songboy « A good sampling of Composer tools »
Published on 01/22/12 at 20:20I run this in Kontakt standalone and in both Logic 9 and Ableton 8 on a MBP i7 with a RME Fireface 800. So far, no compatibility issues. If you are familiar with Kontakt already, you won't need to reference the manual. I haven't done so yet. Yes, all the functions are easily accessible. Essentially this is just a simple sample player with a couple effects (Lowpass, Hi pass, phaser, reverb and delay). All the samples are organized into three headers: Ambience, Impact, Rhythm. This is "code" for -pads/melodic instruments, -percussive instruments and -loops, essentially. This is a rather fluid way to set it up actually. They have also included some combinations that are really nice. You can find some really awesome pads in that section.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
So far no glitches even at low Buffer settings and no work lost. It has never caused any crashes or any other problems so far. For what it is, it does it well. When I need some interesting "ominous tones" or general ambience background noises, this is the first sample set I think of now. I have there "Water Harp" sample set too which is great, but is far less versatile. I like most of the loops and do use those occasionally, but I usually manipulate loops when writing right in my DAW as opposed to inside a Kontakt instrument. Better work flow that way. I have been using this only for a few months.
OVERALL OPINION
What I like most about this sound set is there is a lot of excellent quality sounds in here. I use these most in genres like electronica and minimalism, but I would imagine a composer for film, video and such would love this. This does tend to lead a little more to the dark side of ambience though. Sometimes, if I close my eyes, it sounds like I'm watching the move Underworld. I don't really have any complaints about this. The samples sound great and come in handy when you need to create that feel of space and mood. The price is fairly expensive, and I actually didn't pay for these out of my pocket. With that being said, I probably wouldn't have bought them for myself as I don't personally do many video scores, but I do find myself using these more often than I thought. Even throwing a few of these background pads in the mix at low levels for intros, outros and breakdowns can give your track a lot of space and dimension. This is probably the first one I've used in this style. I'm glad I have access to it, but I probably wouldn't spend that much of my own money to buy it.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
So far no glitches even at low Buffer settings and no work lost. It has never caused any crashes or any other problems so far. For what it is, it does it well. When I need some interesting "ominous tones" or general ambience background noises, this is the first sample set I think of now. I have there "Water Harp" sample set too which is great, but is far less versatile. I like most of the loops and do use those occasionally, but I usually manipulate loops when writing right in my DAW as opposed to inside a Kontakt instrument. Better work flow that way. I have been using this only for a few months.
OVERALL OPINION
What I like most about this sound set is there is a lot of excellent quality sounds in here. I use these most in genres like electronica and minimalism, but I would imagine a composer for film, video and such would love this. This does tend to lead a little more to the dark side of ambience though. Sometimes, if I close my eyes, it sounds like I'm watching the move Underworld. I don't really have any complaints about this. The samples sound great and come in handy when you need to create that feel of space and mood. The price is fairly expensive, and I actually didn't pay for these out of my pocket. With that being said, I probably wouldn't have bought them for myself as I don't personally do many video scores, but I do find myself using these more often than I thought. Even throwing a few of these background pads in the mix at low levels for intros, outros and breakdowns can give your track a lot of space and dimension. This is probably the first one I've used in this style. I'm glad I have access to it, but I probably wouldn't spend that much of my own money to buy it.