SS2 "sounds" very complete and extensive. One area I would appreciate a comment on is in the area of brass sounds. I have ST2XL and the group buy upgrade. After all those sounds, I am dissappointed about usable brass sounds - especially for more funky/spunky type music. I am thinking sizzling trumpet/horn work. Some of the existing brass sounds may work for orchestral purposes - but the rest sound weak.
I really like ST2XL - but I really need some well crafted horns to work with.
If SS2 fills that void, then I will sign up immediately. Otherwise - I noticed the Brit Horns product.
Any comments or suggestions?
IW
YeSS2 and some good news!
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- KVRist
- 452 posts since 22 Mar, 2002
Funky Brass Sounds - The Holy Grail of the sampling world.
elbaggio.com
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- Sonic Reality Head Chef
- Topic Starter
- 8566 posts since 11 Mar, 2002 from Florida
Yeah there are some good brass sounds. Certainly more than before. But, I wouldn't get it for the brass sounds personally. Not that as your main goal anyway. There are so many incredible things on the list above that to get it for such as the synths, the keys, the synth-to-acoustic drums, the orchestral and vocal textures, the combi elements, the guitars and basses, the pianos and organs... THEN after all of those top notch reasons you've got "some brass too" kind of thing. Although I may be selling the brass a little short there. Each category has some really great sounds in it but that is a subjective thing... as is the word "funky". 
Oh, for the record, I don't think the ST2 XL brass are weak at all especially if you know how to tweak them a bit and layer them as combis. There is extensive brass sampling in the XL collection and I find it to be some of the better material out there. Brit Horns is a good one to have as well although sometimes that "search" for the holy grail is tough. Better to hire a real horn section really.
Oh, for the record, I don't think the ST2 XL brass are weak at all especially if you know how to tweak them a bit and layer them as combis. There is extensive brass sampling in the XL collection and I find it to be some of the better material out there. Brit Horns is a good one to have as well although sometimes that "search" for the holy grail is tough. Better to hire a real horn section really.
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- KVRAF
- 1821 posts since 5 Oct, 2003
What I miss most in ST2 XL is (unless I just am not seeing it!) are some nice English Horns....
Still, ST may well be my essential tool. At least until Studiophonik comes out.
As I have said before - love the "neve knobs" - you just need to add some "API knobs," too....
Still, ST may well be my essential tool. At least until Studiophonik comes out.
As I have said before - love the "neve knobs" - you just need to add some "API knobs," too....
"Time makes fools of us all. Our only comfort is that greater shall come after us." Eric Temple Bell
http://thetomorrowfile.bandcamp.com/
http://thetomorrowfile.bandcamp.com/
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- Sonic Reality Head Chef
- Topic Starter
- 8566 posts since 11 Mar, 2002 from Florida
Does it help if I told you we use Neve AND Api pre-amps when we sample?
By the way, English Horn you know is not "brass" but a woodwind. There's a decent English Horn in Sonik Synth 2. You know I'll tell you when it is EXCEPTIONAL. I am not saying this one is. But, it's decent. Not bad to have a couple of them amongst over 5,000!!!!! presets.
However, we may have some other English Horn stuff coming out with a related wind library of sorts... but I can't talk about that now.
By the way, English Horn you know is not "brass" but a woodwind. There's a decent English Horn in Sonik Synth 2. You know I'll tell you when it is EXCEPTIONAL. I am not saying this one is. But, it's decent. Not bad to have a couple of them amongst over 5,000!!!!! presets.
However, we may have some other English Horn stuff coming out with a related wind library of sorts... but I can't talk about that now.
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- KVRAF
- 1821 posts since 5 Oct, 2003
Knowing intimately how they sound, I'd say "yea" I used to own 2 API channel strips, and they regularly blew the doors off the Focusrite Red and AMEK stuff I had.Squids wrote:Does it help if I told you we use Neve AND Api pre-amps when we sample?
The holy grail!
You'd think that as a classically trained guitarist I would have remembered that...By the way, English Horn you know is not "brass" but a woodwind.
Very cool!There's a decent English Horn in Sonik Synth 2. You know I'll tell you when it is EXCEPTIONAL. I am not saying this one is. But, it's decent. Not bad to have a couple of them amongst over 5,000!!!!! presets.
"Time makes fools of us all. Our only comfort is that greater shall come after us." Eric Temple Bell
http://thetomorrowfile.bandcamp.com/
http://thetomorrowfile.bandcamp.com/
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- KVRAF
- 4143 posts since 7 Sep, 2001 from Melbourne, Australia
Oh No!Squids wrote: However, we may have some other English Horn stuff coming out with a related wind library of sorts... but I can't talk about that now.
Why can't you talk about it?!?!
I ALREADY WANT IT!
I'd kill for an Expansion Tank or Sonic Capsule from Sonic Reality dedicated to brass and woodwind.
Can I pre-order?
Caleb
Happiness is the hidden behind the obvious.
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- Sonic Reality Head Chef
- Topic Starter
- 8566 posts since 11 Mar, 2002 from Florida
Getting back to Yes, I just got off the phone with Jon Anderson! He's a very nice guy. We talked for about an hour about all kinds of stuff including Close to the Edge which he brought up! This is just WEIRD. So, the ironic thing is that one of the first demos I did for SS2 (just playing around though) was this YeSS2 bit and then perhaps one of the first people to use Sonik Synth 2 on a project is Jon Anderson. He's getting SampleTank 2 because he wants to use Stretch and Loop Sync for various interweaving sampled parts and then Sonik Synth 2 because he wants to have all of the elements like bells, voices, synths, guitars and ethereal sounds all in one synth. I'm going to be giving him and his tech some lessons on ST2 and SS2 plus some custom sound programming on this music project he's working on. Kind of wild, eh?
It was funny because he was referencing something from Close to the Edge and asked me "Do you know the album?". I just laughed and said "Luckily I happen to know every Yes album and even many of your solo albums in case you want to reference anything there!". He said "Oh great!"
I'll be at his studio some time in early December. Maybe I can document it on video a bit in case it may be interesting. There's definitely some angles of using the ST2 technology to the max involved. Anyway, for anyone who bothered to read this thread in the first place I figured you may enjoy this.
Sometimes this job is really fun.
It was funny because he was referencing something from Close to the Edge and asked me "Do you know the album?". I just laughed and said "Luckily I happen to know every Yes album and even many of your solo albums in case you want to reference anything there!". He said "Oh great!"
I'll be at his studio some time in early December. Maybe I can document it on video a bit in case it may be interesting. There's definitely some angles of using the ST2 technology to the max involved. Anyway, for anyone who bothered to read this thread in the first place I figured you may enjoy this.
Sometimes this job is really fun.-
Reverend Rhythm Reverend Rhythm https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=6041
- KVRAF
- 2859 posts since 21 Feb, 2003 from Woodstock, GA USA
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- Sonic Reality Head Chef
- Topic Starter
- 8566 posts since 11 Mar, 2002 from Florida
Yeah, I'm excited about it. Although, I wonder what he's going to say when he hears some of the vocal pads that sound like him!!!! He'll either be thrilled or pissed! 
But, he'll probably like it even more. He has a really good attitude. We were talking about music and he was describing stuff very metaphorically with colors and stuff... but then his sense of humor came in when he said "You know, I'm still a hippy". What a character. This is going to be fun. I might even get to play on this thing he's working on. I am not sure if it is an album or what yet. But, he'll be using SampleTank 2 and Sonik Synth 2 on it.
I am doing a bunch of videos showing Sonik Synth 2 in action. So, perhaps I will try to get some of this documented too. But, there's also some diversity we'll be going for too because I don't want people to think that it is just a progressive piece. It is actually an AMAZING tool for trance, IDM, ambient as well as R&B, Hip Hop. There are some sounds in this that are FUNKY and twisted. I just can't wait to do all of these videos. Doing the SampleTank 2 one was fun and a lot of people have told me that they found it helpful. Since me and the SR guys made the sounds of Sonik Synth 2 with our bare hands I can go even deeper into pulling out a lot of the things it can do that are unique and special. It'll be fun!
I think that it is good enough for everyone to get it. I don't know if they will or not. I can only think that if they knew what was in it and what it can sound like that no one would want to miss out on it. The value for the money is remarkable. I almost feel like we went a little too far and it could have been several products each costing the same and people would still like it. But, I have this vision of a synth worsktation that has all of these possible elements for combining and using multi-timbrally for composition. It's what I had originally intended years ago when I thought of Sonic Synth (before there were any sound modules in software). Thousands of instrumental and synthetic elements to combine with fx to create everything from meat & potatoes instruments to rich evolving soundscapes.
Listen to me rant at 2 am! The SQUIDS soap box hour! I'm just excited that's all. You guys will have it soon and then you can share your own thoughts about it. I hope you like it.
But, he'll probably like it even more. He has a really good attitude. We were talking about music and he was describing stuff very metaphorically with colors and stuff... but then his sense of humor came in when he said "You know, I'm still a hippy". What a character. This is going to be fun. I might even get to play on this thing he's working on. I am not sure if it is an album or what yet. But, he'll be using SampleTank 2 and Sonik Synth 2 on it. I am doing a bunch of videos showing Sonik Synth 2 in action. So, perhaps I will try to get some of this documented too. But, there's also some diversity we'll be going for too because I don't want people to think that it is just a progressive piece. It is actually an AMAZING tool for trance, IDM, ambient as well as R&B, Hip Hop. There are some sounds in this that are FUNKY and twisted. I just can't wait to do all of these videos. Doing the SampleTank 2 one was fun and a lot of people have told me that they found it helpful. Since me and the SR guys made the sounds of Sonik Synth 2 with our bare hands I can go even deeper into pulling out a lot of the things it can do that are unique and special. It'll be fun!
I think that it is good enough for everyone to get it. I don't know if they will or not. I can only think that if they knew what was in it and what it can sound like that no one would want to miss out on it. The value for the money is remarkable. I almost feel like we went a little too far and it could have been several products each costing the same and people would still like it. But, I have this vision of a synth worsktation that has all of these possible elements for combining and using multi-timbrally for composition. It's what I had originally intended years ago when I thought of Sonic Synth (before there were any sound modules in software). Thousands of instrumental and synthetic elements to combine with fx to create everything from meat & potatoes instruments to rich evolving soundscapes.
Listen to me rant at 2 am! The SQUIDS soap box hour!
I'm just excited that's all. You guys will have it soon and then you can share your own thoughts about it. I hope you like it.-
- KVRAF
- 4692 posts since 28 Jan, 2003 from In these very interwebs
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- KVRist
- 106 posts since 28 Apr, 2003
That's too cool, Squids! Strangely, I just listened to both "Close to the Edge" and "Fragile" this evening.
Anyway, when you see Jon, let him know that someone from the Midwest thinks that his song "The Mayflower" (with Vangelis) ROCKS! That song is just too much -- the juxtaposition of America's pilgrim settlers to fictional future astronauts embarking on a similar journey is such a unique idea for a song!
Let us know how it goes.
P.S. I always loved "I Hear You Now" as well, yet I can't explain exactly why...
Anyway, when you see Jon, let him know that someone from the Midwest thinks that his song "The Mayflower" (with Vangelis) ROCKS! That song is just too much -- the juxtaposition of America's pilgrim settlers to fictional future astronauts embarking on a similar journey is such a unique idea for a song!
Let us know how it goes.
P.S. I always loved "I Hear You Now" as well, yet I can't explain exactly why...
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- Sonic Reality Head Chef
- Topic Starter
- 8566 posts since 11 Mar, 2002 from Florida
You know what is fun to see? It's fun to see musicians that have made classic albums spanning decades still get excited about new instruments. You should have seen Stevie Wonder at the NAMM show last year. He was playing SampleTank 2 and getting into each sound as if he'd "discovered something". Now apparently he uses it in every one of his studios around the world. Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman were like kids in a candy store when I was telling them about Sonik Synth 2. It has this, this, this and can do this.... really???? Of course, that's a how a musician should respond when they hear something that sounds like it might be inspiring. Sounds are part of the FUEL for making music.
For me, as I was programming Sonik Synth 2 with my fellow programmers I found it difficult not to want to stop and write music. That's a good sign for commercial success. Although it is almost making it too easy for people to sound like they really know how to find that rare sound (they may even fall upon it by chance and use it in a completely different context... such as a Mellotron in a dance tune). It's all good though. There's a bit more soul to this workstation than a lot of other keyboards, sound modules or plug-ins that are a bit more "clinical" I suppose. Sonik Synth 2 and Studiophonik are the first instruments to me that really give a feeling of owning an absurd amount of gear in a hot studio... of course that is what it is REPLACING for me after all of these years having the real thing. Maybe that's why I am excited. (the convenience of availability and low maintenance!!! )
Of course, that's a how a musician should respond when they hear something that sounds like it might be inspiring. Sounds are part of the FUEL for making music. For me, as I was programming Sonik Synth 2 with my fellow programmers I found it difficult not to want to stop and write music. That's a good sign for commercial success. Although it is almost making it too easy for people to sound like they really know how to find that rare sound (they may even fall upon it by chance and use it in a completely different context... such as a Mellotron in a dance tune). It's all good though. There's a bit more soul to this workstation than a lot of other keyboards, sound modules or plug-ins that are a bit more "clinical" I suppose. Sonik Synth 2 and Studiophonik are the first instruments to me that really give a feeling of owning an absurd amount of gear in a hot studio... of course that is what it is REPLACING for me after all of these years having the real thing. Maybe that's why I am excited. (the convenience of availability and low maintenance!!!
)