Strezov Sampling – KAMBANITE Church Bells (KONTAKT)

Publisher: Strezov Sampling
Website: strezov-sampling
Format: KONTAKT FULL & K’ed 5.7.1+
Quality: 24 bit 48 kHz stereo

Description: More than 100 deeply sampled bells from all over the world! Suitable for any music production, this one-of-a-kind collection is full of inspiration and sounds that no one has ever heard before.

Kambanite Church Bells was a very interesting and unique project for us. The name “Kambanite” (translated as “Bells”) comes from a unique monument and park located on the outskirts of Sofia. The region has a rich cultural and historical heritage – in 1979 the UN announced that there would be a “Year of Children”, and the then Minister of Culture of Bulgaria organized and established the International Assembly “Banner of Peace” – a festival dedicated to children’s art with the motto “Unity, Art, Beauty” … This children’s gathering has become one of the most recognizable international symbols of Bulgaria for people in the Eastern (communist) bloc and beyond.

The Kambanite Monument was built in 1979 to commemorate the newly established Banner of Peace International Assembly and has been its symbol ever since. The structure itself has a height of 37 meters and consists of 7 bells placed in a hollow sphere, which symbolize the planet Earth and 7 continents together – a symbol of peace. The park around the Monument was designed to be the “home” of bells donated by countries and governments around the world, most of which were brought and donated by children participating in the Assembly. There are currently over 107 bells in the park, each with its own voice. We aimed to capture and sample this huge variety of voices and create a unique library of bells so that the music from Kambanite can be shared with the world.

Each of the bells in the library has a specific pitch. However, since we wanted to create playable patches for each bell, we went to great lengths to make this happen. The original pitch of each bell is indicated on the keyboard in yellow-green in the green area. The green section itself represents the octave that is covered by the stretch of the original sample. To cover a wider range, the original sample pitch is also transposed 1 octave up and 1 and / or 2 octaves down, giving you a total of 4 octaves to create music. Each bell was recorded in 2 dynamic layers and with 2 RRs.