Amicus717

Update: the Sale page is now live

https://sonuscore.com/step-up-sale-2022

3 hours ago, Christian Jones said:

There goes De Capo for like $100. I used to want it but then forgot about it sort of. Is that the lowest price it will likely ever get? 

I don't recall seeing it any lower than this. That's a pretty great price. 

I have it, and it's a pretty good library for what it is - by that, I mean it's a great sketching library, and also a nice accessory library to Sonokinetic's phrase-based ones. It's recorded in the same hall with the same players, I believe, so it blends with the loops pretty seamlessly.

I use it for both of the above purposes, and I also like the sound of the high strings when the mod wheel is dialed in low - they have a certain quiet sheen that I like, and I use them in my template as a kind of sordino articulation. 

Da Capo's got some weird limitations, though. The instrument note range is a bit tighter than I'd like for the strings (they don't go as high as you'd expect), and the brass has no trumpets, which I always thought was pretty strange; it's just tubas/trombones and french horns. There are legatos for the strings, brass and woodwinds, but the transitions are really subtle and understated. The woodwinds are breathy in the middle range, and I'd hesitate to leave them exposed in the mix or arrangement. The percussion samples sound nice, but the instrument selection is limited -- just the very basics, from bass drum and timps to snares, toms and cymbals.  It's enough to work with for very basic drafts and test arrangements.

So for sketching, or adding some orchestral vibe behind a prog rock tracks, or similiar, I think Da Capo is a pretty good product. If you're planning on doing any hardcore orchestral work, you'll want more. 

Available here: https://www.bestservice.com/deals/step_up_promotion_2022_up_to_50_off_4319.html

Includes crossgrades for Eduardo Tarilonte's libraries, which is always a good value...

Sonuscore is showing a "Step Up Sale 2022" on their website (and I got an email about it). Seems that upgrades to The Orchestra will be available at a discount for the balance of August.

Note: However, the sale page is currently "not found". I would presume that's a temporary error. 

https://sonuscore.com

Sale Page (currently not working): https://sonuscore.com/step-up-sale-2022

Update: Sonokinetic has reported to me that they have fixed the issue. I took a look at my cart, and it now reflects the "completion price" listed on the sale page. So, all good.

Gotta say, this is quite the deal...

I'm seeing a discrepency between the price listed on the sale page, and what is in my cart, however. I've already contacted Sonokinetic about it...

Yan, I'd be curious if you are seeing the same thing. My sale page price is €376,86, but this is the price actually in my cart €628.75

71% off bundles, and up to 50% off single instruments. The bundle price will be adjusted based on what you already own, so there will be no paying twice for the same library, which is rather a nice touch.

Info is here: https://www.sonokinetic.net/sale

Ends in two weeks.

Drums of War 3 is out. For any owners of the previous libraries, you may have a unique 20% off coupon in your inbox, so check there first: https://cinesamples.com/product/drums-of-war-3

Also, a percussion sale at Cinesamples: https://cinesamples.com/productGroup/on-sale/

Check it out here: https://cinesamples.com/

End of Life stuff, being discontinued on July 1st: https://cinesamples.com/productGroup/end-of-life

Fly to LA and offer John Williams $25,000 to tutor me in orchestration. 

Available here: https://emergenceaudio.com/product/cello-textures/

Starts today, runs for 14 days:

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/specials/2022/music-production-suite-5-offer

3 hours ago, Jim Roseberry said:

If you're wanting a Thunderbolt audio interface that offers round-trip latency on par with the Presonus Quantum... along with onboard DSP for processing/routing, I'd steer you toward the Antelope interfaces.

I'm currently running an Orion Studio Synergy Core... which replaced both my RME Fireface UFX+ and Presonus Quantum (it has the best features of both).

My Presonus gives me everything I need, at least right now. Really enjoy using it. 

I have heard Antelope has awesome hardware and converters, but I've also heard rumblings that Antelope's drivers can be a bit twitchy. Any truth to that?

16 minutes ago, Bapu said:

I have the precursor UFX. If it ever goes ***** up I'll just get the UFX+ (or latest RME iteration)

My Quantum replaced the RME Babyface I got second-hand about five years ago, and which I now use with my laptop. It's a really sweet piece of gear -- sounds terrific, and in five years of constant and fairly demanding use, never gave me a moment's trouble.

The UFX+ looks like an epic piece of gear, but I judged that it was overkill for my purposes. The Quantum has been rock-solid and sounds awesome. 

This Neve unit does look really interesting. I'd love to hear the preamps on it. I'm seeing it listed for $1,250 US, which I'm guessing is pretty good, when factoring in two Neve preamps...The folks at Vintageking got their hands on one and did some testing: 

https://vintageking.com/blog/2022/06/recording-with-the-ams-neve-88m-interface/

24 minutes ago, Jim Roseberry said:

There's currently no USB-3 audio interface that out-performs the best USB-2 audio interfaces.  Ironically, most USB-3 audio interfaces have higher round-trip latency.

 

 

I read somewhere (I think Sound On Sound), that the one USB3 device they tested that had really good low latency performance was the RME Fireface UFX+, which they said matched it's TB performance (the interface has both connectors). They said RME's implementation and drivers were the difference maker. I was tempted by the UFX+ when I was shopping for a new interface, but opted for the Presonus Quantum (based in part on Jim's advice), and am very happy I did; for all-midi dudes like me, TB is pretty awesome. 

10 hours ago, Rain said:

 

I tried to believe this year would be different, but it's not easy. To make it even worse, they lost to the one team in the NHL that I truly hate.

^^^ This...

Which brings me to the other things that makes me temporarily happy: bourbon...

Sigh...

8 hours ago, craigb said:

I've only had time to watch three games this year and all three were Pittsburgh managing to lose a series they had well in hand!

..while playing their third string goalie and dealing with a lovely string of injuries. If Crosby didn't get hurt, the Pens win in six....

Regardless, I thought the Pens turned in a gutsy performance. 

Listened to "Constellations Colide", and liked it a lot. Great song, mix sounded clean and clear to me. Very nice.

Downloading and trying out a new instrument library

Working in my woodshop

Playoff hockey (...sometimes...but not this year)  

....maybe next year

1 hour ago, antler said:

I was tempted, but put off by the thought that these seem to be verging on legacy products (compared to the SINE versions) now. I think I read that someone found some bugs in Ark 3 (Kontakt) related to tempo matching that haven't been fixed - if they haven't fixed bugs in the SINE versions that I've also read about, it's very unlikely they'll fix something in the Kontakt versions.

The demos do sound really good though.

I read something along those lines at VI Control, although I think it was in reference to the Mac version, which isn't relevant to me anyway. I get a sense these are actually pretty mature products with most of the bugs ironed out, and if I really need to, OT is going to be offering the usual upgrade path down the road (or so I understand), so I can move to Sine if/when they get those bugs ironed out and the app matures.

 I'm content enough with that level of risk. They do sound pretty awesome, and the choirs in particular are quite nice. 

39 minutes ago, Paul Young said:

While supposedly their stuff is top notch the pricing isn't as competitive even to VSL or Spitfire.

Yeah, it’s normally pricey enough I’ve held off buying it for a long time. But this deal is a really good opportunity to grab the original Kontakt versions at a pretty great price. Now that I’ve played through what I got, I think it was worth it. 

I have been eyeing the Arks for a long time, as they seem totally in line with the music I do. But Sine doesn't thrill me at all. So this deal turned out to be exactly what I needed: the original Kontakt versions at a pretty wicked discount. 

So, I grabbed the Ark 1 and 2 bundle. Really glad I did. Great stuff, totally made for my template and working style, and they sound pretty awesome. 

Now I'm having a GAS moment and wondering if I should grab the Inspire bundle, too. My understanding is that the Inspire libraries are based on the Berlin series, so are a different sound than the Arks. Anyone have both? Be curious to know if it's worth it...

I totally don't need them -- although lets be honest, I don't need any of these libraries, at this point. But I love adding different color variations and options to my toolset.

AlbionONE is terrific in about a hundred different ways, and I use it all over my projects. 

7 hours ago, Sander Verstraten said:

Do all these products use the Best Service Engine? I installed it a couple of times, but was put off each time by it. Just didn't click with me

Engine’s interface is a bit clunky, but once you get past that, it’s fine. Totally worth the minor hassle if you’re using it for Eduardo Tarilonte’s libraries. 

Mr. T, I am of the same generation as you (I'm 53), and have had moments like this. Fortunately, they were transitory.

For me, the most energizing way to get back into it was this: I had other folks come to me for music/recording stuff, and being creative on behalf of others was incredibly helpful. This was not for money or profit, just as a friendly service to people I knew.

One example: my girlfriend does voice acting with an online troupe (they do satirical old-school style radio plays), and I started helping her record and edit her voice-work. Nothing complex about it -- I break out my AT4040, she reads her lines, and then we select the better takes, edit the results down, I do a bit of dynamics and EQ processing, and send the audio file to the director. Simple stuff, but I really enjoy it. Using my expensive gear to actually create something that other folks will listen to is great. We don't make a cent from it, of course, but that hardly matters. It's nice to be productive, even if it is simple work that doesn't bring a paycheck.

Another example: I know quite a few folks who do historical reenactment, and during the pandemic lock-down when those groups were unable to get together, they started making videos for YouTube. These were mainly short documentaries or profiles of various members and the historical stuff they were working on (making garb or armor, practicing medieval crafting, etc); or performance videos featuring the bardic arts (ancient songs, monologues or old stories) -- basically the kind of stuff they did in person when the world was normal. A few of those folks were aware that I did soundtrack music as a hobby, and asked me to create little bits of intro music and themes for these videos, and I must have done about 20 or 30 of them over an 18 month span. Again, not for money or fame or anything, except some heartfelt thanks and maybe 200 views on YouTube.

But it was incredibly energizing. Most of these were maybe 15 or 20 second bits of simple scoring -- really basic stuff, maybe four or five instruments and a single musical motif -- and didn't take much time at all. But working on a "commission" for someone else that requires you to match a specific theme and fit to a certain video timeline, etc, was a lot of fun, and the creative energy it unleashed carried over to my own work in a big way.

One of the themes I did was actually over a minute long and quite complex, and turned out so well it ended up as one of my showcase pieces on SoundCloud. Doing that one had some significant side-benefits above and beyond being creative: a) in the course of making it, I delved deeper into a few libraries that I hadn't really used properly since I got them, and that proved very beneficial, and b) it was a really tricky mix, with tons of stuff going on, and getting it right took a lot of trial and error, all of which was a great learning experience.

So the best advice I can offer is: see if anyone you know needs a bit of help with something musical, or something that requires recording. Even a 20 second triviality can be enough to get the the fire lit again. We make music for ourselves, ultimately, but I am firm believer that making stuff for other folks rebounds back and makes us better at what we do.

Rob