Authentic Chinese instruments
From futuristic tech sprawl to ancient Daoism—China has many faces. Chinese musical culture is equally diverse, and offers countless ways to inspire and build new worlds. With Phoenix Orchestra, we give you a vibrant palette for creating authentic Chinese music—both ancient and modern—for your scores and productions.
Created in collaboration with composers Harry Gregson-Williams and Richard Harvey, Phoenix Orchestra is a rich and detailed celebration of Chinese musical culture.
A modern Chinese orchestra featuring traditional instruments and virtuoso players.
Highlights
21 individual instruments, 7 instrument ensembles, and 4 orchestral sections
A wide range of Chinese instruments, including gaohu, erhu, zhonghu, guzheng, yangqin, and pipa
Detailed solo instruments—each with characteristic articulations, swells, and ornaments
100% playable, with true legato
Recorded in situ, with the players in traditional seating arrangement
Four mic positions
Authentic instrumentation
Phoenix Orchestra presents a wide range of traditional Chinese instruments, captured in the context of a classical chamber orchestra. Explore new textures through four orchestral sections: plucked strings, bowed strings, wind instruments, and percussion. Create individual parts with 21 solo instruments, including guzheng, yangqin, erhu, zonghu, dizi, and sheng. Enhance the richness of individual parts with seven instrument ensembles, which group several players of the same instrument.
All instruments were recorded in situ, with players in typical chamber orchestra seating positions, to ensure a 100% authentic sonic image when using the instruments together.
Attention to detail
With Phoenix Orchestra, we wanted to create a nuanced library that reflects a true understanding of these original Chinese instruments. We worked closely with Richard Harvey—a composer and multi-instrumentalist with deep expertise in traditional and unusual instruments.
The resulting library captures the exceptional playing technique of master musicians. You can reproduce all of the dynamic articulations, swells, and ornaments unique to each instrument. With true legato for all melodic instruments, you can craft expressive sustaining parts with heightened realism.
And everything is completely playable. There are no pre-recorded phrases.
Created with Harry Gregson-Williams and Richard Harvey
Commissioned to score Disney’s live-action Mulan movie, composer Harry Gregson-Williams worked with Richard Harvey and Orchestral Tools to build a sample library that could conjure elements of ancient China within a powerful modern score. With the release of Phoenix Orchestra, now all composers can draw from the same library used to create Mulan.
Harry Gregson-Williams
Harry is a highly sought-after composer for films, TV, and video games, whose scores range from the Shrek franchise and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to The Martian and most recently Disney’s Mulan and the Metal Gear Solid game series.
Richard Harvey
Richard is Hollywood’s go to multi-instrumentalist for unusual instruments, and an acclaimed composer who has collaborated with artists ranging from Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello to Hans Zimmer and John Williams. TV and film highlights include The Little Prince, Luther, and The Da Vinci Code.
Master musicians
Phoenix Orchestra captures the sound of the Ding Yi Music Company—an internationally recognized Chinese chamber ensemble based in Singapore. With a group of master musicians, Ding Yi performs traditional Chinese music as well as contemporary works. The award-winning orchestra tours extensively, sharing its one-of-a-kind sound across Asia and Europe.
Phoenix Orchestra was recorded in Thailand at Chris Craker’s Karma Studios.
Runs in SINE
Mic merging
Preserve your system resources: Fine-tune your mix using multiple mic positions, then merge into a single channel within the player.
Greater usability
SINE is designed to complement the compositional workflow. Create on the fly with auto keyswitch options, and easy remapping tools.
Download single instruments
Choose only the instruments and mic positions that you currently need—no need to download the entire collection at once.
Spectrum
Phoenix Orchestra
Authentic Chinese instruments
Karma Studios, Bangsaray
Works with Orchestral Tools’ SINE Player—NOTE: Latest version required!
Size
95 GB of samples (41 GB SINEarc compressed)
24 bit / 48 KHz patches
SINE system requirements
Mac: macOS 10.13 or higher | Intel Core i5 or similar | Apple M1 chipset supported | At least 8 GB RAM (16 GB+ recommended)
Windows: Windows 10 | Intel Core i5 or similar | At least 8 GB RAM (16 GB+ recommended)
Formats supported: Standalone, VST, VST3, AU, AAX