Sonic Reality Libraries for 2021!

[Squids]

Hello there! Squids here. Haven't been on KVR in awhile because I've been making music! (One must not forget to do that with all of these great tools!)

But, I have some good news. It's also been some time since Sonic Reality has released new sample libraries and I'm excited to share with you that this is about to change in a big way in 2021! Here's an overview of what to expect for what format.

SampleTank 4

SampleTank has always been a prominent platform from SR as we've done sounds for the IK Multimedia SampleTank format since version 1 (Sonik Synth, SampleTron, Miroslav Philharmonik 1, SampleMoog etc.). Now it's up to ST4 and it has an unbelievably cool and useful engine for the kind of "vintage" sounds I like. Soooo... finally for the first time all of my vintage keyboard and rare instrument archives are going to be released in this format! I've collected or hunted down instruments for 30 years (which is crazy since I'm only 35 years old... shhhh... let's pretend ok?). I've only released about 25% of the sample archives we have at SR and now the best of what we have will be available for the best sample playback/analog modeled filters & fx engine I know of, SampleTank 4! We'll also be bringing over other sounds SR is known for like drum kits, grooves and since ST4 has some great AmpliTube amps and fx inside we'll do some guitar and bass as well (just for us keyboard players to fake it once in awhile).

One last thing regarding the vintage instrument archives (I should have warned this would be a "Squids Megapost" but if you don't know me by now... ). I'm planning to talk about both the instruments and various tips on how to use our libraries in plug-ins and DAWS on video so you can get the max out of them. I've been streaming on the IK Instagram channel every week just shooting the breeze and interviewing producer/engineers like Chris & Tom Lord-Alge, Ilan Rubin of NIN, Ken Andrew of Failure, mastering guru Gavin Lurssen and others. But, in 2021 there's going to be a lot more video content, both live streaming and pre-recorded.

Kontakt 5/6

While our "Infinite Player" libraries are still available only to those who have a legacy "Infinite Player" registered (there are no new serials available unfortunately), we are happy to say that we'll be making some of the original libraries and ALL NEW libraries available for straight KONTAKT format unencrypted (so it means you need to own the full Kontakt from NI to use these libraries as the new ones will not work with Kontakt Player or Infinite Player).

More Drum Masters

It hasn't been officially announced yet but the big news from SR for 2021 in Kontakt format is that we're releasing a ton of new multi-channel drum kit libraries and also bringing back some classics to Kontakt 5/6 format (such as Neil Peart Drums, EpiK DrumS and more). The NEW libraries include an incredible Hugh Padgham Drum Kit library recorded at Genesis' studio with full access to the individual mic channels as well as a Nick Mason Drum Kit library recorded by Alan Parsons for an authentic recreation of the classic Pink Floyd drum sound. That's just the tip of the iceberg though.

Apart from releasing some of the legacy Infinite Player libraries in unencrypted open Kontakt 4 format, we have no other plans to do new libraries for Kontakt for now. Just focusing on the drum kits for 2021 and there are over 10 brand new previously unreleased kits coming soon.

Reason

While all of our classic refills for Propellerheads Reason are still available on http://www.esoundz.com, we may release a few new refills that were nearly done but never released. I can tell you what they are. One is like a Reason version of SampleMoog in that it's a collection of vintage Moog samples for Reason and we made all of these fun Combinator skins too. The other is Nick Mason Drums, the drummer of Pink Floyd. The drum kits we do in Reason are stereo not multitrack but they sound great and it's all about efficiency in Reason. I'm only releasing these because they're so close to being finished. However, they'll serve as a test to see what demand there still is for new sample libraries in this format. In other words, if these two libraries are hot sellers then theoretically there could be other new refills for Reason coming at some point. As long as there's a good Reason.

Other Formats

The legacy "Workstation Sounds" such as the multi-sampled instrument "capsules" will be made available in open multi-formats like Kontakt 4, EXS24, HALion and maybe others we can add in a "here it is ported over/translated" fashion (without any custom programming in each format - it's very simple programming and more about the sample content being homogenous between the formats and you can tweak from there). Nothing will be encrypted and you can go to town with these plus, since they're all previously released "legacy titles", they will be extremely affordable for anyone new. Some of these are on eSoundz already. But, we're going to try to round them all up (especially the ones released for Infinite Player that can now work in Kontakt unencrypted). We can also try to add in any format you like if there's enough demand for it and it works with a program file referencing raw waves (so SampleTank format will probably not be included in this but others not mentioned could be like Abelton Live's Sampler and potentially others).

That's it! Here's the summary of all that:

SampleTank 4: Vintage Instrument Multi-sample archives (lots of new and the better versions of the old)

Kontakt 5/6: Unencrypted Multi-channel drum kits (including many new previously unreleased kits in Kontakt format plus the best of the legacy titles)

Reason: A few previously unreleased libraries and our Sonic Refills plus others will remain available on eSoundz.com

EXS24, Halion, Kontakt and other formats: no new libraries planned but the legacy "Capsules" and multi-sampled instrument archives will be made available in multi-format (some already are on eSoundz).

I didn't mention LOOPS/GROOVES as there are currently no plans for new construction kit type loops. There may be something with the drum loops, especially the ones from famous drummers, but at the moment the focus is on the kits themselves which you can play from any midi controller.

Whew! We're back! haha. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Let's hope things turn around in 2021-22 and get a lot better. In the meantime, we can still create. I hope these libraries will provide some inspiration. - Squids

[DarkStar]

Got any expected dates? I've got ePointz to use!

[Squids]

Got any expected dates? I've got ePointz to use!

Do epointz even still work? Haha. That's hilarious. DarkStar!!! What's up?

The first kit will be Hugh Padgham Drums in Kontakt 5/6 format (really K5 and compatible with 6 as well but not earlier than 5 and not the Kontakt Player, the full version of Kontakt will be required for the new kits). Don't know the price yet but this is the best version of the kit in terms of being the most complete from what we sampled at Genesis' studio.

I've been using this library myself for quite some time and we were waiting for a solution as to what to do with Kontakt libraries in general... whether to try to make them "plug-ins" again or just sell them as libraries etc. In the end, I think libraries makes the most sense and the script is the same as it ever was which works. This isn't the kind of thing where you look at a GUI of a drum kit and move kit pieces around. Plenty of plug-ins do that. This is for keyboardists, producers and engineers who want to have control of the sound. You mix each kit piece and the overall kit plus apply any of the Kontakt engine features such as ADSR envelopes which you don't always have in dedicated drum plug-ins. I like having those sampler features because that's what I know as a keyboard player... and I like doing submixes and then sending individual outs to a DAW to do REAL high quality processing using effect plug-ins... just like you would if you recorded a live drummer (which is what I do 90% of the time for my productions and these are either placeholders or samples that can be blended with a live kit).

[DarkStar]

Just send me the cash, then

And stick with K5 if you can, you'll have a bigger target audience.

[Mrs_Midi]

For Reason: You mean new sounds that are nearly done or like... old material (decades or so ago) that was nearly done that you'll wrap up and release? Might be a good idea to see what gaining traction/popular before releasing anything for Reason.

[Squids]

For Reason: You mean new sounds that are nearly done or like... old material (decades or so ago) that was nearly done that you'll wrap up and release? Might be a good idea to see what gaining traction/popular before releasing anything for Reason.

The material itself is timeless as we're talking about Moog synth samples and a Nick Mason Drums refill (the drummer of Pink Floyd). So, the fact that it was never released makes them brand new regardless when they were worked on. Doesn't really matter except that it's for the NNXT and Combinators mainly and not much else. Might be some Kong patches for the drums in there. Most of the time it's about the sample content which in some cases is unique and exclusive to us. Like, for example, if someone did want authentic drum samples like Dark Side of the Moon it doesn't get any closer than what we did having Alan Parsons record Nick Mason again in a studio with the same gear they used at Abbey Road in the 70s. Someone wants that or they don't. No reason to see what's gaining traction or popular before releasing that I don't think.

But, if we do release these two refills for Reason it will give us an idea whether we should put effort into doing more refills. If they do well then maybe we'll look into doing more. We have quite a few already that still sell on eSoundz http://www.esoundz.com as they cover a lot of meat and potatoes needs for pianos, strings, drums and a variety of instruments.

[Burillo]

i was kinda hoping for more BFD libraries, but alas what's with everyone suddenly stopping doing BFD libraries? DrumDrops used to carry those but they've been absent since their relaunch, and it seems that you yourself also moved away from BFD in favor of other things. what gives? did FXpansion/InMusic add an obligatory sexual favors clause in their contract?

[Squids]

i was kinda hoping for more BFD libraries, but alas what's with everyone suddenly stopping doing BFD libraries? DrumDrops used to carry those but they've been absent since their relaunch, and it seems that you yourself also moved away from BFD in favor of other things. what gives? did FXpansion/InMusic add an obligatory sexual favors clause in their contract?

Well, we've done quite a few already. Have you purchased all the ones we've already done from http://www.esoundz.com ? A bunch of the libraries we're doing for Kontakt are just catching up to things we've done for BFD already. Then there are new unreleased drum libraries that will come out in Kontakt first that's all. If there's enough of a demand for them in BFD format we'll do it. I don't personally program those and I don't use BFD myself but for those who like that kind of fun GUI and also the way it works when played with electronic drum kits we've got plenty to get now and there could be more especially if there's a spike in interest.

I've always been quite transparent in how I like to do things with SR in terms of product creation. It'll either be because there's a demand for something (like most businesses would) or because I personally want it to exist so I can use it myself and then probably others will appreciate many of the same things I do and want to get it... especially if I take the time to show in video and audio what the musical benefits are.

[Mrs_Midi]

For Reason: You mean new sounds that are nearly done or like... old material (decades or so ago) that was nearly done that you'll wrap up and release? Might be a good idea to see what gaining traction/popular before releasing anything for Reason.

Like, for example, if someone did want authentic drum samples like Dark Side of the Moon it doesn't get any closer than what we did having Alan Parsons record Nick Mason again in a studio with the same gear they used at Abbey Road in the 70s. Someone wants that or they don't. No reason to see what's gaining traction or popular before releasing that I don't think.

But, if we do release these two refills for Reason it will give us an idea whether we should put effort into doing more refills. If they do well then maybe we'll look into doing more.

Releasing what you're going to release, that's fine but letting it be the decider for releasing future Reason Refills? Makes more sense to know what the majority of that crowd wants, cater to that, and then let those results be the deciding factor... Their user base has changed a lot since your last release. I'm sure you know the market better than I do, I'm just thinking out loud.

[Burillo]

Well, we've done quite a few already. Have you purchased all the ones we've already done from http://www.esoundz.com ?

ummm... well, let's see. i got the Alan Parsons kits (Black Oyster, Dark Side Of The Moon, Silver Sparkle, Vintage 70's), i got the Neal Peart kit, i got the entire Epik Drums collection, and i got the Vinnie Appice kit... so, um, yeah, i am pretty sure i got them all the only one i don't have that i believe you've had a hand in, is the Hugh Padham kit, but that's just because these kinds of drums just aren't what i'm after.

A bunch of the libraries we're doing for Kontakt are just catching up to things we've done for BFD already. Then there are new unreleased drum libraries that will come out in Kontakt first that's all. If there's enough of a demand for them in BFD format we'll do it. I don't personally program those and I don't use BFD myself but for those who like that kind of fun GUI and also the way it works when played with electronic drum kits we've got plenty to get now and there could be more especially if there's a spike in interest.

how would you even go about determining that's the case though? it's not like you go around asking people if they would like BFD drums

my personal perspective is, the big win of BFD over others is the user experience coupled with sheer volume of drum sounds available - no matter what style of drums i need, i can always get them and keep using my controller maps, high quality FX, etc., while with Kontakt libraries etc., everyone kinda does their own thing, so i don't own any Kontakt drum instruments, nor do i plan to, because i prefer using specialized drum samplers. i'm also not very keen on paying twice for things i already own, so i don't see myself purchasing eSoundz-produced kits for Kontakt or SampleTank 4 if i already have them for BFD.

[Squids]

Releasing what you're going to release, that's fine but letting it be the decider for releasing future Reason Refills? Makes more sense to know what the majority of that crowd wants, cater to that, and then let those results be the deciding factor... Their user base has changed a lot since your last release. I'm sure you know the market better than I do, I'm just thinking out loud.

We don't do sound development based on catering to what there's a demand for outside of the things we like to do and specialize in. Other sound developers do I'm sure. But, we make the products we want to make when it comes to sample libraries and then it's just a matter of whether we do the work programming it for Reason or not. If people do want these sounds in Reason then it'll be evident by the sales of any new refills. If there isn't the demand for the kind of vintage sounds and exclusive famous drummer's kits and grooves then it won't justify the effort to program more sounds in that format.

[Squids]

how would you even go about determining that's the case though? it's not like you go around asking people if they would like BFD drums

my personal perspective is, the big win of BFD over others is the user experience coupled with sheer volume of drum sounds available - no matter what style of drums i need, i can always get them and keep using my controller maps, high quality FX, etc., while with Kontakt libraries etc., everyone kinda does their own thing, so i don't own any Kontakt drum instruments, nor do i plan to, because i prefer using specialized drum samplers. i'm also not very keen on paying twice for things i already own, so i don't see myself purchasing eSoundz-produced kits for Kontakt or SampleTank 4 if i already have them for BFD.

That's great that you own so many of our BFD kits. Thank you. I wouldn't expect everyone to necessarily buy the same sampled kit in multiple formats even though between BFD, Kontakt and SampleTank they would work quite differently and afford different opportunities of use sonically. So, I think some probably will choose to do that particularly if they like using a certain format and really like certain drum sounds.

As far as gaging the demand, well, we ARE discussing it here and even though it's quiet around here because of a lack of interaction (compared to years past) it IS an opportunity for BFD users to say they want more BFD kits from us. We have your vote! I always like to hear what people are looking for and why so thank you.

We haven't put out a new library for any format in awhile and I spend most of my time in music production these days. We had an issue with running out of serial numbers for the Infinite Player and our liaison at NI leaving the company so we weren't able to bring all of the cool libraries we did for BFD such as Hugh Padgham Drums, Alan Parsons Drums, Nick Mason Drums and the forthcoming Nick Davis Drums (more Genesis style drums) plus various style drum kits and others to the Kontakt format. It's my personal priority because they're very close to completion AND I do like to use them and think they also sound best in this format combined with individual outputs in a DAW processed by T-RackS, Mixbox and other effect plug-ins. That was the vision in the first place for the sample sessions and I want to see that through.

BFD with its built-in mixing, effects and dedicated drum GUI is really cool. I understand its appeal. It's convenient, it's quick and easy to do certain things, it looks nice... but, as cool as it is we never did drum sessions with BFD in mind as the final example of what the vision was for them. It's just a cool format for them to be in and so would Superior Drummer if it was an easy enough thing to port over to that format (unfortunately it isn't).

The vision I always had for these kits is for them to be well recorded raw unprocessed sounds that you have mapped horizontally across the keyboard for more variety of articulations than GM or edrums typically do (for drum pads) and then you send the mic channels via individual outs to use the best quality studio effects so it's like you had recorded the multitrack drums yourself in an amazing studio with Alan Parsons or Ken Scott or Hugh Padgham engineering with you.

So, that's why it's a priority to finish these kits and release the new ones in this format first for a change. It doesn't mean we won't do the new kits in BFD or other formats. Probably we will. In terms of gaging demand there are also plenty of BFD users who never bought a kit from us who still can and if there was a surge in BFD kit purchases because there was some buzz and word of mouth happening then that might be the push it needs to make it happen faster as well.

There are really only two reasons why we'll do a sample library product. Either it's something that will clearly be profitable or it's something I just want to do for myself and I'm willing to take the risk investing time and money into it as a labor of love just so it exists. My personal interests these days are only in Sampletank 4 and Kontakt 5/6 or something like the Nord sample library because these are the tools I use. Anything outside of that has to have some kind of business incentive with a high probability of doing well. In the past, sometimes we'd create a product because a company asked us to and either licensed it or guaranteed a certain number of orders. If that happened it'd be a no brainer. But, without that guarantee it's tough to know if it's going to be worth the investment when there's limited time and budget to do these things. We'll have to see what happens.

[Burillo]

i understand that perspective, and don't get me wrong, i love SampleTank 4 and use it extensively (Kontakt as well, for specialized things). it's just that there are things that IMO BFD does right because it's a dedicated drum sampler (and it's got extra bells and whistles not available elsewhere, like cymbal swell modeling), and i've grown very used to it over the years, as i've been using BFD for a long, long time. you obviously know better what makes more sense from business perspective, but as a BFD user, i'd like to see more of awesome drum libraries!

(that said, i do understand that with the sale of BFD to that graveyard of a company InMusic, the future of BFD is uncertain and it really doesn't make much business sense to invest into BFD right this moment!)

[tq]

I would love to see more BFD kits, too. I do have a number of BFD kits from SR already, but there are still a few I might grab. However, I guess that really depends on whether we see substantial progress of BFD now that they aren't FXPansion anymore. Currently, I cannot even work with BFD on my new Apple Silicon Mac, as it doesn't work there (yet)... Hopefully, they will update it or expand it, despite being InMusic now - I sunk thousands of dollars in this ecosystem, and have most of the FXPansion libraries sitting on a multi-TB SSD.

By the way: I like your musical adventures, Squids! Lovely albums, also the Sound of Contact album and the In Continuum stuff. Looking forward to your new releases - anything in the pipeline already?

[Squids]

i understand that perspective, and don't get me wrong, i love SampleTank 4 and use it extensively (Kontakt as well, for specialized things). it's just that there are things that IMO BFD does right because it's a dedicated drum sampler (and it's got extra bells and whistles not available elsewhere, like cymbal swell modeling), and i've grown very used to it over the years, as i've been using BFD for a long, long time. you obviously know better what makes more sense from business perspective, but as a BFD user, i'd like to see more of awesome drum libraries!

(that said, i do understand that with the sale of BFD to that graveyard of a company InMusic, the future of BFD is uncertain and it really doesn't make much business sense to invest into BFD right this moment!)

That's interesting about the cymbal swell modeling. I like to hear things like this such as something specific that a plug-in does really well. That said, I think the way we can do cymbal swells (when needed... which for me is not THAT often musically but nice to have when you do need it) is very convincing using two different keys for the buildup and a tweak of an ADSR envelope attack. Personally I like having a full ADSR that samplers have for shaping purposes.

Btw the fact that Expansion has sold to another company doesn't affect our decision. I think we deal with many of the same people still and they're great. But, there are a few extra hurdles to get things to work with the latest Mac OS from what I understand and the more road blocks there are sometimes it holds things up. I mean, even Kontakt took this long for us to just decide to release the libraries without NI's encryption system. I don't like it because there's no way for us to go back out of encryption which means we have to actually reprogram some of our libraries to re-release them outside of Infinite Player/Kontakt Player. I wish I knew what I was really getting into with that mess. But, it is what it is. This is one of the reasons why we haven't put out updated Kontakt versions thanks to this rather large road block. Fortunately, though, I personally want to use these titles myself and I'm willing to front the money for it to happen because what we did recreating those classic sessions with famous engineers and drummers is unique and will never happen again.

I would love to see more BFD kits, too. I do have a number of BFD kits from SR already, but there are still a few I might grab. However, I guess that really depends on whether we see substantial progress of BFD now that they aren't FXPansion anymore. Currently, I cannot even work with BFD on my new Apple Silicon Mac, as it doesn't work there (yet)... Hopefully, they will update it or expand it, despite being InMusic now - I sunk thousands of dollars in this ecosystem, and have most of the FXPansion libraries sitting on a multi-TB SSD.

By the way: I like your musical adventures, Squids! Lovely albums, also the Sound of Contact album and the In Continuum stuff. Looking forward to your new releases - anything in the pipeline already?

Hopefully they do! I'm not sure about all that because I'm not a BFD user myself. I prefer to have all the control I have in Kontakt (which isn't perfect but overall it allows for the things I wanted the drum kits to have both sonically and keyboard performance-wise).

Glad to year you like my bands Sound of Contact and In Continuum. There is a new In Continuum album in the works but before that will be my 3rd studio solo album and it has a lot of the guys from SOC and IC on it. Both will be available on my Bandcamp page http://sonicelements.bandcamp.com