LONDON, UK: Spitfire Audio is proud to announce availability of GAIKA – WAR ISLAND — introducing an astonishing new sample library made in collaboration with multidisciplinary sound artist and composer GAIKA as a collection of expansive industrial soundscapes, making multidimensional, evolving sounds from the beating heart of London’s industrial underground accessible, intuitive, and interactive through the sound-specialising British music technology company’s award-winning AAX-, AU-, VST2-, and VST3-compatible, NKS (Native Kontrol Standard)-ready plug-in that loads into all major DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) without the need for any additional software — as of February 10…
Inspired by sounds that its instigating namesake heard while growing up in South London, the comprehensive toolkit that is GAIKA – WAR ISLAND captures the intense, industrial quality of GAIKA’s specific sonic world, with its rich cultural backdrop of idiosyncratic musical styles — from gothic hip hop to sound system culture, as well as retro-futuristic influences — to produce a range of intense, abstract atmospheres resonating with earth-shattering depth, developed amidst the dystopian backdrop of London in lockdown and a result of being forced to reflect upon the state of the city in the context of the wider world.As such, GAIKA – WAR ISLAND offers multidimensional, evolving sounds from the beating heart of London’s industrial underground, available as 42 presets split into six sections: Pads — five moody, metallic, and heavy darkwave synth drones made from a range of contemporary and classic analogue and virtual analogue synths, including a SOMA Laboratory LYRA-8, Oberheim Matrix 6, Oberheim Matrix 12, and Roland JP-8000, plus many more besides; Basses — known for massive, jaw-dropping villainous bass, GAIKA provides seven crunchy low-end examples to compliment the nuance of this idiosyncratic sound domain; Leads — 12 manipulated and processed tones conjuring a dystopian backdrop while providing infinite capabilities for layering a unique user sonic footprint; Atmospheres — capturing a unique air of disquiet and metropolitan malaise, each of these seven blissfully discordant offerings set up an unsettling atmosphere; Drums — six punchy, layered sounds made from old school drum machines with extensive processing to create dance, rap, and techno sensibilities within a classical framework for achieving vast rhythmic possibilities; and Vocals — glitchy and melodic vocal samples inspired by jungle music to capture the dystopian sound of a retro yet modern urban landscape.
All are presented in Spitfire Audio’s award-winning AAX-, AU-, VST2-, and VST3-compatible, NKS-ready plug-in that loads into all major DAWs without the need for any additional software as a sophisticated yet easy-to-use library with wide-ranging musical reach — rich, complex sounds that have been meticulously curated, deconstructed, and developed from a diversity of synths, hardware, and processing techniques by GAIKA and producer Felix Lee, his longterm collaborator. “My aim was to create the same feeling of excitement from a sound library that I get from a physical instrument,” illustrates the multidisciplinary sound artist, adding: “A lot of time has gone into creating and sculpting these really rich sounds; I want people to get truly lost in the worlds I build, and for that journeying to trigger internal investigations beyond the moment of encounter.”
Eight controls — namely, expression, dynamics, REVERB, ATTACK, RELEASE, CHORUS, FLANGER, and PHASER — permit investigating a wide range of detailed sound-sculpting possibilities within a single patch, so users can quickly add their own sonic footprint to the core sound provided. It is worth noting here that the dynamics slider controls an inbuilt processed signal, curated by GAIKA himself, starting with the reverberant quality of the processed signal up to the immediate direct impact of the original recording to offer significant creative control. Creating that processed signal involved every sample being played back through a massive sound system at Somerset House Studios — an experimental workspace in the centre of London connecting artists, makers, and thinkers with audiences — and being re-recorded in order to create space and depth around each sound, providing a new expansive and cinematic perspective.
Putting all that into wise words, GAIKA says that he wants “…people to just create new music, whether using the library to score in a more experimental way, or trying to push the boundaries of what they know without necessarily investing thousands and thousands into all of this hardware. People describe my records as the sound of the memory of the club, as opposed to being really direct dance floor music, but people tend to come to me because they want all of this cinematic, ambient stuff in their records, and the more that I’ve grown as a composer, I’ve really leaned into that.”
This venture is part of a larger-scale anthology of work by GAIKA also known as War Island — including the GAIKA – WAR ISLAND sample library itself, obviously, as well as an album, an installation, film, writing, and technology — which speaks to the universal experience of modern existence absorbed and inspired by urban sprawl in a sharp assessment of the state of post-pandemic Britain and its place in a changed world. With GAIKA – WAR ISLAND, a fresh creative lens is being offered not only to experimental producers but also to composers looking for cutting-edge sounds with which to enhance their scores.
GAIKA – WAR ISLAND is available as an AAX-, AU-, VST2-, and VST3-compatible plug-in supporting Native Instruments’ NKS (Native Kontrol Standard) for Mac (OS X 10.10 – macOS 11) and Windows (7, 8, and 10 — latest Service Pack) that loads directly into any compatible DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for an RRP (Recommended Retail Price) of only £29.00 GBP (inc. VAT)/$29.00 USD/€29.00 EUR (inc. VAT) — from here: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/gaika-war-island (Spitfire Audio and GAIKA are contributing 12.5% of ongoing sample library sales to Hackney Caribbean Elderly Organisation: https://www.hceo.org.uk)
Spitfire Audio’s namesake Spitfire Audio application allows anyone to buy now and download anytime, and is available for free from here: http://www.spitfireaudio.com/info/library-manager/
For more in-depth information, including some superb-sounding audio demos, please visit the dedicated GAIKA – WAR ISLAND webpage here: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/gaika-war-island
Watch Spitfire Audio’s launch premiere of GAIKA – WAR ISLAND — including its intriguing trailer video and Spitfire Audio in-house composer Homay Schmitz’s walkthrough — here: https://youtu.be/NBd6f2BGQMM