Created within the CMYK Education program, this pack is a tool for musicians and producers to weave ‘tradition’ into modern sound. It showcases the unique musical heritage of Galicia, Polissya, and Naddnipryanshchyna, recorded by different ensembles in a variety of styles
Polissia’s traditional sounds are brought to life by the ensemble DvaTry (two violins and a bubon). The Zbyten kapela (a traditional instrumental ensemble) represents Naddniprianshchyna (violin, basolia, and bubon), while music from Halychyna is performed by a traditional village band from Stratyn (violin, accordion, and drum).
The team explains that traditional music is usually recorded collectively rather than separately or to a metronome, as musicians rely on one another while playing. However, to make the sample pack easier to work with, the ensembles used different recording approaches: the musicians from Stratyn recorded together, Zbyten recorded their parts individually, while DvaTry recorded separately and to a metronome.
‘We want traditional music to feel alive and natural for us today. Blending folk traditions with electronic sound lowers the barrier to entry and introduces people to tradition through a contemporary format’, CMYK co-founder Liza says.
The CMYK sample pack is available for purchase on Bandcamp for $10.
About CMYK
CMYK is a music collective focused on traditional Ukrainian and experimental music.
The collective organizes raves, concerts, and film performances, and operates its own label.
From December 2025 to January 2026, CMYK held its second free educational program, CMYK Education. As part of the program, students explored ‘the structure of traditional music, its genre-specific and regional characteristics’ and presented their own tracks at the end.
The program was curated by electronic musician and sound producer Vitalii Symonenko, as well as folklorist and first violinist of the ensemble DvaTry, Mariia Hrynchuk.
