IK/SR VI HOT BUY - GROUP BUY on eSoundz!!! SampleTank Instruments for $99 + more!

[Xenobt]

Thanks for the quick review, torgo. The thread is getting a little long to remember it all!

I'm not much of an EP guy, but your tuning fix may help others... post it in the Banks and Patches section?

I probably should have mentioned the "Bonus Larger Instuments" folder in Omnisynth too... It seems to have a different set of sounds than the OS GM set, many with velocity switching. Just watch out for the tuning in this folders drum kits, the lower half of the keymap is two octaves up... As torgo has mentioned in his EP tuning turorial, it's easy to fix.

Just press the Synth and Zone buttons on ST interface, then play the kicks, stick, claps, hi-hats and snares 1 & 2 and lower the Pitch control to -24 as you play each one. All those deep electro tones and big drum kits should come right back! The toms, cymbals and percussion seem unaffected... Huh!

Speaking of that, these GBs inspire me to go thru things, and I've found some real depth in the World Instruments percussion folder.

LOADS of velocity-layered, multi performance world percussion that works great in many sound design/scoring settings. Turn on the eq, add 5db of Bass and let the subby soundtrack fun begin! There's bohdrans, shikas, taikos and tablas for the low end, and bongos, congas, marimba, shakers and hand percussion of all types for the top end. There's even GONGS!

If you need SOMETHING rhythmic, but don't want traditional drum/percussion stuff, this set has things I've NEVER heard!

And I've only gotten to a third of it... more to come.

KVR/eSoundz: Xenobt

[DarkStar]

torgo and others too have been posting some very useful tips and information about the sounds available in all the libraries.

Once you have found the sounds you like there are ways to categorise them so that they are easier to find.

You could create a Favourites folder (or folders with other names) and copy or move the Instrument files (and their user presets) into those folders. I've done that to introduce some further organisation into the Libraries.

A second, very powerful way is to add your own keywords to the Instruments. You can add up to 8 keywords to each Instrument (they are stored in the Instruments .sth file). You can then Search for them and the results are displayed in the Browser. And you can save up to 10 Searches as "shortcuts" so you can run them at any time.

Have a look at sections 4.4 and 4.3 in the ST2 user manual for more details.

HTH

[subtlearts]

Wow, that's a very cool tip about the keywords, I can see that being particularly useful.

I have to mention (since torgo has already briefly segued away from the GB) that anyone who wants to REALLY go for the organ thing should at least have a listen and a play through the demo of the GSI VB3:
http://www.genuinesoundware.com/?a=showproduct&b=24

It's not crazy cheap at €49 but it's also not bad at all for one of the best modelled organs out there.

Of course, there's also this, but it's probably a wee bit more:
http://www.keyborgan.com/products/duo/

[subtlearts]

At this point I'm hoping my usual monthly installment of Playpal money from online sales will arrive in time to possibly add Miroslav to my arsenal, along with another 3 bonus libraries (do I hear 4?) but it's looking iffy.

I'll also add my thanks to torgo for clarifying the duplicates between Piano Collection 2 and Sonik Synth, and also w.r.t. Vintage Keys. I think I'm pretty well set in those areas and I'll probably focus on other things with the one freebie that looks set to arrive in the next couple of days. In the running now: either World Instruments or World Grooves, or one of the Latin sets, or possibly Hip Hop instruments. I have a bunch of points on both esoundz and IK that I might use to buy a couple beyond what comes for free...

[DarkStar]

A second, very powerful way [to find particular Instruments quickly] is to add your own keywords to the Instruments. You can add up to 8 keywords to each Instrument (they are stored in the Instruments .sth file). You can then Search for them and the results are displayed in the Browser. And you can save up to 10 Searches as "shortcuts" so you can run them at any time.

Have a look at sections 4.4 and 4.3 in the ST2 user manual for more details.

HTH

I may withdraw this Tip:

However, it looks to me that, after a Search, when I click [All] to list all the instruments in the Browser again, ST2 rebuilds the whole Instrument Cache database (and that takes several minutes here). If so, that really makes the feature unusable.

Can anyone confirm this?

--------------------------------------------------------------
EDIT:
I done some more testing (ST2 Library of 2,460 instruments)
-- the first time I did a Search, it took 32 seconds,
-- subsequent Searches took 7-8 seconds,
-- the first time I clicked [ALL] it took 35 seconds to redisplay the library folders,
-- subsequent clicks on [ALL] took 3 seconds
.
All is OK after all


My guess is that ST2 builds various lists / indexes in memory the first time some functions are performed. Subsequent use of those functions is much quicker. And the more memory available the better (reduces / avoids paging).

[doubleslash]

A second, very powerful way [to find particular Instruments quickly] is to add your own keywords to the Instruments. You can add up to 8 keywords to each Instrument (they are stored in the Instruments .sth file). You can then Search for them and the results are displayed in the Browser. And you can save up to 10 Searches as "shortcuts" so you can run them at any time.

Have a look at sections 4.4 and 4.3 in the ST2 user manual for more details.

HTH

I may withdraw this Tip:

However, it looks to me that, after a Search, when I click [All] to list all the instruments in the Browser again, ST2 rebuilds the whole Instrument Cache database (and that takes several minutes here). If so, that really makes the feature unusable.

Can anyone confirm this?

It does, it writes it out after searching under the folder set in prefs.

Tip:
If you move/copy files, be sure you keep any .stip patches in the same folder as the parent they're based on, ST2 won't find them across directories. (if you create presets, prefix the name of the parent patch so they sort together).

[Squids]

Here's the news page with the links to each of the products in the promo:

http://www.esoundz.com/news1.php?nbr=5999

CURENTLY THE NUMBER FOR THE GROUP BUY IS: 311

THE THIRD TIER ON THE GROUP BUY IS HIT!!! THREE FREE additional SampleTank libraries of your choice for those that purchased any of the VI in this Hot Buy from www.esoundz.com this month. PLUS as a special bonus and thank you we're giving everyone who joins the group buy a FREE exclusive Miroslav Outtakes collection for SampleTank available for download soon! That's a total of FOUR extra sample libraries!

Note: there are no swaps for the extra Miroslav Outtakes library if you have purchased more than on VI. It's just a single gift for ALL that join whether you purchased one VI or many. But remember it's on TOP of your new library choices per tier. Will be available soon - by the end of the month? Close to it.

Thanks for keeping this thread alive and for spreading the word. We hope you got lots of epointz too!

[Reverend Rhythm]

Who thinks we can make 400?

[subtlearts]

Who thinks we can make 400?

never say never - it's now a pretty attractive deal right out of the gate, so it's an easier sell for whoever wants to post an update where they hang out... which I just did over at Cakewalk!

[torgo]

At three libraries, this is now a pretty good offer even if you already have or don't really care about the main instruments.

At the minimum regular price of $41.65, minus $10 each from this week's coupon code (EZ10), three libraries would be $94.65.

The group buy with coupon code drops the price to $89 - and you also get a full instrument plus the Miroslav Outtakes.

-torgo (esoundz=bhall1968)

[bobbackwards]

Does anybody know about or have an opinion of the Country Folk Rythms library? It looks like it has a lot of content. I am interested in the dobros and mandolins especially. Any insight would be appreciated.

[Squids]

Does anybody know about or have an opinion of the Country Folk Rythms library? It looks like it has a lot of content. I am interested in the dobros and mandolins especially. Any insight would be appreciated.

I am technically biased but the dobros and mandolins loops on this library are expertly played and recorded. A real gem. If you like these types of instruments and we're talking about a free library here there's no question! But I'll leave it to others for a completely objective opinion.

[torgo]

Sorry, Squids, but I have to disagree here - and pretty strongly at that.

If it's dobro and mandolin you're after, get the World Instruments Collection instead. Don't even think about Country Folk Rhythms.

CFR is mainly a drum loops package, with drum grooves for country or bluegrass music. It also has a pretty healthy section of acoustic guitar grooves (basic strumming), which separates it from most of the other loops and grooves sets.

If that's what you're after, it's a GREAT set. You can lay down basic backbeats and rhythm guitar tracks pretty quickly with this set.

But for those other instruments, there really isn't much more than extra touches to add a quick bit of flavor to the main grooves. You won't find enough there to do main dobro parts or mandolin parts.

And keep in mind that they're loops, not instrument sounds. The dobro offerings are simply two or three note bits. It would be easier to load a dobro sound and hit whatever notes you want rather than searching through CFR for the right loops. The mandolin section has some chords and chord-based grooves, but again, it's probably easier to get what you want just playing it on an instrument sound rather than loading up loops.





It may seem odd to find the bluegrass staples in something called "World Instruments", but they're in there - mandolin, dobro, dulcimer, banjo and even ukelele.

There are two regular dobros, a set of dobro licks (like what you'd find in CFR, except already mapped across the keyboard for you), and a set of strummed chords (major keys only, and you'll need to boost the levels).

There are several mandolins (seven sounds, but a few are pretty similar) including regular and baritone mandolins plus tremolo. The niftiest is one "tremolo VX" patch - if you play the notes at regular velocity, you get single notes. Slap the note at harder velocity and hold it, and you get the tremolo. You'd need to tweak the velocity curve a bit to fit your playing style, but it has real potential.



So skip CFR (unless you want the drum loops and guitar strums) and get World Instruments for the dobro and mandolin instead.

-torgo (esoundz = bhall1968)

[sensone]

go go for 400 or maybe even 500

[bobbackwards]

Sorry, Squids, but I have to disagree here - and pretty strongly at that.

If it's dobro and mandolin you're after, get the World Instruments Collection instead. Don't even think about Country Folk Rhythms.

CFR is mainly a drum loops package, with drum grooves for country or bluegrass music. It also has a pretty healthy section of acoustic guitar grooves (basic strumming), which separates it from most of the other loops and grooves sets.

If that's what you're after, it's a GREAT set. You can lay down basic backbeats and rhythm guitar tracks pretty quickly with this set.

But for those other instruments, there really isn't much more than extra touches to add a quick bit of flavor to the main grooves. You won't find enough there to do main dobro parts or mandolin parts.

And keep in mind that they're loops, not instrument sounds. The dobro offerings are simply two or three note bits. It would be easier to load a dobro sound and hit whatever notes you want rather than searching through CFR for the right loops. The mandolin section has some chords and chord-based grooves, but again, it's probably easier to get what you want just playing it on an instrument sound rather than loading up loops.





It may seem odd to find the bluegrass staples in something called "World Instruments", but they're in there - mandolin, dobro, dulcimer, banjo and even ukelele.

There are two regular dobros, a set of dobro licks (like what you'd find in CFR, except already mapped across the keyboard for you), and a set of strummed chords (major keys only, and you'll need to boost the levels).

There are several mandolins (seven sounds, but a few are pretty similar) including regular and baritone mandolins plus tremolo. The niftiest is one "tremolo VX" patch - if you play the notes at regular velocity, you get single notes. Slap the note at harder velocity and hold it, and you get the tremolo. You'd need to tweak the velocity curve a bit to fit your playing style, but it has real potential.



So skip CFR (unless you want the drum loops and guitar strums) and get World Instruments for the dobro and mandolin instead.

-torgo (esoundz = bhall1968)

I prefer to have more control over the instrument so I am leaning away from the loop libray...thanks both of you for your input.