Six months of sampling and programming; thirty years of heritage; 541 individual sounds and over 31,700 individual samples... this one has been a long time coming, but we hope it's worth it
Back in the 80s, the sampler that took the studio world by storm was the Emulator II. Far more affordable than a Synclavier or a Fairlight, its crunchy 8-bit samples and clever companding output convertors made for an awesomely in-your-face sound that punched its way through countless hit mixes. Artists like Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Tears for Fears, Thomas Dolby, Philip Glass, Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Vangelis and dozens more put the EII's signature sound to work on their tracks. It's not overstating it to say it helped define the sound of a generation of music.
‘I’m a fan of this Rhythmic Robot outfit. Using their instruments is like discovering a lost tribe in the digital jungle… pure, but slightly uncivilized.’ – Stephen Hague, producer (Peter Gabriel, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Robbie Williams, Melanie C, New Order, etc.)
Key to the EII's success was a phenomenal aftermarket library of professionally-recorded samples. The factory library itself was excellent, but the soundset that really expanded the possibilities of the instrument was OMI's Universe of Sounds – a mammoth swathe of patches covering keys, basses, strings, orchestral, synths, ethnic, drums, percussion, brass... everything you needed to bring your track to life. When we first approached the idea of sampling an EII, it was this library we wanted to sample.
Now, in collaboration with and with the blessing of Doug Morton – the guy who actually recorded those OMI samples back in the 80s, and who remains their copyright owner – we bring you the OMI Universe of Sounds, in all its glory. We've sampled every note of every patch (over 31,700 samples in all!) out of a reconditioned Emulator II, to preserve the exact sound of the EII's D-to-A convertors and sample interpolation process. We've meticulously preserved original looping behaviour, velocity layers and sample switching. In short, what you hear when you play this instrument is the sound of an EII in its heyday.
What customers are saying so far:
"The EII is just mindblowing! I've just downloaded and started sniffing around on the surface, but... wow! What a musical treasure trove!" – JS
"This is a MONSTER! I can't wait to integrate this into my next recording. I may even go back to the album I just finished and add some new texture to a couple of tracks. Love the EII!" – BB
"YESSSSSS YESSSSSSSSS YESSSSSSSSSSS!!!" – RM
"Loving the Save Ferris button. Surprised you bothered with any other controls really." – SP
Although the interface allows you to sculpt, change and effect those sounds in a whole variety of ways – filter and amp envelopes, Chorus, Phaser, Echo and Rotary effects, convolved era-appropriate Lexicon reverb, various LFOs etc – we've also incorporated a nice simple Vintage button for when you just want to go back to basics. Hit that, and all the modern filters, effects and reverb are instantly killed; the sound is panned to mono; you get the pure sound of the EII on its own. Hit Vintage again, and everything's back the way it was. Clever
This is a phenomenal wealth of sounds. Here are some quick facts about the library:
- 31,700 individual samples
33Gb original 24-bit
21Gb uncompressed 16-bit
11.33Gb compressed .ncw format
541 individual instruments, consisting of...
...14 Bass / 18 Bells & Chimes / 52 Brass / 51 Drums / 59 Ethnic & Folk / 8 FX / 36 Guitar / 38 Piano & Keys / 77 Orchestral / 41 Percussion / 61 Strings / 76 Synth / 12 Vocal
Additional Kontakt Multis taking the EII's sounds in exciting new directions
http://www.rhythmicrobot.com/product/em ... unds-vol-1
The Emulator II OMI Universe of Sounds library is out now for Kontakt 4.2.3 and above, including all versions of Kontakt 5 (but you'll need the full version of Kontakt, not Player.) The RRP is £99 but for this month only there is a special launch price of £85, bringing the sound of the 80s down to less than 16p a patch!
This is like having a huge blue EII crammed into your DAW, but without the synth tech and the roadies you'd normally need to look after it. We hope you like
Happy music making,
a very tired Professor (and Mongo)
