hey whatsup, just coming back at you with another review from timespace.com
this time I’m checking out some more fx type products….they seem to do well on those and I like those types of products so it’s all good!
This one is an orchestral effects library, so it’s made with strings and woodwinds instead of synths and such.
everything from pads and atmosphers to risers and stinger type sounds
let’s check it out
So what is Animato?
Like I said it’s an orchestral fx library, so not the same as a full on orchestral library.
This one is dedicated to creating soundtracks for film, games, media, etc…
but you know me…I feel sound is sound, so it fits equally as well into many modern musical genres.
It’s a Kontakt based instrument and the recordings are made up of an actual orchestra, not just layers of solo performances but the recordings are of actual live sections performing.
This gives it a different feel that is sometimes hard to create when making your own layers form solo instruments…at least in my opinion.
Quick Specs
- content: 4.59gb, 3000 wavs, 139 kontakt instruments
- format: kontakt, acid wav
- price: $127.62
How does it sound?
Well as you expect you get a lot of tension building creepy fx in here. The great thing is that as a contrast to many of the synth based fx libraries, this one has a very organic feel do to the use of live orchestra players.
The screeches and scrapes, trickles, or whatever else you want to call them definitely have that cinematic quality to them. But if you’re like me, you may have thought this library was just about the little extra spices and toppings.
Much to my surprise, there are some pretty dope pads in this library. Like seriously. The pitched pads in both the live and mutated categories are very lush and useful.
The fact that there was some custom scripting done to give you control over the filters, fx, and ambiance right from the front panel is great.
I really was thinking this was just going to be about rises and stingers but I was totally wrong. There are many playable instruments in here, as well as some nice ambiences and atmospheres.
Like I said, this is my type of library but what I really like is how creative they were with the organic instruments. This again, gives it a great contrast to the more synth based libraries out there and it’s a welcome tone to anyone’s toolkit.
The subtle differences between players really gives it that realistic tone since they were recorded as a group…so you get the nice human feel to a lot of the library, inherently embedded into the samples and patches.
Of course the mutated patches are a work of great sound design as they took the live, organic instruments and tortured them with various fx and modulations to create even more different textures that still hold that “acoustic” edge.
What’s the bottom line
It’s not secret, fx, ambiances and atmospheric sounds are high on my list, but this library is really different in my eyes.
it seems to bring together the world of synths style ambiances with the world of high quality orchestral libraries and the way it was approached is very useful.
Sometimes I come across some superb orchestral libraries but they just sound too polished or they are hard to mold into sections ( I love orchestral sections) and still get a realistic feel.
Other times I’m using some synth based libraries which are awesome, but I have a desire for a little acoustic touch to give them a more organic feel…so I’ll try to mix in some strings, flutes, etc.
The thing I like about this library is that it’s based on acoustic instruments but also includes some elements of sound design that you’d find in a synth based library, so it makes it very flexible.
Overall this is a dope library I give it 4.5 out of 5 subs. This is definitely up there with some of the more expensive and larger libraries in terms of sound quality and usability. I love the sounds and tones you can get out of it.
I can’t really find much to complain about, maybe I would have liked to see them expand more in the mutated instruments because I really love a lot of the pads they created. It would have been cool to see them explore turning some of these acoustic instruments into synth style leads as well.
Overall it’s just a great library and the price is very reasonable, they could easily charge more for this for the quality and flexibility in here.
Definitely checkout the demos and read more about the creation/contents over at timespace: Zero-G Animato
leave a comment below, let me know what you think
This can be used in many ways.. I love the Moods It creates..
@Sim-one, indeed, its great.
I want this right here thanks for the demo
@rudyrhythmz, no doubt, thanks for watching.
I hate to get on a different subject, But vir2 is releasing Q on nov 19th. It’s going to have big cinema sounds from all sorts of stuff man.
@dj jambone, yeah I know, expect a review 🙂
Yeah I expect review man…this thing is going to be crazy! It has 2 thousand pathes and 16 gigs of samples material.
@dj jambone, yea we’ll see…number of patches and size of library doesn’t always mean anything, but I’m sure with Vir2 it will be dope.
This is one the hottest FX libraries Ive heard. Great for film. The sounds are named perfectly. I could really use these. This is a keeper.
@BDrake, word man!
saint joe what it is! been along time! yea these are also great for intro’s & skit’s lol!
@meconeproductions, whasup yo, yeah they some good sounds.
Very decent…some of the sounds puts me in the mind of the movie “Psycho” or “Experiment In Terror”
Very nice sounding and I’m sure I can put those instruments to some good use to bring some drama/suspense to a track.
@Madbull Studios, for real, def got that feel to it man, thanks for the comment.
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Hi there – I’m the producer of this library. Thanks for the positive review.
I’m just amazed all these sound names etc. we came up with here in Liverpool UK make such good sense in the US.
I just want to add – you didn’t mention one of the best features – that the Mod Wheel has a big role to play in all the sounds, fading up from pp whispers to ffff screeches.
🙂
@Dan Graham, thanks for stopping by! Yes, the names work very well. As for the mod wheel, I should have mentioned it, as I definitely use it myself, I guess I just assume the mod wheel adjusts swell/volume out of habit so I usually mention when it doesn’t lol, but you’re right that’s a nice feature 🙂
I am not sure if this has a notation feature, I would like it to have a notation feature for those who want to score. Well a notation feature for the live FX not so the mutation sections. Perhaps they may release an up date for this feature.
@Ric, Nah I don’t think there is any notation feature built into this one.
Hi, can I ask does this have notation of the actual notes that were performed for the Fx’s, the Fx patches, like for example a cluster string or flute patch of what the players actually played? If notation is not available do you think they will release an update that would incorporate such a feature. A simple tab that shows the notation would be very helpful if one wants to replicate it in scoring.
@Rich, I don’t believe it does, I didn’t see it, but it would be cool I agree.
Thanks for getting back saintjoe and sorry I posted the question twice. I am on the fence about this library because I did like what I heard when you previewed some of the patches. If only it had notation this would have sealed a purchase. I doubt they would release a update with this feature. Thanks again for the Animato review.
@rich, hi – i’m Dan, the producer of the library. If you did get it, feel free to email me at dan at ooberman dot net and I can explain how each sound was created. I started out planning to notate it for the performers but soon realised that it was much easier to just tell them what to play, like ‘on a high E, slowly waver between 2 semitones above and below the note’, and ‘play soft ponticello tremolo, but every second or so let a loud note come through’. Another was – really drag the bow until it screeches and waver up and down quickly over an octave range.
This kind of randomness helped make them sound complex, and so I’m sure even in a score it would need a little description, and it would be quite hard to capture what they did perfectly with only notes and standard symbols – it would involve a lot of detail, and may confuse them, where it’s much easier just to describe it.
@Dan Graham, thanks for the comment and support, we appreciate it man!