StudioWeapon release "UNDERSCORE" for Kontakt 5

[MacQ]

Hi guys,

I'm proud to announce that we've released UNDERSCORE after nearly 2 years in development. It's a library geared for media composers, and includes the unique awesomeness of the FluidPhrase Engine (FPE), which is a polyphonic key-triggered step-sequencer that locks to host tempo. With it you can do cool arp-style things in real-time from your keyboard, but it doesn't mess up the count as you add notes. It has 5 trigger modes (including the never-before seen "Poly-Retrigger" mode), and it's genuinely just a lot of fun to play!

This library REQUIRES the FULL version of Kontakt 5, and is available now at http://www.studioweapon.com for $249 with a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Check out the video blog to get an idea of what it is (and what it isn't).

If you have any questions or comments (or flames), just reply here or send me a PM. I'm happy to talk about it and the unique things it can do.

Cheers,

~Stu

[updog]

Whoa - that's a LOT for something you didn't really tell us anything about. So it can do 'cool arp-style things', what else?

I went on the website to check it out - I'm going to be honest with you, for that price tag, I'd have to say your audio demos are slightly underwhelming. You need to either make some that properly showcase what your new product can REALLY do, or, you need to seriously reconsider this pricing policy of yours. The money-back guarantee is generous though - props for that.

All the best!

[MacQ]

Forgive my brevity in that first post, I didn't want to fill it with hype. I think that the price for this library is more than fair, and I'm certain you'd agree.

This isn't a typical sample-library. It's more of a workstation from the traditional school. I built it for my own use, like a 90's rompler with 5 sample layers, independently adjustable with filters and volume envelopes, randomization of onset delay, sample start, volume ... lots of sonically-useful things. I'm not really interested in traditional sound sources. Trying to create traditional acoustic instruments with "realism" was never my intent, but I did want to conjure that kind of expression in the way the sounds respond to things like velocity. I think modern sampling has brought us some astounding achievements in sample-SIZE, but I'm not sure that's the best way to go. I think it's the end result that matters, and I'm not trying to reproduce a piano or a '57 Strat -- I'm trying to make something new with old methods.

I thought about what I liked and what I hated about the Rolands and the Korgs of yesteryear, and the biggest thing was that they were fiddly. Necessarily, I think, given what was technically feasible (and affordable) at the time. No limitations here; I laid it out with front-panel access of the most relevant parameters, and built in tonnes of options for custom envelope shapes and velocity and CC transfer curves. I had to have precision of filter response during sound design, especially if I planned on using distortion in the signal path (which I often did ... distortion can yield some sonic gold if you dig for it), and the transfer curves let me be very specific.

I think the Flex Modulators are great, too ... you can assign the SAME input CC to up to 4 mod sources, by way of independent transfer curves. Plus all of the modulation assignments are variable and bipolar, so you can really hone in on exactly what you want. 58 mod destinations with all of the usual suspects (and none of the useless suspects). While the sample content is synth, simple acoustic, and experimental hybrid, it's the ENGINE that makes it all come to life dynamically.

Here are some of those sounds:

But forget the sounds. Imagine it shipped without any sounds at all. It's STILL worth $249.

The magic in this product is the FluidPhrase Engine ... the FPE. It's different from what you've seen in the past. It's not an arpeggiator. It's a key-triggered sequencer. And you can make it do all kinds of USEFUL things. I wanted an "arpeggiator" that I could improvise with. There's all of this up/down, up/up/down/down, stuff built into these traditional arpeggiators (originally by electrical engineers). But those kinds of patterns are more of an effect that I would never use, so I don't know why they're still around. Still, I like what arpeggiators do in terms of generating complex rhythms. And the "Chord" mode that some of them have is useful -- the one in Omnisphere is great for a lot of cool things.

But the FPE is not an arpeggiator. It's a sequencer. So with it I can do things like play the same pattern synchronously on several notes, but trigger the pattern ITSELF polyphonically. That's the "Poly-Retrigger" mode, and with it you can generate all KINDS of rhythms. It's crazy fun to play, honestly.

The FPE is also the Phrase Envelopes. These are triggered by YOUR input notes, and as long as you keep holding one of those notes (overlap your input), the Phrase Envelopes run. Filter sweeps, record-scratching FX, all kinds of pumping stuff ... there are a lot of options both for subtle and extreme manipulation. The best part is that they DON'T retrigger by the FPE generated MIDI notes, so you can do long phrase sweeps over several bars by increasing the count-base. There's just a lot you can do ... I've got at least 58 real-time modulatable parameters.

Don't buy for the sounds. Buy it for the engine, and the easy flexibility it gives you to make your OWN patches with your OWN samples. It's laid out 5-groups for 5-layers ... no custom sample-group scripting tomfoolery. Simple focused, direct ... and FAST both to program AND generate ideas with.

So do check out the UNDERSCORE Video Blog, linked in the first post, and consider not what it is, but what it can be for YOU. And even if you're more of a preset-load-and-go kind of guy, the included sounds do the business. And you might find yourself giggling -- I certainly do.

How do you explain to someone how FUN a trampoline is if they can only see the goofy smile on your face as you jump?

~Stu

[clockwiser]

Whoa - that's a LOT for something you didn't really tell us anything about. So it can do 'cool arp-style things', what else?

You should have seen when it was $1000...

But forget the sounds. Imagine it shipped without any sounds at all. It's STILL worth $249.

I'm saying this with the best intent, because you don't seem to have realized from the disastrous product launch on another forum (even with the buy now, refund if you don't like it) despite repeatedly being told.

What you have is a cool personal project, but it is not worth what you repeatedly think it is and has no unique selling point. The Fluidpoint engine, the FX, the presets, the sequencer... it has all been done before in some shape or form, even if you're not willing to realize it. The 'make your own sounds' aspect is completely defunct because you're expecting these people to know about Kontakt programming and mapping... People who know that are building their own sequencers and sounds for free (and people who really know what they're doing are not doing it in Kontakt).

This all kind of reminds me of kids making their parents macaroni pictures. They could be the best macaroni pictures known to mankind, but when it's not your kid and it has a $200+ price tag on it, it's hard to care.

Drop it down to <$100 (or better yet, license it to other people who actually care about making sounds for the customer... this is what people want when they buy these kinds of product) and you may have something.

How do you explain to someone how FUN a trampoline is if they can only see the goofy smile on your face as you jump?

With as much respect as possible, all I can suggest is that you stop giggling to yourself in la-la-land while jumping about on the 5ft trampoline you hand-made and realize that without the creator's bias, there's no reason other people want to buy an expensive, tiny trampoline when there are 50ft trampolines available that are professionally built by respected manufacturers with years more experience at doing it.

[Karmacomposer]

I have read the posts on the other forum and watched the video demos.

My personal opinion is that if people are buying it, it must be worth the money. If they are not, then it's not worth the asking price.

Only the OP knows this for sure. If he is making amazing money off of his creation, kudos to him. His sales rhetoric and video production prowess paid off.

If, however, he is NOT making money or it dribbles in, then he is living in a dreamland of hope that perhaps at some point, people will come to their senses and realize what a masterpiece his product truly is.

Again, only the OP will know this information.

Good luck to you, sir. I hope you do well.

Mike

[sockofgold]

I have to admit, I also was not impressed by the YouTube videos, and for what it's worth, I certainly would not consider paying even close to $250. Plus, if you're marketing it as a "cinematic" workstation, you are pitting yourself against the likes of Heavyocity and SampleLogic and other well-established "cinematic sound design" developers, and to be frank, from everything I have seen, Underscore is miles behind any of their products. Honestly, there doesn't appear to be anything "cinematic" about it--it just looks like a synth workstation, pretty comparable to WusikStation, albeit with significantly less content.

But that's just feedback from a non-customer. I'm not trying to cut you down or anything--just telling you how I, as a person who has based my opinion entirely on the information provided by your YouTube videos, see the product. As Karmacomposer pointed out, though, if it's working for you, congratulations and more power to you. It's clear you love what your are doing, and that's awesome--it's just that you might be a little blinded by how much you personally love this project, and are unable to view it objectively from a prospective customer's POV. Either way, good luck with everything!

[aMUSEd]

Flex Modulation? - thought I'd heard that term before

Flex-Mod™ modulation routing system

http://www.spectrasonics.net/products/omnisphere.php

[bbaggins]

Agree with the above sentiments. $249 is unrealistic, IMO. Compare to products of comparable sophistication, such as Indiginus' Solid State Symphony for $40, OTS' more sophisticated scripting in the new Rickenbacker for $79, or Hollow Sun's sound-design instruments for $20-$60. $249 puts you in the range of large, full-featured libraries where the market is small and user expectations are high.

I can appreciate that two years' work represents a huge effort, but unfortunately that has little to do with what the market will bear. Better to sell 5,000 copies at $39 than 500 copies at $249.

[emasters]

Similar to the other posters, I'm not trying to be negative here. Just providing feedback, as I've purchased many cinematic libraries/products. The features and the content provided (as demonstrated in the YouTube videos), is not compelling enough to pay $259 (I would have expected it to be closer to $100). Others may be purchasing this product, and if so, congrats on the strong sales. My suggestion is to look at Heavyocity, SampleLogic, ZapZorn, HybridTwo, etc., to understand what they provide and at what price point. And for many of their products, these companies are paying a reasonable license fee to NI to offer a Kontakt Player compatible version, which reduces their margin. Again, just one perspective from a prospective customer that is squarely in your target market, but doesn't see the value at the current price point. Good luck.

[MacQ]

Hi guys,

I appreciate all of your comments, and I understand that pricing is about value-for-money. In this regard, I think UNDERSCORE represents exceptional value!

I've uploaded a video manual for the FluidPhrase Engine, which you can find . It's 22 minutes long and demonstrates in detail what the FPE is, and how it works in context.

I'd encourage anyone who has misgivings about the price to view the video. If you still believe it to be unfairly priced, I suppose UNDERSCORE isn't the product for you. And that's totally cool! It's not meant to be everything to everyone. For example, it doesn't include any portamento articulations ... for that I recommend you use a synth. There are lots of great ones well known here at KVR ... Zebra, Sylenth1, Omnisphere, the Korg collection ... these are all fantastic, and I think everyone should own at least one of them. Oh, and IL Harmor is a beast ... I used its amazing resynthesis capabilities extensively when creating the sample content. Definitely pick that one up if you haven't already.

UNDERSCORE is different ... it's about generating new ideas and writing music quickly to meet deadlines. That was my design goal, and it excels at exactly that. Produced parts (sound+pattern) that work in any key, at any tempo, in nearly any meter, fully editable without any baked-in expression or harmonic content. For me, flexibility is key, and UNDERSCORE lets me adapt to any context with very little effort.

[emasters]

FYI... the video at the above link, is marked as private.

[MacQ]

FYI... the video at the above link, is marked as private.

Whoops! Thanks for the heads-up!

[Cri]

When I saw the pre-release post in another forum I was a bit confused. $1000 for what? Now even $250 seems overpriced for what it does but well, we should just ignore the products that we think are overpriced. I suspect that some of the "buzz" about the price is also part of his marketing strategy.

Well, it seems that MacQ is really in love with his creature which is understandable and all, and I admire his spirit in a way. I think that you need a very high self-esteem to ignore the constant negative feedback about the price (the $1000 price tag was just a joke probably) and the content/features. But well, I know nothing about starting a company and sell software/libraries so I probably miss something here.

Also I think that OP should read KVR signature guidelines:

Signatures may not contain:
Advertising (i.e. NO graphical banners or text advertising commercial products, commercial websites, special offers, sales, group buys, etc. -- this includes referral and affiliate programs, offers to get a discount / special price on something, any mention of $XX or Save XX%, etc.), although you may have a link to your commercial products/website as long as the text/image is non advertorial, i.e. it should not contain text such as "latest offers", "buy our best plugins in the world", "Sale now on", etc.

Anyway, all the best

[MacQ]

Also I think that OP should read KVR signature guidelines

Ah yes ... I didn't see that. I've amended my signature to fall in line with those guidelines. And while doing it realized I've been posting here for 13 years. How time flies ...

[clockwiser]

I appreciate all of your comments, and I understand that pricing is about value-for-money. In this regard, I think UNDERSCORE represents exceptional value!

This is my personal opinion obviously, but unfortunately your FluidPhrase engine is really only valuable to yourself and not the average customer. As I said, it's a nice system from the looks of the video, but without substantial content to back it up it is not very useful to the average musician. Continue to ignore that if you like (and if it's selling, hey who am I to argue), but that won't change reality if it's the counter.

I'd encourage anyone who has misgivings about the price to view the video. If you still believe it to be unfairly priced, I suppose UNDERSCORE isn't the product for you.

Viewed the video (and all the others) and that fact that you appear to think the average consumer just 'doesn't get it' is almost a little insulting...

You also seem to contradict yourself in regards to customers. On the one hand you feel this is a valuable product that is worth money - you wouldn't be selling it otherwise. On the other, you seem very blasé about anyone actually buying it. It has been made so apparently clear on other forums and here that no one other than yourself really sees the value in the script - it's not really of interest to them- and the content isn't worth $250. Even now, after you've been given the name of a piece of software, you insist:

UNDERSCORE is different...

when it's not - there are other (arguable better suited) synthesizers, software and even just high end keyboards out there with sequencers that match harmonics, and trigger/don't retrigger on chord change). You basically have a note and FX sequencer that plays on chords.

it's about generating new ideas and writing music quickly to meet deadlines. That was my design goal, and it excels at exactly that.

Then I would say that in my opinion you have completely missed your market. You say that the product is about generating new ideas and writing music quickly. People who need to write quickly do not want to spend time copy/pasting wav files into Kontakt groups, mapping their velocities, figuring out layers, etc.

They want to load up a patch, tweak some knobs and have a professional sound. A palette of 3000 odd sounds to find the flavor they need, adapt it a bit, and plonk it in. Your system contains a fraction of this (and is clumsy - due to being made in Kontakt - to create and put new content into).

I admire your spirit, but I find your reaction to everything to be baffling... You've had an overwhelming negative reaction to the price which you completely ignore or blame on the potential customer. You've made a considerable length of videos and not really convinced anyone other than yourself that it's worth the money.

Put this down to 50,75 or even 100 $ and you'll sell a lot more, or as I said before; find a company that wants to make 3000 presets and license the tech to them. As it stands, the script is of no interest to most musicians, and the content is not enough to satisfy them.