Reid Rosefelt

This is the first time I've noticed the Veevum Sync Guitarscapes, Human,and Beat on sale. They are about $24, instead of $35. I am interested in Guitarscapes and Human, but I'm passing on this deal. Recently, there was an APD sale with packages of three Veevums for $35. So I will wait at least for Black Friday.

Thanks for pointing that out @Technostica I should never make the assumption that people have full Kontakt.

I paid $179 for "Swing!" (lists for $329) and $229 for "Swing More!" (lists for $439) I happened to be composing a jazzy piece when this sale happened, so I bought "Swing!," I'd been watching videos of it for a long time. Guy Rowland walks through all the sounds and Cory Pelizzari has a nice one. I knew I wanted it and it was the time. It was early July 2019. After many days of playing around with "Swing!" I could see that it was an awesome library, so I decided to reach into my pocket and get "Swing More!" while the sale was on.

Thank you! The harmonica is from ProjectSAM "Swing!" which is so much more than other Jazz libraries. The concept is more expansive and includes got Gypsy Manouche guitars, Fender Bass, Ukelele, etc. I have played harmonica since I was 16 and could have done something close to this, but I thought it sounded really authentic, and that way I didn't have to bust out the microphone, etc. ProjectSAM is such an awesome company. I got "Swing!" and "Swing More!" in one of those NI sales. I believe in making templates because otherwise you forget you have all this goodness in libraries like this with a lot of stuff.

I see that people are panning this on VI:Control. What do I know? https://vi-control.net/community/threads/fluffy-audio-simple-opera-singer.129930/

Thanks. I have a lot of stuff from them, including their woodwinds. The clarinet is very good, and, like you say of their libraries, very easy to play. The Tina Broz solo strings are also good, although I only have the cello. I'd love to get Spaghetti Western, but I have learned from doing "The Cowboy Way," that I don't really need it.

The shouts all came from Red Room Audio free library "Snaps Claps Slaps Stomps & Shouts" They are now charging $5 to cover their bandwidth costs. https://redroomaudio.com/product/snaps-claps-slaps-stomps-shouts/ I also used whip sounds. But that was just a sample from a sound effects library. The men's choir ahs came from Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra. I have "better" libraries,? but it worked the best. Some of the other things were tubular bells from The Orchestra, Native American Flute from Ethno World, Indiginus' Resonator, and the harmonica and Whistle Ensemble from "Swing!" The lead guitar was OTS Evolution Stratosphere, and the acoustic guitar was one of the NI Strummed Acoustics. These NI acoustic libraries are such cool libraries because you can use the modwheel to constantly change the intensity of the strumming. A lot of people thought this was a real guitar. I went through a lot of trumpets and they all sucked. This is the thing I'm not satisfied with. Oh... and Modwheel's The Lowdown was the bass. This piece is exactly why I don't like things like EZBass. I played the bass part live early on, and it really drove the piece. Playing your own bass parts is fun. (Sometimes I use EZBass when I"m in a rush)

It seems pretty obvious that they were going for something in the vein of Edda Dell'Orso's vocals in Morricone's in "Jill's Theme" from "Once Upon a Time in the West." And I think they've done a pretty decent job. It's a niche sound. It's not the typical thingThis is why their is a discount for Spaghetti Western owners. If you're looking for that sound, that this is kind of a no-brainer. I actually wrote music in this style, before Fluffy brought their Spaghetti Western library out. My piece wasn't intended as slavish pastiche, more of a blend between Morricone, surf rock, and other influences. It was fun to put together instruments from different libraries., just for the fun of trying to orchestrate like him. I used my beloved Solo Opera for the operatic stuff. If I had this new Fluffy library I probably would have mixed it with whistling, to disguise that it wasn't exactly this kind of thing.

I like this library a lot and it is a fun way to get introduced to a large amount of world instruments. Sill I would give the edge to Ethno World 6 for an expansive world library. It's divided into Instruments and Voices, but you can get the instruments for $259. During the Best Service 40% off sale it will be $155. So it's less expensive than World Suite 2, and better. But... I do like World Suite 2.

But, as stated above by @TheSteven,(and it says so on the site) you can spend $29 now and get Dehumaniser 2 for $300 ($99 off). Save 70 bucks. Plus you get MNTRA Huracan. ?

A decent reason to buy Simple Monsters. Last BF the Krotos sound design instruments were 50% off. So it's possible that you could upgrade to Dehumaniser 2 for $100.

This is going to help me do stoopid things on YouTube for $29. Cheap. If you want to do this on a pro level, Krotos has Dehumaniser 2, which was used for Avengers: Age of Ultron, The Jungle Book, Game of Thrones, The Conjuring, Stranger Things, etc. That lists for $399, which isn't a bad price, considering how good it is. And there are sales. BF is coming soon. It also has a free demo. https://www.krotosaudio.com/dehumaniser2/ But overkill for me farting around on YouTube. If you are looking for very high quality, you can safely cross Simple Monsters off your list.

There's a free demo. This is a lot of fun, but of course it helps if you have a silly YouTube channel like me that will give you a reason to use it. Thank you @pseudopop It worked fine today! I didn't even have to put in the code. And now I have Huracan too. Mndala 2.0!!

It didn't work for me. Too bad, this is a very good price for it.

A no-brainer, but you need Windows XP/Vista 32 bit.

It's possible that Kontakt 7 will be half price even in the Black Friday sale. I believe that happened with Kontakt 6. But certainly in the summer sale.

I didn't notice that there is a new choir library made by Strezov, CHOIR:OMNIA, with polyphonic true legato, a syllabuilder engine, and 5 mics. Per Strezov it is all new recordings. No word yet on what it would cost outside of CE. Requires the free Kontakt 7 player. https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/cinematic/choir-omnia/ This is another reason for composers to get the Collector's Edition.

The big news for me is Kontakt 7. If it is like previous reports, that will be an awesome step forward. Also, adding stuff from Plugin alliance and iZotope suggests the beginning of a new direction for the series. Otherwise it is the same as 2016, 2018, and 2020. A September announcement in an even-numbered year and the largest version (now CE) would include every previous official NI release since the previous version. Komplete 14 includes Ignition Keys, which just came out a few days ago. I think I called it pretty well here https://vi-control.net/community/threads/is-komplete-14-due-soon-if-so-what-will-be-the-new-libraries.129042/

Assuming you already have Unify, does this do anything that Unify can't do?

How could I forget Modwheel? There are so many great small developers, but they make high-quality stuff that is really unusual. Anyway, I was reminded because they sent me an email about a new freebie that is available for a short while called Wreckage. https://www.modwheel.co.nz/wreckage?utm_source=MODWHEEL&utm_campaign=40c364968a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_20220905_WRECKAGE_LAUNCH&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a67e6c42b0-40c364968a-443798345&mc_cid=40c364968a&mc_eid=1c0d8cda9e I use their acoustic bass a lot. This began as a library with a lot of unusual bass noises. They then updated it and added the typical pizzicato and arco sounds. I tend to use it for acoustic bass, as it has a lot of stuff you can't find anywhere else. https://www.modwheel.co.nz/the-lowdown-v2 There's a free version of some Lowdown soudns called Tasty Morsels https://www.modwheel.co.nz/free-stuff There's also a freebie that's all Feedback.

If you're looking for a piano that is very different, and musically inspiring, let me suggest ArtVista's Malmsjo, a favorite of Hans Zimmer. I guess it was the first virtual "soft piano." But not with cloth or anything, the original piano just sounds that way. It's been around since Gigasampler. This is not a go-to everyday piano, but it is beautiful to play and it has inspired me to make music that works with that sound. It's one of my favorites--a classic VI. https://www.artvista.net/malmsjo.html It sells for $99, but you can pick it up for half that during holiday sales. I also like Art Vista's Virtual Grand 3 https://www.artvista.net/vgp3.html It is based on recordings of a 1960 Hamburg Steinway Model ”B.” The twist is that it offers stunningly realistic piano presets that emulate recordings from the 1950's through today by artists such as Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Donny Hathaway, Chet Baker, Jan Johansson, Ray Charles, John Lewis, Bobby Timmons, Billy Preston, Keith Jarrett, Jackson Browne, Leon Russell, John Legend, Arthur Rubinstein, and Bill Evans. I have a LOT of pianos (too many), but I end up using this one more than not. I guess with all the presets I can always find something that works for each piece.

I'm a big fan of Dream Audio Tools A lot of great libraries, very reasonably priced. And their are sales that make them even more reasonable. I'm a big fan of their Indie Fingers series, which are libraries composed of contemporary pop/rock guitar arpegggios, which you can combine. You can make amazing tracks just combining some of these arps. Also, +++++`1 for Indiginus. I think that Tracy Collins is one of the greatest makers of virtual instruments ever, along with Tarilonte, Alex at Cinematic Studio, and Eric Persing of Spectrasonics. He makes instruments that sound great and are also a lot of fun to play. The thing I particularly like is that he has an auto-harmony feature. You can bring this in and out with keyswitches or velocity or other cc, but I am lazy and tend to just leave it on all the time. Do NOT make the mistake that because Indiginus products are so cheap that they are not number one. I have excellent guitars by Orange Tree Samples and AmpleSound, but I generally reach for my Indiginus ones. Or... I try them all for a piece and the Indiginus ones sound best. The problem with a company like Indiginus for a forum like this is that there are no sales--therefore there is no sense of occasion, like "I have to buy now!" I never miss a product introduction, and I've tried to pick up one or two a year. Here's a little thing I did using the harmony effect on both Indiginus's The Fiddle and The STEEL, the amazing Indiginus Lap Steel, that I use all the time. With tools like this even a shmo like me can get beautiful sounds very quickly. (Guitar is NI's Picked Acoustic.)

I think I remember Mike Greene doing a Black Friday Sale where he briefly RAISED the prices on all RealiTone libraries. But you had to move fast-- or the prices would go back down again. Maybe I dreamed this. Does anybody remember if this really happened?

Are you tired of sales that apply only to some products? Are you tired of sales that have ending dates? Wouldn't it great if there was a company that lowered prices on all their products? Permanently? You bet it would! https://realitone.com/ Here at Realitone, we hear you. So we've permanently lowered prices on all products ... by 95 cents! That's right! So instead of Realivox Blue being $149.95, now it's just $149! Sunset Strings was $299.95 - but now just $299! RealiBanjo? Say goodbye to four digits of messiness with $59.95, and say hello to $59! Now, I know what you're thinking: "But Mike! Sure, this looks cleaner. But how are you going to stay in business with such a drastic drop in income???" I hear you! Heck, I'll probably have to start buying off-brand ramen, instead of the fancy stuff. But when you're as dedicated to your customers as I am, then by golly, these are the sorts of sacrifices you have to make. But Wait! There's More! Sure, I take pride in going my own path with this permanent price-slashing thing. But it can be lonely being the leader in the cause of Pricing Justice. So if everyone else is having a Labor Day Sale, then ... well, I want to have one, too. So with our Realitone Labor Day Sale, we're slashing prices even further! And ... with the extra 95 cents off, that makes these are our lowest sale prices ... EVER! (I'm hoping the people who bought during the last Black Friday sale don't get mad!) Sunset Strings - Was $299.95. Now on sale, but not at $199.95. We're talkin' just $199! Realivox Blue with Wordbuilder - Was $149.95. So is it on sale for $99.95? Heck no! We're slashin' it to just $99! Realivox Ladies Lite is on sale for as low as $99! That's how much we care about you, our valued customers! Hip Hop Creator and RealiDrums are each half off! Just $99! Amazing! Fingerpick as low as $79! RealiBanjo is just $39! RealiWhistle is just $29! Acoustic Lite is just $29! Screaming Trumpet - Featuring Wayne Bergeron is just $99!

If the Death Whistle scares you as much as it does me, you can get the cheery Chernobyl vibe of PRIPYAT for only $3 more. ? Fifteen bucks and this is all yours!