Amicus717

24 minutes ago, Matthew Sorrels said:

Maximo is nice (for a phrases library).  I think the first freebie will totally break their website.

Yeah, I have no illusions about my chances of grabbing it, this year. I was getting gateway errors on the site within seconds of the countdown clock hitting zero. 

504 Gateway Time-out! I remember this deal from last year, too. 

Great track. I really like it.

I have a few RSM albums (Of Mists and Magic, Elevation, Fiery the Angels Rose), and I really love them. And I listen to their tracks on YouTube, so I've probably listened to other stuff you've written without even realizing it, Tapsa. 

This is actually pretty nice -- at least for what I do.

I already have quite a few vocal libraries like this, but it never hurts to have some options and variations. I can think of whole lot of uses I could find for this library. 

A nice steal at $15

This is a nice freebie. Sounds great. I use this one occasion when I need a rich recorder tone, and it works pretty well.

I just grabbed this, because I like having light, easy-to-run sketching tools on my laptop -- and for $29, well why not? I spend more on coffee during a regular work week.

I've had Virtuoso for about an hour, and played through the various patches, so this is a really preliminary impression.  I can say that Virtuoso is pretty much exactly as Reid described: efficient and fully-featured library for sketchpad work, and sounds very decent for its type. I don't find it hugely realistic, and I suspect it will create sketches that are going to be a bit synthy to my ears. But they will be detailed and realistic enough to test ideas, and give a good sense how an orchestral arrangement will sound when rendered on higher-end stuff.  And that is going to be very handy. 

It's got the usual Kirk Hunter quirkiness about the interface and performance options, but it's easy to get a grasp on how it all works, the controls are simple and it has way more articulations and variations than I would have expected given the size of the library.  

Some of the sounds are surprisingly decent -- the brass and string section legatos are better than I expected, the kettle drums patch is actually really good, and there are some nice rolls and hits.

I don't like the piano at all; some of the the timpani samples have a rather ugly ringing to them; and the brass and string shorts are less then stellar.  I also haven't come across a harp patch, which is a shame. 

The woodwinds are perfectly decent, although they are all solo instruments rather than sections. There's a full set of percussion, including totally useable cymbals and snares. 

The overall sound is kind of hazy and ambient, and I very much doubt any of these patches will end up in my main template or in any of my finished productions.

But's that not why I bought it. I think Virtuoso will be a really great sketch tool, and I think it might even work better in that capacity than the libraries I am currently using for that purpose, including Da Capo, Symphony Series Essentials, and Red Room Palette. I like those other libraries, and they will remain in use, but Virtuoso seems like it will give me a lot more options in a much smaller footprint that will run easily on my laptop. 

I'd have never paid $299 for this, frankly. But $29.99 is totally worth it, if you need this kind of tool. 

Yeah, a brand new engine: "Our brand new OPUS software engine replaces PLAY and has been years in development. "Many improvements were made to the PLAY software engine over the last decade but we suddenly had a unique opportunity," says producer Doug Rogers, "we were able to bring Wolfgang Kundrus in as head of software development. He was the mastermind behind the creation of Cubase, Nuendo, and Studio One. Then we were able to bring in Wolfgang Schneider, the creator of Kontakt. With these two titans of the music software development now on the team, we decided it was time to develop a brand new software engine from the ground up. The OPUS software engine is the realization of this effort. Not only is it faster, more powerful, more flexible, and better looking than PLAY, it comes with some incredible new features such as individual instrument downloads, the ability to start playing instruments while they're loading, customized key-switches, new effects for the mixer page, scaleable retina GUI upgrades for legacy products, a powerful new script language, and many more features that allow you to completely customize the sound of each instrument. It's one of the most exciting developments in the history of our company and will be the launching pad for many exciting new products of the future."

I am very curious to try it.

If I'm reading their promo copy correctly, this sounds like maybe a new sample playing engine?

"It includes brand new pristine recordings, reimagined original content, and powerful new features, all housed in our new revolutionary OPUS software engine."

2 hours ago, emeraldsoul said:

Middle and Dark Ages, here I  come. Oh, wait, it's 2020 so already there. 

 

Do it!

Both Era and Dark Era are awesome.  I’m using them a lot, and really enjoying it. 

Using code: BFSAM2020

Info here: https://projectsam.com/black-friday-2020/

At least the Eduardo Tarilonte libraries are included.

I have Joshua Bell Essential. So far it does everything I'd want a solo violin library to do, and at the moment I have no urge to upgrade to the full version. It's a very nice library.

I have the Friedlander one, too, and it's solid and expressive. I find Joshua Bell to be a bit more refined and elegant. Both are really good.

I steer clear of Aria Sounds completely - I made the mistake of buying their first solo cello library from a few years ago, and it's flat out un-useable.

And I've heard nothing but bad things about this string library. 

Good libraries. I have CineBrass Core and CineBrass Sonore, and like them a lot. These are pretty good deals.

Really nice story, very moving:

I bought a used RME Babyface for $300 a few years ago, and it has been the best interface I have ever owned, hands-down.  Sounds great, works perfectly.  In the entire time I've owned it, I don't recall a single crash caused by the hardware or drivers.   

At $300 it was a total steal, even for a 7 year old interface - I could sell it tomorrow for $500, and I bet it still has years of life left in it.   

Great.  Love the vibe to this one. Nice and tight, and a really clear mix. 

VSL's own info page for the above product: https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Synchron_Series/Synchron_Strings_Pro#!Product_Info

For what it's worth, I have Dark Era and it's pretty awesome --  if you like that kind of thing.  

Totally worth the crossgrade price.

Just now, bitflipper said:

Got tired of my mouse falling off the edge of my mouse pad, often in the heat of a virtual zombie battle. So I got one that's 35" wide. An early birthday present for myself. At least, that's how I justified the $18 expense.

I assume its the mousepad that is 35" wide? 'cause that would be a pretty big mouse...

Really nice song.  Like the pacing and the relaxed vibe to it. I am wondering if I'm hearing a bit of vocal clipping in it? Example, at the 1:31 mark? 

Overall, I like it a lot, and the backing vocals are a really nice touch.  Great stuff.

Rob

That is great, Wookie.   Very chill, and a fun listen. Mix sounds very good to my ears - I can hear all the details, and there is  a nice sense of space to it. 

Nice work!

On 8/29/2020 at 5:57 AM, Chandler said:

It sounds really good. It develops the theme well, but has enough variation to keep things interesting. Short and sweet, but really enjoyable. 

Thanks, Chandler! Appreciate the listen and comments.

On 8/29/2020 at 8:13 AM, Wookiee said:

The newer version made the furry ears smile even more @Amicus717  

Thanks, Wook! 

On 8/29/2020 at 8:51 AM, garybrun said:

This second mix was a lot better.
I liked the way the drums came through more... they where masked before.

Well done.

Thanks  garybrun! Appreciate it. Getting more clarity on the percussion was something I  was deliberately attempting to do.

On 8/29/2020 at 9:59 AM, bitflipper said:

I've composed music for training videos, and found it frustrating. Trying to develop a musical story with a beginning, middle and end that fits precisely inside N seconds ain't easy.

We can't know yet how well your piece suits the video, but I am surely impressed with how you've managed to construct such a compact but cohesive tune. Yes, the mix is superb, but really what makes it work is the arrangement. It builds, not just by getting louder but via the successive addition of elements and building complexity. All crammed into a little over one minute. Good stuff.

Very kind words, Bitflipper. Thank-you very much.  One of the real benefits that I've discovered in    creating purpose-built music like this: you are given definite limits and requirements, and meeting those limits is both    really instructive and, in my opinion, can greatly enhance creativity. It forces you to be very disciplined, but also pushes you to be very inventive at the same time.  And I have been finding that a very productive place to be. 

Thanks for all the listens and kind words, folks.  Very helpful, and greatly appreciated

Rob

I'm using AOL's browser, and this...

18 minutes ago, Mesh said:

Yes Amicus, and it's quite annoying, Not quite sure what's causing it, but it only happens in the cakewalk forum.

My experience also.