In this post I am going to give you my picks of the month and focus on two outstanding guitar loop libraries we’ve recently released. First on my list is Off the Hook Guitars. Off the Hook Guitars continues in a long line of worldwide hits in the “Off the Hook” series. There is something special that can happen to a Hip Hop or R&B track when you add the element of a live played guitar. Whether your looking for licks or leads, rhythm parts, or wah wah guitars you’ll find it all in this jam packed library. These expertly played and recorded guitars are definitely Off the Hook!
My second library recommendation for the month is Studio Guitars: The Michael Ripoll Project. Michael Ripoll is an A level guitarist working in the studio and on tour with some of the biggest names in the industry. Working with Michael on this project was a lot of fun. His range of talent and mastery of so many different styles is astounding. This is truly evident in this library as it contains over 1,000 loops ranging from rock to country, jazz, to funk. This is a must have library that will be an asset in many many music productions for years to come. (Currently Michael is working on a couple new projects for Big Fish Audio, so keep your eye out for their release later this year).
Now that you know my picks of the month go ahead and check them out yourselves. Both of them contain a free sample pack for you to download and try out yourself. On top of that I would like to personally offer our Blog readers a coupon code good for $20 dollars off either of these products for the month of June. Enter BRGPC1 at check out to receive your discount on one or both of these products!
‘…Just one word : STUNNING!…’
K-Slash on KVR
‘…Incredible. Great library! Next on shopping list…’
synesthesia on KVR
‘…I thought sample-based virtual guitar would suck, but boy was I wrong!!!…’
benjamind on KVR
‘…I can’t play keyboard quite that well but it’s pretty amazing what this VI can do on the fly. Once I have the spare cash I will be all over electri6ity for sure. Nicely done vir2….’
dmichaelsmusic on KVR
‘…This is great, I honestly never thought something of this caliber could be achieved in the range of Guitar Synth’s / VST’s. It sounds real. I can’t wait until it comes out….’
kirbyfighter12 on KVR
If you’re wondering what all that buzz is about, it’s about Electri6ity, the brand new virtual electric guitar instrument from Vir2 instruments. I’m Benjamin, one of the developers of Electri6ity and today I want to give you some insight into the development of this massive guitar library. I also want to tell you what makes it so special.
Let me start with some facts about Electri6ity: more than 200,000 44khz/24bit DI samples, eight famous guitar tones (Strat, Tele, P90, Les Paul, Rickenbacker, Danelectro Lipstick, ES335, L4) and more than 50.000 lines of Kontakt scripting.
Sometimes I’ve read that people don’t like advertising numbers when it comes to virtual instruments. Most of the time I agree. For example: I don’t care if a library contains 10,000 patches, if I only like one of them. I also don’t care if it has a million samples, if I can’t use it because the learning curve is too steep. But sometimes the amount of samples and the size of a library does matter.
Let’s start with size: Do you like a 30-second sustain note with natural decay better than a 5-second looped one? I do. At least when it comes to guitar or bass libraries.
Let’s talk about the amount of samples: Of course I agree with everyone who says that the amount of samples doesn’t tell you anything about the quality of a library. That’s true. If a library however is carefully recorded and each of the samples is manually edited and you want to cover all important articulations, the sample count will rise. And in this case it makes sense. Thanks to the new Kontakt 4’s new compression feature, however, we were able to keep this gigantic library at a reasonable size of 28GB.
The reason for the large amount of samples is the concept behind Electri6ity: every articulation is sampled with the same detail. For example: when we recorded a hammer on, we also recorded a muted hammer on. When we recorded a pull off, we also recorded a muted pull off. Same for the single fret slides. Same for the noises. We recorded every imaginable facet of the electric guitar. If you can imagine it, Electri6ity can play it!
Another key concept of Electri6ity is its artificial intelligence. This is very important if you want to emulate a guitar on a keyboard, since those instruments are so different in the way you play them. For example, on a keyboard every note has it’s own key, but on a guitar you have six strings and many notes are available on different strings. Depending on which string you choose, you’ll get a different timbre. And for a realistic performance it’s important you have access to those little nuances, especially if you are playing chords.
That’s why Electri6ity automatically transfers keyboard chords to guitar chords and – by watching your playing – is selecting the right string for you.
To make it short: we wanted to create an instrument which doesn’t need MIDI programming or editing. For my part, I’m a bit impatient when it comes to that. I don’t want to spent hours in the sequencer, tweaking controller changes, adding hundreds of keyswitches or loading patches for each articulation I’m going to use. I just want to write a song, I don’t want to engineer one!
That’s why the artificial intelligence behind Electri6ity takes care of that part, so the performer can concentrate on their creativity. This doesn’t mean, by the way, that you can’t exactly tell Electri6ity what to play and how to play it. You can – but you don’t have to!
I hope you enjoyed this insight into the concept behind Electri6ity and I hope you’ll see why we are so excited about its release after three long years of development.
For more information and demos visit http://www.vir2.com/instruments/electri6ity and http://www.youtube.com/user/vir2instruments, where you’ll find a lot of demonstration videos.
Cheers,
Benjamin
Vir2 Development Team
Hot new material! We are proud to welcome aboard our newest production team, Nova Loops, with two hot new titles, Hustla Anthems: Dirty South Edition and ATL Dirty South Muzik.
Nova Loops is no stranger to the game of making both hit loops and sample sound products, as well as hit records. With a track record of success in many facets of the music business, Nova puts a lot of pride and commitment into bringing the hottest, most current sounds straight to your studio. Naturally that makes them a good fit with Big Fish Audio. When I first heard the sounds on these two products, I instantly knew this was something our Big Fish faithfuls would want to get their hands on! They feature a great current vibe, and excellent creativity from guys who know what they’re doing. As we continue to release more products from Nova Loops, you’ll quickly see them become a part of your formula for making hits. Take a look at the force behind the sounds of Nova Loops:
Donald Johnson – A talented producer, engineer, sound developer, and content guru. He’s one of the new-breed music visionaries, intent on re-inventing how music makers create hit records.
Mr. Dalvin – A hit maker, celebrity and member of the multi-platinum group Jodeci. Mr. Dalvin brings years of experience, countless recording credits, and a massive collection of content to Nova. Mr. Dalvin is credited with bringing some of the biggest recording artists of our time to the forefront. Additionally, he serves as the “Beat Czar” for the Nova Beat Contest.
Michael Chapman – A marketing genius and entrepreneur. He ensures that Nova is bringing the best of what it has to offer to both the streets and the suburbs. His passion for music is only surpassed by his marketing wisdom for creating programs, contests, and events that give back to the customer and help them realize their dreams.
Nigel Williams – A Berklee College of Music graduate, incredible musician, songwriter, producer, and their vice president. Nigel brings a relentless drive to the product development process of Nova. He is responsible for signing only the best musicians and producers, as well as overseeing the huge in-house production team at Nova.
Be on the lookout for more hot titles as we’re just getting started with Nova Loops. Big Fish Audio will continue to manufacture and distribute the highest quality loops and sounds for your high-quality production needs!
If you’re into watching all the new trends, as we are, check out this app for the upcoming iPad: a Korg Electribe-R virtual analog beatbox. Look for more creative uses of this new and exciting platform in the future! (Thanks to Synthtopia for the tip!)
Here, Jordan shows off some of the Middle Eastern sounds in Ethno Instrument 2.
More videos are available here
Thanks for the tip from Stretta who points out someone who created his own hardware control surface to play MOTU’s BPM, the popular MPC-style plug-in that lets you program your own beats. It’s a favorite of our customers so thought it warranted a mention here!
