Soniccouture

The Soniccouture Array Mbira is a 9 GB Library of very realistic sounding piano’s, strings, and more. I have used Array Mbira with Kontakt 4 and it works great, if you don’t have Kontakt then you can download it for free and use Array Mbira with it. The system requirements are very important, your Windows system needs to be up to date on the service packs in order for Mbira to work correctly and on our Mac you need at least 10.5 OS or better. I run Array Mbira on my i7 core processor with 8GB and it works great just like most of the Kontakt based patches always do. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE The Array Mbira works great in my DAW, with both Cubase and with FL Studio. I have not been using it long, probably only about 3 months or so but I have got far more than my money’s worth. The price of Array Mbira is 99 dollars, and that is a steal! OVERALL OPINION The sound quality of the patches/instruments are great, they are realistic, rich and full. The bass is probably my favorite part. You can get a very low deep bass, and still keep it clean without any muddy frequencies clashing. The Array Mbira is just an all around must have for anyone looking for realistic sounding instruments. You will get over 4000 samples when you purchase the Array Mbira and all of the patches have a 5 octave range. I am happy with my purchase and look forward to digging dipper with Array Mbira, I am sure I will be using it for a long time to come. Since this is the first version of Array Mbira that I have used (not sure if there is a previous version) I was a little skeptical at first but did some reason and now I love it. It is a must have.

I run this in Kontakt 5 with a Macbook pro i7 with 8gb ram and an RME Fireface 800. So far I have had no compatibility issues. I have not needed to reference the manual as this is a basic, straight forward sample set. The set up is as simple as installing, then going into Kontakt and locating the file. After it loads, you have all your options sitting in front of you. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE I have only used this sample set a couple of times but so far it has saved properly in my sets and I have had no playability/sequencing issues so far. I give this a 10 out of 10 for performance. It is a relatively simple instrument and Soniccouture has always done a great job at making sure the stuff they release performs properly, even when it is a free sample set. I have had this for about two months but really only use it sparingly. The main reason it only gets a little use is because is sonically reminds me of the Glassworks sample sets and I really like those. When I want this odd pad sound, I usually reach for the Glassworks first. OVERALL OPINION What I like most about it is it was free. Had it cost something, I probably wouldn't have purchased it, only because I already own Glassworks and these are fairly similar sonically. There isn't much to say about it that would be bad. It has a nice GUI, the samples sound great and it plays great from a keyboard. It also has a few nice options like Reverb and High pass filter to give it that old recording thin sound. Because it was free, the value is the best it can be. I have attended some Bali Gamelan performances in my time and have always loved the style. Although I have never seen anyone bowing anything at these performances (mainly flutes and mallet instruments) I imagine this sound would fit in very well. Like I said before, I believe this sample set and glassworks are very similar, although glass works is superior due to its plethora of options and it's collection of rare instruments. Again, because it was free after 3 purchases, you would be a fool not to grab it if you can.

I run this on a Macbook Pro i7 with 8gb ram and an RME Fireface 800 running Kontakt 5, Ableton 8 and Logic 9. So far, there has been zero issues with this sample set. It is a fairly simple instrument so I don't believe you will need to reference the manual for anything if you are already familiar with how Kontakt works. The setup is very simple, just install it and locate the file using Kontakts browser and open it up. The GUI is very clean and relatively basic. You get some basic controls including Attack and Release, Cutoff and Resonance, and some effects which include a High pass filter and some reverb. Everything you can do with this instrument is sitting right on the face of the GUI so everything is accessible. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE So far I have had no bad issues with this plugin. Everything seems to work properly and I can get what I need from it in a matter of minutes. Whenever I use this in a project, it saves and operates perfectly fine. I give this a big 10 out of 10. It sounds better than any music box recording I have ever made and it's already set up to be played via keyboard/midi. Oh yeah, and it's FREE!!! I have been using this for a few months now. I stumbled across it when I was looking for a Music box sample for a soundtrack I was writing for a friends anime film. He and I were very pleased with the sound quality and were able to right and record the part with in an hour. OVERALL OPINION What I like most about it is it sounds fantastic and is very easy to use. I also like that I didn't have to shell out any money for it. There isn't anything I could imagine complaining about. It works well and sounds good, what else can you expect from such a simple instrument. You can't beat FREE. This is the first dedicated music box sampled instrument I have ever used. I have used many Music box patches in various synths, but this one sounds far better than any of those. I highly recommend this plugin, go pick it up today!

This is a Multi sampled instrument. The setup is as simple as installing the Library, opening up Kontakt or other host, locate the library and load your instrument. After that, you are making noise. The Gui is nice in the way that it looks very "vintage" and is designed to look like the original instrument. The bad part is that this makes it a little too dark and hard to see. I usually enjoy these "throwback" interfaces, but I would sacrifice the novelty of it all for an easy to read/use GUI. One nice thing about the interface has all the main control parameters on the GUI's face and they are nicely spaced and not crowded. As this is a relatively simple synth by today's standards, tweaking the sound is relatively easy and can yield awesome results in very little time. SOUND QUALITY I really enjoy the sounds coming from this instrument. They are surprisingly warm and full of Analog character. I especially like using this unit in Poly mode for some fuzzy/noisy yet warm and soft pads. I run this in Kontakt 5 on a MacbookPro i7 Core 8gb ram with an RME Fireface 800. The sounds suit all sorts of styles. I use it mostly in electronica and rock styles but I could see this used in almost every style of modern electric music. At least any place a moog or vintage sounding synth would feel comfortable. OVERALL OPINION What I love most is the simplicity and the sound quality of the Ondes. It can range from eerie string style pads to gritty fat leads to huge keyboard styles and it very easy to morph the sounds to achieve what you want. What I don't like about this unit is how much CPU it garbles. It's a small sample set, roughly 30mb loads up in my memory server in kontakt yet it still slams the CPU meter at 256 samples. This makes me use it far less than I think I would. I guess I may need to upgrade to a MacPro at home soon. $129 is a fair price to have such a unique (and rare) instrument in my arsenal. Although I have never heard one in person, I have heard several recordings of the Ondes and Soniccouture did a great job capturing it. This is essentially a basic synthesizer, so yes, I have used lots of synths in my day. In terms of sampled synths, this is one of my favorites. Yes, I would buy it again, but I might have waited until I got a Mac Pro knowing what I know now about the CPU consumption.

This is a multi-sampled instrument ranging from synth basses to actual stringed basses. As with other Kontakt instruments, this is a pretty simple process of installing and loading (this is not a library so you need to find it under "Files"). The setup is simple enough with all the controls for the particular instrument/patch are right on the GUI. Essentially you get basic controls including Attack/Decay, Cutoff/Resonance, Reverb and amp/mic features on certain patches. SOUND QUALITY I would say that going through the entire library (about 1.6gb) you get a nice spread of Bass instruments. The addition of the Stringed Bass guitars is pretty sweet. I used them a lot for demo writing before I picked up NI's MM Bass. I keep this as a "back up" to my real bass during performance as it is not CPU hungry and has a pretty solid sound. I run this in Kontakt 5 on a MBP i7 and an RME Fireface 800 Interface. I use this mainly for electronica and I have to say it's pretty solid for that style. Some of the "moog" style sounds aren't as pleasing to me only because I have a Slim Phatty right next to me that certainly sounds a lot bigger. OVERALL OPINION What I like most about this set is it is relatively small and packs a good punch. It offers a lot of different sounds and they also employ a specific engine that reduced aliasing sounds and keeps the "beat" of the sample across the whole keyboard. I also really like the fact that I only paid $15 for it as Soniccouture was "retiring" this plugin and offered a cheap price. There is not much to dislike about this set, especially at that price point. I give it a 9 out of 10 for sound. The sounds are good, but when don't quite capture the fullness of a real bass or my Slim Phatty's Bass sounds. I now use NI's MM Amped for my "mobile" bass sounds and it is much better in terms of "real" bass reproduction, but it also is about 14gb's larger and a heck of a lot more CPU hungry. I don't think you can get this at $15 anymore, but I could be wrong. If you can, it never hurts to have more options and that is a low price for some.

Remember "Janie's got a gun" by Aerosmith? The intro sound weirdness always made me wonder "what the heck is that? Well, it was one of these three instruments that Sonic Couture decided to sample and make available to us all. What I like most about this instrument set is you get three different instruments all together. They are the Le Cristal Baschet, The Glass Armonica, and a set of Cloud Chamber Bowls. In all reality, they do sound fairly similar to each other but each has their own distinct sound. I really love the Glass Armonica because it seems to have the best control. That brings me to what I don't like, it can be kind of hard to get a useable sound out of this unit if you are coming to the table with a preconceived idea of what you want. This instrument set is much more suited to the mindset of experimentation. What I like to do is setup a nice hall or chamber reverb very wet with a long release time and just start tweaking away until I get an eerie pad or atmospheric sound that fits the mood or inspires me to write an entirely new piece. I paid $79 for this plugin and for the most part I am very happy with it. The only downfall I find is that I don't really use it that much. It has it's time and place, but it seems pretty few and far between. I have never used or even been around any of these instruments so I can't attest to the quality in comparison to the real thing, but, these samples are extremely harmonically rich and with patience and creativity, yield some of the most interesting pad/atmospherical sounds you have ever heard. I have never come across any other plugins that offer these instruments so no, this is the only one I have ever tried. Despite its limited usability, I really do love these instruments. I am slowly getting into more minimalistic styles of music and can see these coming in handy more often.

This is a Multi Sampled instrument. This is another plugin that is designed to be hosted in a soft sampler such as Kontakt. Kontakt can be a tricky beast to navigate and understand, but if you get a basic working knowledge of its functions, you can be up and running with most every plugin you use in it within minutes. SOUND QUALITY This is really only a one trick pony. It is essentially a very accurate, very sonically pleasing instrument that only needs to be itself. Infact, every effect I have tried to use on this plugin is shortly taken off as there is no reason to mess with such a pure sounding instrument. I do all sorts of music from rock/electronica/movie scoring/ and producing all kinds of music. Every time a client asks for something a little "ethnic" on their track, I usually show them this and they are instantly happy. I run this on a MacBook Pro i7 with Ableton 8 and Logic 9. I also use an RME FireFace 800 as my sound card. So far this instrument has performed flawlessly. OVERALL OPINION What I like most about this instrument is how real it feels when you play it with a keyboard. There are little features like the sound of your fingers "dragging" across the strings when making large jumps on the keyboard or even the option to trigger a "harp" like run for that quintessential kung fu fighting movie sound. Basically, they did a great job bringing a very rare and expensive instrument to my computer for easy and instant use. I am very thankful for that as I have loved this instrument since I saw it in the move "Kung Fu Hustle" (great movie by the way). I can't find anything wrong with this instrument. I paid $79 for this plugin and I am extremely happy with my purchase and feel I got my money's worth. The precision and sound quality is truly amazing. I have never played the real thing, but this must be very close. I have used built in presets in hardware synths and in ESX 24 and this one blows them all away. I highly recommend this instrument for those who are in search of a viable reproduction of the Gu Zheng.

This is a multisampled instrument. First off, you must run this in a host such as Kontakt. Kontakt itself can be a little confusing if you little to no experience with it, but if you get a handle on Kontakt, then setting up Morpheus is a piece of cake. SOUND QUALITY The plugin comes with around 30 or more presets. They are definitely quite varied and some even are "sequenced" type effects that have an arpeggio type feel. For the most part I don't have any use for the sequence typed presets as I find them silly and unusable. The "simple" presets though are quite nice and demonstrate how much of a range this instrument has. It can sound like a warm Marimba all the way to a trash monster instrument built from scrape metal. I run this in Kontakt usually in Logic 9 or Ableton live, but sometimes as a stand alone. My Macbook pro i7 core with 8gb ram handles this instrument like it was nothing. I love mallet instruments especially for laid back "Gamelan" style electronica. The sounds that generate from Morpheus are a great fit. OVERALL OPINION What I like most about this instrument is its very realistic sound. The low are rich with lots of nice harmonics and the highs don't thin out like most other mallet plugins. It sits around less than 1gb of samples but has the character of a large sample library. I wonder if anyone has made a Midi Mallet controller, if so, this would be the first plugin I would reach for to be controlled by it. What I don't like are about 1/3 of the presets and I guess the option of "sequencing" the sound. Essentially you can hold down one note and it will play itself. I don't quite understand the need as it's enjoyable enough to play like a real instrument (i.e. you have to strike the note to hear it) or can be easily sequenced from your host DAW. Morpheus has excellent sound quality. It is officially my go to mallet instrument at this point. I have used mainly built in plugins in Logic 9 and Ableton 8 as well as patches in various synths/keyboards. This one seems to stand above all the rest. I would definitely buy this again and recommend it to all my friends who are in need of some might fine mallet sounds.