Beautiful Odes and Ambient Tones – Sounds and Presets
There’s a definite ambient and atmospheric vibe this week, with Odes for Kontakt and Surfaces for the Ambient Ø, plus a unique electric piano library and evocative fretted string tones.
Sounds and Presets
Odes for Kontakt by Native Instruments
We kick off this week with Odes from Native Instruments, which represents the third in a series of sound libraries for Kontakt by Anthony Ammar. Billed as part of the Evolution Series, Odes follows on from Lores and Fables, forming a collection of cinematic instruments for Kontakt.
Odes uses rhythm as its inspiration, allowing the composer to narrate through it via a trio of layers, each of which sporting three articulations. A simple interface sits on top of 57GB of beautifully sampled string and woodwind sounds, complemented by a range of brass and ethnic instruments.
This is very much a library about motion and its simple interface is deceptive in that you can actually achieve quite a lot by digging into it. There’s a wealth of organic textures within Odes and when you add in its sibling libraries, Fables and Lores, you have a pretty comprehensive and powerful suite of instruments.
Naturally, Odes is fully NKS compatible, delivering an intuitive tweaking and programming experience right at the heart of NKS-compatible hardware. It is also fully compatible with the free Kontakt Player, as well as the full version.
Pianotron for Kontakt by Wrongtools
The more I hear the libraries made by Wrongtools, the more I really love how they refuse to go down the same paths as other sample library developers and prefer to plough their own furrow. Their latest offering, Pianotron, continues that trend.
The Selmer Pianotron, also known as the Weltmeister Claviset, was an East German electric piano built by Weltmeister in Klingenthal, in the former Deutsche Demokratische Republik. Because of the difficulty of getting materials and components, a lot of the Pianotron was made from plastic.
Because of this, many examples have long been discarded, like the wall that split Berlin in half during the Cold War. Luckily for us, however, Wrongtools have gotten hold of one and have sampled it for us so that we too may wallow in its crappy charm!
The Pianotron works much like the Hohner Pianet in that it makes its sound by plucking metal tines which are amplified by electromagnetic pickups. The raw sound is nothing like a piano, and nothing quite like its Western counterparts, if I’m honest, but that’s what makes it special.
And the beauty of sampling is that you can take this raw starting point and make entirely new and beautiful sounds with it. And that’s exactly what Wrongtools have done with Pianotron, whilst maintaining the distinct character of the instrument.
You can buy Pianotron for just €28 and for a limited time, you can use the code FALL40 to get 40% off Pianotron and other Wrongtools libraries!
Surfaces for Sonicware Ambient Ø by KAV
Sonicware’s range of LIVEN instruments have consistently taken on specific sounds and styles, favouring to deliver boxes that cater to things like chiptune, LoFi and FM. But their recent efforts have focused on more ambient tones and ways of creating musical drone-like sounds.
Texture Lab was a great effort, as was their most recent, Evoke, but Ambient Ø was a huge hit for them and is finding its way into many people’s bedroom studios and beyond. And it’s this instrument that KAV have decided to work with for their latest soundbank, Surfaces.
The package contains 40 custom presets of Ambient Ø, designed to work well in cinematic, experimental and ambient music. Each preset contains sounds and patterns that can be played with using Ambient Ø’s built in effects and sequencer.
It’s a great collection and very inspiring, ready to form the basis of your next chillwave track! Pick it up for just €15 from KAV’s Selfy store.
Cetra by Orchestral Tools
Berlin-based Orchestral Tools see us out this week with their newest sample library that features a range of fretted string instruments ranging from lutes to guitars of various varieties. There are 11 instruments in all, each featuring multiple articulations that cover fret noises, mordents and tremelos.
All of these were recorded at SML Studios in Surrey, U.K. and feature the exemplary handiwork of Richard Harvey. As well as the lutes and guitars, there are mandolins, mandocellos, Irish bouzoukis, Theorbos and Citterns.
The entire collection clocks in with 85.5GB of samples, recorded at 24/48 and uses Orchestral Tool’s SINE player which comes in VST, VST3, AU and AAX flavours. As well as the multiple articulations, there are different chord styles and 4 mic positions to play with.
Cetra is available to buy as a package for €119 as an intro offer until the end of today, so grab it quick before it goes up to €149. But if you don’t want all of these instruments, each one can be bought individually for just €19.
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