Native Instruments West Africa

I have had no compatibility issues so far. I run this library in Kontakt Stand alone, as well as both Logic 9 and Ableton 8. It's a pretty simple setup, all you need to do is load the Library, then load the instrument you want. There are some features like the Sequencer for creating patterns that you will benefit in reading the manual, which is a pretty concise read.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

So far, I have had zero drop outs or glitches. I run all my samples at a buffer rate of 128. According to Kontakt, that puts me around 5 milliseconds of latency, which I can deal with. It has never caused any crashes and any no work whether in standalone or host has been lost. As for performance it gets a 9 out of 10. The samples all sound excellent, and the GUI is polished and user friendly. The playability of the instruments can be a little challenging however. With pattern access on the keyboard and a host of "utility" samples (i.e. clicks from striking instrument) as well as odd scale patterns, there is a little bit of a learning curve. I have been using this for about two months.

OVERALL OPINION

What I like most about this set is the quality of the samples brings instruments, some of which I have never even heard of, into my instrument choices that would be otherwise very hard to get. Native Instruments really does a good job on the pattern sequencer too. It's user friendly and setup to stay true to the feel of African Music by encouraging poly rhythms. I don't really have any complaints about it. I paid $119 for this which is a good deal for this many solidly sampled instruments. I have come across many hardware and software versions of similar instruments, but I put West Africa on the top of the list. I highly recommend this to people who want to expand there instrument possibilities and expand percussion writing.