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支持系统：Windows.MAC

音源厂商：https://www.bestservice.com/

使用采样器：Kontakt 7. Kontakt 8加载

文件大小：13GB

我对 Ethno World 5 的第一印象是"我的天，居然有一本真正的手册！"。我的 Mac 电脑里堆满了虚拟乐器，却没有一本纸质手册，而这本手册里附有各种奇特乐器的全彩照片，真是令人耳目一新。

拥有一本精美的手册固然不错，但我之所以提到它，主要是为了展现它对细节的关注。Marcel Barsotti 的 Ethno World 5 包含约 20GB 的采样，涵盖弓弦乐器、木管乐器、铜管乐器和钟琴、鼓、锣、打击乐器，以及来自世界各地的人声和合唱。它的范围比密西西比河还要广，拥有来自 240 多种乐器的 18,000 多个采样，足以预见它会被全球玩家盗用数年，尤其是考虑到上一版 EW4（2009 年 1 月评测）中的所有乐器也都包含在内。

简单安装 Kontakt 4 后（未安装完整版的用户可免费获得 Kontakt 4 播放器），您的世界之旅即可开启。之前的评测对众多乐器进行了详细的分析，因此我们这次将主要关注新加入的乐器。

木管乐器中新增了两支长笛，每支长笛的音色都截然不同。两支长笛都提供了丰富的演奏技巧和乐句选择：超越键盘复制范围的原汁原味录音。Ney 长笛是一款带有气息的伊朗长笛，其 Kontakt 演奏技巧包括打击乐般的爆发声和流畅的颤音；而 Pivana 长笛则是一款来自科西嘉岛的纯净音色的羊角笛或山羊角笛。这款柔和的乐器有普通版和次中音版（大概取决于捐赠羊或山羊的大小），其基础采样的乐句令人回味无穷，有时甚至令人难以忘怀。

强劲的日本太鼓不仅丰富了打击乐部分，更增添了强劲的日本太鼓。这些极具演奏性的鼓点与丰富的循环乐段相得益彰，甚至还有一些采样的喊叫声！Big Ethnic Toms 包含一系列打击乐、滚奏乐段和数百个多功能循环乐段，可以融入多种音乐风格。同样，还有各种各样的碎镲、泼镲、叠镲和瓷镲，它们带有渐强音、各种打击乐和循环乐段，虽然并非明确的民族风格，但同样令人欣喜。

回到更传统的世界乐器，我个人对高质量的锣采样乐段乐感十足，而全新的 Big Feng Gong 更是一流。我已经在几首完成的曲目中使用了它。小巧却完美的风铃组也同样出色。

该套装的"人声"部分新增了 25 个独唱人声，以及一个民族室内合唱团。人声部分在全球覆盖范围方面仍然略有不足，但仍然包含一些非常实用的素材。虽然并非完全民族风，但我非常喜欢人声口哨，而人群版本更是妙不可言。

其他乐器组这次并没有受到太多关注，不过班杜拉琴——一种来自乌克兰的弦乐器——值得一提。它虽然简单，但却很可爱，就像齐特琴和鲁特琴的结合体。

作为一张合集，《Ethno World 5》令人印象深刻，内容丰富，之前版本的采样听起来依然新鲜。正如《Ethno World 4》的评论中提到的，有些乐器组比其他乐器组更完整，有些在演奏技巧、循环和乐句方面则更加丰富。总而言之，这是一个价格不菲的音色库，但它足够优雅，足以吸引那些眼光独到的世界音乐或新世纪音乐作曲家，或者任何寻求奢华异域风情作品的人。Paul Nagle

My first Ethno World 5 observation was "blimey, an actual manual!". Having a pile of virtual instruments squatting in my Mac and not one printed manual amongst them, this one, with its full‑colour photos of weird and wonderful instruments, is a refreshing change.

A pretty manual is nice to have, but I mention it mostly to illustrate the attention to detail that exists throughout. Marcel Barsotti's Ethno World 5 contains around 20GB of samples encompassing bowed and string instruments, woodwind, brass and bells, drums, gongs, percussion, and voices and choirs from across the globe. Its scope is wider than the Mississippi and, with more than 18,000 samples from over 240 instruments, you can reasonably expect years of global plundering, especially since all the instruments from the previous EW4 (reviewed January 09) are included too.

After a straightforward Kontakt 4 installation (a Kontakt 4 player is bundled in for those who don't have the full version), your world tour can commence. The previous review offered a detailed breakdown of many of the instruments, so here we'll focus mainly on the newcomers.

Amongst the woodwinds are two new flutes, each with contrasting tones. Both are supplied with a generous selection of articulations and licks: authentic recordings beyond the scope of keyboard replication. The Ney Flute is a breathy Iranian flute whose Kontakt articulations include percussive bursts and fluid trills, while the Pivana Flute is a pure‑sounding sheep- or goat‑horn flute from Corsica. This mellow instrument comes in regular and tenor versions (depending, presumably, on the size of the donor sheep or goat), and the licks that supplement its base samples are evocative and occasionally haunting.

The already extensive percussion section is joined by the powerful Japanese Taiko drums. These highly playable drums are complemented by an array of loops, and even a few sampled yells! The Big Ethnic Toms include a series of hits, rolls, and hundreds of versatile loops that could slot into many musical styles. Similarly, there's an assortment of crash, splash, ride and china cymbals with swells, assorted hits, and loops that aren't explicitly ethnic in nature, but are welcome all the same.

Back to more traditional world instrumentation, personally I never tire of quality gong samples, and the new Big Feng Gong is superb. I've already used it in several finished tracks. Ditto the small but immaculate set of wind chimes.

The Voices element of the package has been boosted by 25 new solo voices, plus an ethnic chamber choir. The voice component still lags a little behind in its global coverage but features some really useable material all the same. Although not totally ethnic, I really enjoyed the human whistling, the crowd version being spookily good.

The other instrument groups didn't receive too much attention this time out, although the Bandura — a stringed instrument from the Ukraine — deserves a mention. It's a lovely, if uncomplicated, thing, like a cross between a zither and a lute.

Taken as a collection, Ethno World 5 is impressive and expansive, with the samples from previous versions sounding as fresh as ever. As noted in the review of EW4, some instrument groups are more complete than others, and some are far more generous in terms of articulations, loops and licks. Ultimately, this is a fairly expensive library but one that is classy enough to justify itself to discerning composers of world or new age music, or anyone in search of deluxe exotica. Paul Nagle