PavlovsCat

Thanks, Simeon. Ditto on the Cinesamples Abbey Road piano libraries. I only found out about them after they were discontinued, otherwise there's no question that I would have picked them up. Now go learn some Beatles songs!

@Simeon Amburgey how do you feel this library stacks up to more costly libraries? (I would ask on YouTube, but I spend more time here; FTR, I always give your videos a thumbs up after watching). Also, the surprise in this video was Bare Necessities" (or was that Colors? I watched both yesterday). Although I was hoping you'd play some Beatles classics!

You know I like you Simeon, but I think I'm going to need to block you in order to send my kids to college! All these piano libraries are triggering my sample hoarding tendencies.

That's a really nice library. I have the original version -- which was just bowed piano samples -- and they're offering an upgrade for $25USD. I'll probably bite. SonicCouture makes great sample libraries; they're definitely one of my favorite developers. I'm definitely still getting Piano Colors as it was love at first listen, I'm just going to wait until the next KOMPLETE Update comes out. I'm a sucker for Galaxy Instruments piano libraries -- they really seem to know how to make piano libraries that greatly appeal to my tastes.

I love Noire and this new library sounds beautiful. Galaxy Instruments is absolutely fabulous at piano libraries -- love them. My only concern is that this may be packaged with the next version of KOMPLETE and I don't want to buy it twice.

One of my greatest weakness when it comes to GAS is vintage sounding gear that has that Beatle-esque tone. Especially considering that this is $29USD, it's pretty much impossible for me to resist.

Awww, whenever I see this thread come up on the forum I check with the hopes that Larry is back. Sad. Miss you, Larry. I really do enjoy this forum, there's a bunch of really nice people here, but there's only one Larry.

I hear you Christian, and I agree with your point that even YouTubers you don't specifically incent (AKA bribe) for positive reviews will often give favorable reviews to keep the free product coming. As I mentioned, I'm a marketing pro that has led digital marketing at major brands and I think the worst thing to happen in marketing is the rise of influencers -- the ethics are so awful (on both sides, the marketers and the influencers -- and most of them in the US don't do the legally required disclosures and mention they took free product, use affiliate links, etc). So yeah, I think you're wise to remain skeptical about things. I'm definitely not trying to persuade you to change. You're better off not trusting any of them. The reason I trust Corey P. is that he's critical and always mentions shortcomings of libraries and VSTs. He is the gold standard for influencers. Although I can't think of any other non-journalist reviewer/pure influencer for sample libraries and VSTs who is anything like Corey. I wish there were more like him.

This is the YouTuber Greg and I were talking about that we both really respect, Corey Pellizari. I've bought multiple libraries due to his reviews because they're so thorough and honest. I wish every YouTuber reviewer were like this guy. If you check out his review of Joey Sturgis drum library, where he discusses problems with the library that the developer refused to address you'll see one of the most honest reviews in this industry. https://www.patreon.com/corypelizzari

Greg isn't just a client of mine, he's a real friend. I haven't consulted to him on his group buy and I don't include giving up my right to voice my true opinions for consulting and Greg has always respected that. Greg is a man with real integrity. He doesn't engage in using shills; he feels the way I do. When he gives a YouTuber a library he actually expects and appreciates an honest review. I did tell Greg to get some libraries to Simeon, because I enjoy Simeon's videos. When Greg gives a YouTuber, his libraries he doesn't put constraints on it to turn it into a shilling arrangement, he lets them know he wants an honest review. Greg is a lot younger than me and over the course of 15 years we've become real friends and I can't express how much I respect his integrity and decency. I wish more developers operated like him. As far as your skepticism regarding musician endorsements, I completely agree with the skepticism. But, in this case, you're getting uncompensated testimonials and I personally know of a bunch of iconic keyboardists who own this library -- but I also have the library, love it and that's the real bottom line, my personal experience. As I know Greg, I know he doesn't engage in sleazy practices. Any review you see is sincere; Greg doesn't want or use shills. Interestingly, Greg and I were once chatting about the lack of trustworthiness of YouTubers and one in this space we both really respect as what every sign points to as the real deal. I can't recall his last name, I'll look it up, but his first name is Corey and first initial starts with a P. The guy's reviews are the most honest ones I've ever seen. I was telling Greg about him and found Greg is also a big fan. There's a guy I should contact and ask him to review some of Greg's libraries because the guy is going to give an honest review and he really knows his stuff and Greg, like me, wants that and the whole premise behind that is a mix of integrity and the belief that honest reviews better set user expectations realistically because you want satisfied customers who get the products and feel it delivers on expectations not ones who feel the product didn't deliver on expectations. In my opinion, Greg is the best at what he does. I started out as a huge fan when he first launched Orange Tree Samples and largely consulted for free, then I did some paid consulting, but I'm a huge user of his libraries. I use them in just about every song I make. I share docs with what I love and don't love, what I believe can be improved and Greg is really receptive to critical feedback.

Clarence didn't play on that song, that was Richard Tee. Clarence did play electric piano on Bill Withers' "Lovely Day." I've been a Bill Withers' fan since I was a little boy, Clarence has played with Jay Graydon on some legendary tracks. Jay played with greats like Marvin Gaye. I mean, these guys are on some of the greatest pop songs of all time.

While I know a bunch of the musicians who were famous for that Rhodes sound in the 80s own the Orange Tree Samples Famous E library, from talking with Greg if you look at the list of legendary musicians giving it great reviews on Orange Tree Samples page or Jay Graydon's page, it's really pretty amazing. Clarence McDonald was among the people giving testimonials, and while I realize that most session musicians and producers aren't well known, Clarence McDonald, like Jay Graydon, is a living legend. He's played keyboards with and/or produced artists like Bill Withers, James Taylor, Ludacris, Linda Rondstat, Boz Scaggs, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, The Emotions, Patti LaBelle, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Earl Klugh, The Temptations, Freddie Hubbard, The Fifth Dimension, Lionel Richie,.. I'm not saying that great keyboardists using and giving testimonials for a sample library is what should be enough to get anyone to buy a library and frankly, I don't put much stock in YouTuber endorsements, I honestly find them almost meaningless and would recommend no one put stock in them as these folks are so prone to shilling to anyone throwing them free product, gifts or money. It's corrupt AF and it's been that way since day one. Very candidly, as a marketer, I think one of the worst things to happen to consumers is the rise of influencers, as it's really corrupted a consumer's ability to get honest product feedback (influencers are compensated with free products, other gifts, money, etc). I saw this as it happened -- as I started leading digital marketing in the 00s for some major brands, had a major book deal, and made my name in the digital marketing world -- I witnessed up close how some now super popular tech blogs/bloggers were bought (that is, compensated/bribed) by tech brands; for example, in the tech world, PR folks would throw a popular tech blogger thousands to tens of thousands worth of gifts when new products were launched in order to get favorable reviews and it usually worked and things have only gotten worse; in the VST and sample world, influencers generally aren't given that kind of money, that I'm aware of, but they're certainly ready to shill in return for free product. And I don't mean any offense to every influencer here. I like some of them. They're certainly not all shills. But the ratio is pretty terrible. What gets my attention is when you see session players, who aren't YouTubers/social media influencers ready to shill, but musicians who have lived and died by being able to get the right sound and play the right part quickly (and I'm thinking of the older guys who established their careers in an era where everything didn't rely on Pro Tools, so studio time was at a premium) -- on budget -- who give an uncompensated testimonial, especially ones noted for being legendary session players who played a Rhodes on some great tracks -- that gets my attention. Everyone should use their own ears and only buy a library when it appeals to them. If anyone thinks that all electric piano sample libraries sound alike and play alike it's strong evidence that is not the case. https://www.allmusic.com/artist/clarence-mcdonald-mn0000134544/credits

It's largely all about the tone. If you can't appreciate the difference between various electric pianos, there's no point in worrying about it. I started on piano, then organ before making drums the instrument I ended up played professionally for two decades. A lot of non drummers can't recognize a difference between a great drum kit and an okay one. I'd say if you can't appreciate the difference, don't spend the money on a more expensive one, buy the one that you're happy with that is the best value. For me, for electric pianos, I own NI KOMPLETE and the electric pianos that come with that are quite good. But the Rhodes in that doesn't sound like The Famous E and there's something really special about the E in my opinion. But if it doesn't appeal to you, I wouldn't worry about it. It's all completely subjective, like music itself.

When you refer to Jay Graydon as an engineer, I'm wondering if you're aware of how legendary Jay is as a studio musician. For example, that's Jay Graydon's guitar solo on Steely Dan's "Peg." He's also played on (and this is a cut and paste from Wikipedia) songs by Gino Vannelli, Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, The Jackson Five, Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, Al Jarreau, Christopher Cross, Ray Charles, Cher, Joe Cocker, Marvin Gaye, Hall & Oates, Wayne Shorter, Olivia Newton-John and Albert King. Greg/Orange Tree Samples works with Jay. I don't know if I'm allowed to tell this story, so I'll withhold the artist's name -- but when I first heard the library, I was chatting with Greg and started telling him how much hearing the library reminded me of a certain artist's music from years ago (because a lot of it used this Rhodes; which Jay happened to play guitar on some of those songs too) and Greg told me how he was just helping that artist get set up with the library the day before. So yeah, the Famous E library is a pretty big deal and a bunch of the artists who I connect with that iconic Famous E sound that already own the library.

Yeah, when I was first listening to the demos I totally became obsessed with that library. It's so easy to waste hours jamming with it.

Orange Tree Samples' guitars are fantastic, but I knew you would totally fall in love with The Famous E electric piano. I wish I could play it like you! Hearing it totally brings back memories of so many great songs and in your hands, I don't want you to stop playing! There are a ton of electric piano sample libraries on the market, but this one is so very special. It's amazing what Orange Tree Samples captured with that library. Greg Schlaepfer is truly a sampling genius. I did find it amusing that you went from George Michael to The Wizard of Oz, I expected Stevie (I share your love of his music). I can honestly say that I didn't see the George Michael coming!

I clicked and listened to your track "Keep a little light on," @Philip G Hunt, and really liked the song! Nice job. Did you use any Orange Tree Sample libraries on that song?

In the late 90s I stopped playing drums -- after 12 years of playing mid-size venues, nightclubs, fests, colleges and recording -- due to severe tendinitis. Around Christmastime last year I had gotten my son a gaming PC and he wanted a midi keyboard to learn to play keyboards on. I started out on piano and organ -- with several years of lessons -- before deciding drums was the instrument for me, so I was showing my son how to play some Beatles songs and realized that I could play those simple songs without much pain. Consequently, after not playing for two decades and not having a DAW PC since the 00s, I decided to get back into making music. I got setup with a new DAW PC early this year and have been starting to relearn to play. This is keyboard drumming -- I played to a click track using a bunch of Orange Tree Samples' guitars and bass and, of course, lots of synth samples and a couple of soft synths. I picked this tune because it's not challenging technically and, as you can hear, I don't have a great voice and this song doesn't require a great vocalist. I never learned about mixing or mastering, so I'm relying on Izotope stuff and I'm using headphones, so I realize the mix is probably awful. I own most of the regular Izotope tools and Waves' NX Nashville Ocean Way headphone mixing plugin. I'm open to any basic tips on how to make the mix better. This song was put together quickly and I no longer have any chops after decades of not playing, so be gentle! Haha. It's pretty sloppy -- I didn't quantize everything and it's nowhere near the level of some of the songs posted here, but it's my start at trying to make music again.

How can you do this to us again? Just kidding, have a safe trip. We'll certainly miss you. That's for real.

Orange Tree Samples' top banana (sorry, I couldn't resist the pun, hopefully I won't face some kind of Cakewalk Forum Hall of Shame for it!).

I have the luxury of having everything Orange Tree Samples makes and will choose the appropriate guitar for the song -- which is ideal. Which guitar(s) you choose is going to be influenced by personal taste and the musical genre(s) you're working in -- just like with physical guitars. I mainly do rock and my go-to guitars are the Les Paul, Evolution Rock Standard and Evolution Stratosphere, a Fender Strat. Just like the actual physical guitars, those two electric guitars cover a lot of ground. But I will choose from any of the electrics, depending on what I feel best suits a song. The Hollowbody sounds absolutely beautiful. But if you are looking for presets, it doesn't come with all of the distorted guitar presets you'd get with Rock Standard or Stratosphere. So if presets matter a lot to you, keep that in mind. If you're going to use the clean samples with your choice of a guitar sim, that is irrelevant. In my case, while I use the presets A LOT of the time when I start off., but I have a blast and can completely spend hours taking the direct input / clean guitar sounds of Evolution libraries through amp sim and effects like Guitar Rig or Amplitube (I have both). I'd suggest listening to presets for the various guitar libraries you're interested in. Again, you can always use the clean sound and go into any amp sim and effects you like, but the presets videos let you hear the included presets with each library:

It's been a while, but ISW's founder once personally compared his (Shreddage) guitar libraries to OTS's to me stating that Orange Tree Samples' Evolution libraries are incredibly more detailed. I'm pretty sure that's still the case. On one level, you can start with an Evolution library and just use the presets to get started with some great sounds without delving in, but when you go deeper, it's really amazing what you can do with Orange Tree Samples. Check out Orange Tree Samples' YouTube videos. Virtually anything you can think of -- and many things you likely never even thought of -- can be done with those libraries. It's truly a next level guitar library when you understand what it can do. But my personal opinion is, start off with the presets -- or DI with amp sims -- and you'll be amazed at what you can do without going deeper. I do own some non-guitar ISW libraries -- I really like ISW's Rhapsody Colors and I rarely see anyone talking about that.

I've consulted to Orange Tree Samples and I'm friends with the boss, so you can certainly say that I have some bias -- Greg is sincerely one of the nicest people I know. But I am still an honest to goodness superfan. My favorite electric guitar is the Evolution Rock Standard, the Les Paul. But I love the others as well, especially the Rick 12 string. For the acoustic guitars, Evolution Songwriter and Steel Strings are my go tos. For the basses, Flatwound and Roundwound. The Famous E Rhodes electric piano is killer. It's actually at the point where it's so good I feel guilty having it, as my playing is pretty lousy and in the right hands, this is fantastic.

[EDIT: Apparently, this offer has expired.] You can get UJAM Groovemate ONE for free on Plugin Boutique with the code: GPC-Groovemate It's a basic percussion VST that retails for $19.00 USD. https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/1-Instruments/64-Virtual-Instrument/7575-Groovemate-ONE

Now how many of you guys only own virtual (sampled) cowbells but no physical cowbells? Okay, since I'm faux bragging about cowbells, here's an almost brag. I not only have multiple physical cowbells, back in the day, one of my bands actually had a gig opening for Blue Oyster Cult. Sadly, the club was temporarily closed for serving minors a week before the show and it never came to pass. #CowbellPride