Michael A.D.

I listened to the demo last night. It sounded pleasant, and might have some uses, but nothing that I could get too excited about. I used to grab these kind of deals, but I am trying to be more discerning with my purchases, so I am passing on this.

Chord Potion is my favorite plug-in of 2019. I am a crappy keyboard player, but I know how to play chords and I know how to voice lead from one chord to another. If you can do that, then Chord Potion will make your crappy keyboard playing come alive. Check out the demo and you might be shocked at what it can do. And of course you are not restricted to keyboard sounds - I can make elaborate symphonic stuff using Chord Potion to trigger programs like Amadeus, The Orchestra, Elysion, etc.

I highly recommend this collection, and at $35 this is a fantastic deal. Read some of the reviews and then buy it!

Is it just me, but I don't think Quadravox sounds very good. I've tried it on varying sources and the harmonizing algorithm they use does not impress me. It just strikes me as a quick way to create a harmony, but that quickness comes at the cost of quality. The best use I could find was to dial back the harmonies so they could be heard very (very!) softly. I appreciate that they offer it as a freebie, but I can't see a use for it.

...trying to recover from download/registration/installation process... must attach part A using supplied screws with clockwise effort... be sure to note Coriolis effect according to distance from equator... I-Lok must be registered with Look magazine subscription... do not pass go... collect free vst...

I lost out on a deal at NI last year because I thought I had time left to make the purchase. And for exactly the reason you stated - the web clock was referencing my local time, not NI's time in Germany. When I went to make the purchase the page no longer existed, though the clock on my browser said I still had 2-3 more hours to make the purchase.

For more fun, try adding this freebie to any of the above-mentioned programs (or just use it by itself): https://www.codefn42.com/transition/index.html It's a generative MIDI sequencer called Transition and you can make some crazy cool stuff with it.

I'd rather have 100 GREAT loops for $10, than 11,600 mediocre loops for $99. I guess I need to see some reviews of Cohesion... (And does the name Cohesion strike anyone as a warning? It could end up being a very ironic product name...)

You can get the Kontakt 6 player (and some other freebies) with Native Instruments Komplete Start: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-start/ Note that this includes the Kontakt player - for most instruments you will need the full version of Kontakt. I would suggest you wait for NI to have a sale on one of the Ultimate collections as that will include the full Kontakt 6 and lots of other stuff you will probably find useful.

I'm with Fleer on this - the Blue 3 from GG-Audio is fantastic, the best I have found (and $99). I have not even listened to IK's B3, but I can't see how it can be better than Blue 3. But I'll keep an open mind and I look forward to the inevitable comparisons.

So using the above payment schedule, if you had 1 million listens to your tune you would make $193. If every single person in the US (329 million) listened, you make about $63,000. A Gold record (single) is 1 million sales. A Platinum single is 2 million sales. I would think that someone who has a Gold or Platinum record would be making much more than the streaming payments. Of course, Gold and Platinum are for sales, but still it would seem that streaming should be more lucrative than it is.

Kontakt Hub has been running a 50% off sale on all Hideaway Studio stuff. I should have mentioned this sooner, but there's only 2 days left. These are LOW cost, HIGH quality, analog Kontakt instruments. (Full Kontakt only.) I highly recommend String Studios 1 &2, Orbitone Collection 1 &2, and the Pentodian Resonator Choir. Check them out: https://www.kontakthub.com/label/Hideaway-Studios/ Don't just take my word for how good these are - check out these articles & reviews from Soundbytesmag: https://soundbytesmag.net/?s=hideaway

I like Tonebooster's Barricade 4. Transparent and inexpensive too. https://www.toneboosters.com/tb_barricade_v4.html

The latest Jamstix Beta version has been mapped to MODO DRUM, so it's only a matter of time for the official release. (And users are allowed to try the Beta version if they are so inclined.) https://www.rayzoon.com/updates.html

"Oh man, if I could only get a chance to try that organ in Weimar... I could probably create something REALLY good." --Johann Sebastian Bach

Jamstix... and yes, there is a free, though basic, version available. https://www.rayzoon.com/#free_version

It's a little annoying but at least it only takes a minute to fix. (The length of time it takes for the Windows update is much more annoying than the XLN update fix.)

I grabbed it and it's excellent. If you can still get it for $99, I highly recommend it. Zinc nailed it when he called it a "song inspiration" tool.

Would this notemapper help? https://www.codefn42.com/notemapper/index.html

The origin of the Seinfeld show?

Check out RipChord - this is a freebie VST3 from Trackbout. It's like the chord portion of Cthulhu (no arpeggiator) but even easier to use. And there is a community of folks offering their chord presets for use in the program. Here it is: https://trackbout.com/ripchord

I too have a Crucial MX500 2TB... it's worked perfectly - I use it exactly for the OP's intended use - sample storage. And $183 is a GREAT price. I thought I had gotten a good deal last year for much more ($265?). It's nice to see SSD prices keep dropping - eventually, they will be the standard drive format.

Clerk: Do you swear on the Constitution of the United States to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Witness: Ain't no thing. [slaps the clerk's book and the clerk uses his book to slap the witness's hand as if "giving fives" to each other] Defense Attorney: [approaches the witness as he sits down in the witness stand] Would you describe in your own words, what happened that night? Witness: Yo! Check it, bleed. Bro... was on! Didn't trip. But the folks was freakin', man. Hey, and the pilots were laid to the bone, Home. So Blood hammered out and jammed jet ship. Tightened that bad sucker inside the runaway like a mother. Shit. ["Mr. Striker performed exceptionally. The passengers were very concerned. The pilots were incapacitated. So Mr. Striker took control and landed that plane safely. Golly!"] [the stenographer wears sunglasses and sways back and forth as he types]

I had some funds at PluginBotique, so luckily InstaChord (and expansions) only cost me $7. Let me say this - I wasted $7. Do not buy this product if you know anything about music. I will never use it again. BTW, I have Scaler and that has some good uses. And Cthulu for $39 is FAR more useful/powerful than InstaChord. And if you can play basic chords (but not much more than that) on a keyboard, then I highly recommend Chord Potion.

I can't comment on EzDrummer, but I think JamStix is the top drum VST in the market. The problem with it is the learning curve, but once you spend time with it, there is nothing that can compare. Plus it allows you to use any drum kits you may already have. And it even allows you to import your favorite drum patterns from other drum packages. (Depending on the software, you might have to make a midi file first, but others like AD2 can drop a pattern directly into JamStix.) The UJAM drummers are perhaps the easiest to use drum VSTs and that is probably their biggest strength.