Studiophonik Custom Drum Kits 2 is done. Will be released tomorrow. It's really good!!!! Some great combi kits. Could go on and on doing that. So much fun! There's a nice brush kit in there which some people have asked for. Also some killer big vintage roto toms a la Bruford/Collins. Some wacky snares too. All around I think it's as good or better than the first one. It will be on sale (normally MSRP $99 but we'll put it on sale tomorrow for half price just for the launch... oh and it is FREE to anyone who was in the original Studiophonik Prelude Group Buy years ago as promised).
We are also going to have a bundle of all 4 Studiophonik libraries and an upgrade path if you have one or two already and want the rest. Whew! A lot of SampleTank work. I'm still working on some extra bonus Miroslav "extended range" sounds as a cherry on top.
IK/SR VI HOT BUY - GROUP BUY on eSoundz!!! SampleTank Instruments for $99 + more!
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- Sonic Reality Head Chef
- Topic Starter
- 8566 posts since 11 Mar, 2002 from Florida
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- Sonic Reality Head Chef
- Topic Starter
- 8566 posts since 11 Mar, 2002 from Florida
Oh well it's already up on the site now. No demos up yet though. That'll be there tomorrow. But here it is with the sound list: http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?Prod ... ode=KVRSPK
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- Sonic Reality Head Chef
- Topic Starter
- 8566 posts since 11 Mar, 2002 from Florida
Also I did make the extended versions of some of the string sounds from Miro Outtakes. If anyone has any particular requests for an extended range version of a sound from it let me know. As I was going through it I noticed that some of the tuning is a little out there. Some of that quirkiness is cool but some of it is... well just better if tuned up a bit. So I'll either make some extra child patches that have a more tuned version of certain sounds or replace the parent sounds for the ones that are more extreme than others.
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- KVRian
- 921 posts since 14 May, 2010 from Atlanta, GA
Hey Squids,
I'd love to get the "trills" in all the sections extended out too. Having them in the upper and lower octaves will let me put double and half time versions over what's there already. Even thirds and fifths get fun rhythmically!
Good to see they're going out with eSoundz' MPO from now on, they're a very worthy addition and a GREAT bonus!
KVR/eSoundz: Xenobt
I'd love to get the "trills" in all the sections extended out too. Having them in the upper and lower octaves will let me put double and half time versions over what's there already. Even thirds and fifths get fun rhythmically!
Good to see they're going out with eSoundz' MPO from now on, they're a very worthy addition and a GREAT bonus!
KVR/eSoundz: Xenobt
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- KVRian
- 505 posts since 30 Jan, 2007
I won't get a chance to play around with the revised Outtakes set until this weekend (up dark and early now to head out to the airport), but I'm certainly looking forward to it.
Glad to see the product page for the COMPLETE bundle of Studiophonik is already up. And best of all, it's like the original Studiophonik group buy (for those of us who missed it). The page says that as future libraries are released, they will automatically get added to the esoundz user area for those who purchase the complete bundle!
http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?ProductID=4772
That could make a tough decision for people tempted by those drums. If anyone doesn't know, the kit pieces are the same gear as in many of the Drum Masters kits (in Infinite Player format): the Bonham, Ring Beats, Chicago Blues, Vintage Soul, Ludwig Jazz, various John Blackwell and other kits are well represented between the two Studiophonik drum libraries.
So it's a tough call... if you're only (or primarily) interested in the drums, I'd suggest looking at the Drum Masters Signature bundle instead:
http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?ProductID=4403
Of course, you'd need the Infinite Player plug-in to play those kits. An ideal way to get it would be to add THIS drum kit to your arsenal (try not to drool all over the keyboard):
http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?ProductID=4432
Put them together and they include more drum gear with MUCH more detail - and at a lower total price.
The flip side is that with the Studiophonik bundle, you'd also get the extra guitars, basses, and whatever might be released in future Studiophonik sets. And if you want to keep everything within SampleTank for convenience, the Studiophonik version would obviously allow you to do that. (Note that you'd need to have about five Parts available in your Combi for a full drum kit, as the hats, snares, toms, etc all load separately.)
So it's a tough, tough call. Fortunately we're only a few weeks away from finding out if Squids has a Fourth of July promotion planned that might act as a tiebreaker...
Glad to see the product page for the COMPLETE bundle of Studiophonik is already up. And best of all, it's like the original Studiophonik group buy (for those of us who missed it). The page says that as future libraries are released, they will automatically get added to the esoundz user area for those who purchase the complete bundle!
http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?ProductID=4772
That could make a tough decision for people tempted by those drums. If anyone doesn't know, the kit pieces are the same gear as in many of the Drum Masters kits (in Infinite Player format): the Bonham, Ring Beats, Chicago Blues, Vintage Soul, Ludwig Jazz, various John Blackwell and other kits are well represented between the two Studiophonik drum libraries.
So it's a tough call... if you're only (or primarily) interested in the drums, I'd suggest looking at the Drum Masters Signature bundle instead:
http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?ProductID=4403
Of course, you'd need the Infinite Player plug-in to play those kits. An ideal way to get it would be to add THIS drum kit to your arsenal (try not to drool all over the keyboard):
http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?ProductID=4432
Put them together and they include more drum gear with MUCH more detail - and at a lower total price.
The flip side is that with the Studiophonik bundle, you'd also get the extra guitars, basses, and whatever might be released in future Studiophonik sets. And if you want to keep everything within SampleTank for convenience, the Studiophonik version would obviously allow you to do that. (Note that you'd need to have about five Parts available in your Combi for a full drum kit, as the hats, snares, toms, etc all load separately.)
So it's a tough, tough call. Fortunately we're only a few weeks away from finding out if Squids has a Fourth of July promotion planned that might act as a tiebreaker...
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- KVRAF
- 1895 posts since 13 Oct, 2002
Personally, I would extend the key range of the top and bottom notes of ALL the patches. BTW, this is true for all the SampleTank patch collections, not just Miroslav Extras.Squids wrote:Also I did make the extended versions of some of the string sounds from Miro Outtakes. If anyone has any particular requests for an extended range version of a sound from it let me know.
I don't get why every Sampletank patch have to be "realistic" in their range limits. The ear tells us when something no longer sounds right. Traditionally romplers just let bottom and top ranges extend as far as they can, and I prefer it that way. It's always handy to have those extra notes for the occasional passage that needs it. And as mentioned before, the extreme ranges can be useful as creative source material.
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- Sonic Reality Head Chef
- Topic Starter
- 8566 posts since 11 Mar, 2002 from Florida
Ok. Might possibly do some interesting things with Stretch. Hit and miss but could be some gem extensions.Xenobt wrote:Hey Squids,
I'd love to get the "trills" in all the sections extended out too. Having them in the upper and lower octaves will let me put double and half time versions over what's there already. Even thirds and fifths get fun rhythmically!
Good to see they're going out with eSoundz' MPO from now on, they're a very worthy addition and a GREAT bonus!
KVR/eSoundz: Xenobt
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- Sonic Reality Head Chef
- Topic Starter
- 8566 posts since 11 Mar, 2002 from Florida
Well, I agree it would be nice but it'd be way too much work to do that the way it currently has to be done. I WILL however check to see if there will be a way in SampleTank 3 when it comes out to do that... it'd be a nice feature to have.Breeze wrote:Personally, I would extend the key range of the top and bottom notes of ALL the patches. BTW, this is true for all the SampleTank patch collections, not just Miroslav Extras.Squids wrote:Also I did make the extended versions of some of the string sounds from Miro Outtakes. If anyone has any particular requests for an extended range version of a sound from it let me know.
I don't get why every Sampletank patch have to be "realistic" in their range limits. The ear tells us when something no longer sounds right. Traditionally romplers just let bottom and top ranges extend as far as they can, and I prefer it that way. It's always handy to have those extra notes for the occasional passage that needs it. And as mentioned before, the extreme ranges can be useful as creative source material.
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- KVRian
- 505 posts since 30 Jan, 2007
A layering combination came up in another thread, so I thought I'd post it here as well.
One drawback to a lot of the electric pianos in ST format - particularly the Rhodes - is that there aren't many different velocity layers. A real Rhodes has bite when played hard. SR's Rhodes patches typically include that bite, but it's an all-or-nothing deal. You either get no bite or full bite, and the difference is pretty harsh when you kick in from one velocity layer to the other.
One of the big three EPs in the Vintage Keys Collection is a 160 meg Rhodes, called LA Rhodes EP88 3Dyn. But that 160 meg went into having a tremendous number of keyboard zones rather than a tremendous number of velocity layers.
If you have the Piano Collection (or Sonik Synth 2), you can soften the effect of the high velocity range by layering the "Sweet Rhodez" sound on top of the big one from Vintage Keys. It's still not a true velocity crossfade, but it does make a nice, warm, fat Rhodes.
Load up the big LA Rhodes EP88 3Dyn from Vintage Keys plus two instances of Sweet Rhodez from Piano Collection (all on the same MIDI channel). Turn off the effects on the Sweet Rhodez layers.
On one of the Sweet Rhodez, hit the VELOCITY button, set the Curve to Exp2 and set the Amp knob all the way up to 60.
OPTIONAL: on the other Sweet Rhodez layer, hit the SYNTH button and turn the FINE knob to +8. This creates a hint of the detuned chorus effect. (You probably don't want much of that effect here, and you might not want it at all.)
Set the volume of the layers so that the big Rhodes from Vintage Keys is a bit louder than the other two small layers. I also prefer to turn the polyphony of each layer up to 40.
The net effect is that you end up with a few extra velocity ranges (you'll notice three of them in particular, but the curve differences create a few more) and the differences between the layers aren't so harsh.
You still get the benefit of having so many different keyboard zones with the big LA Rhodes EP88 - along with the typical quirky note every now and then, in true EP fashion.
One drawback to a lot of the electric pianos in ST format - particularly the Rhodes - is that there aren't many different velocity layers. A real Rhodes has bite when played hard. SR's Rhodes patches typically include that bite, but it's an all-or-nothing deal. You either get no bite or full bite, and the difference is pretty harsh when you kick in from one velocity layer to the other.
One of the big three EPs in the Vintage Keys Collection is a 160 meg Rhodes, called LA Rhodes EP88 3Dyn. But that 160 meg went into having a tremendous number of keyboard zones rather than a tremendous number of velocity layers.
If you have the Piano Collection (or Sonik Synth 2), you can soften the effect of the high velocity range by layering the "Sweet Rhodez" sound on top of the big one from Vintage Keys. It's still not a true velocity crossfade, but it does make a nice, warm, fat Rhodes.
Load up the big LA Rhodes EP88 3Dyn from Vintage Keys plus two instances of Sweet Rhodez from Piano Collection (all on the same MIDI channel). Turn off the effects on the Sweet Rhodez layers.
On one of the Sweet Rhodez, hit the VELOCITY button, set the Curve to Exp2 and set the Amp knob all the way up to 60.
OPTIONAL: on the other Sweet Rhodez layer, hit the SYNTH button and turn the FINE knob to +8. This creates a hint of the detuned chorus effect. (You probably don't want much of that effect here, and you might not want it at all.)
Set the volume of the layers so that the big Rhodes from Vintage Keys is a bit louder than the other two small layers. I also prefer to turn the polyphony of each layer up to 40.
The net effect is that you end up with a few extra velocity ranges (you'll notice three of them in particular, but the curve differences create a few more) and the differences between the layers aren't so harsh.
You still get the benefit of having so many different keyboard zones with the big LA Rhodes EP88 - along with the typical quirky note every now and then, in true EP fashion.
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- KVRian
- 505 posts since 30 Jan, 2007
As a follow-up... I'm away from home and don't have a MIDI keyboard with me (traveling light for work - laptop only). I do know about the bell-like (or vibe) zone at A3 from the Sweet Rhodez sound. I generally don't mind it, as it's part of the charm of the Rhodes - without the bell and the bite, you're essentially playing a CP70. Also, that layering is memory-friendly as the extra Sweet Rhodez layers only use 3 meg each.
But if you have the RAM for it, there are ways to get rid of those overtones if you so desire. A handy trick for the LA Rhodes EP88 3Dyn is that if you set the velocity curve to "Flat", the upper velocity bite disappears completely.
You can use that to make a Combi with several layers of the same EP, each with different velocity curve settings. You'd want either one instance or two instances to play at any given velocity.
Example: layer a flat one with one set to Normal velocity curve and the Amp knob set to somewhere around -30 (and perhaps the volume of the Part turned down a bit to compensate). With that pair playing at roughly equal levels, you'd have to pound the keys pretty hard to get the bite to kick in.
With plenty of memory, you could also "stagger" layers, using multiple instances that only play within certain velocity ranges.
But if you have the RAM for it, there are ways to get rid of those overtones if you so desire. A handy trick for the LA Rhodes EP88 3Dyn is that if you set the velocity curve to "Flat", the upper velocity bite disappears completely.
You can use that to make a Combi with several layers of the same EP, each with different velocity curve settings. You'd want either one instance or two instances to play at any given velocity.
Example: layer a flat one with one set to Normal velocity curve and the Amp knob set to somewhere around -30 (and perhaps the volume of the Part turned down a bit to compensate). With that pair playing at roughly equal levels, you'd have to pound the keys pretty hard to get the bite to kick in.
With plenty of memory, you could also "stagger" layers, using multiple instances that only play within certain velocity ranges.
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- KVRian
- 921 posts since 14 May, 2010 from Atlanta, GA
Sounds great, Squids!Squids wrote:Ok. Might possibly do some interesting things with Stretch. Hit and miss but could be some gem extensions.Xenobt wrote:Hey Squids,
I'd love to get the "trills" in all the sections extended out too. Having them in the upper and lower octaves will let me put double and half time versions over what's there already. Even thirds and fifths get fun rhythmically!
Good to see they're going out with eSoundz' MPO from now on, they're a very worthy addition and a GREAT bonus!
KVR/eSoundz: Xenobt
I appreciate the extra mile after releasing the library, especially for a free bonus. You rule!
I see that the new IK anni sale is averaging fifty sales a day, so hopefully they'll go thru eSoundz to get your COOL outtakes! Spread the word KVRists, it's really a great addition.
And +1 for the extended ranges in ST3, I know lots of us sound designer types love playing with the extremes.
KVR/eSoundz: Xenobt
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- KVRAF
- 1895 posts since 13 Oct, 2002
Thanks for all the tips torgo; I think you have the right idea. But it's important that layers be able to fade over velocity levels not just switch; I want the "bite" to come in slowly. If I had access to the separate layers of the "LA Rhodes EP88 3Dyn" patch, I could try assembling a combi with different layers using different velocity and filter settings that could work. But I don't unless I resample each layer myself. Squids: any way to get a hold of those? I promise to give you whatever I come up with if it's any good.torgo wrote:You can use that to make a Combi with several layers of the same EP, each with different velocity curve settings. You'd want either one instance or two instances to play at any given velocity.
