Hello everyone! I hope that you’re all well and excited for this weekend, because we’ve got some big releases this weekend.
MVP Loops releases 2 bangin’ libraries with Maybach Ambition and Good Gurl vs Bad Gurl.
Sizzle Music releases a new Electronica library in the styles of David Guetta, Pitbull, Afrojack, Mohombi & Aviccii by the name of Electro Sensation.
Freshtone releases another well done drum library in Freshtone Vintage Drums: The Fills.
Last but not least, Big Fish Audio releases Fury: Modern Indie and Pop Rock as well as Ol’ Skool: Vintage Hip Hop. Both of these libraries deserve a listen solely based on the fact of how great the quality and time that was put into them. They will not disappoint!
Happy 2012 everybody. With 2011 behind us we reflect on a great year of amazing titles. We put out some outstanding new titles last year, including our top selling hip hop library The Crate. In addition, our 2011 releases include some great rock titles like Indie: Rock Collection Vol.1 and Pop Rocks!. We also created pop libraries like Risque’: Pop Kits and Off the Hook Radio Pop, as well as a number of anticipated sequels to some of our top selling libraries like, Epic Drums II, Suite Grooves 2, and Kings of the South Vol.2. 2011 was definitely a jam packed year for our production staff and 2012 certainly holds more of the same.
This month we want to highlight a Hip Hop and R&B product that is jam packed with amazing sounds just waiting to be used to their fullest potential. Off the Hook Legacy is latest in the long line of “Off the Hook” products. Since the year 2000 we have released 12 “Off the Hook” products that all feature a team of A level producers who don’t just create the “same-ol” hip hop and R&B sounds. This stuff is truly legit with a sound that would hold up to any big label production quality. Off the Legacy features 8GB of premium loops and sounds with 16 Hip Hop kits and 19 R&B kits. A ton of time goes into not only the production of these kits but also processing each sound with great precision, allowing you to focus on the music and not spending hours just trying to get a mix that will work. These loops and sounds come in acidized wav, rex, and apple loop formats, as well as our custom kontakt KLI format.
Why we made it in the first place?
We wanted to capture the wide range of styles and emotions that the electric guitar is currently creating in todays’s Film and TV.
We love creating libraries that capture that nostalgic sound; but from the very beginning of our planning for this library we new that there was a real need for creating a guitar based library that would really be able to capture what is current, fresh and happening right now in Film and TV.
The goal was to create a library that would be equally adept at setting the mood in any type of media whether it be Film, TV, Sound Design, Documentaries, Games, Film Trailers, Commercials and of course Contemporary Cinematic and Ambient records.
So we looked to see what composers and musicians like Michael Brooke, Tyler Bates, Coldplay, Hans Zimmer, Explosions in the Sky, John Murphy, Gustavo Santaolalla and way too many others were doing.
How it was made?
Because there’s such a wide range of styles we wanted to present in this library, we knew that we would have to spend quite a bit of time mapping out the styles that are currently popular, figuring how they tick, the particular vibe and feel that each of the genres give, and what type of studio, gear and players would be needed to make this project absolutely slammin. After mapping out what would be the recording schedule and process, We spent some time writing, arranging and coming up with the core ideas that would become each of the library’s kits. Guitar Soundscapes was created at two different studios, one in Los Angeles and the other in Nashville (the reason for the different studios this is because we try really hard to use the appropriate players, studios and gear for this library) Then after the core ideas were locked in and finalized we spent many, many days of recording and overdubbing parts.
What was the gear used on Guitar Soundscapes?
Amplifiers: Bad Cat-Hot Cat 30, Gibson GA 20-RVT, Elmwood-Modena 90, Mesa Boogie-Tremo Verb Dual Rectifier
Speakers: Marshall JCM 800 Cabinet (Shure SM57 Microphone), Gibson GA 20-RVT (Audix I-5 Microphone)
Guitar Pedals: Morley Wah, MXR Dyna Comp-Modification, Visual Sound H20, Boss DD5, Strymon-Blue Sky Verberator
Plug-ins: Soundtoys – Echoboy, TL Space -Trillium LAbs, iZotope RX, Steven Slate VCC and FG-X
Guitars: Paul Reed Smith (Customized), Tyler Strat, Gibson Les Paul Standard, Yamaha AES-1500
Xtras: Glass, Metal Slides, Ebows and lots of coffee!
What does the library contain?
It was absolutely imperative that we create the Kontakt KLI version for the Guitar Soundscapes library. We wanted to really be able to access all of the amazing features and functionality that the Kontakt allows. They library contains 20 kits packed full of luscious delayed guitars, gorgeous shimmery pad guitars, ebow guitars, haunting echo guitars, ambient guitars, chilling slide guitars, rhythmic pulse guitars, distorted reversed guitars and so many more. Each of the kits in Guitar Soundscapes contains three separate and distinct guitar sounds/parts with multiple song sections for each of the guitar parts; giving you total creative freedom to tweak the amount of depth and texture to your hearts content!
One of my favorite things we’ve included is an enormous 1 GB of Xtra Guitar Pads, Sound Effects, One-Shots, Melodies and Noises categorized into various emotions like anger, horror, hurt and many more; as well as ebow guitar, guitar harmonics (pinched and hammered), guitar chords (major and minor with chord inversions), guitar slides, guitar string noise and pulse guitars which can be used to add rhythmic texture to tracks.
Here are the details for Guitar Soundscapes
– 6.6 GB of material (3.3 GB of 24-bit WAV files)
– 1867 files in WAV, REX and Apple Loops (843 WAV Loops)
– 20 Massive Construction Kits
Each kit contains a demo mix, each and every melodic, rhythmic and textural element broken out into stackable song sections, allowing you to mix and match and tweak to your hearts content.
– 1 GB of Xtras of 24-bit WAV files (332 WAV files)
Guitar Pads, Sound Effects, One-Shots, Melodies and Noises categorized into various emotions like anger, horror, hurt and many more.There is a section of ebow guitar, guitar harmonics (pinched and hammered), guitar chords (major and minor with chord inversions), guitar slides and guitar string noise. There is also a large section of pulse guitars which are categorized by bpm and can be used to add rhythmic texture to tracks.
If you haven’t had a chance to check Guitar Soundscapes out yet, head on over to Product Page and download the Free Sampler Pak!
Hello everyone! Hope you all have an awesome weekend as we continually push closer to Christmas and New Years. As always, here’s a bunch of new products that you should take a listen to.
Gypsy Jazzy by Ultimate Sound Bank is great for those looking for the gypsy roots style of music all the way to electro-swing.
Ueberschall releases 2 new products sure to inspire musical genius. Synth Pop is your VIP access to a full range of modern chart music with a new release through their “Inspire Series” called Rock.
MVP Loops is constantly able to crank out tons of Good Muzic (pun intended) while keeping their inspiration on fire with Blaze Vol. 2 (two for two).
Last but not least, Big Fish Audio keeps it real fresh with three new libraries. Dancetronic is sure to keep em’ on the dance floor and Hook’d Dirty Pop is here to make Lady Gaga jealous. Rock Cinema is a beast on its own, great for cinema as well as your own rock productions.
Have a safe weekend and be sure to keep an eye on our 25 days of Christmas sale!
Once again, we would like to thank all the producers that submitted some really great tracks using RiG: Urban Workstation. We had a tough time just choosing three tracks, but after all the votes were tallied our winners rose to the top.
*Our three winning tracks can be heard on the RiG product page in the demos section.
1st place: Grand Prize
Our winner of $1000 of Big Fish Audio products was Reginald Foy with his track “J.A’s Groove”. This R&B style track had a great sense musicality and set the mood for a clean cut and sultry groove that Robin Thicke, Ne-Yo, or Mary J would be a perfect fit for. Between the slow and evolving synths to the live drum groove mixed with some smooth and laid back guitar parts, this track shined with a blend of a catchy groove, overall arrangement, and a clean sound.
We wanted to know a little more about Reginald so we asked him just a few questions.
1. How long have you been producing music?
I’ve been producing music for five years.
2. Who are your musical influences?
I have so many musical influences, but producers like Dr.Dre, Bryan Michael Cox, Tim & Bob, Pharrell, Battlecat, and Kanye West have influenced my music the most.
3. Where do you live?
I live in Los Angeles, CA
4. How long have you been a Big Fish Audio Customer?
I’ve been using Big Fish Audio products for about two years now.
5. Do you work in music full time, part time, or just casually as a hobby?
Full time.
6.What are your favorite things about RiG: Urban Workstation?
The sounds, period. With all the kits that Big Fish has produced, we’ve all wanted to get our hands on the sounds itself. Being able to play the keyboard sounds with using MIDI has been the best. Being able to edit, chop, and add FX to each sound within the RIG makes it so simple to make tracks.
2nd Place
Our second place entry came from Michael Youssef with his track “Ice Cream” Michael’s track immediately hit us with his radio-ready sound. The drums were tight and punchy, and his use of the synth arpeggiator were spot on. This track felt ready for an A-list artist to come in and lay down some vocals to make a top charting song.
3rd Place
Our 3rd place entry came from Malik Al-Badri with his track “Kanzler Lensen”. Malik’s track had a really great electronica feel and really showcased how RiG can be used to create many different styles of music. We were really impressed with his blend of instruments used and effects added to create a mix that was super pro and an outstanding demonstration of the capabilities of RiG.
Thanks once again to all who participated in this contest.
Thank you to all who submitted tracks for the Rig Urban Workstation Producer Contest. We are now beginning the judging process on the hundreds of tracks that we’re submitted. The winners will be announced on December 8th. Best of luck to all!