Greg Schlaepfer

We just passed 1250 participants, reaching the 55% off tier! Another freebie was unlocked, too, which you can download from the group buy page in your account. The download link is toward the bottom of the page, next to the discount tier text. Now about that freebie... One thing that's missing from most guitar sample libraries is the interaction that happens between the guitar and amp. With the amp cranked, the volume from the speakers causes the strings to sympathetically resonate, resulting in a feedback loop. That sound of feedback is one of the things that makes our Evolution Infinity electric guitar so fun to play, even though what you're hearing is the sound of the sustainer pickup and not really feedback from an amp. For this freebie, I sampled an electric guitar through a Carvin Legacy amp (100 watts of tubes) while standing in front of a Marshall 4x12 cab. The isolated feedback samples were recorded from the guitar's direct output, so the Kontakt instrument is designed to be layered with another guitar sample library by setting both to the same MIDI channel. Then you can run the combined signal of both instruments through a guitar effects plugin for the final sound. Unfortunately you can't run one Kontakt instrument's audio output into another Kontakt instrument's effects chain, otherwise you could run it through the same built-in effects in the Evolution guitars... We'll probably integrate feedback like this directly into the Evolution guitars in the future, though. Enjoy!

We just added a new freebie that unlocks at the 1250 participants tier. As of right now, that's only about 100 people away!

The Evolution Guitar Bundle contains all the guitars in the Electric bundle, plus all the acoustic guitars as well. So there would be no need to buy both. The Evolution Acoustic Bundle contains Evolution Mandolin and Evolution Bluegrass Banjo, which aren't in the big guitar bundle, though, so if you want those libraries from that bundle, you could always get the Evolution Guitar Bundle first, and then in a second order upgrade to the Evolution Acoustic Bundle in order to add those other two libraries. We have a bundle upgrade system that will automatically adjust the price based on how many libraries in the bundle you already own, so you won't end up with duplicate copies of libraries. If you do decide to sell a library, we have a license transfer system in your account on our website. For Kontakt Player instruments, you just have to get in touch with us to deactivate your serial number(s). That was the only part of the process we weren't able to automate. And then the other limitation is a library isn't eligible to transfer until you've owned it for at least a month. But if you have some sort of unique situation, let me know and we can work something out. Even if you bought the library/libraries as part of a bundle, they can still be transferred individually, and the benefit of using the transfer system is that the new owner receives the library in their account just as if they had purchased it directly from the website--so they'll receive product updates, be eligible for bundle upgrade discounts, etc.

Announcing our biggest sale of the year: the Orange Tree Samples Summer 2022 Group Buy sale, your opportunity to get up to 60% OFF* our libraries and bundles! How It Works In a group buy, the more people that join the sale, the greater the discount becomes, up to 60% OFF at the highest discount tier. Starting today, all you have to do is add a library to your group buy order. The sale applies to all our sample libraries, including bundles and bundle upgrades., and you can modify your order at any time during the group buy. If you've saved up any Orange Slices points, they can be combined with the group buy discount for even greater savings. If you haven't already completed the survey questions in our Surveys for Slices program, that's a quick way to earn more Orange Slices. The group buy sign-up period lasts until July 12th (at 11:59 PM UTC), after which you have until the end of the month of July to complete your purchase. Of course, if we reach the highest tier before then, you'll be able to check out early. You can change your group buy order at any point, even after the group buy has ended (as long you joined the group buy by committing to purchase at least one library). So even if you're not sure which exact library or libraries you want, be sure to add something to your group buy order to save your spot in the sale. Once the group buy has ended (or if we reach the highest discount tier before then) you'll receive an email with a link to complete your group buy purchase. This link will also be accessible from the group buy page in your account. There are a few surprises planned along the way, too, bonuses which will get unlocked when reaching certain discount tiers. How You Can Help Besides joining the group buy, simply participating here, our Facebook page, or Twitter is incredibly helpful! If there are any communities you know of that would appreciate this sale, please share the news with them, or even just let us know and we'll make sure they get the announcement. * Evolution Rubber Bridge is excluded from the sale, having been released only a month ago. However, bundles containing Evolution Rubber Bridge are still eligible for the discount. What are you waiting for? Join the Summer 2022 Group Buy today and participate in this great discount. -------------- OVERVIEW: -------------- Current Participants: 2435 Time Remaining: Ended! Current Discount Tier: 1 - 49 buyers: 10% OFF 50 - 99 buyers: 15% OFF 100 - 249 buyers: 20% OFF 250 - 499 buyers: 30% OFF 500 - 749 buyers: 35% OFF 750 - 999 buyers: 40% OFF 1000 - 1249 buyers: 50% OFF 1250 - 1499 buyers: 55% OFF 1500 or more buyers: 60% OFF * * Current discount level Participated in the group buy? Complete your group buy order here. ------------------------ FEATURED SAMPLE LIBRARIES: ------------------------ Evolution Vintage Gent. $179, NOW $71.60 British Invasion era hollowbody electric guitar for Kontakt Audio Demo #1: On The Merseyside Audio Demo #2: Twist of Lime Evolution Rosewood Grand. $179, NOW $71.60 Modern grand piano for Kontakt Audio Demo #1: Sunny Side Up Audio Demo #2: Autumn Rose (Andrea Bellucci) Evolution Dracus. $179, NOW $71.60 8-string metal guitar for Kontakt Audio Demo #1: Calamitous (Sean Godsey) Audio Demo #2: Symphomatic Maneuver (Hagai Davidoff) Evolution Flatwound Bass. $179, NOW $71.60 P-style electric bass with flatwound strings for Kontakt Audio Demo #1: Don't Worry Bass Slappy Audio Demo #2: Anacrusis Evolution Django Jazz. $179, NOW $71.60 Authentic Django acoustic jazz guitar for Kontakt Audio Demo #1: Here nor There Audio Demo #2: Valse de Jean Click here to browse the rest of our sample libraries for Kontakt.

Oh, that's a hack to write longer paragraphs: just repeat the same sentence again and again. 😂

Just a heads up that today is the last day you can get Evolution Rubber Bridge at the $40 OFF introductory discount.Just a quick heads up that today is the last day you can get Evolution Rubber Bridge at the $40 OFF introductory discount.

I just found this rig rundown video that Ariel Posen did last year. 43 minutes into the video (I put the timestamp in the link) he shows off his rubber bridge guitar, built by Reuben Cox of Old Style Guitar Shop in LA. According to him, "This has been maybe my most recorded instrument since the Summer."

Here's a video composer Zach Heyde just posted, featuring the Evolution Rubber Bridge library. In the video, he demonstrates a bunch of the presets and features included in the library as well as showing you how he used Evolution Rubber Bridge in his demo track, "The Enigma Machine."

The guitarist for this project made his out of a block of jeweler's rubber. I can get you more information/photos if you'd like. Making this sample library has me curious about adding a rubber bridge to a P bass, too, since adding some amount of muting to those is so common for certain styles.

Here's another link to add: https://reverb.com/news/the-rubber-bridge-guitars-taking-over-indie-music They're a pretty recent invention--just in the last few years--but have really taken off, used by artists like Bob Dylan, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Phoebe Bridgers, Madison Cunningham. And of course, Aaron Dessner played one in Taylor Swift's Folklore album (the track Invisible String, for example). At first I thought the guitar would end up having a pretty specialized sound, but it turned out way more versatile than I imagined. Being able to blend between a purely electric sound from the pickup to the mic'd acoustic sound adds a new dimension to the tone that none of our other guitar libraries have. One of my favorite sounds is running the pickup out an amp with spring reverb, and then mixing in the acoustic sound of the guitar--check out the "Warm Springs" factory preset for an example of that. It's sorta modeled after this Madison Cunningham performance. As you can hear, the rubber bridge guitar supports vocals really nicely, because it doesn't crowd the high frequencies like a bright steel string guitar sometimes tends to. And unlike typical acoustic guitars, the rubber bridge guitar sound is friendly to adding overdrive/distortion. The gold foil pickup installed in the guitar is what you'd use in an electric guitar, so it's very different than the piezo pickups you'd find in an acoustic guitar for adding the option of amplification. The effects chain in Evolution Rubber Bridge are set up so that the pickup signal runs through all the guitar pedals and amp/cab emulation, while the mic signal only goes through the rack effects.

Actually, since you mention it, I used the library for the acoustic guitar strumming that's panned toward the right side in this demo for Evolution Vintage Gent: https://www.orangetreesamples.com/audio/Gnashville.mp3

Yes, just send me an email and I'll sort that out for you!

Just a quick reminder, this is the last week of Evolution Dry Relic's $40 OFF intro discount. The feedback we've received on the library has been really positive so far! It felt like we were going out on a limb (hahah) in sampling an acoustic guitar with worn out strings, so I'm really happy people are digging the concept. If you have any Orange Slices rewards points, those can be combined with the intro discount. If you don't have any rewards points and would like some, be sure to check out our Surveys for Slices program.

Once again, Bapu, you beat me to posting here. While working on this acoustic guitar library, it quickly became my favorite. It really gets that sound of the guitar with super old strings that you don't change because they have a certain magic to them.

Because there are still a lot of people joining the group buy sale right now, and less than two hours left to join, we've decided to extend the signup period by another week. That way you'll have until July 12th to join the sale and get 60% OFF all our sample libraries and bundles--and because we've already reached the highest discount tier, you can get that discount right now after joining. You still have until the end of the month to complete your group buy order, of course.

We've reached the highest discount tier of 60% OFF and unlocked the freebie! The link to download the freebie is on the group buy page in your account (next to the discount tier). It was a lot of fun to put together, and I hope you enjoy it! If you have any questions about how to use it, let me know--I just realized there isn't any documentation included, but hopefully everything is self-explanatory...

Here's a page where you can see it update live: https://www.orangetreesamples.com/group-buy/live

I just sent you an email about it, but I found out that Kontakt's MIDI transpose setting that's in the "Instruments Option" isn't working correctly. It must not be transposing the MIDI note before it reaches the script, since there's some interaction that isn't quite right. The tuning part works, though, so it just means that you would have to use a transposition option in your DAW, or in a multiscript in Kontakt--basically anything that will transpose the notes before they reach CoreBass Pear. There aren't any tuning options built into SLIDE Lap Steel, unfortunately. The detune/transpose approach should work, although I would assume that as with CoreBass Pear you would need to use a transposition option other than the one in Kontakt's instrument options area.

There are a couple tuning options besides the normal tuning. You can tune it in 5ths, tune the low E string down to a D, or tune the low E string down to a C for the extra low range. If you want to tune the entire instrument down a half step, one trick is to change the "tune" knob in Kontakt's header area to -1 semitone, and then compensate for this coarse tuning change by transposing your bass part up a semitone (some DAWs provide a realtime transposition option, though Kontakt has a "MIDI transpose" setting in the instrument options as well).

Things usually pick up when we get close to the highest discount tier, too, when the end is in sight.

Evolution Rick is actually played fingerstyle only, and not picked. It uses the precursor to the Evolution engine, so there are some familiar elements such as the built-in effects, articulation mapping system, and various settings to adjust the sound and playability of the instrument to your liking. However, it doesn't license the free Kontakt Player, so you would need to own the full version of Kontakt to use it. It also isn't NKS Ready, and uses its own built-in preset system instead of Kontakt's snapshot presets. At some point we'll update the library to add all that, but if you specifically need a picked bass sound or something that runs in the free Kontakt Player, check out our Evolution Flatwound Bass and Evolution Roundwound Bass libraries. Both include fingerstyle and picked articulations as well as slapping, so they're pretty extensive. Here's a comparison of the two libraries:

I should really add that to all the Evolution guitar libraries' manuals. It's part of Kontakt's own operation, so it's documented more thoroughly in that manual, but I can see that it would be useful to include that tip in the Evolution manuals as well. Honestly, it would probably be worth making a short video tutorial about automation. There are some cool things can be done from the automation panel that people might not realize, like adjusting the min/max ranges of the automated MIDI CC, or even assigning the same MIDI CC to multiple parameters.

I'm sorry to hear you're disappointed with our mandolin sample library! Hopefully I can give you a little insight on the library that might be helpful. And if the library doesn't seem like it's going to work out for you, please get in touch with me through our support form (there's a direct email address on that page, too). As you mentioned, there's fret buzz, particularly on the loudest dynamic and on the G string. We try to sample a wide dynamic range, meaning that the loudest dynamic is going to naturally give you that fret buzz from when you really dig into the strings. Any fret buzz on the soft or medium dynamic is not intentional, so if you're running into any fret buzz elsewhere, that's something I'll take a look at for an update to the library. For more graceful parts, I'd recommend lowering the dynamic curve setting so that it's biased towards the softer dynamics. Admittedly the default velocity scaling should probably put the loudest velocity a little higher so that it doesn't happen so readily. Overall, it's a delicate balance, making sure to record imperfections like fret noises, buzz, and other extraneous noises are included in order for the library to sound more human, while still allowing you to get purer, more pristine playing when needed. It's my experience that if you sample an instrument too cleanly, it tends to sound robotic and lifeless--which is ironic, because as a player, you strive to eliminate all those little extraneous noises (as you mentioned). Noises like that are what help sample libraries sound more believable, which is one of the reasons we included sampling a misfretted sustain articulation that you can mix into faster passages to help with the realism. You can change the volume/amount of added pick noise in the SETUP section of the interface, and if you need the releases to sound cleaner and more subtle, you can reduce their volume in the SETUP section as well. In the future I'd like to add more control over the release samples to allow you to adjust the smoothness of the transition between the sustain and release samples, and possibly a way to limit the length of the release samples, too. The pick noise actually does track velocity, I just double-checked to be sure. Though as I mentioned before, if you need to reduce the amount of added pick noise, you can do that from the SETUP section of the library's interface. At 100%, it's still audible at lower dynamics, so you might try something like 25-50% instead (or just leave it off, of course). It all depends on where the fretting position is set to. If you play a note outside of the current fretting position, half a second later (or so), it triggers a position change noise to simulate the player returning to the desired fretting position. If you're playing a lot of notes outside of that fretting position, try moving the fretting position control to that range instead. The fretting position can also be automated to a MIDI CC if you want to control it in real-time. I usually just leave it in one general area, though. And as you noted, you can always disable the automatic fret noises and manually trigger them using the performance effect key for the fret noise, which is mapped above the main playing range. I tried it on my end and can't reproduce what you're running into. It's also strange that the middle position would have a quiet/brittle sound, since it should sound pretty much just like when the pick modeling is disabled. If you load the library in the standalone Kontakt application (just to eliminate some variables), do you run into the same issue? We use real samples of hammer-ons, pull offs, and slides. However, I do have some ideas on how to improve their realism through scripting, particularly when it comes to playing trills or depending on the current duration of the note. I'm also open to any recommendations you have, and as I mentioned before, feel free to get in touch with me via email! There's a resonance amount setting in the SETUP section that should be helpful to dial in how much resonance you want--this feature recreates the sympathetic resonance between strings. There's still going to be body resonance in the articulations themselves, and in some cases possibly a little sympathetic resonance. The engineer we worked with is no stranger to recording mandolin, so muting the string ends and tracking down any other little unwanted vibrations before recording instruments is a routine part of the process. Anyway, hopefully some of that information is useful to you, and I do appreciate any feedback and suggestions you have, too.

And once again, you've beat me to posting this...

Starting today, you can get 35% OFF our sample libraries* and bundles by using the following code in your shopping cart: OrangeFriday2020 Additionally, you'll earn double the Orange Slices rewards points from purchases made using the discount. The sale includes bundles and bundle upgrades, and your Orange Slices rewards points can be combined with the sale for an even greater discount. The sale only lasts until December 1st, so don't miss out on our eleventh annual Orange Friday sale! Check out our libraries and bundles here * Discount excludes our newly-released The Famous E Electric Piano sample library.