Lara’s Theme - Andre Rieu

[Hennry]

I'm trying to set up my T5 to play Lara's Theme in the style of Andre Rieu, it can be seen/heard on utube. The instrument in the opening bars and in several places throughout the piece is, I believe, a balalaika and I would like to get a similar voice. I thought the mandolin was the best choice, but I can't edit it to sound even close. Has anyone any ideas?

[Stijn]

Maybe one of these styles holds the instrument you're looking for.
Here's the link:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1j7u3u9SjNjAmAzxuapNi1lJLgWnczmvH?usp=sharing

Stijn

[andyg]

You can indeed use a Mandolin as a Balalaika, but perhaps with a few tweaks.

Perhaps play around with Brightness and Harmonic Content in Voice Edit. You can certainly add a DSP effect - one of the Chorus or Symphonic effects can be very effective (excuse the pun).

And you can layer the resulting Mandolin ensemble with Tremolo Strings for some extra depth. Any PSR-S, Tyros or Genos can do this. Some of my students chose 'Sunrise Sunset' as an exam piece and gave it a suitably Russian sound this way.