Sampletank 3?

[Squids]

you know maybe that is part of me being unimpressed with many of the SR stuff.
cause as you put it:

Old moogs and trons, Ringo drums sounds and such. While that appeals to certain groups of people, there are plenty out there that could care less about the sounds of the Beatles, Hendrix, or other stuff from nearly half a century ago.

Cause with the exception of old moogs I am exactly like that...never understood what was so big about Hendrix, and I did play in many guitar bands, with endless hendrix covers , maybe at the time he was way ahead of his time but in today's context I never got it, and whilst I think the Beatles were probably in the top five greatest pop composers, I never cared much for their sound..And I actually never even thought of it as nearly half a century ago which is what it is...
hmmmm, maybe I am not the target market.
rsp

Bah, that's pigeon holing us. I just used some examples. Our orchestral, SFX or world or other sounds have nothing to do with vintage sounds of Hendrix. We're broader than that.

Anyway, you may not be the target market or you may be and you're missing what it can offer you. It all depends on the shades you've got in the glasses. Being open-minded has its plus points!

[vespers75]

Sonic Reality's Motto is "Sample Everything". We don't ONLY do vintage drums! Maybe that's what you've been seeing a lot of lately. But we've been one of the providers of workstation sounds for YEARS for many of the major hardware manufacturers of keyboards, modules and expansion boards as well as for companies like IK, NI, Propellerheads, Cakewalk, Emagic (pre-Apple), Steinberg, Camel Audio and many others! We have every type of sound you can think of practically from world instruments to orchestral to electronic to acoustic to vintage to modern... for a sample company we're quite diverse!

Oh yes, you're quite right, you guys have some other stuff besides only vintage sounds. I was speaking in regards to just Sampletank, and much of what you guys release in that particular platform seems to be vintage oriented.

[Squids]

Squids, any comment on my previous post regarding search speed for sounds and tags. This is where the utility of Sampletank breaks down for me. Faster and more flexible searching with tags is what I would like to see. CAn we antcipate improvements there ? The rest of your comments regarding the quick sound sculpting with effects and layering are the reasons it still has a very valid place in my vst folder.

I think there will be improvements in this area too. Although SampleTank does do some cool things like reading the BPM from the name and automatically being able to LOOP SYNC. Love that one. I wish it would automatically find sounds in the search by name of any type of sound... like I said, I do have a long list of improvements I'd like to see. But, it hasn't stopped me from being able to use SampleTank on every session. I think it is a good idea to get to know your sound libraries as well. I've got my go to sounds and then I hunt a little bit... improved search functions are welcome as are many other things mentioned in this thread.

But, it is the sort of extreme thinking "it's either in or it's out" that I think is a mistake. It is not perfect and nothing is. It has its plus and minus points. For many people the plus outweighs the minus and even more there really isn't anything else on the market that works and sounds the same way... not until this phantom ST3 this thread (which was based on a misintepretation of an old teaser about TR3) is about.

[Squids]

Sonic Reality's Motto is "Sample Everything". We don't ONLY do vintage drums! Maybe that's what you've been seeing a lot of lately. But we've been one of the providers of workstation sounds for YEARS for many of the major hardware manufacturers of keyboards, modules and expansion boards as well as for companies like IK, NI, Propellerheads, Cakewalk, Emagic (pre-Apple), Steinberg, Camel Audio and many others! We have every type of sound you can think of practically from world instruments to orchestral to electronic to acoustic to vintage to modern... for a sample company we're quite diverse!

Oh yes, you're quite right, you guys have some other stuff besides only vintage sounds. I was speaking in regards to just Sampletank, and much of what you guys release in that particular platform seems to be vintage oriented.

Miroslav Philharmonik, which we did, isn't. Also, many of the Expansion Tank titles are not either. Also, many of the custom Group Buy products we've done over the years were not either... World Orchestra and Rare Instruments... granted I LOVE vintage sounds and so do MANY people! They don't have to be used just for my personal favorite styles of Classic Rock and Progressive. They can be used for Hip Hop, Electronic, Film Scoring, Pop, Country, Jazz and many more... and they are!

Anyway, if you want diversity beyond "Hendrix" then as I said... keep those eyes peeled! Current and new prospective SampleTank users that may NOT have known just how much we have developed over the years will be stunned at what is coming next. But I better be quiet now before I get into trouble... you guys always get me somehow to let the cat out of the bag early!!! Okay, I take full responsibility. I am not good with secrets I admit it. It's like a hot potato and I just want to let it out.... muzzle...mmffffffff.

Ironically, I am sitting here talking to you SampleTank bashers about it! Haha. Just kidding. Look, this is the SR forum which is the closest thing there is to a SampleTank forum (even though it still isn't). We've had a LOT of SampleTank users tread here. There are hundreds of thousands of users out there in the world. We want to make them and prospective users happy, inspired and off making lots of great music of ALL styles. We're on a mission and there's ain't nothin's gonna stop us!

So sit back and enjoy the ride. We're about to unleash the fury! Haha.

Okay, folks, that's about it on that subject for now. Have a great little Saturday! I might head over to Home Depot, maybe Bed Bath and Beyond.. I don't know. I don't know if I'll have enough time! Okay just one!!!!

- Frank the SampleTank.

[DarkStar]

.. Zappa?

[standalone]

...Sinatra?

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

...N Furter?

[standalone]

...Ygoestohollywood?

[zedd]

In a sense it is like comparing the presets in AT2 vs AT3...AT3 sounds so much better, because technology has moved on and improved on such things...

Just because technology has moved on and improved doesn't always make it better. I still love AT1 and the special sounds that it could create for my guitar, and would like IK to emulate their own Amplitube 1 product so that I could use those cool sounds again.

...there are plenty out there that could care less about the sounds of the Beatles, Hendrix, or other stuff from nearly half a century ago.

Yeah, you're right. I'm gonna stop listening to the Beatles and listen to a modern boy band that uses that cool Auto-tune effect!. Vintage effects are outdated and passe.

But seriously... you ARE right that there are plenty of people out there who don't get it... and that is a real shame. The 1960s was a Renaissance period in modern music. It wasn't just the slow movement of summer to winter. It was a polar shift, and the height of creativity in recorded music history. That music is timeless, and I am sorry for anyone (and everyone) who thinks of it as something less worthy of appreciation because it is old.

...and whilst I think the Beatles were probably in the top five greatest pop composers, I never cared much for their sound..

I think you should include in your signature "I never cared much for the sound of the Beatles". Being clear about that will allow most readers to take all of your comments on the quality of virtual instruments and effects with a grain of salt.

I don't meant to be rude... I am just saying that that is a very telling statement about your musical sensibilities, and from it I can totally understand why you would fail to appreciate some of the strengths in SampleTank.

I use SampleTank in every project, and agree with all that Squids said above. Sometimes competitor products have preferable versions of certain instruments, but in most cases my SampleTank library gives me exactly what I need, and does it quickly and efficiently. I wouldn't want to be without it.

[zvenx]

yeah I can see why it is so important to let everyone know that the Beatles sound was not my kind of sound in my signature!!!!!! WHAT?!!! Why does that make a difference? why is that of fundamental importance?
For what it is worth I loved 60's motown sound, and burt bacharach sound..
rsp

[vespers75]

...there are plenty out there that could care less about the sounds of the Beatles, Hendrix, or other stuff from nearly half a century ago.

Yeah, you're right. I'm gonna stop listening to the Beatles and listen to a modern boy band that uses that cool Auto-tune effect!. Vintage effects are outdated and passe.

But seriously... you ARE right that there are plenty of people out there who don't get it... and that is a real shame. The 1960s was a Renaissance period in modern music. It wasn't just the slow movement of summer to winter. It was a polar shift, and the height of creativity in recorded music history. That music is timeless, and I am sorry for anyone (and everyone) who thinks of it as something less worthy of appreciation because it is old.

The Beatles had some stuff I thought was good, particularly on the Sgt. Pepper's album. But that doesn't mean I have any desire to copy or repeat the same things myself. Why would you? I don't mean to be rude...but if that is the case, then that is a rather telling statement about your musical sensibilities. That comment you made to zvenx about whether or not he likes the sound of the Beatles vs. his opinions on virtual instruments/effects is quite silly, as one has little to do with the other.

The 60's were the height of recorded music? Ridiculous. That is merely subjective taste and opinion. Why would one feel the need to exhalt one decade of music over all others? I feel sorry for anyone (and everyone) who would limit their musical sensibilities in that manner.

[zedd]

yeah I can see why it is so important to let everyone know that the Beatles sound was not my kind of sound in my signature!!!!!! WHAT?!!! Why does that make a difference? why is that of fundamental importance?
For what it is worth I loved 60's motown sound, and burt bacharach sound..

It's probably not a very good idea, I agree.

Sorry... I was probably being a little obnoxious in suggesting that and apologize if it was offensive. But it is a consistency which helps to underscore where you are coming from in terms of the kind of sounds that appeal to you. Many of the effects included in SampleTank have a very vintage quality to them which impressed me to no end when I started using the product 5 years ago. I can understand that if the '60s pop rock thing is not your style then a lot of the SampleTank instruments and effects might not stand out for you. But if you like '60s Motown, I think there is actually a lot that you could work with..

But I do understand that if you have found instrument in other libraries that have that magical quality that you are looking for (whatever that magic is to your ears) then probably a less detailed ST instrument won't hold much appeal for you.

But if you haven't found exactly what you want, it is wonderful to be able to audition a bunch of upright pianos, basses and organs, etc.. SampleTanks loads each instrument very quickly and you can listen to a whole bunch of similar instruments to find the one that works with your song. Where it may have less detail per instrument, there is a greater variety of cool sounding instrument variations which allow you to find the tone that really works. Other virtual instruments usually have fewer instrument options and take longer to load because they are so detailed.

[Squids]

I think there's a bigger picture to the significance of The Beatles besides "I didn't care for their sound"... if you didn't there's a good chance that an artist you like did and wouldn't have their sound if it weren't for artists like The Beatles - but not only them. A lot of influential artists of that time have lead to the things others like today... and yes some of us are still blown away by The Beatles and artists of that decade too! But luckily none of that really has anything to do with SAMPLETANK!

The important thing to come away with here though is that the sounds we've done for SampleTank are far more diverse than just Hendrix and Beatles-oriented! They include The Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd and Genesis as well. Just kidding. They include just about everything really but not all of it has been commercially released BY IK... and that is about to change. Some of you have experienced a wider variety for SampleTank than others due to your involvement in past eSoundz group buys... it is amazing but this has been going on for years!!!! Some are new to it and some have been there on every single one! In any case, it is a good time to take a broad perspective of the many loop collections and many instruments from all over the world that we've brought to that platform and to highlight what really IS so darn useful about it! Why IS it still totally viable today and nothing has replaced it directly for what it did and still does? That's actually a topic I really enjoy discussing and it will be very relevant pretty soon with this new surprise coming... from SR and IK.

Sure, when/if (I love saying if...) SampleTank 3 comes out it is going to be the dog's meow. But that's pure fantasy right now. You want to talk reality? Sonic reality? Good, there's going to be a wide assortment of things very soon to do a heck of a lot more than just Beatles and Hendrix! But, hey, if you did want to do some Classic Rock then you've really got that covered too. No less, many styles of Hip Hop, Electronic, Pop, Country, Jazz, Film Scoring, World Music and anything else you can think of... even some classic Motown Soul! Sound-wise it has been there, just not as much in the forefront as it is about to be! From IK and in a very appetizing way let's just say... and we're proud to be a part of that legacy and the exciting thing that is coming next!

As for the engine, man I don't think there's anyone here - myself included - who would say it is perfect or without flaws... but then again I can say that about just about everything I have. I absolutely LOVE my various samplers but I can give you a long list of flaws they have and some of it just can't be addressed because it is not the nature of that beast... and visa versa you can say the same about SampleTank. But what IS the nature of this beast? The best words to describe are words like "Rompler" and "Workstation". It's hard to just describe in words but when you're working on a track it is just that Swiss Army Knife tool that gets you there. Zedd said it really well. There may even be other software that does a particular instrument "better" but for the sake of speed and creativity you may find yourself doing it in SampleTank first... and then sometimes you find that the sound you did in SampleTank has a certain charm to it that just does the trick and you don't NEED to replace it!

For example, B4 is a cool organ plug-in (sad to see it go in fact... not sure why that happened!!!!). It is more powerful than say a Sonic Reality organ sample in SampleTank in terms of what you can do with it. So you might be working on a track and have an organ part and do it in SampleTank first. Grit it up, whatever you're going to do with it. Then you're immediately working on other parts of the song and then at some point you think you're going to replace it with the B4 to do a "better" organ. But you find that actually that sound sat in the mix quite nicely and had a certain character to it that you can't put your finger on (maybe it was that we sampled a really AMAZING sounding B3 and Leslie 122?) and even though you can tweak more drawbars and fun things on the B4 it just doesn't have the same character so you choose the other (or in all fairness visa versa). Either way, you have OPTIONS and that is one of the things that is great about SampleTank. Under one roof it has a lot of sound and quick sculpting options in the music creation process... there are plenty of INCREDIBLE tools to tweak your heart out! But sometimes you just want some meat and potatoes to get things going ... and some of that ends up in the final mix! That's how a lot of us use it.

Look, we're bringing all of the best Sonic Reality sounds over to formats like Kontakt to be played from our Infinite Player. That has a great sound too. If you prefer Kontakt then get that. But, even with all of my favorite sounds in Kontakt myself I still pull up SampleTank! Why would I? The samples are the same so... what's up with that? Well, it is because of the way I work with it, the ease of use and speed at which I can manipulate a sound with certain musical results I like! I can do DIFFERENT things with Kontakt and if I want to run Kontakt through T-Racks 3 Deluxe I can get some even more amazing sounds often but... again, I might quickly do that in SampleTank first and maybe/maybe not replace that later with something else that is bigger and better. SampleTank or Reason is my scratch pad very often and they work great for that... multiple sounds can be loaded at once, huge variety, efficient on the CPU and Laptopable. (made up that word). I likes it!

[zedd]

But that doesn't mean I have any desire to copy or repeat the same things myself. Why would you? I don't mean to be rude...but if that is the case, then that is a rather telling statement about your musical sensibilities.

I was talking about the "sound" of the Beatles in terms of the tonal quality of the recorded instruments. If something sounds awesome and has magical quality to it, trying to match that standard and replicate those tonal sentiments is not a bad thing by any means.

It is true that not everybody appreciates those sounds, but a majority of musicians would probably agree that the sounds that the Beatles got on their recordings are the Holy Grail of recorded sound.

That comment you made to zvenx about whether or not he likes the sound of the Beatles vs. his opinions on virtual instruments/effects is quite silly, as one has little to do with the other.

I think I shouldn't have made the statement, because I feel like it was a little obnoxious for me to do so, but I do see a connection between not recognizing the magic in the sound of the Beatles and being dismissive about the usefulness of SampleTank in terms of its sound quality and usefulness.

The 60's were the height of recorded music? Ridiculous. That is merely subjective taste and opinion. Why would one feel the need to exhalt one decade of music over all others? I feel sorry for anyone (and everyone) who would limit their musical sensibilities in that manner.

Definitely my taste and opinion. I exhalt that decade over all others because of the gigantic amount of good material that came out of it. It was a period where recording technology made huge strides, and were drug experimentation blew open creative doors. Good stuff has come out of all the other decades, but not with similar concentration.

But yeah, that's my take. I guess we don't need to feel sorry for each other. There is so much of the music I love that I will continue finding new things that appeal to my sentiments until my dying day. I don't see my focus or my preferences as a limitations by any means, and I'm sure you don't see yours that way.

Anyways... I apologize for being provocative in my comments. I was feeling testy, but I don't mean to be a guy who disrespects anyone elses musical tastes. That's what makes the world turn. And as we grow we learn to appreciate and value things differently, so our tastes change, and we love things we thought we hated.

And lastly... there are numerous things about SampleTank which I hope will be improved upon. I am aching for it actually. So to balance my comments I will say that I agree with the idea that IK needs to pull up its socks and add some essential improvements to ST3 like a better filing/naming system, streaming from disk, round robining for more detailed instruments, and improved effects (which they have developed many of since ST was first released).

I believe that many of those things are coming, and I'm really looking forward to it.

[zvenx]

yeah I can see why it is so important to let everyone know that the Beatles sound was not my kind of sound in my signature!!!!!! WHAT?!!! Why does that make a difference? why is that of fundamental importance?
For what it is worth I loved 60's motown sound, and burt bacharach sound..

It's probably not a very good idea, I agree.

Sorry... I was probably being a little obnoxious in suggesting that and apologize if it was offensive.

no problems we are all passionate about this thing called music
rsp