Orange Tree Samples 2021 Group Buy

[Fleer]

Wow.  Lovely Day is my absolute Bill Withers favorite. 

[Christian Jones]

5 hours ago, PavlovsCat said:

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... - 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.

Yeah I certainly agree about the YouTuber set's inability to be trusted - it's the same deal with Amazon reviews et al and always will be. Quality of the OTS E and others aside though, and generally speaking, how do we know these legendary session players aren't being compensated for their testimonials? Sounds dubious, and I don't know that any stock should be put into those endorsements either. 

[PavlovsCat]

47 minutes ago, Christian Jones said:

Yeah I certainly agree about the YouTuber set's inability to be trusted - it's the same deal with Amazon reviews et al and always will be. Quality of the OTS E and others aside though, and generally speaking, how do we know these legendary session players aren't being compensated for their testimonials? Sounds dubious, and I don't know that any stock should be put into those endorsements either. 

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. 

 

Edited July 5, 2021 by PavlovsCat

[PavlovsCat]

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

 

 

 

 

 

[Fleer]

Yeah, that Pelizzari guy is great. 
Greg Schlaepfer, however, is simply amazing. He’s the only dev I know who will even suggest another dev’s instrument if he sincerely believes it to be best for the job. Sheer honesty and, of course, sheer incredible instruments. Kudos, OrangeTreeSamples!

[Christian Jones]

2 hours ago, PavlovsCat said:

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. 

 

I hear you. And not to keep beating this thing or veering further into the weeds but since you mentioned it lol--neither Greg nor any other developer needs to ask for special consideration when they give a YouTuber a free product for review, and they can even demand honesty; it's just human nature to give a biased review on something that was free and that's simply out of Greg's and every other company's control, though generally it tends to work in their favor. I know that's cynical, but. I doubt most reputable companies that send free product to YouTubers for review expressly tell them that they want a favorable review in exchange. Still there's that innate bias there and there's no getting around that. I'll check out that Corey guy though and I've subscribed, thanks for the tip. 

Lol you know I recently bought an 8 quart pot w/ lid off Amazon. It came with a postcard that said "post a review on Amazon, take a screenshot of your review, send it to this email address and you'll get a free product in exchange" and the free product looked to be a nice set of measuring spoons. So I leave a review stating that the pot is decent but the lid is s#!t. I screenshotted and sent them that and now I'm afraid I'm not gonna get my gat dang measuring spoons ?

[PavlovsCat]

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. 

Edited July 5, 2021 by PavlovsCat

[abacab]

Bottom line, best to only trust reviewers who buy their own swag! ?

[Greg Schlaepfer]

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.

[abacab]

Current Participants: 2181

Time Remaining: 7 days, 1 hour

Discount Tiers:

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

OK, we need a new category now! ?

[kevin H]

1 minute ago, abacab said:

OK, we need a new category now! ?

If you set a new category Christian likely will think we won’t reach it hahah

[Christian Jones]

1 minute ago, kevin H said:

If you set a new category Christian likely will think we won’t reach it hahah

We probably wouldn't 

[kitekrazy]

Anyone have the harp. I'm looking for an alternative instead of using the one bundled in Kontakt.   I don't want to spend on an elaborate one the rarely gets used. 

[Craig Fowler]

23 hours ago, Christian Jones said:

We probably wouldn't 

That's the spirit!

[abacab]

8 hours ago, Paul Young said:

Anyone have the harp. I'm looking for an alternative instead of using the one bundled in Kontakt.   I don't want to spend on an elaborate one the rarely gets used. 

The free Spitfire Audio Labs has an autoharp...

https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/

[Reid Rosefelt]

The main problem with this year's OTS sale for me personally, is that I've gotten pretty much everything I want in previous year's sales..  But it is one of the best deals around.  Wonderful products for great prices. 

[Fleer]

Famous E reviewed in the latest SOS issue: 

“Conclusion

There are of course other sampled and modelled Rhodes out there, and for some perspective I loaded a few leading contenders alongside. All subjective of course, but for me the best modelled competition offered similar responsiveness but couldn’t match the timbral complexity. Meanwhile, none of the multisampled alternatives had such an immediately attractive and vivacious character, despite various strengths of their own.

So what we have here may just be a single MkI, but it’s a spectacularly good one: it seems all that hype about the original ‘E’ is justified! Vibey, responsive, sophisticated and effortlessly inspiring, this is a great electric piano library.

Pros

A fundamentally very attractive, warm and open tone quality.

Simultaneously precise, in sound and implementation, yet full of character.

Excellent tremolo and chorus.

Plenty of possibilities for more creative tone shaping.

Cons

Delayed‑effect parameter tweaks take a little getting used to.

Summary

One of the best, if not the best, sampled Rhodes pianos currently available.“

[Dave Maffris]

THe Harp is excellent, use it a lot! As are all of OTS' products, of which I own every one.

[Dave Maffris]

7 hours ago, Fleer said:

Famous E reviewed in the latest SOS issue: 

“Conclusion

There are of course other sampled and modelled Rhodes out there, and for some perspective I loaded a few leading contenders alongside. All subjective of course, but for me the best modelled competition offered similar responsiveness but couldn’t match the timbral complexity. Meanwhile, none of the multisampled alternatives had such an immediately attractive and vivacious character, despite various strengths of their own.

So what we have here may just be a single MkI, but it’s a spectacularly good one: it seems all that hype about the original ‘E’ is justified! Vibey, responsive, sophisticated and effortlessly inspiring, this is a great electric piano library.

Pros

A fundamentally very attractive, warm and open tone quality.

Simultaneously precise, in sound and implementation, yet full of character.

Excellent tremolo and chorus.

Plenty of possibilities for more creative tone shaping.

Cons

Delayed‑effect parameter tweaks take a little getting used to.

Summary

One of the best, if not the best, sampled Rhodes pianos currently available.“

Agreed, it's a clear winner and I have several good ones, too. This will replace them in most, if not all use cases. And I have owned a Fender Rhodes (forget which model) and played many a suitcase model one during my younger playing days in Chicago.

Edited July 23, 2021 by Dave Maffris