KVR Audio

gbevin · Post by **gbevin** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 6:11 pm

@Myron, here is me playing it live on an Eigenharp Alpha, it's very intuitive!

Gregjazz · Post by **Gregjazz** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 8:43 pm

gbevin wrote:@Myron, here is me playing it live on an Eigenharp Alpha, it's very intuitive!

I LOVE watching this video. It's really cool seeing the connection between the strumming on the Eigenharp and the resulting sound of the acoustic guitar strumming.

gbevin · Post by **gbevin** » Tue Apr 05, 2011 9:37 pm

Thanks Greg, I'll see about recording one with a finger-picked song, I think with a little bit of practice it could work quite well.

mojamusic · Post by **mojamusic** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:36 am

Gbevin, that's some kind of strange contraption you have there

I will admit the library sounds great with that device, but I've got a normal keyboard. Would love to see how it's played on keys.

Myron

swartzfeger · Post by **swartzfeger** » Wed Apr 06, 2011 7:51 am

Greg, will there be any forthcoming (video) tutorials for EAG?

It sounds great, but I'm running into a slight problem -- I'm not great with Kontakt, and I'm particularly bad with multis and triggering various articulations. My main issue is the physical layout of my workflow... I'm usually solo with my laptop/DAW + bass and don't have my usb controller hooked up. So the majority of my instrument VST work is done in the piano roll/Logic 9's on-screen keyboard (believe it or not, I can play moderately involved parts with the on-screen keys).

Anyway, tutorials would help cut down on the learning curve (and I need to change my studio layout so my laptop and i can sit down at the same desk as the USB controller).

TristezaOrange · Post by **TristezaOrange** » Fri Apr 08, 2011 9:10 pm

Purchased!

audiosabre · Post by **audiosabre** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 7:58 pm

After using EAG since it was released, I just want to let you know that I'm really pleased with it

I eagerly anticipate the updated engine.

eDrummist · Post by **eDrummist** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 5:34 pm

For what a huge breakthrough this acoustic guitar library represents to those recreating guitar using midi, this thread at least deserves a bump.

I urge everyone who has purchased this library and is using it to give their feedback here (even better, post some of your music). Greg / Orange Tree Samples has accomplished a huge feat in bringing truly realistic electric and acoustic guitar to those using midi -- and at a reasonable price -- with the Evolution guitar line and I want to do what I can to see OTS/Greg rewarded and continue to innovate. I urge other OTS users to share your experience. There are a small number of software and sample devs responsible for huge advances in the sample world -- Native Instruments, ToonTrack (Superior Drummer), Orange Tree Samples and Scarbee immediately come to mind.

For me, I started out using hardware based guitar sample libraries in the mid-80s, then went to numerous Soundfont libraries, Gigasample libraries, Virtual Guitarist, Slayer, RealGuitarist and RealStrat and other VSTs, then KONTAKT libraries and finally to Orange Tree Samples Strawberry to Evolution Electric Guitar and now Evolution Acoustic Guitar. The Evolution guitar libraries are a giant leap ahead of everything else I own or have heard in terms of realism and they're also far more intuitive to use than other products to achieve strums, leads, etc. I also love the fact that the dev (Greg) really cares about what users input and keeps making his libraries better based on our input. I've given Greg a good deal of suggestions over the past couple of years (both as a product user and as a marketing professional given marketing and business advice), as have many others, and it's awesome to see these ideas come to life and often implemented even better than I envisioned.

koolkeys · Post by **koolkeys** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:10 pm

Working on a review of the library right now(very part time due to the new baby in the house!), but first impressions are fair, but not perfect.

I'm trying to get used to the legato system, as it is SO realistic that you just can't play a normal keyboard arpeggiating patterns. Using the sustain pedal is quite difficult with it.

The strumming system is the highlight for me. I think that when it comes to individual strums, it's about the best sounding strums I've seen. However, I would REALLY appreciate the option for a downstrum to be played when hitting the chord. So if there is a chord change to a C chord at the beginning of the measure, you can hit the chord on beat 1 and have it play the first strum. Otherwise, you have to change the chord completely before the first strum of the new chord. With fast changes, it can prove difficult. I've played piano for 20 years and found myself missing the first chord after a change several times.

Also, one thing that I love about the strums is that they aren't overpowering. They are played softer than just a bunch of individually picked strings being arpeggiated(which is what RealGuitar seems to do). It helps that the strum notes were recorded with that purpose in mind, so you can actually let the strums sit back in the mix a bit. I have found with many libraries that every strum will sound like full velocity because they use the same samples for picking as they do strumming. This one does it correctly, IMO.

With those two things being said, when it comes to SOUND, this library rocks. I found that this library is NOT a loud in your face library of super compressed hits and strums like some are. And this is good because it allows for more control in dynamics. But it may come across as "weak" or thin sounding at first until you get it adjusted just the way you want. The legato system, for me, was better when you turn the "Strict" setting OFF, and use the second setting(don't recall it's name).

Once you get that, and you work with the layering system(which is largely the same as with the Evolution Electric), it's uber flexible. It's worth taking 10 minutes and setting up your own custom switches for different articulations.

I've focused on the bad, but it should be known that so far for me, the good outweighs the bad(which is more just learning curve, not bad). I'm still getting the feel of the library though, so take it all with that grain of salt. The full review will come once I've had more solid time with the library.

Brent

eDrummist · Post by **eDrummist** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 9:30 pm

@Brent

Okay, it's a little off-topic, but, what the heck. I would really like to see you start doing video reviews and why not one for Evolution Acoustic Guitar? Have you considered video? It could be really powerful to show/let the viewer hear exactly what you are talking about. Especially when you are reviewing audio products, the written word can seem a little inadequate.

I certainly don't mean that as a knock on any written reviews -- I highly value them and seek them out for almost all of my DAW related purchases, but they'd be a lot more valuable in video form. Unfortunately, the ones I do see in video form are often done by folks who often lack the skills to look deep into a product and make a decent analysis -- even worse, the reviewers rarely seem to be very knowledgeable or have a clue how to get audio right for video (or think/script out what they're going to say prior to the video). I would bet --especially considering your radio background -- you'd be able to do a very good job. Thoughts?

koolkeys · Post by **koolkeys** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 10:05 pm

Yes, we plan on doing video reviews sometime shortly after we get our platform change done. It will be slightly easier at that point. I personally love video reviews. I will watch them over a text review on things like video games, gear, etc. any day. Both have their upsides, I agree. We've been meaning to for a while, but technical issues have made it a pain with the current backend.

So point noted!

Brent

eDrummist · Post by **eDrummist** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 7:38 pm

I had to share this tune that KVR member de-signs posted in the Orange Tree Samples forum (he's a new KVR member, so his links aren't showing up yet). He made this within hours of purchasing/downloading Evolution Acoustic Guitar - Steel Strings and didn't even use a single keyswitch. It does a good job of showing how realistic this library is:

http://soundcloud.com/de-signs-biz/a-good-life-preview

bobbybland · Post by **bobbybland** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 8:25 pm

I don't understand the rhythm parts at all,but the leads are fun to play.

hopefully a demonstration can help me grasp the performance of the rhythm patches..rtm but I still don't quite get it.
Anyone got a link for video tutorials?

Gregjazz · Post by **Gregjazz** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:27 pm

bobbybland wrote:I don't understand the rhythm parts at all,but the leads are fun to play. hopefully a demonstration can help me grasp the performance of the rhythm patches..rtm but I still don't quite get it.
Anyone got a link for video tutorials?

Although this video tutorial is for the electric guitar, it works the same way, which should help:

noiseboyuk · Post by **noiseboyuk** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:50 pm

eDrummist wrote:I had to share this tune that KVR member de-signs posted in the Orange Tree Samples forum (he's a new KVR member, so his links aren't showing up yet). He made this within hours of purchasing/downloading Evolution Acoustic Guitar - Steel Strings and didn't even use a single keyswitch. It does a good job of showing how realistic this library is:

http://soundcloud.com/de-signs-biz/a-good-life-preview

Damn that's good!

Evolution Acoustic Guitar "Steel Strings" Now Available!