$80 😑 Muze bundle for Kontakt (full)

[bitflipper]

9 hours ago, Fleer said:

Yep, Sampletekk still rules for good and inexpensive  (though non Kontakt Player) piano libs, even used in Nord keyboards. And they still sell the only endorsed INIL library, as in 10cc’s I’m Not In Love. 

Was going to say the same thing. They have frequent sales and loyalty discounts.

 

5 hours ago, daveiv said:

Any products from them you recommend?

The Rain Piano is quite nice if you're looking for an upright. The 7CG is a deeply-sampled Yamaha if you want something brighter than a Steinway. There is also a cheaper version of it, presumably with fewer samples.

[chris.r]

3 hours ago, Craig N said:

I'm currently contemplating whether to buy Audiolounge's Rhodes Affair 3 Classic Blend which includes the MKS-20 and TX816 sounds...

I have Rhodes Affair 2 and 3 and they are very playable and sound just right out of the box. But they are only a subset of the most popular/used sounds from the hardware, as is MKSensation (I have the Kontakt version, not the Xtreme.. yet:). But a good selection.

The VGSG Music I didn't know until your post, which is a bit head-scratching 😄

Edited November 9, 2022 by chris.r

[daveiv]

41 minutes ago, bitflipper said:

They have frequent sales and loyalty discounts.

I decided to downsize to Kontakt-only for VI, so I needed organs, electric pianos, even harpsichord, and such.

I consulted to my personal accountant, and 80/90% discount means it's gonna cost me peanuts to have EVERYTHING I wanted.

🥜🥜
 🥜🥜

[PavlovsCat]

1 hour ago, daveiv said:

I decided to downsize to Kontakt-only for VI, so I needed organs, electric pianos, even harpsichord, and such.

I consulted to my personal accountant, and 80/90% discount means it's gonna cost me peanuts to have EVERYTHING I wanted.

🥜🥜
 🥜🥜

Harpsichord,  check out Xperimenta's Harpsichord for KONTAKT. Only $9 USD. I like this dev a lot: 

https://audioplugin.deals/xperimenta-harpsichord/

Electric pianos, if you want a Rhodes, Orange Tree Samples Famous E is the best there is. If you're in love with Wurli's like me, the best I've heard so far is RealSamples Wurlie, with e-Instruments having the runner up. I heard some amazing B3 plugin people here were sharing that was over my budget. I think it was a plugin. Someone will be able to name it. I think @abacabposted in that thread. I remember being super impressed, but it went over my budget at that time. 

Edit: I think the developer for the B3  organ plugin that I thought  sounded great was from GG Audio. 

Edited November 9, 2022 by PavlovsCat

[marcL]

I have Neo Complete and I disagree that their instruments are as bad. E.g. I like the woodwinds, some are very convincing IMHO (better than the ones of some other vendors). But I also like some of their pianos.

What I agree is that the sample data is huge, but this is caused by the many mic positions (close, inside, outside, room, room wide, vintage inside, vintage room, ...). Normally I only use a mix of 3 or 4 of them. But with mixing the different samples you can exactly get the sound you like (default only 1 is active!).

[abacab]

9 hours ago, PavlovsCat said:

I heard some amazing B3 plugin people here were sharing that was over my budget. I think it was a plugin. Someone will be able to name it. I think @abacabposted in that thread. I remember being super impressed, but it went over my budget at that time. 

Not a Kontakt instrument, but if I mentioned a B-3 it would have been the IK Multimedia B-3X. It's probably all you need, and is officially endorsed by Hammond, includes the Leslie cabinet section and much more. All the settings, controls and circuits were modeled to IK’s exacting standards and every detail checked and re-checked with the team at the Hammond Organ Company. $129 at IK. https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/hammondb3x/

It is both a standalone or plugin instrument, not part of SampleTank.

For serious organists you can use separate controllers via 3 MIDI channels to control upper & lower, and bass pedals.

[ALC]

1 hour ago, abacab said:

Not a Kontakt instrument, but if I mentioned a B-3 it would have been the IK Multimedia B-3X. It's probably all you need, and is officially endorsed by Hammond, includes the Leslie cabinet section and much more. All the settings, controls and circuits were modeled to IK’s exacting standards and every detail checked and re-checked with the team at the Hammond Organ Company. $129 at IK. https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/hammondb3x/

It is both a standalone or plugin instrument, not part of SampleTank.

For serious organists you can use separate controllers via 3 MIDI channels to control upper & lower, and bass pedals.

This.  I picked it up as a group buy freebie.  It requires more CPU than other organ VIs, but it's worth it.

[chris.r]

13 hours ago, PavlovsCat said:

Edit: I think the developer for the B3  organ plugin that I thought  sounded great was from GG Audio.

Correct, it's called Blue3.

BTW, I was trying to find a Wurlie at RealSamples website but I failed miserably😅. I'ts possible you meant AcousticSamples?

[PavlovsCat]

32 minutes ago, chris.r said:

Correct, it's called Blue3.

BTW, I was trying to find a Wurlie at RealSamples website but I failed miserably😅. I'ts possible you meant AcousticSamples?

Yeah, you're right. AcousticSamples. I got my generic named developers mixed up. 

[daveiv]

2 minutes ago, PavlovsCat said:

Yeah, you're right. AcousticSamples. I got my generic named developers mixed up. 

What is the reasoning behind very generic, often single word, brand names?

It's been a trend among many unicorns and aspiring unicorns in various sectors.

[PavlovsCat]

1 hour ago, daveiv said:

What is the reasoning behind very generic, often single word, brand names?

It's been a trend among many unicorns and aspiring unicorns in various sectors.

It's really all about being positive and easily remembered at the big brand level. For small developers, it's not as sophisticated a process.

I have helped name dozens of products in my life and few divisions of companies, but at mid and small companies,  not large ones (for instance,  I've consulted to Unilever,  but had no input in developing brand names).  The thing to avoid is very generic, descriptive names like AcousticSamples. It's related to why I often forget their name. So that's a big reason to avoid a generic, descriptive name. Another big reason is that -- and this isn't just a US issue, it's the norm -- descriptive, generic trademarks are not easily protected. If someone comes along and names their sample library Acoustic Samples: Guitar, the original developer who uses that name is going to basically have little or no recourse to protect that name. Look at one of the most brilliant and successful brands of all time,  Apple. Jobs originally lifted the name from The Beatles, agreeing never to get into the music biz (of course,  he later did). It's a very memorable name. Unless you're allergic or have had some traumatic childhood experience involving apples or apple trees, the name is generally positive. And it's memorable. It's not descriptive of the products the company makes. Simple,  positive and easy to remember. It's what you shoot for with a good brand name. 

Edited November 9, 2022 by PavlovsCat

[Christian Jones]

12 hours ago, abacab said:

Not a Kontakt instrument, but if I mentioned a B-3 it would have been the IK Multimedia B-3X. It's probably all you need, and is officially endorsed by Hammond, includes the Leslie cabinet section and much more. All the settings, controls and circuits were modeled to IK’s exacting standards and every detail checked and re-checked with the team at the Hammond Organ Company. $129 at IK. https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/hammondb3x/

It is both a standalone or plugin instrument, not part of SampleTank.

For serious organists you can use separate controllers via 3 MIDI channels to control upper & lower, and bass pedals.

I could have sworn that IK organ was around $300. Is it on sale now or something? Wasn't it like $299?

[PavlovsCat]

9 hours ago, chris.r said:

Correct, it's called Blue3.

BTW, I was trying to find a Wurlie at RealSamples website but I failed miserably😅. I'ts possible you meant AcousticSamples?

I need you to translate my posts! You got both right! I am a sucker for Wurlis and that dev's Wurli demos sound amazing to me. He PMed me at VI Control to tell me it will be on sale for Black Friday. The only challenge is that e-Instruments has a Wurli that sounds really good (but not quite as good -- okay, I mean amazing,  AcousticSamples Wurlie sounds demos amazing to me, I mean, I am in love with that sound) but they're in KONTAKT, which I  greatly prefer to UVI and probably be on sale for less (the AcousticSamples dev told me the discount amount he's putting the library on sale for and e-Instruments usually has a 50% off sale for Black Friday) . What to do. What to do. 

Edited November 10, 2022 by PavlovsCat

[Craig N]

On 11/9/2022 at 12:22 PM, chris.r said:

I have Rhodes Affair 2 and 3 and they are very playable and sound just right out of the box. But they are only a subset of the most popular/used sounds from the hardware, as is MKSensation (I have the Kontakt version, not the Xtreme.. yet:). But a good selection.

The VGSG Music I didn't know until your post, which is a bit head-scratching 😄

I had imagined MKSensation would have all the sounds from the MKS 20... Maybe the Extreme one does? 

The Hollow Sun VKS-20 only has a single velocity later I discovered yesterday. So there's that. Lol. 

[Craig N]

1 hour ago, PavlovsCat said:

I need you to translate my posts! You got both right! I am a sucker for Wurlis and that dev's Wurli demos sound amazing to me. He PMed me at VI Control to tell me it will be on sale for Black Friday. The only challenge is that e-Instruments has a Wurli that sounds really good (but not quite as good -- okay, I mean amazing,  AcousticSamples Wurlie sounds demos amazing to me, I mean, I am in love with that sound) but they're in KONTAKT, which I  greatly prefer to UVI and probably be on sale for less (the AcousticSamples dev told me the discount amount he's putting the library on sale for and e-Instruments usually has a 50% off sale for Black Friday) . What to do. What to do. 

I am hopeful that if I get the Pianoteq electric pianos it might satisfy my Wurli cravings for a while. Optimistic? Hehehe

[PavlovsCat]

28 minutes ago, Craig N said:

I am hopeful that if I get the Pianoteq electric pianos it might satisfy my Wurli cravings for a while. Optimistic? Hehehe

So you're a fellow Wurli junkie, like me? My musician/music teacher mother had one of these in our house when I was growing up and one of my sisters sometimes played it with our family band. I was the youngest kid, and while piano student, my siblings told me I would be the drummer! That started me on my future playing drums professionally, but still being in love with Wurlis, pianos and organs (the other instrument I took lessons on as a kid and my mom owned a Leslie speaker, so I'm in love with those too).

[chris.r]

1 hour ago, Craig N said:

I had imagined MKSensation would have all the sounds from the MKS 20... Maybe the Extreme one does? 

The Hollow Sun VKS-20 only has a single velocity later I discovered yesterday. So there's that. Lol. 

I just read the OM for RD1000 and indeed, while there are 64 presets, only 8 are sort of a factory presets, the rest are just user editable variations. So you may be right in that MKSensetion has all the 8 core presets, but then they added a few additional layers from O1W, TX816, and some popular among gospel keyboard players acoustic pianos, synth strings, pads and stacks, kind of what VGSG is doing. Pretty sure Xtreme will have way more on offer, also to me it looks like there are many sounds from FMTines and Neo Soul Keys mixed in it.

If one is going to sample a synth like DX/SY or MKS, it takes a huge amount of samples across all keyboard with many velocity layers, or cleverly designed filters, to make it work well. That's why these ones from GM, VGSG and Audiolounge do sound good and are playable. But 1 velocity layer... man that's a major disappointment 😄 if they didn't program a clever filters, which I wouldn't expect for this price, than it will sound nothing like the real MKS once you start playing with different dynamics.

Edited November 10, 2022 by chris.r

[chris.r]

3 hours ago, PavlovsCat said:

I need you to translate my posts! You got both right! I am a sucker for Wurlis and that dev's Wurli demos sound amazing to me. He PMed me at VI Control to tell me it will be on sale for Black Friday. The only challenge is that e-Instruments has a Wurli that sounds really good (but not quite as good -- okay, I mean amazing,  AcousticSamples Wurlie sounds demos amazing to me, I mean, I am in love with that sound) but they're in KONTAKT, which I  greatly prefer to UVI and probably be on sale for less (the AcousticSamples dev told me the discount amount he's putting the library on sale for and e-Instruments usually has a 50% off sale for Black Friday) . What to do. What to do. 

I have a few libraries for UVI Workstation, from Acoustic Samples, Gospel Musicians and UVI, and I highly appreciate them. So that's that 😉.

Edited November 10, 2022 by chris.r

[Craig N]

29 minutes ago, PavlovsCat said:

So you're a fellow Wurli junkie, like me? My musician/music teacher mother had one of these in our house when I was growing up and one of my sisters sometimes played it with our family band. I was the youngest kid, and while piano student, my siblings told me I would be the drummer! That started me on my future playing drums professionally, but still being in love with Wurlis, pianos and organs (the other instrument I took lessons on as a kid and my mom owned a Leslie speaker, so I'm in love with those too).

Sounds like that would have been a lot of fun to grow up with access to that!

Unfortunately we didn't have any instruments in the house until I was 15 when my dad first bought a basic electronic performance keyboard. Trying to make up for that with my kids. My daughter has a violin and acoustic guitar and my son a Roland electronic drum kit. They both have ukeleles. But Roblox gets more of their attention haha. 

I guess I am what you could call a tone junkie through and through. I have a real fondness for electric pianos as I love acid jazz and 70s music generally, being a child of the late 70s / early 80s. 

Quite enjoyed watching the YouTube comparisons of Wurlis and Rhodes by Adam Monroe. 

Have you checked out the Spectrasonics Keyscape demonstration by Greg Phillinganes? That man has a real gift. Even though his singing is a bit comical, his solo album Pulse (1984) was fantastic so I know he can actually sing. It is available on streaming services. 

[PavlovsCat]

56 minutes ago, Craig N said:

Sounds like that would have been a lot of fun to grow up with access to that!

Unfortunately we didn't have any instruments in the house until I was 15 when my dad first bought a basic electronic performance keyboard. Trying to make up for that with my kids. My daughter has a violin and acoustic guitar and my son a Roland electronic drum kit. They both have ukeleles. But Roblox gets more of their attention haha. 

I guess I am what you could call a tone junkie through and through. I have a real fondness for electric pianos as I love acid jazz and 70s music generally, being a child of the late 70s / early 80s. 

Quite enjoyed watching the YouTube comparisons of Wurlis and Rhodes by Adam Monroe. 

Have you checked out the Spectrasonics Keyscape demonstration by Greg Phillinganes? That man has a real gift. Even though his singing is a bit comical, his solo album Pulse (1984) was fantastic so I know he can actually sing. It is available on streaming services. 

I have checked out Adam Monroe's shootout videos and demos. I did see the Keyscapes demo a long time ago, but it's out of my budget range, even though I realize a lot of people who know there stuff have said great things about it. Of course, Greg is a legend. Much respect to him. 

As my mom was a musician and music teacher, I had access to our baby grand, then an upright piano, an organ and Leslie speaker, a Wurli, my brother's Les Paul, a Martin acoustic, a mandolin, an accordion, numerous percussion instruments, my drum kit, my harmonicas, and numerous instruments. Music was a regular part of my childhood and I played professionally until around 20 years ago when I had an accident and lifelong tendinitis that stopped me from playing. I can only play for a short period of time before I am in pain. But last year, during the pandemic, I decided to try to play again. Of course, I'm no longer even worthy of being called a musician with 20+ years without practice and only being able to play for very short periods of time, but I still enjoy playing and sometimes I just need to sit in front an instrument as a release. Music therapy, maybe? But I've discovered that I am sentimental about certain sounds, like pianos that remind me of pianos we had when I was a kid, organs, Wurlis, etc. But pianos and Wurli's more than anything. Although with my terrible playing and inability to practice, half of me questions if I should spend anything at all on music stuff for me. So I am severely limiting my spending. Some people here have aspirations for their music to be heard by the masses. I'm happy if three friends like a song I wrote when I was in my 20s/30s when I was playing professionally. 

Edited November 10, 2022 by PavlovsCat