Ample China Qudi

Name: Ample China Qudi
Price: 112 USD
Author: Ample Sound

by Ample Sound · Instrument · Sampled Chinese qudi (bamboo flute)

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Ample China Qudi is a sampled qudi, a bright Chinese transverse bamboo flute, in Ample Sound's own plugin.

It has 22 articulations, a 4.4 GB library and the Riffer 4 MIDI editor. It costs $112 on sale (regular $149).

Best for: Acoustic Instruments. Genres: Ambient & Cinematic, Jazz, Acoustic & Classical.

Keywords: woodwinds, sample-based, bright, monophonic, arpeggiator, cinematic, crisp, film & game audio, multisampled, transparent.

What it does

Ample China Qudi is a sampled qudi, a Chinese bamboo flute (dizi) in D, played by Xiaokui Ding of the China National Traditional Orchestra. Ample Sound calls its tone "bright and rounded, crisp and transparent".

Head articulations: 10 note starts: sustain, tonguing, grace up and down, arpeggio up and down, mordent, pre-trill, and glissando up and down.
Body articulations: 12 more: espressivo, vibrato, trill, flutter, mid trills down and up, slides up and down, slide turn, slide-outs up and down, and repeated-note legato. That makes 22 in total.
Samples: notes averaging about 8 seconds.
Microphones: five mics (front, mid, rear and a distant stereo pair) and three mic modes.
Legato: an intelligent legato system with up to five velocity layers that picks the legato from the timing between notes.
Riffer 4: one-click auto expression and vibrato, articulation editing, CC and velocity editors, and quantize, swing, legato and mono tools.
Effects: 8-band EQ, compressor, delay and convolution reverb.

Source: Ample Sound product page

When to use it

Ample China Qudi is a single bright Chinese flute with grace notes, flutter, slides and slide turns sampled as separate articulations, so folk-style lines can be played rather than faked. It has the dizi ornaments that BBC Symphony Orchestra Core and Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition lack; they include Western flutes and piccolos inside an orchestra. Its closest rival is Three-Body Technology's Whisper of Loong, another dizi instrument; one VI-Control user found Ample's sampling more detailed. Within the series, Ample China Dongxiao is the darker, softer choice.

Best for: bright, ornamented flute melodies in folk, film, game and C-pop music.
Genres: cinematic, pop, game and traditional Chinese music.
Look elsewhere if: you want a darker, softer flute (Ample China Dongxiao) or Western orchestral woodwinds (BBC Symphony Orchestra Core).
Tip: build lines from the articulations and ride CCs for dynamics and vibrato instead of relying on prerecorded licks; a VI-Control user made full demos this way.

What producers say

Forum feedback is brief but positive, mostly praising the detail of the sampling.

VI-Control thread (2021) compared it with Whisper of Loong; one user said both are good but Ample's is "on a whole another level of detail" in the sampling.
Caveat: that user had a free review copy, and the thread does not cover CPU use, legato quality or price.

VI-Control thread

Where to buy

Ample Sound: $112 (regular $149)
Plugin Boutique: $112 (regular $149)

Tutorials and reviews

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Ample China Dongxiao by Ample Sound · Sampled Chinese dongxiao (end-blown flute) · $112
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Ample China Xun by Ample Sound · Sampled Chinese xun (vessel flute) · $89

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