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Delay Lama for the win! YEARS ago a friend of mine and I made a video with it:

This looks like the same package they have been selling for ages and it is a frigging mess. It's just plainly bad. Save your money for something else. This is a POS library. Avoid it at all cost. This actually is the library that turned me totally off from Aria Sounds.

FREE Dorico 4 SE is HERE...it was next to impossible to find... https://www.steinberg.net/dorico/se/

Valhalla Supermassive is one of the best plug-in reverbs, free or otherwise.

Cakewalk is the ultimate freebie. However, some of us using Sonar for the past 20 years (has it really been that long?) and spent a fair amount of change along the way in the development of the product to get it where it is today don't exactly think of it as free (especially after paying for lifetime updates). But anyone paying for another DAW on Windows when Cakewalk is available, I don't quite comprehend it.

Reaper is my #1 DAW for all the reasons you mentioned and much more. Reaper's performance can not be matched. If you like the look of Cakewalk, check out a theme called Echolot. The guy who made it really nailed it. https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=255037

I consider them LITERALLY "files" and I "file them away" until a particular need arises. THEN I can go through my "Files" and find what I'm looking for! Yep, it takes disc space, that's why it's pretty important to keep the files "organized", but on the other side of the coin, if I didn't have those "Files" then I'd have to go hunting on the net for something to "fill the need", and MAY have to spend money to get it! I've got TONS that I'll probably NEVER use, but, if the NEED should ever arise, I DO already have them! I try to familiarize myself with the Plugin/Instrument once I get it, so that I have a mental reference point, so that when I'm doing something, and I think of a particular sound, then I can reference "Hey, I've got "X" that has that sound", or I've got "Y" that might have something similar to what I'm looking for... IDK...to each his own. I consider them Archives, and, if I NEVER touch them again, they only take up virtual space, and I also periodically "house clean" to get rid of "Older stuff"! And if you get them, you can decide ex post facto to keep or discard them! But, if you don't get them, and later on regret that decision, you may not be able to get them again "Free"! And sometimes those "Free" Products give you a discounted upgrade path! There are far too many GREAT freebies out there! In fact, other than buying a DAW, or getting one for FREE (like Cakewalk), you would NEVER have to buy anything else if you really "wanted" to go that route, but I would also recommend buying Kontakt Full, as most samplers with DAW's really "don't cut the mustard" per se, and Kontakt is second to NONE when it comes to scripting, and there are so many GREAT Kontakt Freebies out there that it's a pretty WISE investment, not to mention the ABUNDANCE of SPECTACULAR "paid" Kontakt Libraries! So, just like music, it's all up to the "Musician" to decide what works best for him/her!

Who am I kidding??? I'm going to end up buying this. I just know it. I was just looking for someone to persuade me. I watched Simeon's video a long time ago and was watching a little of it again. Thank goodness this library is inexpensive!

I have Sospiro Strings and definitely find Ben's libraries are a bargain. As a rock musician, I'm not totally sure I would have a use for Oscillation Strings, but it's such a bargain, I keep looking for reasons. I'm thinking after I play with it a while I might be inspired. I have always been in love with the sound of the cello. Ben seems like a really humble, down to earth, and very talented musician and sample developer. I did watch and enjoy your interview with him @Simeon Amburgey. I think String Flow is the library I may pick up next. To Simeon's point in his video, I actually want dry strings. Most of the music I record is the realm of rock, alternative rock or folk rock (more in the Damien Rice / Irish folk vein than the old school American folk). So, considering that, if anyone else is doing rock and uses these and wants to share how useful Oscillation Strings is for them, I'm all ears. I just love the sounds of the cello and strings so much, I'm very tempted. For anyone who has yet to buy any of Ben Osterhouse's libraries, I highly recommend them. I think they are great bargains. He's exactly the kind of small developer I love seeing succeed. Really great quality stuff, he's an out of the box thinker and his prices are really low for what you're getting.

@Fleer I've had a couple of friends -- who really know their stuff -- who bought this years ago and said it was a complete, unredeemable mess of articulations with extremely poor scripting. If you do searches in this forum and VI Control, I have never seen a single comment from anyone who purchased this who argued in defense of it. I don't want to bash any developer, but there's enough information on this one that his libraries are extremely poor that I feel I would do a disservice to the community to not share this -- plus, I've seen your posts for so many years, I feel I couldn't not share what I know. Do the searches and you'll see what I'm referring to. Also, the library is constantly on sale somewhere for this same price.

I used to get this regularly too. I always caved and clicked where they told me to click and they would simply ask me to re-enter my security code I enter when booting up Windows 10. After 5 or 6 times of this happening it hasn't happened again in months. I created an account long ago and just yielded to their demands. They know who and where you are anyway. And since I have no interest in pron, questionable web sites, or cracked software, I don't really see what it matters anymore. I'm tracked by Google on my cell phone, General Motors via Onstar in my GMC Sierra, the mandatory $600 dollar GPS tracking device the GMC dealer installs on every car to thwart stolen vehicles in the KC area, Honda in my wife's rice burner, my Ring camera, Studio One, CbB, Ozone, Melda, NI, all the free VST's I installed with spyware hidden in the .dll's, my refrigerator, dishwasher, washer/dryer in my laundry room (all newer appliances have a microphone built in and some have wifi), all the smart switches and outlets in my house, the wifi controlled fireplace I built in my bedroom with perfect view of my bed, Asus via the built in mic on my motherboard, my sleep apnea machine that has built in wifi so they can report when I sleep, how often, what room, and they can remotely cut off my oxygen and turn the machine off while I'm sleeping and kill me that gives the information to BC/BS under the guise of 'so we can make sure your insurance covers it and you don't get stuck with a $5,000 dollar bill', all my TV's that I had to agree to let access the microphones and report everything I watch, when, for how long, in order to actually use the TV for more than a PC monitor and something to hook my PlayStation up to, my PlayStation account that I was forced to provide all my personal info and credit card info to, the list of 36 websites and "Portals" with passwords I have written down to cover all the sites I shop at, pay through, buy software through, pharmacy, doctors, cloud service for my house thermostat with camera and mic built in that the power company made me install else my bill would go up, power company, trash pickup, internet service that rides me worse than an unwilling drunk co-ed from the U.S. who staggered two blocks east of the 'tourist safe zone' in Tia Juana, all with all my personal information including bank account, credit card, s.s. #, d.o.b., address, mothers maiden name, street I grew up on, what school I went to, name of town I grew up in, where I was born, first dog's name, best friends name, I mean, what's the point of fighting it anymore? LOL! Game over man! Game over! LOL! If the people who started all this whose software is what all this runs on (Microsoft) wants my name and address, well, I figure they already have it and I might as well just play along and maybe I'll skim under their radar if I don't rock the boat.

Here is a video published right around the time of the Oscillation Strings release. It was also the first interview I tried to do on the channel, it was a lot of fun getting to know Ben.

FYI, the next Ben Osterhouse library, Pathfinder Cello, will be a Native Instruments product. So it will be NKS and Kontakt Player and you'll be able to get it this August/September as part of one of the versions of Komplete 14. Probably Ultimate or CE. It was supposed to come out on January 1st, but Ben said in VI:Control that they're still working on it. It always takes more time to get stuff through NI. I was asked to beta test it, but doing so for NI means actually writing music with it. Too much of an ask while I was going nuts being Tiger the Frog. Too bad, I would have done it if the request had come up at a different time. @Simeon Amburgey and I got to know Ben when he came on our podcast. I bet he beta tested it, but can't talk about it. 😀 It will no doubt be released with some kind of intro price, so that the vouchers won't work. 😀

It's also nice that Reaper is only a 14 MB download and takes just seconds to install. Everything else is bloated in comparison.

Get 39% off in the Plugin Boutique Scaler 2 + Excite Audio Lifeline Expanse Lite FREE Sale. Expires February 11th. "For a very limited time only, pick up our flagship music theory workstation Scaler 2 and get Lifeline Expanse Lite, the intuitive and powerful multi-effect, absolutely FREE. Available for a limited time only."" $59 https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/2-Effects/39-FX-Bundle/8549-Plugin-Boutique-Scaler-2-Excite-Audio-Lifeline-Expanse-Lite-FREE

Update: Fellow forumite @garybrun reached out to me and asked me for the stems to this song so that he could take a crack at producing a mix and master. I was both flattered and very interested in what another pair of ears and set of skills could do with this song and I'm not disappointed, to say the least. I think he's done a great job and it's very cool to hear the choices he made compared to those in my mix. Here's a link to a share with his mix. I'd love to hear compare/contrast commentary on his work. My final mix is still accessible below. Thanks! https://1drv.ms/u/s!AguGELRT6OXyhdgsAOrpn-3rNMuD0A?e=oeGBbL Well, I got this one together in time for Christmas. My ear finds lots of problems here, hoping for some good feedback on mix, instruments, playing, arrangements, etc. I appreciate your time! Update 1: Updated the mix with the suggestions below and monkeyed with speed and drums to snap things up a bit. Update 2: Next mix, reigned in some out of control background vocals. Overall, much nicer sound, you guys' feedback has been spot on! There are still some vocal issues I think here and there but it's come pretty darned far, thanks. Update 3: Re-mixed and re-mastered Update 4: Posting garybrun mix

Even if you got it free, it isn't a deal if you never use it. You lose time downloading, space storing it, and often end up with another person spamming you. Over the years I have gotten a fair amount of usage out of Triangle II, Synth 1, Crystal, etc. Some of the Cymatics freebies have, if not found my way into projects, have provided the basis for inspiration. Various freebies from Arturia and NI over the years have also proved useful. Some other freebies such as OGrady's Wurli have seen action as well. On the other hand I have six years worth of Heavyocity holiday freebie packs I haven't used. Similar with the Ghosthack samples I have downloaded during their advent calendars. I don't think I have used any of those freebies from Acustica either. This is not to say these aren't quality products, I just haven't found use for them yet. So what are the freebies that have been worth it and which haven't?

Run the SDA to Auto Update

No wonder you're depressed! 🤣🤣🤣

I think the naming of this is confusing hehe its basically a 14 day trial of Lunatic Audio Narcotic. I got Narcotic on sale for $89 and while I haven’t used it that much I liked the effects. At a glance it seems like a knockoff of portal but it’s different. Try it out but I would wait to buy if not in a rush as it’s on sale for $119 now but I’ve seen lower (mostly $99 and the $89 sale on pluginboutique last November ). A lot of people were complaining there was no demo so I think this is their “solution”.

FrontDAW by UnitedPlugins was free when it first came out. I LOVE that thing! (no longer free) ReverbSolo by Acon over on Reverb.com. I don't know what it is, but I love it on snares. TDR Nova - a FREE and excellent dynamic EQ! MEqualizer - besides being super easy to work with, the "Areas" feature and the "Auto-listen" (soloing) on this is an excellent EQ AND learning tool. So many more, but these are the ones that jump to mind. --- edit --- The HOFA 4U Freebies deserves a mention, especially the Meter, Fader, & M/S-Pan

Yeah, that was a mighty fine SoundToys freebie. Got some of their other little ones for free to way back then.

If I remember correctly, the code they give you has a limited time frame where it works, but you can reach out after it expires at any time and they'll generate a new code for you. Haven't had to do it myself, so apologies if I'm giving bad info.

I think Ben is fine. He lives modestly in St Paul, Minnesota, not New York or LA. He was a student when he started putting out libraries. Now he's a teacher. He records these instruments in a room at home, i think. He's the performer, recorder, and coder. So I would say he keeps his costs down. 😀 And if you compare his stuff to other things on Loot, I wouldn't call them especially cheap. I own most of them but I don't own them all and I wish I did. I've never understood why he doesn't put up his own website and keep all the money. But I guess he doesn't want the hassle of people calling him all the time when their download doesn't go right. But I agree with you. Having an instrument with NI is going to do wonders for his career. Countless more people will discover his talent and they're going to buy his other stuff.

hello, governor.. did you say "british"?

Reaper is my #1 DAW for many reasons. It's rock solid, it's probably the most CPU efficient DAW, and it's completely customizable. I have created and modified menus that fit MY workflow. You can change the pull-down menus so they represent exactly what you want/need. You can create custom menu bars for use in different parts of the program (MIDI editor, mixer etc). And there are hundreds of skins available with different looks, and each skin is easily modified. It's a deep, powerful DAW.

Thanks Simon - The first video in that list shows Cubase 12 and Halion 7 listed here in the Activation Manager --> https://youtu.be/Ao0MYkO3IYY?t=47

Wings Music has launched a pre-release version 0.9.4 of Fire, a multi-band distortion plugin available as VST3 and AU for Windows and Mac. Fire is open source. https://jerryuhoo.github.io/#about

MOK FILTRYG is a professional dual filter effect with deep sound sculpting features to aid in mixing or adding new dimensions in rhythm and timbre to recorded tracks. $19.99 $49.99 FILTRYG-1999 Use this voucher code during checkout! Offer ends January 13, 11:59 PM PST https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/products/mok-filtryg.html

If I was using TTS-1 and wanting multitimbral, this is how I would do it Have a single instance of TTS-1. Have MIDI tracks that point to that single instance. Set the MIDI channels of the MIDI tracks to their respective channels. Doing this will cause all events on that track to be sent on the Channel you set here rather than on the Channels of the events themselves. In the MIDI tracks, set the patch to the instruments. For good measure, on each MIDI track, you might want to insert CC7 and CC11 events to set the volumes of the parts. I just did a quick test and this works here.. I just used single instance of TTs1, three tracks: Piano, guitar and strings, I was able to hear the three parts. I did not even have to add the CC events. It just worked.

These are the freebies I have found useful: Two Notes Torpedo Wall of Sound (included free through Audient ARC when I bought my ID4 Mkii interface) bx_greenscreamer (free using one of those $20 off coupons) bx_tuner (free using one of those $20 off coupons) Softube Saturation Knob STLTones NadIR cab IR loader AirWindows Infrasonic and Ultrasonic filters Black Rooster Audio VHL-3C filter Infected Mushroom / Polyverse Wider Martin Lüder's PG-8X synth Voxengo SPAN frequency analyser TBProAudio dpMeter5

One freebie that has been a trademark synth for me has been Delay Lama.

That error only happens if you happen to be in France! 😮

I agree! I have been using it a lot for time stretching (with and without pitch change) and for timing corrections (like AudioSnap). It is absolutely solid. I never stumbled on bugs or crashes until now! Also it allows to specify details to the stretch algorithms (e.g. elastique Pro) for fine tuning. And the small fingerprint (memory, cpu) is a delight (e.g. I use the same plugins like in CbB, but the plugin scan is about 5 times faster in Reaper!).

I pass on most freebies lately for the exact reasons Lars stated. IMHO, Audio Damage Rough Rider comp is a top notch freebie. This is a very good comp free or not. www.audiodamage.com

In terms of instruments: Decent Sampler Spitfire LABS Melda Piano Honeslty I've gotten to the point where I don't use any free effects with any regularity. Not that there are not good ones, but are there any that are better than the paid options I have? Perhpas not, other than arguing something like Airwindows TAPE is way more CPU efficient than IK Multimedia. And something that gets used once every 50 projects like Acon Multiply for chorus. I'd put the Melda Free Effects on the list, except for the fact the "paid" version of the free ones is worth it, and therefore I consider them paid. Then there are also Computer Music effects/instruments that again are not technically free to anyone. You have to buy a magazine or get it through a library. I should be clear that I'm also only talking about truly free products. I've gotten many "free" for a limited time things or free with purchase that were worth it and get used. But the you can get this any day for free stuff, typically doensn't make it after all these pandemic timeframe hording purchases. Me 5+ years ago would use free products more often.

I love these announcements announcing and announcement, but I think they should take it further: create an announcement for a teaser that will announce an announcement

I'm going with this instead for my Home Studio Decor it doubles as a Fuzz and I think Rain would be Proud . Kenny

Hello fellow production and music aficionados. Hope this brave new world is treating you as well as can be expected. I finally gathered together a bunch of the cover tunes I have done with some very talented Bandlab people, and released it on an album called Cover Story. I don't think I will be posting it to all the usual places because it'll cost me $15 a song to get the rights to release it (ridiculous). Anyway, here is the link and I hope you like it. These are some of my favorite songs over the years. https://baselines.com/?p=6387 Stay strong and keep posting your material here. You are making the world a better place. Steve

One more for today. I did this one all this evening. It's a jazz rendition of the old Hymn " Amazing Grace". Mostly Kontakt instruments. The sax is sensual sax. -Tim

Shout out for Zynaptiq's free Subspace reverb. I have paid for many other good verbs but I use that one all the time. https://www.zynaptiq.com/subspace/

Only garbage entertainment on television, commercials on radio. Streaming services aren't remarkably better. I don't watch nor read the news, but it's not like I don't know what's up as everyone talks about the same things, because broadcasting. Why ask me what I think about the thing of the week/month, didn't the news outlet clearly communicate to you how a normative citizen is expected to think and feel about the thing? I also absolutely hate feeds as a concept. News feeds, video feeds... whatever other kinds of feeds the human specimens of the web 2.0 came up with. I think we're nearing the limits of the human brain's capacity to absorb and organize the information without becoming afflicted with premature dementia. Technology was supposed to free us, but here we are voluntarily dedicating our personal time and energy to doing trivial processing tasks, including (but not limited to) psychologically regressing to tribal savages on social media as if to throw the last desperate tantrum, the purest expression of humanity, before technology finally frees us from being human altogether. This forum, the YouTube landing page (which I'm too lowly to ignore) and recommendations, and whoever's on my phone are barely within healthy limits for me. Well said and very true. I feel so lucky that I wasn't born in the 2000's, there's enough trash deposited in my brain as it is. Now git yer dang kids off my lawn! 🚯

In the 4 or 5 tests I did back in the dark days of Gibson shut down, I'd say yes. One caveat. Others have said frozen Instruments tracks (and maybe unfrozen too) did not translate well. I never use instrument tracks so I cannot confirm or deny this.

Just enough to get you addicted!

No? What's this here then? And if you need support from the company there's always: https://help.cakewalk.com/ Anyway, your "problem" isn't a technical issue, its user error. You have to extend the length of your project to accommodate the reverb tail.

975 MB hard drive space vs. the Soundbloat 3 GB.

If you started on Sonar and went elsewhere Bandlab is hard to ignore.

I think the freeb I use most is Free G gain. Is that still free?

Run the OLI to auto update

Hi! It would be nice if the curves (track envelopes, clip envelopes, fade in and fade out) had a middle point to ease manage the tension of the curve. Now, we have to select (using right click) between 3 predefined: linear, slow curve, fast curve, jump (only for track/clip envelopes) which it's quite limited and slow. Here, a serum vst example image, showing this tensions points: Here a gif showing and example in LFOTool vst plugin Thanks!