Thanks, I appreciate it! I definitely listened to a lot of traditional Asian music in preparing to make this pack, and also more modern filmscore from Tan Dun and others. There's a lot of really fantastic music in different traditions through that part of the world, and I encourage everyone to branch out and listen. Part of my research strategy was to listen to performances on specific instruments, to better understand their idiomatic style. The Chinese bawu and erhu are two of my favorites, shakuhachi from Japan. And as I mentioned in a post below, check out J Lilly's YT channel for Korean haegeum music.
Thanks for the links - will definitely check them out.
Tan Dun is of course pretty well known for "Hero" and especially for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" which is one of my personal favorites.
What I like about traditional Japanese music is the "formality" of it, for the lack of a better word. Modern Japanese music like for movie scores can be completely different, though. Two examples:
"Rising Sun", which features a "modern" jazz/thriller soundtrack, but integrating Japanese motives and instruments flaring up here and there. Perhaps not the best soundtrack for isolated listening but it works fantastic in the movie and gives it a very particular atmosphere.
The other "example" is the constant battle in my head for the last 25 years: "Which anime soundtrack is better: The one from Akira or the one from Ghost in the Shell?"
The correct answer to this question is of course: "Yes"
Akira: Kaneda's Theme (some violence, 3:30 - 5:20 )
GitS: Making of Cyborg (some nudity), recycled in part in this sequence: Ghost City
