample Files
4 Microphones
Full Kontakt 7 (or later) Required
$5.90
Lhafára is the name of an ancient Maleku instrument believed to communicate with the great spirit, the earth, and humanity. When played with respect and knowledge, it produces oracular words. This aerophone represents the sound of the wind, thunder, and strength. It is made solely from the heartwood of ojoche (a type of tree) and is hand-carved and polished with cocoa butter over a fire.
Installed size: 191 Mb
17 Audio Files
113 Kontakt Sample Files
6 Microphones
Full Kontakt 7 (or later) Required
$10.90
When the fruit of the malinche tree does not open due to lack of maturation, its seeds produce a faint sound, making it a practical idiophone. The malinche is a tree introduced centuries ago to Costa Rica from Madagascar, and while it is relatively common around the country today, its fruit is seldom used for musical purposes in modern times.
Installed size: 247 Mb
41 Audio Files
431 Kontakt Sample Files
8 Microphones
Full Kontakt 7 (or later) Required
$9.90
The maraca ngobe is a shaking idiophone, part of the largest and oldest family of instruments present in Costa Rica. It has a handle and larger percussion seeds, depending on the ritual. One of the most important elements of indigenous music, it is part of the ceremonial paraphernalia used in cleansing rituals and creating soundscapes that induce trance. This particular maraca produces a bright, shrill, and high-pitched sound due to its characteristic handmade holes.
Installed size: 75 Mb
22 Audio Files
180 Kontakt Sample Files
5 Microphones
Full Kontakt 7 (or later) Required
$6.90
Polished river stones are used and passed down through generations in Maleku medicine for spiritual healing. Their sound is used for relaxation and during therapeutic applications. Currently, no one is producing this instrument; they only have those inherited from their ancestors, though the knowledge of how to make them has been preserved.
Installed size: 62 Mb
12 Audio Files
251 Kontakt Sample Files
8 Microphones
Full Kontakt 7 (or later) Required
$6.90
An ancestral idiophone, the vara rajada is a split branch, played by striking it rhythmically between the thumb and the palm. Originating from the Native American tribes of California, its name comes from the Mutsun dialect, but the example in this recording was made in Costa Rica from a balsa branch by Daniel Mora.
Installed size: 147 Mb
37 Audio Files
397 Kontakt Sample Files
8 Microphones
Full Kontakt 7 (or later) Required
$7.90
The sandawa is a string instrument inspired by Japanese monochords from the mid-20th century. It is essentially a sound bed that a person lies on while the musician plays the strings from beneath, primarily for therapeutic purposes. Much of the instrument’s mystique comes from the harmonics it produces. This monochord typically plays in the lower register, but it also has a higher-pitched section, shorter from the bridge. Its tuning can vary based on the intentions of the person lying on the sandawa, often aligned with the frequencies of the Solfeggio scale. Usually, all the strings are tuned to the same note.
Installed size: 2.8 Gb
112 Audio Files
1497 Kontakt Sample Files
8 Microphones
Full Kontakt 7 (or later) Required
$26.90
