PavlovsCat

Absolutely. My background is actually both in business strategy-- I was a Fortune 200 business strategy director -- and marketing strategy and a writer on marketing strategy before founding my own company. Also, I'm an old rock drummer, which completely destroys any credibility not already destroyed by mentioning my marketing background. Peace.

Don't take it that way. It's just business strategy 101 talk. I like XLN. I want them to succeed. I'm just stating some very basic things about business strategy and branding. It's part of my professional background, so I naturally think about this stuff when looking at the situation. The outlook for XLN doesn't look promising based on the long term inactivity with regard to new releases. AD2 came out like decade ago, right? That's an incredibly long time for one of their flagship products to go without a major update.

I won't belabor my point, but XLN is a well established player in a very healthy and growing market (I just read an analysis on the market several weeks ago and it's doing very well) . A cash cow strategy in software in a growing market doesn't make a lot of sense if you plan on keeping a brand around; by definition, a cash cow strategy is not a strategy used for a brand with future growth plans. A cash cow strategy is an end of life strategy when a brand is no longer considered viable and worthy of investment. The majority of your customers have nothing more to buy and you're not paying for new customer acquisition (the case with XLN). A cash cow strategy is one that a company takes when it has plans to not grow the brand long term, but to get as much money out of it as possible, eventually leading to the close of the brand. You wouldn't go with a cash cow strategy, because a cash cow strategy is not one used by a relevant thriving brand. Anyho, back to deals.

I wouldn't make a correlation between the co-owner's success in his career with the future of XLN. If XLN isn't thriving, it's a real possibility it could be sold off or shut down and the lack of activity for so long is not a positive sign.

I like Addictive Drums 2 a lot. But it's been -- what, a decade that they've been on version 2? And it's been a long time since they've put out any new libraries. Yes, it's awesome how they've kept doing updates that keep AD2 running smoothly. I really appreciate that. But I'd love to see AD3 come and step things up a bit and some new kits. Toontrack has done a lot in that time. It does make me wonder how XLN is doing as a company, if they're healthy or not. I own all of their keyboard sample libraries, which are good, and RC-20, which is excellent, and I've found their customer support is excellent and very friendly and personable. But XLN don't appear to be a thriving company. I would love to see them release AD3 and new libraries. They've proven they're a solid developer. I want to give them more money. Please help us do that XLN!

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

This was just posted the other day.

Thanks for the insights. Did you catch that after I posted, I went back and updated my post to note that I actually already own this effect? How typical is that of us plugin and sample hoarders, eager to re-purchase the same plugins and libraries that we bought in the past when we see a sale?! Now, I'm actually going to try this plugin before the week is over.

What instruments do you guys tend to use it on? That is, what do you think it excels at? I watched a couple of videos on that were more focused on more EDM sounds. I do rock. Do you think it works well for rock contexts? UPDATE: I realize that I got this in the past, but have never used it. Consequently, I'd still be very interested in learning what those who love it find to be its greatest strengths.

I just picked up the SoundPaint B3 organ. As the 15% discount code has been publicly shared in a VI Control thread Troels started himself, it's THANKYOU15. Although you can't stack discounts, so if anyone has never purchased from SoundPaint before you can use my $15USD discount code. If you have purchased, use the 15% off code, which was sent to their email subscribers. Funny, if anyone searches the forum, I shared that Troels had a call with me years ago for marketing and branding advice. I really like him and think he's very talented. But I knew he couldn't hold to SoundPaint's no sales policy. That was easy to predict.

Oh yeah, I have definitely put in my request for an Orange Tree Samples Wurli library. The Famous E is fantastic and considering that the Wurlitzer electric piano is my favorite electric piano, I would be in heaven if OTS did a Wurli library that was at that level. Of course, by that point, I will probably have collected a dozen other Wurli libraries. I think I'm presently up to at least six, but not one is anywhere near the level of The Famous E.

I just started making my own presets in SoundPaint today and it opened up a whole new world to me. I also PMed Greg Schlaepfer (Orange Tree Samples CEO) and told him that he has to make an octaver preset for the Evolution HollowBody. The octaver effect sounds soooo good on that guitar.

This is by no means impressive. I'm a guy who stopped playing music professionally 23 years ago due to severe tendonitis in both wrists that just started trying to play again for short periods of time last year. But I was playing around with Guitar Rig's Octaver effect on Orange Tree Samples Evolution Hollowbody Electric Guitar and used the SoundPaint's Wurli library for the badly played electric piano solos. It's all just sloppy first takes, but I thought the sounds are cool if anyone is in love with the sound of the Wurli -- or for that matter also loves the sound of an Octaver on the guitar.

Seriously, when I think of WUP, I think of Fleer. It's like the tale of Mary Worth. Legend has it that if you repeat her name holding a candle in front of a mirror, her ghost will appear. That's kind of how it is when mentioning WUP in the forum with you, Fleer!

Happy to help, Jesse. Seeing all of the WUP related comments, I'm reminded of a WUP related thread a couple of years ears ago in this forum. I dangerously did a rare post reflecting my deadpan sense of humor. In my post I played it as if I was a WUP superfan, because I thought the idea of someone who was that was unfathomable, and that should tell Waves something about their strategy that's very problematic. I'm sure some people who didn't realize it was tongue in cheek were probably wondering WTH? And yeah, even that possibility does give me a laugh. All of that said, if there's someone reading this who is a fan of WUP, please make a comment. Your side has never really had a voice beyond my past experience as a pseudo WUP superfan.

My mother was a professional musician and piano/organ/guitar teacher who majored in classical piano and organ performance in college so , at various points in my childhood, we had a baby grand piano, an upright piano, a Wurlitzer electric piano, an organ, a Leslie speaker, a Les Paul, an acoustic guitar (I believe, a Martin), a Mandolin, an accordian, my drum kits, percussion... Consequently, I have this fondness for the instruments that goes back to my childhood. While I love Rhodes and Orange Tree Samples' Famous E is -- by far -- my favorite Rhodes library. I ended up using a Wurlitzer electric piano on a recent demo I made for OTS (and I don't even love the Scarbee library I was using, but it's a Wurly). I love upright pianos dearly. While I love grand pianos and fell in love with a Yamaha grand at my mother's music studio -- and loved it more than the Steinway there. I have a fondness for baby grands too. But uprights, for me, for most rock and folk rock, an upright sounds so good. There's something about the charm of certain upright pianos that I love. They 're humble, They're not polished or as sophisticated as a grand. The EZKeys Upright Piano is very nice, but I like their Small Upright even more.

I was going through my piano libraries and thought I'd add some recommendations to the list (beyond my past posts): - e-Instruments Session Keys Upright -- features two upright pianos that have a lot of character. Very nice. - SonicCoture 's Xtended Piano is a really interesting prepared piano. I recommended Xperimenta's prepared piano earlier in the thread, I like that the most. - NI's The Giant is one I don't see mentioned much, but it's pretty interesting. as is NI"s Una Corda. - Echo Soundworks The Loft Piano -- the main patch is a kind of plain upright, but the patches are really nice and creative and it only costs, I think, $15 USD (requires KONTAKT). A no-brainer for the price. - Sampletekk Rain Piano - an upright with a lot of character. - EZKeys Small Upright - this has a very Jon Brion-ish character to it that I love. - Spitfire Jangle Box -- Instant vintage upright piano vibe that reminds you of the piano on many Beatles' classics -- because it is that piano. I love it. It's like taking a virtual trip to Abbey Road Studios. - NI Noire - My favorite piano library of all. It's a grand piano that isn't what I'd call a character piano, but it also includes a felt version and many very dark and strange patches that I find beautiful and inspiring that does bring it to the realm of character pianos, IMO. If I could only have one piano library, it would be this one. FREEBIES I really like/love - Heavyocity's Foundations Piano is really interesting (KONTAKT Player). - Westwood Upright Felt Piano (requires KONTAKT full version) - Lofi Audio The Hoffman (requires KONTAKT full version) - - I believe I picked this up at the Pianobook site

I understand why Waves' does their Waves Update Plan (WUP), it's their attempt to generate recurring revenue, as many developers do using a subscription model. But unlike a subscription model, the WUP is unclear to the consumer prior to purchase and an unusual practice in its industry. I find it's too close to the border of deceptive practices. Consequently, I try to limit my Waves' purchases and if there's a high quality competitor with pricing that's not dramatically different, I'm more prone to buy from that company. I always take an extended pause before purchasing from Waves to make sure that I have thoroughly checked their competitors' offerings. Fortunately, I don't recall having any of my Waves plugins stop working, so I don't think I've paid for WUP -- or if I did, it was a long time ago. But I think the only Waves plugins I have that I find would be worth paying more to keep working are my Abbey Road plugins, especially the ADT plugin. It has a character I like better than every other ADT plugin I've tried.

I love the Mellotron and own tons of sample libraries a few Mellotron VSTs (MTron Pro is my favorite). Some sample libraries sound a bit different than others due to the condition of the tapes used and sometimes that can add to the lofi character in a favorable way IMO. I own PureMagnetik's Microtron XL - The Ultimate Mellotron Compendium, which normally goes for $39 USD and is now on sale for $10 USD. I know that I paid more for these libraries (I bought them in separate purchases) than $10 USD and I am very happy with them and would recommend them to any Mellotron fan. From the developer: Microtron XL for Ableton Live, Kontakt & Logic bundles together all 3 tapes from Puremagnetik’s popular Microtron series. All of the original imperfections, vintage analog quality and performance nuances of the Mellotron M400 have been immaculately captured through a Neumann U47 Microphone and Reeves Custom 50 Amplifier. Microtron XL integrates seamlessly into Ableton Live, Kontakt and Logic. It comes packed with a palette of 9 instruments and over 1 Gigabyte of multisample content. The Ableton Live version contains 9 individual multi-sampled instruments and a full “tape” instrument that has similar sound blending functionality as found on the original M400. Microtron XL also includes over 150 professionally performed phrases complete with Macro and effects integration. Microtron XL includes the following instruments as programmed from the original tapes. MK II Flute Octave Recorders Cello Clarinet French Horn Glenn Miller Brass 8 Voice Choir String Section https://puremagnetik.com/products/microtron-xl-mellotron-samples-ableton-live-kontakt-logic-samples

From Zero-G: "On Friday 30th September the incredible Zero-G ETHERA 2.0 will come to a close. To mark this memorable occasion we have 75% OFF and you can download this truly inspirational cinematic vocal Kontakt instrument for just $12.95 [USD]!" https://zero-g.co.uk/products/ethera-2-0

I would feel terrible for anyone who isn't wealthy who pays full retail for any Waves plugin. I wonder, what this goes for if I paid the WUP fee. While I own maybe a few dozen Waves plugins, I can't recall what the WUP fees are. Can anyone here share what the WUP fee for this plugin would be if you had it and it was beyond the WUP plan? I actually don't even recall if I've ever paid the WUP fee and I have Wave plugins that are more than a decade old. Fortunately, while a lot of my Waves plugins are beyond the one year period, they all run fine.

Nice job, @Reid Rosefelt! My teenage son loves westerns (he became a fan after playing Red Dead Redemption).

But you can get it again -- I did -- and now I have the latest version without having to pay a WUP fee.

Get Waves Audio TrueVerb for FREE (expires in 48 hours). $99 USD Reg. Price. Okay, who are we kidding, nobody pays regular price for anything from Waves. It's usually $29 USD, perpetually on sale. So, it's still a savings of 29 bucks (USD). https://www.waves.com/account/free-trueverb-dixon-beats

Thanks for the kind words. As far as the vocal issues, I eventually resolved the issue but didn't edit the original post. I'll do that now.