Greg Schlaepfer

We have a bundle upgrade system, so you can always start with a single guitar and then upgrade to a bundle (even at the group buy discount) later on. You can make multiple, separate orders during the group buy, too, as long as you initially joined the sale before July 12th. Once you're in, you have until the end of July to complete your group buy purchase (or make additional purchases). You can change your group buy order at any time, too. The group buy signup process just helps me figure out how many serial numbers I need to order from Native Instruments in advance, though. :)

Indie Melodica is a Kontakt Player library we originally sent out as a holiday gift for all Orange Tree Samples customers, and now we’re making it publicly available, free of charge. As long as there are serial numbers left (there are 4,330 at the time of writing this), you can get a copy here. The library licenses the free Kontakt Player, so you don’t need to own the full version of Kontakt to use it. Indie Melodica includes two mic options to select between for different tonal colorations, and was recorded in a dry booth. That way you have more flexibility when it comes to adding reverb or room simulation to blend better with other instruments. The instrument features our proprietary phase locking technology, allowing you to smoothly morph between dynamics without encountering any phase cancellation. Being able to morph between dynamics means you can control how each note and phrase is articulated in real-time, rather than having to use keyswitches to select pre-recorded articulations for crescendos, accented notes, etc. All the samples are seamlessly looped, so you don’t need to worry about a note unexpectedly ending during its sustain. Furthermore, the library’s interface contains several parameters to dial in how the instrument responds. For example, you can adjust how much velocity affects the speed at which notes are attacked, or even control to what degree playing multiple notes thins out the instrument’s overall dynamic, a characteristic that happens on a real melodica. To get the library, head over to its page on our website to add it to your cart. Although the website will have you go through the checkout process, you won’t need to enter any payment information. You’ll instantly receive the serial number afterward, and the download for the library will get added to your account on our website. Once all the serial numbers have been claimed, Indie Melodica will no longer be available on the website, so don’t miss out on this chance to pick up a copy!

You guys are all too kind! I'll be getting the word out about this soon--on the morning of December 25th we’re going to send out a free Kontakt Player instrument to everyone who has an Orange Tree Samples library. That includes whether you bought a library directly from our website or even through the license transfer system. Basically, if you have anything in the downloads section of your account, you'll be receiving a copy of the library. If you have the store emails enabled in your account, there will be an email notification about it, otherwise just head over to the downloads section of your account on the 25th where you’ll find the download link and serial number to activate it in Native Access.

That was due to a mistake on my end when inputting the pricing for that bundle. I've since fixed that on the website, in case anybody else is wondering why they're unable to get a free upgrade like you did. I guess just count it as an early Christmas present.

Lately I've been including a section in the main walkthrough video that demonstrates some of my favorite presets, starting with a few clean tones, some crunchy ones, and then the more specialized ones that use more effects, just to show the range of tones included with the library. For some libraries in the past, I put together a long video showing every single preset, though. It's a lot of work, but I guess if people really like those preset run-through videos, I could make one for Evolution Vintage Violin Bass as well. Yes, I feel strongly about the usability of presets, too. A majority of the presets should be solid, usable ones that fit into your track rather than your song needing to be built around the preset. That being said, there's room for some presets to have some amount of their own character that inspires musical ideas, but it's a delicate balance. Sample Library Review has the library in their review queue. I'm not sure when the review will be out, but they're usually pretty thorough about going through the different sounds and features.

Do you have the "automatic chords" mode in the CHORDS section of the interface enabled? It sounds like that might be the key to getting it to work on your end. The automatic chords mode lets you play even just triads and it will translate that to voicings on the banjo that take into consideration the current fretting position, alternate tunings, capo position, etc. The MIDI files for all the factory demos (and the exact presets they use) are included as an additional optional download on the download page for each library. That way you can see how certain effects and parts were achieved in the demos. That being said, it sounds like having simpler MIDI files, maybe just focusing on a single groove or style of playing rather than a full song, would be helpful--especially as part of a video tutorial that shows how to create that groove/sound from the ground up.

Everything in the Evolution Complete Bundle plus The Famous E Electric Piano license the free Kontakt Player and don't require the full version of Kontakt.

There are still 8 days left in the sign-up period, and usually things speed up with the finish line in sight. But even at the current rate, I'm pretty sure we'll get there.

We just passed 1250 participants, reaching the 55% off tier! Another freebie was unlocked, too, which you can download from the group buy page in your account. The download link is toward the bottom of the page, next to the discount tier text. Now about that freebie... One thing that's missing from most guitar sample libraries is the interaction that happens between the guitar and amp. With the amp cranked, the volume from the speakers causes the strings to sympathetically resonate, resulting in a feedback loop. That sound of feedback is one of the things that makes our Evolution Infinity electric guitar so fun to play, even though what you're hearing is the sound of the sustainer pickup and not really feedback from an amp. For this freebie, I sampled an electric guitar through a Carvin Legacy amp (100 watts of tubes) while standing in front of a Marshall 4x12 cab. The isolated feedback samples were recorded from the guitar's direct output, so the Kontakt instrument is designed to be layered with another guitar sample library by setting both to the same MIDI channel. Then you can run the combined signal of both instruments through a guitar effects plugin for the final sound. Unfortunately you can't run one Kontakt instrument's audio output into another Kontakt instrument's effects chain, otherwise you could run it through the same built-in effects in the Evolution guitars... We'll probably integrate feedback like this directly into the Evolution guitars in the future, though. Enjoy!

We just added a new freebie that unlocks at the 1250 participants tier. As of right now, that's only about 100 people away!

The Evolution Guitar Bundle contains all the guitars in the Electric bundle, plus all the acoustic guitars as well. So there would be no need to buy both. The Evolution Acoustic Bundle contains Evolution Mandolin and Evolution Bluegrass Banjo, which aren't in the big guitar bundle, though, so if you want those libraries from that bundle, you could always get the Evolution Guitar Bundle first, and then in a second order upgrade to the Evolution Acoustic Bundle in order to add those other two libraries. We have a bundle upgrade system that will automatically adjust the price based on how many libraries in the bundle you already own, so you won't end up with duplicate copies of libraries. If you do decide to sell a library, we have a license transfer system in your account on our website. For Kontakt Player instruments, you just have to get in touch with us to deactivate your serial number(s). That was the only part of the process we weren't able to automate. And then the other limitation is a library isn't eligible to transfer until you've owned it for at least a month. But if you have some sort of unique situation, let me know and we can work something out. Even if you bought the library/libraries as part of a bundle, they can still be transferred individually, and the benefit of using the transfer system is that the new owner receives the library in their account just as if they had purchased it directly from the website--so they'll receive product updates, be eligible for bundle upgrade discounts, etc.

Announcing our biggest sale of the year: the Orange Tree Samples Summer 2022 Group Buy sale, your opportunity to get up to 60% OFF* our libraries and bundles! How It Works In a group buy, the more people that join the sale, the greater the discount becomes, up to 60% OFF at the highest discount tier. Starting today, all you have to do is add a library to your group buy order. The sale applies to all our sample libraries, including bundles and bundle upgrades., and you can modify your order at any time during the group buy. If you've saved up any Orange Slices points, they can be combined with the group buy discount for even greater savings. If you haven't already completed the survey questions in our Surveys for Slices program, that's a quick way to earn more Orange Slices. The group buy sign-up period lasts until July 12th (at 11:59 PM UTC), after which you have until the end of the month of July to complete your purchase. Of course, if we reach the highest tier before then, you'll be able to check out early. You can change your group buy order at any point, even after the group buy has ended (as long you joined the group buy by committing to purchase at least one library). So even if you're not sure which exact library or libraries you want, be sure to add something to your group buy order to save your spot in the sale. Once the group buy has ended (or if we reach the highest discount tier before then) you'll receive an email with a link to complete your group buy purchase. This link will also be accessible from the group buy page in your account. There are a few surprises planned along the way, too, bonuses which will get unlocked when reaching certain discount tiers. How You Can Help Besides joining the group buy, simply participating here, our Facebook page, or Twitter is incredibly helpful! If there are any communities you know of that would appreciate this sale, please share the news with them, or even just let us know and we'll make sure they get the announcement. * Evolution Rubber Bridge is excluded from the sale, having been released only a month ago. However, bundles containing Evolution Rubber Bridge are still eligible for the discount. What are you waiting for? Join the Summer 2022 Group Buy today and participate in this great discount. -------------- OVERVIEW: -------------- Current Participants: 2435 Time Remaining: Ended! Current Discount Tier: 1 - 49 buyers: 10% OFF 50 - 99 buyers: 15% OFF 100 - 249 buyers: 20% OFF 250 - 499 buyers: 30% OFF 500 - 749 buyers: 35% OFF 750 - 999 buyers: 40% OFF 1000 - 1249 buyers: 50% OFF 1250 - 1499 buyers: 55% OFF 1500 or more buyers: 60% OFF * * Current discount level Participated in the group buy? Complete your group buy order here. ------------------------ FEATURED SAMPLE LIBRARIES: ------------------------ Evolution Vintage Gent. $179, NOW $71.60 British Invasion era hollowbody electric guitar for Kontakt Audio Demo #1: On The Merseyside Audio Demo #2: Twist of Lime Evolution Rosewood Grand. $179, NOW $71.60 Modern grand piano for Kontakt Audio Demo #1: Sunny Side Up Audio Demo #2: Autumn Rose (Andrea Bellucci) Evolution Dracus. $179, NOW $71.60 8-string metal guitar for Kontakt Audio Demo #1: Calamitous (Sean Godsey) Audio Demo #2: Symphomatic Maneuver (Hagai Davidoff) Evolution Flatwound Bass. $179, NOW $71.60 P-style electric bass with flatwound strings for Kontakt Audio Demo #1: Don't Worry Bass Slappy Audio Demo #2: Anacrusis Evolution Django Jazz. $179, NOW $71.60 Authentic Django acoustic jazz guitar for Kontakt Audio Demo #1: Here nor There Audio Demo #2: Valse de Jean Click here to browse the rest of our sample libraries for Kontakt.

Oh, that's a hack to write longer paragraphs: just repeat the same sentence again and again. ?

Just a heads up that today is the last day you can get Evolution Rubber Bridge at the $40 OFF introductory discount.Just a quick heads up that today is the last day you can get Evolution Rubber Bridge at the $40 OFF introductory discount.

I just found this rig rundown video that Ariel Posen did last year. 43 minutes into the video (I put the timestamp in the link) he shows off his rubber bridge guitar, built by Reuben Cox of Old Style Guitar Shop in LA. According to him, "This has been maybe my most recorded instrument since the Summer."

Here's a video composer Zach Heyde just posted, featuring the Evolution Rubber Bridge library. In the video, he demonstrates a bunch of the presets and features included in the library as well as showing you how he used Evolution Rubber Bridge in his demo track, "The Enigma Machine."

The guitarist for this project made his out of a block of jeweler's rubber. I can get you more information/photos if you'd like. Making this sample library has me curious about adding a rubber bridge to a P bass, too, since adding some amount of muting to those is so common for certain styles.

Here's another link to add: https://reverb.com/news/the-rubber-bridge-guitars-taking-over-indie-music They're a pretty recent invention--just in the last few years--but have really taken off, used by artists like Bob Dylan, Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Phoebe Bridgers, Madison Cunningham. And of course, Aaron Dessner played one in Taylor Swift's Folklore album (the track Invisible String, for example). At first I thought the guitar would end up having a pretty specialized sound, but it turned out way more versatile than I imagined. Being able to blend between a purely electric sound from the pickup to the mic'd acoustic sound adds a new dimension to the tone that none of our other guitar libraries have. One of my favorite sounds is running the pickup out an amp with spring reverb, and then mixing in the acoustic sound of the guitar--check out the "Warm Springs" factory preset for an example of that. It's sorta modeled after this Madison Cunningham performance. As you can hear, the rubber bridge guitar supports vocals really nicely, because it doesn't crowd the high frequencies like a bright steel string guitar sometimes tends to. And unlike typical acoustic guitars, the rubber bridge guitar sound is friendly to adding overdrive/distortion. The gold foil pickup installed in the guitar is what you'd use in an electric guitar, so it's very different than the piezo pickups you'd find in an acoustic guitar for adding the option of amplification. The effects chain in Evolution Rubber Bridge are set up so that the pickup signal runs through all the guitar pedals and amp/cab emulation, while the mic signal only goes through the rack effects.

Actually, since you mention it, I used the library for the acoustic guitar strumming that's panned toward the right side in this demo for Evolution Vintage Gent: https://www.orangetreesamples.com/audio/Gnashville.mp3

Yes, just send me an email and I'll sort that out for you!

Just a quick reminder, this is the last week of Evolution Dry Relic's $40 OFF intro discount. The feedback we've received on the library has been really positive so far! It felt like we were going out on a limb (hahah) in sampling an acoustic guitar with worn out strings, so I'm really happy people are digging the concept. If you have any Orange Slices rewards points, those can be combined with the intro discount. If you don't have any rewards points and would like some, be sure to check out our Surveys for Slices program.

Once again, Bapu, you beat me to posting here. While working on this acoustic guitar library, it quickly became my favorite. It really gets that sound of the guitar with super old strings that you don't change because they have a certain magic to them.

Because there are still a lot of people joining the group buy sale right now, and less than two hours left to join, we've decided to extend the signup period by another week. That way you'll have until July 12th to join the sale and get 60% OFF all our sample libraries and bundles--and because we've already reached the highest discount tier, you can get that discount right now after joining. You still have until the end of the month to complete your group buy order, of course.

We've reached the highest discount tier of 60% OFF and unlocked the freebie! The link to download the freebie is on the group buy page in your account (next to the discount tier). It was a lot of fun to put together, and I hope you enjoy it! If you have any questions about how to use it, let me know--I just realized there isn't any documentation included, but hopefully everything is self-explanatory...

Here's a page where you can see it update live: https://www.orangetreesamples.com/group-buy/live