EW QL RA VSTi DXi AU RTAS HYBRiD DVDR D1-D4-DELiRiUM

Ra features a 14 GB collection of beautifully recorded plucked, blown, bowed, and struck instruments from around the world. Quantum Leap RA provides composers with access to a variety of rare and unique instruments from Africa, Europe, India, the Americas and Australia, the Far East, and the Middle East and Turkish Empires. Ra is also an 8-part multitimbral instrument (in Native Instruments’ Kompakt Instrument format) that works by itself or with AU, DXi, RTAS, and VST hosts.

World Class
Sounds are grouped geographically and by general instrument type, such as Bowed, Perc, Plucked, or Wind. If a particular instrument classification has more than one instrument, you’ll find a subcategory for it. For example, selecting India and navigating to the Bowed category opens a subdirectory for baritone violin, esraj, and sarangi. Furthermore, each of these subcategories may hold multiple versions of the instrument that are tailored for different performance techniques, such as key switching or Velocity crossfading. Because of the nested submenus, it can be awkward to navigate to the instrument you need. Native Instruments should implement scroll buttons to aid in selecting samples.

INSTRUMENT LIST
AFRICA
African Dual Wooden Shakers (Ewe), African Metal Shakers (Ewe), Atsimevu, Axatse, Batas, Berkete, Dejembe Ensemble, Ekpiri, Ewe Drum Ensemble, Ewe Large Bombshell, Ewe Medium Bombshell, 3ft FromTonFrom, 5ft FromTonFrom, Gankokwe Large, Gyil, Kalimbas, Kidi, Kora, Log Drums, Ngoni, Udu
AMERICAS AND AUSTRALIA
1890 Washburn Guitar, American Jaw Harp, Banjo, Berimbau, Cuban Percussion, Didjeridoo, Dobro, First Nations Cedar Flute, Mandolin, Pan Flute, Ukelele
EUROPE
Alpenhorn, Bag Pipe Ensemble, Bass Recorder, Frame Drum, Gadulka, Hardanger Fiddle, Highland Pipes, Hurdy Gurdy, Irish Low Whistle, Launeddas, Uilleann Pipes
FAR EAST
Dizi, Erhu, Gamelan Ensemble, Gongs, Koto, Rag Dung, Shakuhachi, Shamisen, Taiko Drums, Vietnamese Jawharp
INDIA
Bansuri, Baritone Violin (Electric), Esraj, Sarangi, Sitar, Tablas, Tambura
MID EAST & TURKISH EMPIRE
Armenian Duduk, Bulgarian Duduk, Mid East Fiddle, Mid East String Section, Ney Flute, Oud, Qandahar Dumbek, Santoor, Turkish, Duduk, Yalli Tambur, Zourna

Details (by Nick Phoenix – Producer)
In ancient Egypt, RA was regarded as the creator of everything, the god of the sun. RA is usually represented with the body of a man and the head of a hawk, holding an ankh & sceptre. The chief location of RA worship was Heliopolis (a Greek word meaning city of the sun). RA is an appropriate name for the largest, and most comprehensive rare and ethnic virtual instrument ever made.

RA was born a few years ago, as a sample library called "Rare Instruments.” All of the sounds from Rare Instruments are included in RA, but this only represents approximately one-tenth of the content. The other ninety percent of RA was recorded at Ocean Way studios in Hollywood. Because of the size and complexity of the project, I brought in two talented producers, Pacemaker and Tony Austin to co-produce RA with me. They have worked on some other Quantum Leap projects and had some great ideas for RA. We spent time hunting down the best ethnic artists on the West Coast. Los Angeles is so ethnically diverse and blessed with excellent institutions like Cal Arts, it is actually the ideal place to record a rare and ethnic collection.

You will find RA has amazing sound quality. This is the famous Ocean Way sound: an amazing collection of vintage mics and a custom API console. RA was captured with a phase accurate 8-mic setup that gives a complete 3 dimensional image of the instrument. It is this type of sound that takes to artificial or sampled reverb extremely well. The sound is clear and broad. Mics used were Neumann U67 (U47s as alternates), Neuman M50, AKG C12 and Shoepps.

Another cool aspect of this virtual instrument is the fact that we recorded ethnic ensembles. This was done with African drums, bagpipes, gamelan and a Middle Eastern string section. The sound of these ensembles cannot be realistically simulated by layering solo instruments.

RA was a very expensive project, but well worth the cost. A lot of thought went into selecting instruments that would appeal to composers of all types, from dance music, to film. You might want to put the middle eastern string section in your next pop tune, or the hardanger fiddle in a sweeping romantic score ala LOTR.

You might also be surprised at how little percussion is included in this giant ethnic collection. The reason is, we already covered much of this in Quantum Leap Stormdrum. Stormdrum is the ideal companion to RA. The percussion in RA compliments Stormdrum perfectly.