It’s Friday…you know what time it is

Time for some Big Fish

Today we checking out another instrument from Vir2

This one is dedicated solely to the acoustic guitar instrument.

It’s called Acoustic Legends HD

Let’s check it out!

So what is Acoustic Legends HD?

It’s basically a closet full of the most well-known, and best sounding acoustic guitars around.

Taylor, Martin, Gibson, McPherson, etc.

Everything is sampled in great detail, 24 bit to be exact.

Of course you get various styles of playing, articulations and even chords.

Steel, nylon, twelve string…you know the drill.

It comes as a Kontakt player instrument which can also be used in the full version of Kontakt

Quick Specs

• Content: 19gb of 24 bit, 96Khz samples
• Format: kontakt and kontakt player instrument
• Price: $299.95

How does it sound?

Authentic…they captured the samples very well in my opinion.

Of course, guitar is one of those sounds, those elusive sounds that are hard to recreate in the digital/virtual realm.

We’ve come a long ways from the tons of akai format guitar libraries, which we definitely used.

The sound and articulations you can recreate with a sampler like Kontakt is pretty dope.

The interface is simple, you get access to eq, reverb, delay, and a few extras like fret and release noise.

The inclusion of the fret/release gives it a more realistic sound when playing, and the fact that you can adjust the volume of these particular samples let’s you customize it to how you want it to sound.

My favorite sounds are probably the nylon, though I love the steel guitars as well.

The folder full of chords is pretty useful, you can easily switch through different chords using the key switching.

I’ve been using guitars samples for a long time, back since akai s1000 format, so this library is definitely a pleasant sound to my ears.

Folks that play real guitars for a living will of course find something inherently evil in the library but that’s a given! To my ears, it sound good, and judging by the popularity and longevity of the library, I would say many others feel the same.

No tricks here, just a great sampled, great sounding, fun to play collection of some of the most well-known acoustic guitars around.

Oh yeah, they also did some extra patches like banjo, mandolin, etc

Also some weird fx type patches made from the core samples in the library, they can get pretty freaky.

So what’s the bottom line?

I like this library a lot, it’s one of those things you “just have” you know?  It’s like a good piano library, it never gets old!

I love the articulations and I like the velocity/playing response.

I would have liked to see more performance features like strumming etc, but it’s still a very useful library as is.

I give this a 4 out of 5 subs, I really like the sound, and the tone of it.

Hopefully we’ll see an updated version of this library which incorporates some of their performance technologies from their other instruments, things could get really interesting then.

That said, if you need a go to library of acoustic guitars, this is definitely worth the look.

I’ve tried a few other guitar libraries, but I haven’t come across any as deep, and extensive in the styles/types represented as this one.

Ultimately it comes down to the sound, and this sounds great!

Check it out at big fish audio, listen to their demos, as they have way better guitar playing chops than I do!

Acoustic Legend’s HD at Big Fish Audio

Got strings?

Native Instruments does, and they’ve put some vintage mojo on them as well…for when you’re feeling a little nostalgic?

But…are they any good? Or is it just another cheesy attempt at a usable pop string section?

let’s see

What are Session Strings?

To contrast a lot of the larger string/orchestral libraries, Session Strings is supposed to be a good collection of string sections that fit well within the modern music production environment.

I’ve seen quite a few string libraries, most are aimed at film and orchestration uses, with every single section of the string and multiple articulations, many of which require some form of classical/orchestral training or a crash course in string theory.

Which isn’t bad, because I like those libraries too, but sometimes you just want a good string ensemble that has minimal things to tweak, and you can just add it to your track.

The expressive features are there and easy to access, they even put in a collection that they called “m town” which is supposed to capture the feel and sound of vintage 70s strings from the disco/pop/funk/rnb music.

All that sounds good, but what really matters is if these strings are useful or not.

Quick Specs

• content: 48 nki files, 10 standard and 10 mtown performance, 14 standard and 14 mtown individual patches
• format: kontakt 4 or the free kontakt player
• price: $119

How do they sound?

They sound pretty good, nice and full and usable, which is most important.

Sometimes you don’t want a library full of solo strings, sometimes you just need a good sounding section to lay as the padding for a track, to fill it out.

The recordings are done well, and in comparison to many string libraries, they aren’t drowned in reverb that is printed into the sample itself.

These have more of a “studio” sound to me, instead of a stage or concert hall sound, more like the sound of a bunch of string players in the studio, instead of on stage.

Of course you can use the included reverb to tweak or add your own.

The MTown presets are pretty cool, if you sample alot, you’ll enjoy the sound of the strings as it pretty much captures that string sound we always look for on records.

Overall, the sound is good and usable, comparable to many more advanced libraries.

Of course you don’t get every single type of articulation as you would with a full level string library, but you get the ones that are most useful when playing a string section.

So what’s the bottom line?

It’s no secret I’m a fan of the new line of Kore and Kontakt instruments form NI. It allows folks to build up quite a customized and quality library without the investment of full products and software.

The fact that you can play any of these instruments in their free players is awesome, plus, if you want to upgrade, they work in the full versions.

I really like the sound of the Session Strings, and find myself going back to these over a lot of the larger libraries just for how immediate they are and how I can just pull up a sound, tweak, and have what I need.

The animator is pretty cool, could be useful, but I would have liked to see it more user editable. If they add another tab beside the fx tab, where you could pull up the step/graph editor, and tweak each included groove that would be awesome.

This would give you a mini string section sequencer inside the interface….maybe in an update?

Overall, it’s a useful library, with a good sound that will fit many situations.  Some of the falls/scoops can be a bit cheesy at times but hey, alot of the music we were inspired by from the past was pretty cheesy lol, it’s sorta like salt…it’s good in moderation, just don’t over do it!

I give this library a 4 out of 5 subs, I really liked it, but wish the animator was editable as it’s a great feature of the library but can get pretty old pretty quick with the two knobs used to tweak it.

If you want some good strings, and even some vintage sounding tones, definitely read up on it and check it out.

It’s a great alternative to spending hundreds on string libraries that may not have the tone, or ease of use you need for adding a simple string section to modern tracks.

Go on over and check it out: native instruments session strings

let me know what ya think!

It’s Friday so you know what that means, time for some Big Fish!

Today I’m reviewing one of the new products from the “Beat Warrior” series that Nova Loops created exclusively for Big Fish

This one is all about the melodies, so let’s check it out

What is Platinum Synth Melodies?

It’s a collection of construction sets made up of nothing be melodies.

No drums in site.

These are specifically…synth melodies.

You get a nice collection of bass, strings, pads, leads, etc…

produced in styles useful for pop, rnb, hip hop, and other urban music.

Quick Specs

• content: 428 MB
• format: apple loops, wav, acid
• price: $49.99

How does it sound?

I’ve been a fan of Nova Loops for a little while now, I’ve always loved their melody lines, to me they were always a step above the rest, especially in RnB.

This library surprised me in the fact that they showed versatility by mixing in a lot more of the synth/pop side of things and not just rnb/rap.

They do pop very well, but this one especially had a very light euro feel mixed into it.

The styles of the loops were done right as well as the recordings, I absolutely loved some of the pads, very ambient.

They deep bass lines show what I mean about their melodies, it’s always so smooth, very good sound and good production.

There is a good variety of club, rap, pop, euro, smooth and rnb style melodies to mix, match and chop.

What’s the bottom line?

Bottom line is I really like the idea of getting nothing but melodies from the Nova Loops label and I’m glad Big Fish is exploring these types of libraries.

Perfect for those that may not be the best at certain styles, or just want variety, or maybe you just like DOPE SOUNDS.

This is a synth collection, and I can’t really find anything missing, maybe a few more west coast style leads since these guys live out in Cali

I give this a 4 out of 5 subs, it’s very useful with a great quality and a nice price.

The price is even better when you use the promo code: NOVSS1 to get $7 bucks off any Nova Loops product at Big Fish until 6/30/2010

So go on over and check them out, and add some dope melodies to your collection: www.bigfishaudio.com/novaloops

Not a lot to say on this one, some free drums from trauhmadrums.com and I like them

Peep this quick video and go download them, he’s cool peeps and didn’t know I was doin this video but I love to show love to the smaller developers and he has some create drums.

check it out

download at http://www.traumahdrums.com./

lemme know what you think.

I know I just posted a video of how to sequencing plugins in Live from Maschine standalone.

But this is a little different.

This if for those that want to use Maschine as a plugin within Live, yet not use Maschine’s sequencer.

This will let you record the midi data into Live’s sequencer while still using the pads/sampler of Maschine.

You would think this would be simple, just load the plugin and go, but it’s not…and many try to figure out how to do it in their DAW.

Anyway, this is a quick video showing how to set it up, so you have each Maschine group on a different track in Live.

If you prefer to do all your sequencing in Live, yet still want to use Maschine, this is a great way to do it.

Native Instruments just released an update to Kontakt 4.1 and it now allows you to load instruments in the background.

This means, when you pull up a sound from the Kontakt library, you no longer have to wait for the full sound to load!

This is huge! I HATE waiting for large libraries and instruments to load, but now, they load in a few seconds, which let’s you quickly get to what you want to do, make music.

This may seem small, but in a world full of huge software libraries this is a huge plus for Kontakt users….trust me, watch the video and see the difference.

Some libraries used to take minutes to load, depending on the size, huge ones like Abbey Roads Drums are notorious for taking ages to load up.

With this new feature, I don’t feel so put off on actually using Abbey Roads drums now.

Check it out

I know what you’re thinking… “another piano?”

Piano is one of the most diverse and universal instruments around.

No wonder so many companies give their own versions of sampled, modeled, and synthesized pianos.

Today we are checking out one from Imperfect Samples based on the Braunschweig Upright piano.

let’s check it out

So what is the Bruanschweig Upright and is it really Imperfect?

This is a very detailed sample based instrument for Kontakt and EXS from Imperfect Samples.

They pride themselves on capturing the “realism” and “ambiance” that seems to elude many professional piano libraries.

I won’t even lie to you, I had no idea what a Braunschweig Upright was, or how it should sound!

From their website it is said to have a “more distinct sound character far more intimate than a grand piano”.

There is a regular version (5gb) and a pro version (15gb) of course the pro version has more layers, 14 as opposed to 8 in the regular version.

The pro version also comes with another mic perspective, whereas the regular version only includes 1.

Both include staccato samples, as well as piano fx, a fantasy, and a space piano instrument.

I am reviewing the pro version today.

Quick Specs

• content:15gb of 24bit samples
• format: kontakt, exs
• price: $59 – $149.95 depending on which version you buy

How does it sound?

I REALLY like the sound and tone of this piano.

For me, I’m always looking for a good piano, and most of the ones I’ve come across are perfect for huge concert style productions.  But many times in my music I need something a little more “normal” sounding.

Most pianos that I’ve played with are perfect, in a sense, they are too perfect in the fact that I am always trying to find ways to make them “sit in the mix” better.

Sure, those types of pianos can be good for classical orchestration mock ups or huge piano centric pieces, but what about those of us that just want a great sounding piano that supports the rest of our music?

That’s what I love about this, it’s fun to play, something about it just sounds “real” to me, not like a “software piano” but just like sitting down and playing.  Sure there is a little bit more ambiance integrated into the samples themselves, but I don’t find that a bad thing.

Overall this has more of a mellow, darker sound to it, and I really like it.  The detail is very deep, the release samples can be heard, the drop and hitting of the keys is there, it’s just fun to play.

I also like that there aren’t a bunch of controls, sometimes you just want to load up a piano and play, without having to worry about tweaking everything.

This is a simple interface, with a great sound that has tremendous detail…at least to my ears.

What’s the bottom line?

This is easily my favorite piano library to date, funny because the interface and options to tweak are so simple.

That’s a good thing in my book.

The sound I get out of it just makes me want to play and play, even though I’m not a trained pianist.

Sure you can find libraries with more velocity layers, and other types of samples, but the process and method of sampling on this instrument is unmatched.

To me it always seems like everyone wants to sample a Steinway Grand or many of the other popular piano models.

I like that this instrument is different, both in sound, and even the actual source instrument that was used to create it.

I give this a 5 out of 5 subs, it really impressed me from the first time I installed it.

Sure the pro version is 15gb, and it takes a while to download, but it’s so worth the wait.

Go over to Imperfect Samples and checkout the demo song, from someone that can actually play!

Trust me, they are amazing: Braunschweig Upright

let me know what ya think below

Yall know I’ve been working out different ways to use Maschine to the fullest and still have proper integration with my plugin collection.

I’ve finally found it!

Using Maschine standalone, and using Ableton Live as a rack…but what I also found out, is that you can sync live to Maschine’s clock!

Using midi drag and drop when I’m done sequencing, I can get everything I do in Maschine into Live’s session view very quickly.

Then I just arrange my patterns that way, it’s a very quick, efficient, and unlimited workflow….I really feel like I have no limits right now.

I can’t wait until I can drag and drop audio from Live back into Maschine Then I can use some of that warping and other goodness from live.

Anyway, this is my current workflow, and out of all the different ways I’ve messed with Maschine and plugins, this feels the most productive and the most natural.

peep the vid and let me know what you think.