Review: Java Mallets by Cinematique Instruments

Cinematique Instruments brings the sound of the Gamelan Orchestra to your fingertips. With 6 instruments and 25 articulations, Java Mallets can be used for creating the traditional sounds of Indonesian. But, you will get the most out of the library using the two-slot configuration and parameters for shaping your sound to the extent it becomes a powerful sound design tool.

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Review: Java Mallets by Cinematique Instruments

Java Mallets is the latest ethnic sample library by Cinematique Instruments. It features six mallet instruments from the Gamelan, a traditional Indonesian orchestra, recorded in different articulations and playing techniques. It comes with 2 NKI files, which are basically the same, but one of them, called “Java Mallets purged”, is like a “lite” version with less samples loaded. So, in the end, you’ve got one main NKI instrument from which you can control the whole library. It’s made for the full version of Kontakt (5.6.8 or later), therefore it won’t work with the free Kontakt Player. It doesn’t support the NKS protocol, so you don’t need to activate it via Native Access.

Java Mallets normally sells for €130.90 from Cinematique Instruments

Thoughts

The GUI is very simple with a nice design; the red background with the stylized shapes of a snake and the golden library’s name at the top conjures the essence of ancient eastern cultures.

Like other Cinematique Instruments’ libraries, playback can create sounds of the traditional instruments, but thanks to the dual sample engine, you can combine different instruments or articulations.

In the middle of the interface, you can see two slots for loading the different instruments. You cannot assign the same articulation of an instrument to both slots, which it makes sense because if the same samples are played twice, it could lead to phasing issues.

If you click on one of the slots, a new page appears, showing the list of the instruments and articulations you can assign to that slot. If one of them is already assigned to slot A or B, it’s marked with the writing “Used in slot A” (or B).

Six instruments were recorded including the Gender, Saron, Gambang, Gongs, Rebab and Bowed. You can choose 3 to 5 articulations for each depending on the instrument.

The “Bowed” instrument isn’t an actual instrument but it was created to give more sound design options by bowing a gender, a baron and a rebab together, as well as rubbing a big Gong Ageng. As long as you are on this window, you can switch between instruments and articulations to hear how they sound combined with the instrument on the other slot. Once you’re satisfied, just click on “Back” and your choice will be confirmed.

Back to the main window of the GUI, you can see three symbols at the bottom of it. The first one opens a pop-up window where you can choose between 16 presets.

By clicking on the stylized waveform in the middle, you have access to a bunch of parameters you can use to shape the sound to create your own textures.

The first knob allows you to increase the volume of one slot and at the same time decrease the other one. If you turn the knob entirely to the left or to the right, you’ll basically listen to the sound of one of the slots only. At this point, you can use that particular instrument in a more traditional way.

The second knob controls instead the amount of low and high frequencies. Moving on to the right you can find the Attack and Decay controls and the Width/Pan section. The Width knob controls the amount of detuning, while the Pan sets the amount of stereo width.

The last two knobs control the amount of Reverb and Delay; you can choose between seven types of reverb and four types of delay. No mic positions are available but if you set the reverb and delay knobs to zero, you can get a quite “dry” sound out of it, with the exception of the natural instruments’ resonance.

In the last section on the right side, you will find four parameters to shape the sound with FX including an Octaver, which triggers additional notes one octave lower; a Drive, which adds a saturation effect; Rotary enables rotary speaker simulation; and Tremolo activates a tremolo effect. You can set the speed of the tremolo using the Mod Wheel, meaning that the lower is the Modulation’s value the higher is the tremolo’s speed.

Finally, the shuffle symbol lets you combine randomly the instruments into the slots, a very nice feature to explore more sounding possibilities.

Java Mallets will be a very nice library for anyone who loves eastern culture and music and wants to achieve that particular kind of sound in their productions. The instruments are sampled with clear playback and a realistic sound.

You can use the single instruments in a more traditional way but what I will be getting the most out of the instrument by combining different instruments and articulations together and to shape the sound thanks to the controls and FX.

With the right amount of reverb, delay and attack, you can also turn this mallets library into a powerful sound designing tool.

Facts

The library comes with 2 NKI instruments, which are basically the same but one of them loads less samples into the RAM
It’s made for the full version of Kontakt (5.6.8 or later). It doesn’t work with the free Kontakt Player.
It includes 6 instruments, with a total of 25 articulations and 16 presets.
It includes approx. 4.700 samples and weighs 2.8 GB compressed.

Java Mallets normally sells for €130.90 from Cinematique Instruments

Demos of Java Mallets by Cinematique Instruments

Videos of Java Mallets by Cinematique Instruments

Contributor Giuseppe Corcella reviews Java Mallets by Cinematique Instruments
“Cinematique Instruments brings the sound of the Gamelan Orchestra to your fingertips. With 6 instruments and 25 articulations, Java Mallets can be used for creating the traditional sounds of Indonesian. But, you will get the most out of the library using the two-slot configuration and parameters for shaping your sound to the extent it becomes a powerful sound design tool.”