Soul Machine

'Soul Machine' is 12-Bit Crunch's brand new Kontakt Instrument. Like 'Jazz Machine', it's part sample-player and part chord-generator with MIDI export functionality:

{See video at top of page}

Once again, seven chord types, played on four vintage instruments that this time define the sound of golden-era Soul music:

• A Challen Upright Piano
• A Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar
• A Wurlitzer 720a Electric Piano
• A Hammond C3 Organ

Soul and Gospel chords are essentially derived from basic diatonic harmony (from the notes of the major/minor scale), with variation often coming from 'inverting' chords (playing them with notes arranged in different orders) and from basic suspensions (replacing the root note with something else). Of course, the chord-types we've used in 'Soul Machine' reflect this:

• Major (played in root position).
• Major (1st inversion).
• Major (2nd inversion).
• Minor 7th
• Dominant 7th
• Suspended (Root/Bass note up one tone).
• Half-diminished

Again you have four different articulations switchable through soft/ hard velocity and up/ down mod-wheel:

• Straight
• Chop (attack trimmed off).
• Rake (played gradually from bottom-to-top).
• A complimentary melody top- Note

As per usual, you can choose between a crackly Vinyl sound (with over 300 individual crackle samples tailor-made for each chord, just like sampling for real), a CD sound or a crappy-sounding MP3 sound.

You can have total control of the samples by engaging the Choke feature, which truncates the end of all Soul Machine's output (as in, when you release a key, the chord or note stops).

There's also the cool Warble effect, which adds wow and flutter, which you can dial in to taste (as well as the crackle volume when 'vinyl' is selected as the source) on the Settings page.

In case it wasn't already clear, our instruments play back chords recorded on real instruments. You needn't be restricted to those sounds though, as you can export the chords direct into your DAW for re-arranging and playing back on whatever sound you like.

In summary- if you're new to music, you'll have those gospel chops in no time. If you're a fully fledged keyboard player, we guarantee you'll come up with some new progressions, as the 12-Bit Crunch 'one-chord-type-per-octave' concept makes you use your ears as opposed to your fingers.

We hope you'll enjoy this one just as much as Jazz Machine and there are already more instruments in the pipeline with the same unique concept.

IMPORTANT: please note the system requirements, there are no refunds if your Kontakt version is too old:

Native Instruments Kontakt >5.6.5 or 6 (full-version only).

Mac: OS X 10.11, macOS 10.12 or 10.13 (latest update), i5.

Windows: Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 (latest Service Pack, 32/64-bit) Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2.

It's highly recommended you use a MIDI controller with at least 61-keys for our instruments. You'll want to be able to access as many of the octaves as possible for ultimate creative freedom.