Greg Schlaepfer

Good eye! Yup, we recorded it using a Fender Jaguar. In fact, surprisingly it's the first offset guitar we've sampled.

Just a quick heads up: there are fewer than 100 copies of [url=https://www.orangetreesamples.com/products/indie-melodica]Indie Melodica[/url] left. If you're interested in an expressive melodica library that's NKS Ready and licenses the Kontakt Player, this one is completely free!

Here's a comparison of our five Evolution bass libraries, including the brand new Evolution Classic Rick Bass, demonstrating them playing different styles, pickup blends, picked vs fingered (when applicable), etc.

Just a quick reminder that as of today there's only one week left to complete your group buy order!

And that's a wrap--a big thank you to each and every of the nearly 2,000 people that participated in our Summer group buy sale! Hope you're enjoying all your new instruments!

11 hours ago, Nick Blanc said:

Almost forgot to purchase. Wanted to do it on friday because that's my 'software day'. That would have been bad.

Got the Nylon and Hollowbody.

As long as you've signed up for the group buy sale, you have until the very end of July to actually complete your purchase or make additional purchases using the group buy discount.

2 hours ago, dee said:

is there a way to pay with monthly payments if you get bundle with groupbuy or you have to make one off big payment?

The only option to pay with monthly payments would be through PayPal Credit.

10 hours ago, Milan said:

Thanks! So, to get to 500 orange slices, from 270 (170 from the survey + 100 from the first purchase), one would need to buy something that costs $230 after the discount, and then upgrade later to the bundle at 50% off with the 500 orange slices? That's the most cost effective way to buy a bundle starting from scratch, correct?

That's correct, and yes, that's usually the way to get the best price if you're looking at a lot of libraries/bundles. That way you're leveraging as many rewards points as possible on the second, larger order.

1 hour ago, Milan said:

How many Orange Slices do you get for buying an item on sale?

It's one Orange Slice per dollar spent (rounded). So if you buy a $99 library in the group buy at 60% off, the price comes to $39.60, earning you 40 Orange Slices, which can be redeemed for 4% off a future order.

If it's your very first order, you get a bonus 100 Orange Slices. And there's also the Surveys for Slices system, where you can answer a few survey questions to get points (currently you can get a total of 170 points from that).

1 hour ago, fret_man said:

The OTS mandolin is the best one out there. It's a little too raspy for my taste (as if the action was too low) so I adjust the dynamics to not allow velocity over 50%. And the tremolo is tempo-locked (which is way too slow for slow tunes), but it otherwise sounds gorgeous. Very good for bluegrass/folk. Nice articulations. I haven't found anything else close (been waiting on you, Amplesound).

I remember talking with you before about Evolution Mandolin a while back, and I really appreciate your comments and feedback about it. It does have a more raspy, bright tone to it, which could be good if you need something to cut through the mix, but would probably sound too heavy handed for other situations.

I may have mentioned it already, but since then we sampled another mandolin (1920 Gibson A style) that sounds a lot mellower. The goal was to get that whispery soft pick attack when you play quietly, and focus on a gentler, warmer tone in general. I'll have to make a comparison video between both mandolins, because I was really surprised by how different they ended up sounding.

The ones that require the full version of Kontakt have the text "Full version of Kontakt Required" instead of "Kontakt Player Included", and that information is also in the product requirements at the bottom of each product page. Lastly, when you add a library that requires the full version of Kontakt to your group buy order, it will be listed with the notice "FULL edition of Kontakt required".

5 hours ago, Grem said:

Here is a question:

The prices that I see on the "Products" page reflect the current discount? IOW I see the price for the "Complete Bundle" as $2k. Is the with the current 55% discount? Or will the 55% discount be applied to that $2k price?

Did I make myself clear!!? : )

The group buy discount isn't reflected on the product pages, so the bundle pricing there is the inherent discount on the bundle, compared to the full price of buying all those instruments individually. The group buy discount will apply on top of the discounted bundle price. For example, the "Evolution Complete Bundle" would be $839.60 USD at the 60% off discount tier--even less if you have Orange Slices to redeem on top of that discount.

If you add products to the group buy page in your account, it shows you their price at the current group buy discount on that page.

We made it past 1,000! The download link for the bonus is on the group buy page in your account next to the 50% discount tier on the list.

Yes, here's a general overview of the chord modes and strumming: 

And here's a video tutorial on using the strumming pattern editor:

You can access a playlist of all the tutorials for the Evolution guitars here: 

1 minute ago, Menace said:

I don't buy any more of OTS guitars because of their poor strumming patterns

Just not enough factory presets, due to limitations with the strumming editor itself, or just the realism of the strumming itself? I'm always looking for feedback so that we can improve things like that in future updates.

At 1,000 participants, a cool little freebie will get unlocked, too!

When we reach that tier, the download link will be on the group buy page in your account where it currently shows "1000 - 1249 buyers: 50% OFF [Reach this tier to unlock reward]".

We have lots of stuff in the works! Over 30 Evolution-based instruments in various stages of development, several of which are close to being released. Two have already been encoded by Native Instruments for the free Kontakt Player, and it's just a matter of finishing their demos and videos. We have a couple non-Evolution libraries in development, as well as updates in the works for existing products.

We have a bundle upgrade system, so you can always start with a single guitar and then upgrade to a bundle (even at the group buy discount) later on.

You can make multiple, separate orders during the group buy, too, as long as you initially joined the sale before July 12th. Once you're in, you have until the end of July to complete your group buy purchase (or make additional purchases).

You can change your group buy order at any time, too. The group buy signup process just helps me figure out how many serial numbers I need to order from Native Instruments in advance, though. :)

Indie Melodica is a Kontakt Player library we originally sent out as a holiday gift for all Orange Tree Samples customers, and now we’re making it publicly available, free of charge. As long as there are serial numbers left (there are 4,330 at the time of writing this), you can get a copy here. The library licenses the free Kontakt Player, so you don’t need to own the full version of Kontakt to use it.

Indie Melodica includes two mic options to select between for different tonal colorations, and was recorded in a dry booth. That way you have more flexibility when it comes to adding reverb or room simulation to blend better with other instruments.

The instrument features our proprietary phase locking technology, allowing you to smoothly morph between dynamics without encountering any phase cancellation. Being able to morph between dynamics means you can control how each note and phrase is articulated in real-time, rather than having to use keyswitches to select pre-recorded articulations for crescendos, accented notes, etc. All the samples are seamlessly looped, so you don’t need to worry about a note unexpectedly ending during its sustain.

Furthermore, the library’s interface contains several parameters to dial in how the instrument responds. For example, you can adjust how much velocity affects the speed at which notes are attacked, or even control to what degree playing multiple notes thins out the instrument’s overall dynamic, a characteristic that happens on a real melodica.

To get the library, head over to its page on our website to add it to your cart. Although the website will have you go through the checkout process, you won’t need to enter any payment information. You’ll instantly receive the serial number afterward, and the download for the library will get added to your account on our website.

Once all the serial numbers have been claimed, Indie Melodica will no longer be available on the website, so don’t miss out on this chance to pick up a copy!

You guys are all too kind!

I'll be getting the word out about this soon--on the morning of December 25th we’re going to send out a free Kontakt Player instrument to everyone who has an Orange Tree Samples library. That includes whether you bought a library directly from our website or even through the license transfer system. Basically, if you have anything in the downloads section of your account, you'll be receiving a copy of the library.

If you have the store emails enabled in your account, there will be an email notification about it, otherwise just head over to the downloads section of your account on the 25th where you’ll find the download link and serial number to activate it in Native Access.

18 minutes ago, Bapu said:

Was FREE for me as an upgrade to the Electric Bundle.

That was due to a mistake on my end when inputting the pricing for that bundle. I've since fixed that on the website, in case anybody else is wondering why they're unable to get a free upgrade like you did. I guess just count it as an early Christmas present.

23 hours ago, PhonoBrainer said:

@Peter Woods thanks for the video link, that's the one that announced the product, it has like five or six presets on offer. Was hoping for the whole preset enchilada video . . . All of the other OTS libraries have like 25 different presets at least. Will stay tuned!

Anyone have this, and would like to comment on the depth/variety of presets? We all know some libraries have a hundred presets with 98 fluff and two useable.

Lately I've been including a section in the main walkthrough video that demonstrates some of my favorite presets, starting with a few clean tones, some crunchy ones, and then the more specialized ones that use more effects, just to show the range of tones included with the library. For some libraries in the past, I put together a long video showing every single preset, though. It's a lot of work, but I guess if people really like those preset run-through videos, I could make one for Evolution Vintage Violin Bass as well.

23 hours ago, PhonoBrainer said:

Anyone have this, and would like to comment on the depth/variety of presets? We all know some libraries have a hundred presets with 98 fluff and two useable.

Yes, I feel strongly about the usability of presets, too. A majority of the presets should be solid, usable ones that fit into your track rather than your song needing to be built around the preset. That being said, there's room for some presets to have some amount of their own character that inspires musical ideas, but it's a delicate balance.

Sample Library Review has the library in their review queue. I'm not sure when the review will be out, but they're usually pretty thorough about going through the different sounds and features.

1 hour ago, husker said:

I watched carefully - it really seems he is just hitting the three notes, as well as the strum string.  My results sound nothing like a banjo roll (on any of the roll strumming presets) - it sound just like some odd combination of the keys I hold down.  I need to look into it a bit more, but I've really been struggling with the strumming.  I agree with the above posters that some simple midi files would really help learn the products.

Do you have the "automatic chords" mode in the CHORDS section of the interface enabled? It sounds like that might be the key to getting it to work on your end. The automatic chords mode lets you play even just triads and it will translate that to voicings on the banjo that take into consideration the current fretting position, alternate tunings, capo position, etc.

The MIDI files for all the factory demos (and the exact presets they use) are included as an additional optional download on the download page for each library. That way you can see how certain effects and parts were achieved in the demos.

That being said, it sounds like having simpler MIDI files, maybe just focusing on a single groove or style of playing rather than a full song, would be helpful--especially as part of a video tutorial that shows how to create that groove/sound from the ground up.

48 minutes ago, mibby said:

Is there a way to tell which products DON'T require FULL Kontakt? (Other than looking at every single one...)  Just curious and just lazy.

Everything in the Evolution Complete Bundle plus The Famous E Electric Piano license the free Kontakt Player and don't require the full version of Kontakt.

There are still 8 days left in the sign-up period, and usually things speed up with the finish line in sight. But even at the current rate, I'm pretty sure we'll get there.