antler

2 minutes ago, Moon OverSea said:

I got a 2022 total with $299 as I purchased the voucher last year, and have upgrade to 2023 with voucher which is $150 for 14 plugins. This way cost less and keep all plugins permanently.

That's a good deal; not all of us were eligible for that though (or at least I wasn't). There's also no telling if they'll do a 'total' bundle next year, or what it'll cost if they do.

I get that many here are generally against subscriptions (me included), but the current deal for Mega XXL is quite good. What puts me off a subscription is the idea that if I stop paying, I lose access to my past project. However, you get plugin vouchers with the Mega bundles; that makes it more like paying for a set of plugins to keep while getting full access to their catalogue.

For reference, F29 (no longer available) costs $30 per plugin: $29 for the sub, $1 for the plugin. In comparison, Mega XXL yearly is currently $249.99 for 10 vouchers - $24.99 per plugin - while having a year's access to everything.

If the link invites someone to create a convert kit account, I suspect it's the wrong link. I Believe Convert Kit is mainly for the (instrument) creator to create landing pages for people to sign up for their product (i.e. the instrument), rather than Convert Kit itself.

2 hours ago, jngnz said:

I'll get some amazing sounds out of this to layer under bass, guitars or horns. Making sampled stuff sound more alive.

Hadn't thought of that. Another idea might be to pass a recording through something like XLN Life and see what it makes of it.

So I searched YT for videos on Random. I get that it makes unique sounds, and it has a novel interface. But I still don't quite get how it's used in a music-making context: the videos seem to show the sounds it can make (like a technology demo), rather than the music it can contribute to (i.e. a track that it is used in).

Does anyone have a demo song or video link where it's used with other instruments?

Merry Christmas everyone!

There's a licence pdf in the download. Here's a screenshot showing a bit of it

3 hours ago, overbit said:

I've received their latest newsletter but no discount code😂

Anybody can share it with me?

I can't directly help you with that (I've used mine), but you could try writing to support. But be aware there's a min $80 spend. Also, their sale (and the coupon) expire on 27 Dec, so not sure if they'll get back to you on time.

I didn't notice it at first, but $202 is for the Core collection. There are also two expansions, which are also on sale.

https://www.skyboxaudio.com/products/hammers-waves-ep145b

https://www.skyboxaudio.com/products/ether-preset-expansion

If you subscribe and get to pick any X plugins to own, can you truly pick from any in their catalogue? or is it the limited 'any' that means just their old ones?

This channel has some free sounds:

https://www.youtube.com/@GravitySound

9 hours ago, Carl Ewing said:

WinAero Tweaker is also a miracle for many of Win 11's annoyances.

It sounds small, but the one thing that truly drove me insane was the lack of seconds on the clock - I don't care about it on the taskbar, but I'd like to see them when I actually click on the clock so that I can sync up watches, etc.

2 hours ago, pseudopop said:

Assassin's Creed Syndicate is free until December 6. See the first post for details.

Highly recommended, though I am a bit biased; I do like the AC series.

Odd... I can't seem to pay with PayPal; I'm sure I did previously. Oh well, just a sign I've stretched my budget too far and that I shouldn't push it any further this time around.

13 hours ago, Carl Ewing said:

AudioBro: Eternity Adult Choir
AudioBro: Eternity Adult Choir Expanded

When you get a chance, let us know what you think of these please.

• Fuse Audio Labs Flywheel, VCS-1
• Best Service Era II Vocal Codex
• Bome Network Pro (5 devices)

27 minutes ago, Carl Ewing said:

They seem much more suited to big pop mixes, but not for intimate soloing. They do not sound realistic to me (at all).

Compare to, say, Tina Guo Acoustic Cello (from almost 10 years ago): 

I'm not sure that's the best comparison to Tina Guo, as that's that newer (small) ensemble instrument. They've got solo instruments too; here's a demo of their solo Cello (at 13:32)

They definitely need more work to play though (in that you'll need to control multiple cc at once for the various aspects, rather than having the performance baked into the samples).

2 hours ago, Carl Ewing said:

New solo orchestra library: Can't decide. I'm not inspired by anything I currently have except Tina Guo cello from Cinesamples and the solo brass in Cinebrass Core / Cinebrass Pro. I really don't like the scripting in most solo stuff I have, or find them dated sounding.

Just a thought - have you considered the AudioModeling SWAM instruments?

On 11/23/2023 at 6:31 PM, Carl Ewing said:

AudioBro's Eternity releases tomorrow at noon (EST). I'm hoping for sub $300 intro price, or cheaper with crossgrade from Genesis Children's Choir.

https://audiobro.com/eternity-adult-choir/

Eternity Complete (Eternity Choir and Eternity Expanded)
$499.00 (38% Off $799.00)

Eternity Adult Choir
$399.00 (20% Off $499.00)

Looks like there's a further discount if you own some of their other products, but it doesn't seem much.

As I understand, VI-C is the successor to the Northern Sounds forum (but I could be wrong on that). Back in the day, NS used to have a free orchestral scoring guide that was based on a Rimsky-Korsakov text. I remember following that course; they said they'd eventually make an offline version of it too, but that they'd always keep the online version available. Too bad it disappeared  (along with NS) before the offline version became a thing: I don't in any way claim to know how to write for orchestra, but I did find the material there very useful.

Get 53 premium sound effects from Slava Pogorelsky for free.

https://www.asoundeffect.com/sale/#freebie

Be sure to check your emails: I got a 20% discount code on an EZKeys Midi 6-pack. Not sure if they send one to everyone though.

15 hours ago, Carl Ewing said:

Ya, I have a lot of adult choirs, but most of them are either old, or I don't like them. Except 8Dio choirs - which sound gorgeous (especially Insolidus / Silka) but they aren't very flexibile.

Have you tried Fluffy Audio's Dominus Choir Pro?

1 hour ago, Brian Lawler said:

Sneaking on a rooftop at night and hearing the headcrabs scurrying up the drainpipes to attack you.  Still an unsurpassed horror/suspense experience in gaming IMO.

Have you tried Alien Isolation? A different genre of game to be sure, but it is really atmospheric.

5 hours ago, kitekrazy said:

Who is the company were their pianos are sample modeled?

Do you mean Modartt (Pianoteq)?