Around a year ago we reported on a movement from East Africa that explored a new sense of excitement in the region, working at the intersection between traditional musical approaches and electronic music culture. A year on and things have continued to develop at pace. New festivals, parties and events have sprung up in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda focussing on a desire to represent and promote an ‘Afro-futuristic’ or ‘World Music 2.0’ attitude – and new styles, interesting collaborations and fresh approaches to live performances have flourished.
Collectives like Santuri East Africa have been at the forefront of this development, and have begun to further the conversation by looking at technology as a platform for traditional culture and heritage. One of the strands for this has been to encourage the development of an East African sample library, including new digital instruments based on and inspired by traditional instruments from the wide and varied cultures of the region. Four such instruments have been developed into unique Ableton Live Racks by Johannesburg's Emile Hoogenhout (a.k.a Behr) and can be downloaded for free.
Gregg Tendwa, a cultural activist from Kenya and co-founder of Santuri East Africa explains how this came about: “Many musicians and producers from East Africa depend on standard sample libraries that are available on their DAWs. The music produced can be good, but has none of the contextual authenticity that comes with adding a texture of heritage. With sounds collected from around East Africa, there’s much more scope for creating unique music that reflects the deep vibes of the region.”
Making an East African sound bank
Mirroring the global trend, the bulk of music production and recording in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda has moved beyond traditional studios. Most producers in the region do not have access to recording studios, quality recording equipment or even musicians to record. Santuri has been thinking about this issue for a while, and has been organizing ideas around developing an East African sound bank – a resource for producers, DJs and music makers to access sounds and instruments from their own backyard – and to share those sounds with producers around the world. And so to this end, Santuri convened a line-up of ‘roots’ musicians including Olith Ratego, Abakasimba Troupe, Msafiri Zawose, and Giovanni Kremer Kiyingi, to work together with Behr, who happens to be an Ableton Certified Trainer, in a workshop on building Instrument Racks in Live.
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Behr’s deep interest in African instruments had led to him previously developing an mbira Rack, and over five days in Nairobi he had the opportunity to record four more distinct instruments found only in the East Africa region. Battling with less than ideal conditions, (sound insulation was in scarce supply and samples had to be recorded during lulls in other workshops), Emile set about capturing and translating instruments with unfamiliar and unique qualities into playable Racks – perhaps the first time these instruments have appeared outside of a traditional context.
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“I wanted to approach this project with the utmost respect to the culture and history behind the instruments and musicians but with the ability to push the sonic boundaries with the use of Ableton Live. I sat down with all the artists and asked them about the history of all the instruments – everyone was very happy this vision of cross-pollinating the traditional with music technology.'
Good quality recordings were essential to achieving this goal. “If the recording and processing methods were adhered to correctly,” notes Emile “the dynamic essence of the instrument would be embodied in a virtual context, with most of the organic nuances intact when playing different velocities on any MIDI device.” Working from this basis, he then added a few well-thought out macro controls to each Instrument Rack to control Arpeggiator parameters, Reverb, Filter Delay and sample reverse. With the ability to morph from the pure, multi-sampled recordings to heavily treated, filtered and arpeggiated forms of the same, Emile is making a concrete contribution of the Afro-futuristic aesthetic that’s to be bubbling up in East Africa.
Free Sounds from East Africa
Download the Pack from Emile’s site where you’ll also find a detailed description of the recording process. Read on to learn some of the social and cultural background the original instruments and musicians came from.
The Instruments
Zeze – Tanzania
The zeze can be found in various guises all over East Africa and beyond. Essentially it’s a stringed instrument that normally consists of between one and five strings running along a wooden neck to a open, resonating gourd. Previously, recalls leading exponent Msafiri Zawose, a zeze was called a “ching’wengng’we” – an onomatopoeia for the sound produced by the smaller versions.
The zeze sampled for this Rack is unique. It was developed and modified by the Zawose family of Bagamoyo – a coastal town one hour’s drive from Tanzania's capital, Dar es Salaam. The Zawose clan have been at the forefront of showcasing the music of the Wagogo tribe for decades. The towering presence of Dr. Hukwe Zawose led the music of the Wagogo to be heard worldwide through his tours and recordings with Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records in the 1980s. At home, he presided over a vast musical family of some 50 members, and pioneered a number of modifications and evolutions of traditional instruments to suit his development as an artist – from kalimbas of all sizes to the distinct zeze now played by his son and musical successor, Msafiri. The Zawose zeze is characterized by its size, having an unprecedented 14 steel strings. It’s made of dried calabash, wood, the skin of either a monitor lizard, goat, cow or python.
Zeze player Msafiri Zawose on the history of the instrument and his relationship to it
Msafiri, who recorded the zeze for this Rack, explains:
“I learned how to play the zeze when I was around 8-9 years old. By the time I was 16 years old, I had mastered the instrument and was able to make them on my own. I have a special love for the sound of the zeze, the way it can be drawn out and express a range of feelings and emotions. It can be relaxing and meditative, or it can be uplifting. Animals are drawn to the sound, and birds will often try to mimic its tones.
I learned to play the zeze from my father, who later developed zezes in different sizes and with more strings. The large zeze instruments did not exist in Gogo [one of the largest tribes in Tanzania] culture, especially the plucking style. It’s been exciting to develop songs on the large zeze because very few people in the world have a zeze like ours. Almost all are in the family, and even within the family, no one plays the zeze like I do.”
Adungu – Uganda
Two of the instruments developed into Ableton Racks hail from Uganda - the Endere (flute) and Adungu (bowed harp), and were both played by Giovanni Kremer Kiyingi – a young multi-instrumentalist from Kampala.
The Adungu is a nine-string arched (bow) harp of the Alur people of northwestern Uganda. There are strong similarities and possible direct links to the Egyptian Arched harp of the Old Kingdom – and similar instruments can be found in West and North Africa. Players of arched harps were often of a high social status. The informative Singing Wells website suggests: “Traditionally, the harpist was the only musician ever allowed to play in the room of the royal ladies, whilst there would often have been a harpist situated in the Kabaka’s palace (the chief of the Baganda tribe in Uganda). In some cases, a harpist was blinded by royal command either to make him immune against the charms of his audience or to keep him dependent upon his master.”
These days the Adungu is featured predominantly in wedding and funeral ceremonies, and can be heard either solo or in ensembles. Giovanni, the instrumentalist that worked on this Rack, began playing it at school, but was later taught by a musician who played in the king’s palace. He’s since become one its leading exponents.
Endere – Uganda
The Endere may be less impressive in appearance, but has just a firm a place in the Ugandan musical landscape. A flute of the Baganda people, the Endere known by several other names depending on the region – the Omukuri of the Banyankore and the Bakiga people, the Akalere of the Basoga Iteso people. The instrument is blown at the slightly V-shaped slit end of the instrument, usually with four finger holes. If the Endere is not used to accompany dancing, it is used to play melodies for the grazing cattle or to interpret love songs. Giovanni confirms this:
“I traveled to western Uganda with my father, where many children played the flute to the cattle while grazing and milking. All the time we spent there I was struggling to produce a sound from this flute. One day I got a chance to talk to the late Prof. Ssempeke – the best flute player in the kingdom. There began my love for the instrument. The Endere can produce so many melodies, which makes me love it more, and keeps me searching for new ways to play it.”
Ohangla Drums – Kenya
The drums recorded for this Pack come from the the Ohangla culture – born out of the Luo community of Western Kenya. Ohangla refers to a dance and style of music that was often performed at funerals, weddings as a part of Tero Buro – a Luo rite of passage. Ohangla had a reputation for very fast tempos and vulgar messages, and was associated with provocative dances and illicit home-brew, and as such Luo elders once decreed it was only fit for adult audiences. A famous Luo saying translates as ‘ohangla is never to be used for entertaining a woman’, such was its perceived seductive potency. It has now mostly lost this reputation, having found audiences across tribal barriers and become popular for celebrations of many kinds. Yet, Ochieng Moses Ochieng (a.k.a Moseh Drumist) who provided the recordings for the Rack here, testifies to its continued hypnotic power:
“These drums were used in sacred celebration ceremonies – their sounds are therapeutic and possess the audience. When I play these drums people usually go into a trance... It takes their souls on a journey.”
Moseh Drumist recording Ohangla drums
Africa Ni Leo (Africa is now)
The four instruments available here cover a wide geographical terrain, from the coastal areas of Tanzania to Western Kenya and Northern and Central Uganda. Scores of other equally unique instruments and cultures exist, many that have been all but forgotten during the rapid urbanization of culture in the region. Santuri’s interaction with these musical cultures provides a platform for rethinking their position within the creative landscape. As Behr elucidates: “music has constantly expanded and evolved with many applications through ritual and experience. This project echoes this sentiment that nothing is ever stagnant, which I feel resonated with all the artists, combining the traditional and the modern to the sonic world of the unknown.”
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Gregg Tendwa of Santuri suggests that “as yet, we are nowhere near commenting strongly or authoritatively about an East African sound, and that is not the main reason for collecting these samples and developing these Racks. The idea is that the usage and validation of such sounds across a network of producers, DJs and musicians can allow an organic sound to emerge. When we hear a West African kora play, you know where that music comes from, irrespective of whether it's on a hip hop or a folk track. We look forward to a growing appreciation of these sounds globally, and an eventual recognition of particular sounds coming out of East Africa.”
Keep up with Emile Hoogenhout and Santuri Safari
Ableton Racks are awesome! They allow you to group effects or instruments, map multiple parameters to a single macro and create parallel chains. I’m using these features to “pimp” Ableton’s stock effects every day so if you’re looking for some free Ableton racks you definitely came to the right place!
Click on the button below to start your free download and make sure to read the entire post for further details. You may also like this list of free Ableton templates.
Mastering Rack
When your mixdown is perfect you usually don’t need much processing on the master. However, there are some effects that can help to “glue” all individual tracks together and give you track that final touch. My general recommendation: less is more! If you’re making big changes on your master channel you should probably go back to the mixing stage!
This is what the macros from my Ableton mastering rack do:
- Bass Mono sets a crossover frequency. Everything below will be mono (50 – 200 Hz).
- Glue decreases the threshold of Ableton’s Glue Compressor (0 – -30 dB).
- Shine is a high-shelf filter you can use to boost the side signal (0 – 6 dB).
- Freq controls the high-shelf filter’s frequency (4 – 22 kHz).
- Clean Up reduces low midrange frequencies (0 – -5dB).
- Focus adjusts the exact frequency for “Clean Up” (200 – 500 Hz).
- Gain increases the input gain of Ableton’s limiter (-24 – 24 dB).
- Release adjusts the release time of Ableton’s Limiter (0.01ms – 3s).
I’d highly recommend to pick another limiter like the one from Ozone 9 if you really want to achieve a professional master. However, if you just want to render a quick demo or a rough mix Ableton’s Limiter will probably be good enough.
Vocal Rack
Mixing vocals is extremely complex and a single free Ableton Rack will never be able to make any vocal sound perfect. However, if you’re new to mixing or just want to enhance a rough demo this Ableton Live rack might be something for you.
- High Pass controls the frequency of a high-pass filter (80 – 250 Hz).
- Air boosts the top end with a high-shelf filter (0 – 15 dB).
- Clean Up cuts muddy frequencies in the low mids (0 – -8dB).
- Focus controls the exact frequency of the “Clean Up” cut (200 – 800 Hz).
- De-Ess decreases the threshold of the de-esser (0 – -40dB).
- Reverb is a simple dry/wet control to add space (0 – 50%).
- Delay is also a dry/wet knob for the delay (0 – 40%).
Basic Chord Rack
The chord rack is meant for producers who are new to music theory. Placing it on a MIDI track it will automatically create a fitting triad, based on the key you’ve selected. Additionally you can enable the octave function via macro 3. Since the rack doesn’t cover inversion I’d recommend resampling the MIDI. Afterwards you can try to transpose single notes of each chord an octave up or down.
- Base shifts the origin of the scale (default is C)
- Minor/Major switches the minor scale to a major scale.
- Octave adds an octave of the fundamental tone.
1 Knob Wash Out
My 1 Knob Wash Out is actually inspired by the famous Bass Kleph Easy Washout. It one has one macro (Wash Out!), which is meant to be automated. You can slap it on your master, groups or individual tracks to create huge build ups and transitions.
“Wash Out!” controls a total of 6 parameters:
- High-pass frequency (26 – 932 Hz)
- High-pass resonance (0 – 30%)
- Echo dry/wet (0 – 40%)
- Reverb dry/wet (0 – 60 %)
- Stereo Width (100 – 80%)
- Gain (0 – 5db)
Easi 808
My “Easi 808” is the only instrument rack in this list and just like every 808 bass it’s based on a simple sine wave. You can adjust things like attack, glide time, distortion and cutoff. There’s even a mono compatible chorus effect built in.
- Attack increases the pitch envelope and decreases the attack time (0 – 80%).
- Attack Time adjusts the pitch envelope’s duration (20 – 140 ms).
- Glide Time sets the time a slide from one note to another takes (0.10 – 200 ms).
- Soft Clipper increases the Soft Clipper’s input gain (70 – 100).
- Gain adjusts the amount of distortion (0 – 20 %).
- Mix adjusts the balance between the clean and distorted signal (0 – 100 %).
- Spread detunes frequencies above 150 Hz (0 – 100%).
- Cutoff sets the low-pass filter’s cutoff (10 Hz – 22 kHz).
LoFi Rack
My LoFi rack emulates a bunch of characteristics and effects that are typical for vintage studio gear. You can use it to detune your source sound, decrease the frequency range, add distortion and vinyl crackles. If you produce LoFi and don’t want to spend 80 bucks on the RC-20 Retro Color you should definitely try out this one!
- Hi Pass adjusts the frequency of the high-pass filter (100 Hz – 1kHz).
- Low Pass controls the low-pass filter’s cutoff (500 Hz – 22kHz).
- Cabinet adjusts the balance between the Cabinet’s dry/wet (0 – 100%).
- Crack increases the volume of vinyl crackles (0 – 1).
- Detune increases the amount of detuning (0 – 17.2 Hz).
- Gain sets the input and output gain for Ableton’s Pedal (-35 – 35dB).
- Drive adjusts the dry/wet of Ableton’s Pedal (0 – 100%).
- Output controls the overall output volume of this rack (-10 – 10dB).
Reverb Rack
What bothers me the most about Ableton’s Reverb is that changing settings, such as room size or decay will also change the Reverb’s volume. That’s why I added 2 utilities to this rack which automatically counter those changes. Furthermore, you’ll get two independent controls for dry and wet instead of only one knob. To top things off you’ll get 2 filters, so you have control over Reverb’s frequency range.
- Dry controls the volume of the dry signal (-inf – 6dB).
- Wet adjusts the volume of the wet signal (-inf – 6dB).
- Size controls the room size (0.22 – 500).
- Time sets the decay time (200ms – 6s).
- Pre sets the pre-delay time (0.5ms – 100ms).
- Width controls how stereo the reverb is (0 – 120).
- High Pass adjusts the frequency of the high-pass filter (150 Hz – 1kHz).
- Low Pass controls the frequency of the low-pass filter (300 Hz – 10kHz).
Sauce Rack
My “Sauce Rack” is something I like to add to most of my Trap and Hip Hop melodies. It comes with 4 different effects, adding stereo modulation, reverb, pitch modulation and delay. For each of those effects you get 2 macros so you can adjust them to your liking.
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- Spread controls the dry/wet parameter of Ableton’s Chorus (0 – 99%).
- Amount sets the modulation amount in milliseconds (0 – 2.17ms)
- Reverb controls the Reverb’s dry/wet (0 – 100%).
- Decay adjusts Reverb’s decay time (200ms – 5s).
- Detune adjusts the amount of frequency shift modulation (0 – 15.1Hz).
- Speed sets the speed of frequency shift modulation (0.01 – 3.73 Hz)
- Delay controls Echo’s dry/wet (0 – 50%).
- Feed controls Echo’s feedback (0 – 50%).
Soft Clipper
Ableton’s Glue Compressor, comes with a cool soft clipping feature, which works wonders on Trap and Hip Hop kicks. Problem? The output volume drastically changes when you increase the gain. With this Ableton effect rack you can drive the input gain and afterwards adjust the output so true bypassing is possible. You can also filter the wet signal or mix in the dry sound.
- Gain increases or decreases the input and output gain (-35 – 35 dB).
- Dry increases the volume of the dry signal (-inf – 6dB).
- High Pass sets the frequency of the high-pass filter (10 Hz – 10kHz).
- Low Pass sets the low-pass filter’s cutoff (200 Hz – 22kHz).
- Output adjusts the output gain (-10 – 10dB).
Easi Sidechain
My “Easi Sidechain” rack comes with 2 controls, empowering you to sidechain any track within seconds. Just keep in mind that this rack is only suitable for 4-to-the-floor house and techno beats, since it’s LFO based. If you own a copy of LFO Tool you probably won’t need this one.
- Amount adjusts the amount of volume modulation applied to the incoming signal (0 – 100%).
- Shape changes the modulation curve (0 – 100%).
Gain Rack
My “Gain Rack” doesn’t have any effects loaded yet, but it allows you to simultaneously crank up the input and reduce the output gain. Obviously this only makes sense if you place another effect between the two utilities.
- Input boosts the input gain and attenuates the output gain (-35 – 35dB).
- Output boosts or attenuates the output gain (-inf – 35dB).
Conclusion
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So as you can see, Ableton Racks are really useful and you can use them to build some amazing multi effects. If you haven’t download those racks yet make sure to get your copy now. It’s free 😉