Ample China Erhu - ACEH

Ample China Erhu – Expressive Bowed Strings with Authentic Playing Depth

Ample China Erhu (ACEH) brings the distinctive, emotional sound of one of China’s most representative traditional bowed string instruments into your studio. Despite having only two strings, the Erhu offers an exceptionally wide expressive range – from powerful, intense tones to very soft, delicate and sustained phrases.

For this library, two related Suzhou Erhus were recorded: a standard D-tuned Erhu covering the main range from D3 to G5, and a lower-register G-tuned Erquan Erhu for the range from G2 to C#3. The instruments were performed by Ying Wang, Doctor of Erhu Performance at the Central Conservatory of Music. In total, the library provides 7.6 GB of high-quality sample content, fully chromatically sampled on both the inner and outer strings without any pitch shifting.

27 Articulations and Real Portamento

Ample China Erhu includes 27 articulations across the Head, Body and Legato Groups. These include Sustain, Staccato, Ricochet, Tremolo, Portato, expressive techniques such as Whispering, Sighing, Crying and Hoarse, as well as numerous fingering, Vibrato, Trill, Mordent and Slide variations.

A key feature is the Portamento system: real slides were sampled between any pitches and at different timings. This is complemented by Virtual Portamento with freely adjustable slide speed. The intelligent legato system automatically detects suitable transitions based on the timing between adjacent notes and uses up to four velocity layers for dynamically convincing connections.

Authentic Dynamics, Fingering and Riffer 4

The Erhu reacts strongly to different bowing dynamics. More powerful bowing produces a cleaner, brighter tone with shorter duration, while softer playing creates a darker, rougher and more sustained sound. Sample looping can also be enabled for longer sustained notes. Three fingering modes – Outer String, Inner String and Position Mode – reflect the playing logic of the real instrument.

Riffer 4 combines monophonic legato, expression and vibrato control with detailed string and fingering logic. Piano Roll and Tab views, string visualization, Auto Expression, Auto Vibrato and direct editing of articulations, legato, MIDI CC and velocity make complex Erhu performances easier to program and refine.

Features at a Glance:

• 7.6 GB of high-quality Erhu sample content
• Fully chromatically sampled inner and outer strings without pitch shifting
• Two instruments: standard D-tuned Erhu and G-tuned Erquan Erhu
• Performed by Ying Wang of the Central Conservatory of Music
• 27 articulations across the Head, Body and Legato Groups
• Real portamento between any pitches and timings
• Virtual Portamento with freely adjustable slide speed
• Intelligent legato system with up to 4 velocity layers
• 5 microphones and 3 microphone modes
• 3 fingering modes: Outer String, Inner String and Position Mode
• Riffer 4 with Piano Roll and Tab views
• String visualization, Auto Expression and Auto Vibrato
• Direct editing of articulations, legato, expression, MIDI CC and velocity
• MIDI import and export plus Quantize, Swing, Legato and Monophonic tools
• Studio FX: 8-band EQ, Compressor, Delay and Convolution Reverb

Ample China Erhu combines the remarkable expressive range of this traditional instrument with detailed sampling and modern performance tools, making it an excellent choice for film, games, world music, emotional solo passages and finely nuanced acoustic arrangements.

Mac:

• macOS 10.15 or later
• 64-bit
• Intel Core i5, Apple Silicon M1 or higher

Windows:

• Windows 8–11
• 64-bit
• Intel Core i5, AMD Ryzen 5 or higher