Zolton

Huge second to that. Anything I've learned about MSF tinkering (limited by my free time and functional brain cells) is thanks to the Chandler video library.

Yeah, each one has a custom GUI and -- based on a quick scroll through the browser -- between 4 and 129 instrument presets each, for a total (at least in my instance, with the factory instruments, freebies and MDrummer content installed) of 3690 presets. The interface for each instrument is customized and generally nicer than the stereotypical "Melda look" bemoaned by many -- though you still get a heavy dose of those knobs and sliders in the FX sections (and the editor, if you have the full MSF). The presets do a pretty good job of exploring each instrument's capabilities, with their own Melda-ish quirks -- some are quite usefully named ("Trombone" and "Growler" in Bones, e.g.), while the character and utility of others is... less clear. (If you grok at a glance the distinction between Hotel 536's "Fortunate clocks" and "Rewarding mist", you're better off than I.) You mentioned elsewhere that "full" MSF allows for new instrument creation. It also opens access to the editor, so any of the factory instruments can be thoroughly mangled and tweaked in pretty much infinite ways. Without the editor, you still get access to the usual parameters you'd expect -- filters and formants and oscs, oh my. With the editor... sheesh, I dunno. You can probably build Skynet. I've only dipped a toe into that level of customization, but it's ludicrous. Just wig-out bonkers.

The info on the Melda site isn't great in this regard -- most of the packages listed are MDrummer content, and I've never found an official list of the pre-made instruments that ship with MSoundFactory. But I'm a stubborn cuss with mild OCD, so I made one myself -- in case it helps, see the attached snippet of spreadsheet. The last column is my own way of cataloging plugins / components / patch sets, and I won't swear it's entirely accurate, but that should give a fair idea of the scope and content of the included instruments.

It looks like Melda Production has gotten the ball rolling with their plan for "premium instruments" to be run in MSoundFactory -- the first is called: DreamMachines From the site: If you own MSoundFactory or MSoundFactoryLE, you can download DreamMachines (and any future Melda premium instruments) for free. Otherwise, it costs €69 to buy and run in the free MSoundFactory Player, but is on sale for €19 until October 15th. There's also a 15-day free trial. Not mentioned there, but in MSoundFactory, there's also a Meldway Grand piano that (a) also appears to be free to install, (2) is still in beta, (C) is a 40GB(!) download and (iv) is separate from the free-to-all Monastery Grand piano released a while back.

ZAK Sound has a new free VST on their product page today (plus four others for free, if you haven't seen them previously): In addition, the deals page on the site lists a code for $10 of any product -- it's single-use, but looks like it applies to already-discounted items on the deals page as well as the $9 "Lofi Stack" drum loops product (i.e., with $10 off, also free).

I'm just some guy trying to learn and produce awkward tunes while dealing with a crippling case of collect-em-all-itis, but a few small devs whose stuff I've found interesting, impressive or at least intriguing for reasonable scratch (or free) include (in addition to the above): Fanan Team (some gems in the odder efforts, IMO) Folklorica (Lucie Treacher whimsy) Frozen Plain (moving from Kontakt to own sampler of late) Homegrown Sounds (mostly Kontakt, often wild) Klang (maybe not "small" [with CI roots], but unique & cheap) MNTRA (currently in a bit of flux, but fascinating sounds) Pettinhouse (guitars) Polkasound Productions (accordions 'n' more) Puremagnetik (padmaking / FSU gizmos) Quiet Music (ambient 'n' chill tools) Sampletekk (keyboard/piano faves) Wrongtools (instruments with a spin) Apologies if any of these are repeats, defunct, obvious, fronts for megacorps, known scoundrels or otherwise irrelevant.

Yeah, as far as I know, when they hit Drop 26 in April, they stopped the series. (Or at least stopped dropping drops to me, anyway.) It's a pretty neat and varied set of samples in total. Here's the full rundown, so far as I'm aware: MinimalAudio Drop 1 - Dark Metal Atmospheres MinimalAudio Drop 2 - Drum Elements MInimalAudio Drop 3 - Futuristic SFX MinimalAudio Drop 4 - Hybrid Cinematics MinimalAudio Drop 5 - Mutated Organic SFX MinimalAudio Drop 6 - Future Atmospheres MinimalAudio Drop 7 - Drum Elements MInimalAudio Drop 8 - Futuristic SFX MinimalAudio Drop 9 - Hybrid Cinematics MinimalAudio Drop 10 - Mutated Organic SFX MinimalAudio Drop 11 - Organic Atmospheres MinimalAudio Drop 12 - Drum Elements MinimalAudio Drop 13 - Futuristic FX MinimalAudio Drop 14 - Hybrid Cinematics MinimalAudio Drop 15 - Mutated Organic SFX MinimalAudio Drop 16 - Tonal Atmospheres MinimalAudio Drop 17 - Drum Elements MinimalAudio Drop 18 - Futuristic SFX MinimalAudio Drop 19 - Hybrid Cinematics MinimalAudio Drop 20 - Mutated Organic SFX MinimalAudio Drop 21 - Tonal Atmospheres MinimalAudio Drop 22 - Drum Elements MinimalAudio Drop 23 - Futuristic SFX MinimalAudio Drop 24 - Hybrid Cinematics MinimalAudio Drop 25 - Mutated Organic SFX MinimalAudio Drop 26 - Drum Elements

For fans of morphing modulators and granulating gizmos: https://puremagnetik.com/products/granular-suite-sound-experimentation-toolbox Currently on offer for $15 (80+% off the usual $80), through Sunday 8/7. From the site: I've found the Puremag stuff I have (which includes Vanisher from this set) a lot of fun to play with, if a little niche to employ (though the latter I chalk mainly up to my position low on the learning curve of most everything musical). They seem great to liven up pads, generate ambiences and the like, if that's your game.

Also, if you're specifically interested in the TDR Kotelnikov GE -- and your interest reaches up and grabs you by August 7th, as mine is threatening to do -- that's on double-sale (80% off) at Plugin Boutique for ten bucks: https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/3-Studio-Tools/71-Dynamic-Processor/4657-TDR-Kotelnikov-GE

For any lovers of independent developer free synths (and drum machines and SF players), there's a whole set of them developed by Ronan Fed available here: https://ronanfed.rf.gd/plugins.html I get the impression (from the developer's/artist's YT channel) that at least some of the synths have been out for a while, but only recently advertised more widely (e.g., a recent addition to the KVR plugin list). They're not the poofiest poodles at the dog show, but the price is right and they could be worth a look. I noodled around with the Pneuma sub synth for a bit, and it's fairly nifty, with nice options and on-board effects, etc. Looks like VST3 and Windows-only, though.

Fluffy Audio has dropped the latest in their "Rarities" series -- free forever, so far as I know: https://www.fluffyaudio.com/shop/khim/ From the description: Full Kontakt only, I'm afraid.

I could be mistaken, but I think this description is for Gongster's Paradise, a different (and also nifty) Bunker Samples freebie that's been gratis for a while (and looks like it'll remain so, same as the Scary Viola Pizz further down the freebie page). The new and limited-time action appears to be the "free teaser instrument", described thusly on the page: Emphasis Bunker's.

I don't have prior experience with similar tools, but I was pretty impressed with the separation on a couple of songs I threw at it that are decidedly not the rock/pop style that the "Vocal/Drums/Bass/Piano/Other" categories imply it's looking for. The results weren't perfect, but it was really good at teasing out bass and vocals in particular, and pretty good with drums. (So, the bits it seems it was expecting, unsurprisingly.) I can imagine a bunch of fun tricks to try with it. Playback within the tool and the GUI itself is a little fiddly for me, but for a freebie, it's a chicken dinner in my book.

For a bit of context (and frankly, pretty solid entertainment) on this particular product, there's a recent thread over at VI-C on the SM Cello: https://vi-control.net/community/threads/i-bought-soundmagic-cello-for-10-ama.127347/

This is an intriguing little doodad -- and one SoundIron created multiple videos to showcase, so it seems they're rightly proud of their effort. The walkthrough in particular pointed out some features I wouldn't have expected in a near-freebie. Speaking of which, besides Best Service, this appears to be available on a number of other sites, including SoundIron -- and also including Loot Audio, where it's on sale at its intro discount price of three dollars (until the 25th, I think), and comes with a couple of freebies in the cart, to boot. At the price of... uh, what even costs three bucks these days -- a Tic Tac? Two paper clips? Nine milliliters of unleaded gasoline? Anyway, at that price, I'll most likely take a flier to see what's what. Thanks, Larry.

For those interested, there seem to be a couple of exceptions to the "all instruments / no bundles" discount code applicability. Specifically, as far as I can tell: Cluster, Pendleonium4 and Prepared Pianet libraries and Omni Cello patches don't appear to recognize the code (though "Cluster for Zebra 2 does). The Wonky Piano Bundle apparently does. I thought the excluded set might be recently released, but the code does work with the brand spanking shiny Plankton lib, so I'm not sure. To browse discounts at a glance (though you can't easily get to each app's details from here), add any product from the Fastspring shop to your cart and apply the code. Even if you take the item back out, the shop prices should reflect the code, where applicable. I dunno whether the exclusions are a glitch or intended, but so far it's saving me a bit of scratch. I fear the will to resist Pendleonium would evaporate at 40% off. And Plankton may snatch me, regardless.

It's hard to believe that such an important and innovative plugin -- available for free, no less! -- has so far escaped notice, but for those looking for the purrfect ensemble sound, the Bongo Cat Band is now available from Audio Fusion Bureau. VST2/3 for Windows and Mac, they say. The rendition of Thriller in the demo video on that page is... um, definitely a thing that exists now. Yup. What a time to be alive.

FYI for anyone interested: I've seen this announced in a couple of places today, without total clarity, but to the best of my knowledge this is a standalone synth, and not a plugin. Looks pretty cool, either way. But just so's you know.

Ah, sorry, then -- it must be some different bit of magic. I did a bit of forum spelunking and it seems RCM and/or Concerto have a rich and storied history with where to put the libraries. Evidently, as of about v4.1.2, the libs went here (on Windows) and preferences be damned: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Roland Cloud\Instruments\ (The first lib I installed yesterday created uninstallers there -- but I must have done something special I don't recall to convince all the libs [including that one] and all their uninstallers to live on my external drive instead.) In some later version, it seems a helper app installed with RCM to allow people to move libs -- but that was no longer the case after v4.1.8 or so., and presumably replaced with some other solution in the current version. But I haven't seen exactly when, or what it is. Somehow, in my setup, everything is installed on the F:\ drive and confirmed working in the (VST3) Concerto plugin. As far as I can recall, though, I didn't change (or even see) any configurable preferences to make it happen.

When I select "Download" for any item within the RCM app, it asks me to "Select destination folder for hardware" (whether the download is labeled "Hardware" or "Software" doesn't seem to matter). That just downloads the (usually large) installer, but the installers I've run have put the final instrument file in the same directory as the download (which happens to be what I want). I can't say whether that first choice locks something in somehow, or if each installer puts the data in the current directory by default (or something else entirely), but that's how it worked in my little corner of the universe. If the RCM app somehow informs the Concerto app where the libs are expected, it might mean going back to the download step to set the lib location. That would be an awfully weird way to manage things, but it's sort of an unusual handshake-y system to begin with.

...according to this announcement: https://rekkerd.org/roland-cloud-discontinues-concerto-anthology-series-more-now-free/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=roland-cloud-discontinues-concerto-anthology-series-more-now-free I don't see the news on the Roland site, and I had to go through a series of Roland Cloud Manager app updates (I'd dabbled, but hadn't used it in quite a while), but with the latest RCM installed (and not before), I see the goodies mentioned in the article, and possibly others, available for download. I'm on the "freeloader" tier, so if they're unlocked for me, it would seem any Jane or Joe off the street can also have a go, if you're game.

I had trouble using the code yesterday and sent ZeroG a message via their website help app. I got a message back overnight saying they'd reset my account, and the code worked for me this afternoon. Not sure exactly what the connection is, or if the same would be true for others, but it's worth a try if you're getting a "code unavailable to you" error.

One nice wrinkle, if Sonic Art indeed floats someone's boat, is that it's available in the first tier for the grand total of $1. Not bad, if there's some meat there. I'm currently on the fence, after looking the book up on Amazon for more info. The top review (4-star, generally positive) gives a nice overview, but describes it as "not very hands-on". I'm mulling whether it's up my alley, but for the price, it (and four other books, which may all fully be filler) to tough to beat.

It appears that they are working on them -- but that progress is pretty slow. The most recent post on their FB page (from mid-April 2022) has these comments from P&M as replies to people asking about updates: Which sounds great! But here's their reply to a similar update inquiry on a post from October 2020: So the devs are still devving, evidently. But the timeframe for updates seems to be up in the air a bit.

In case the news hasn't otherwise trickled down here yet, Peter from IK posted this earlier this afternoon over at KVR: Looks like the new (interim) goal is 2k to get the extra time. Tick tick tick.