Gamelan for misanthropes

Love the distinct and haunting sounds of gamelan music, but don't have a massive orchestra of Javanese or Balinese musicians handy?

Then Soniccouture has just the product for you. It's a 24-GB library of 25 gamelan instruments, with 4,000 samples to draw from. For those unfamiliar, gamelan is an ensemble of bronze percussion instruments like gongs, chimes and xylophones. Said to be around since 800 AD or so, it's one of Indonesia's most unique cultural exports, and is promoted in the US by the American Gamelan Institute.

It runs around $380 for the whole package. Basically, in your slippers and from your own basement, you can arrange and conduct an entire gamelan orchestra. How cool is that?


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