Hello Everybody! hope you all have had a great month and for those of you who went to NAMM a great show!
This month I want to highlight two of my favorite libraries that are breaking ground in the Electronic Cinematic genre. These are not your standard cut and dry cinematic loops, they break the boundaries of film scoring and give a pro-ready setup for some amazing possibilities.
First up, we have Altered Reality: Dark Cinematic Elements. This library is the definition of out of the box, from glitchy lightning infused impacts and transform sounds to ambient atmospheres of different worlds, Altered Reality has it all. The depth of quality in these samples is unmatched. Without needing any outside reverb or compression of any kind, the sounds are huge in quality and depth of design. Altered Reality contains over 500 loops, 404 one-shots and is organized between those two categories. The product has been formatted in WAV, REX, Apple Loops, and Kontakt as part of our KLI Series. With so much diverse content and infinite layering possibilities, Altered Reality will be an invaluable resource for a long time.
Next is Titan Filmscapes – Electronic, Industrial and Dramatic Filmscapes. Titan Filmscapes is a hot new filmscapes product by Dieguis Productions and it sets the bar for contemporary film scoring. Titan Filmscapes showcases composers and films such as Hans Zimmer, Cliff Martinez, Chemical Brothers, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Social Network and many more. Titan is incredibly diverse, with instruments ranging from electric guitar to ambient pads to marimbas and even flute. The product has been formatted in WAV, REX, Apple Loops, and Kontakt as part of our KLI Series. Boasting over 800 Acidized WAV loops and taking home 4 out of 5 subs from SoundsandGear.com, this product is a hands down winner and a must have for any working on a film score.
Michael “Nomad” Ripoll released his first project with us in November of 2009. Studio Guitars: The Michael Ripoll Project has been a top seller ever since. His ability to play multiple guitar styles with a mastery few guitar players ever achieve in just one style is one of his primary trademarks. Studio Guitars received rave reviews as well as being nominated for the “Best Sound Library” category in the annual Sound on Sound Magazine Awards. Soon after we also released Crunch: Rock Guitar Loops, a smaller collection focused specifically on rock guitars.
Now for full disclosure: We knew that Michael had long been touring with platinum R&B recording artist Babyface as his guitar player. In addition Michael’s plays at a prodigy level when it comes to flamenco style guitar playing. When we first started working with Michael we asked him to hold off recording R&B, Hip Hop, and his Flamenco styles for Studio Guitars since we wanted to create products with him that specifically focused on those styles.
In the last few months we have released both Guitarra: Spanish Guitars and the Urban Guitar Collection by Michael “Nomad” Ripoll which are our two featured products for this month.
Guitarra: Spanish Guitars features 30 loop sets of spanish style guitar loops. Each kit will showcase a number of loops that all work together to create complete performances. The loops contain various flamenco styles and techniques all played with precision and accuracy that only a master could achieve. The loops are formatted in acidized WAV, REX, Apple Loop formats as well as kontakt format as part of our KLI Series. For those with the full version of Kontakt 4.2 or higher, the KLI version of the product is a great way to take advantage of editing and tweaking the loops beyond what is traditionally possible as well as a number of multisample patches of sustains, tremolo, chord strums, (major and minor), and more. For more information check out the product page and make sure to take a listen to the demo as well.
The Urban Guitar Collection is the fourth release from Michael. This collection features nearly 500 hip hop and R&B guitar loops. This product includes acoustic and electric guitar loops that would be perfect for both hip hop and R&B styles. This product is also formatted in acidezed WAV, REX, and Apple Loop formats. Yet again, Michael shows off his uncanny ability to play multiple styles of music and simply nail it.
You can currently find out more about Michael Ripoll at his two websites:
This months picks of the month include two outstanding libraries featuring guitars played with various unique effects allowing the user to use them in many different musical contexts. Many of the sounds are specifically geared towards a more modern cinematic use while others would be great in rock, electronica, ambient, or other experimental styles. Each of the two libraries comes in both WAV, REX, and Apple Loop formats as well as in Kontakt format as part of our KLI Series.
First, let’s take a look at Guitar Soundscapes. Guitar Soundscapes has a specific lushness to the sound design and will immediately draw you in with its full spectrum of guitar parts from high soaring leads to deep more pad-like Guitarscapes. All guitars were recorded using real amps and all effects were created using outboard effects and top of the line guitar pedals. We think you will agree the result is stunningly beautiful. In total, there is more than 3 GB (24-bit WAV) of original content here.
Second up is the just released Eclipse: Ambient Guitars. This product explores a very wide range of guitars from acoustics to various different electrics. In addition there is a vast amount of different effects used and a lot of experimental uses of the guitars. From percussion effects created by a recorded guitar, to intensely unique and complicated delay effects. Some of the kits sound as if they could fit directly into a cutting edge rock song while others would be perfect content to find its way into a modern techie film score. Just like Guitar Soundscapes, Eclipse contains a large amount of content with nearly 3.5 GB (24-bit WAV) of content.
Sometimes you have to be a little different to get noticed. If you do the same old thing and sound like everybody else it can be a struggle to make it to the top. This month I want to look at a couple of libraries that are a little “different” from your standard loop libraries.
Quirky Guitar Vol.1 and Quirky Guitar Vol.2 are two of our most unique and original libraries. These loops feature but are not limited to guitars. You’ll also find glockenspiels, bells, music boxes, pianos, hand claps, and a few other “bells & whistles”. The mood of these libraries is light and playful while still containing content to create some series musical pieces. You may be reminded of some indie singer songwriter artists such as, Feist, Ingrid Michaelson, Lenka, and the like.
As part of the Textured Series, these construction kits don’t contain any drums but simply focus on the melodic instruments, opening up the possibilities with these loops to go in any number of musical directions. The recording quality is top notch and the musicality is simply outstanding. Both products have been formatted in WAV, REX, Apple Loops, as well as in our KLI format for our Kontakt users. At 69.95 each you will find a serious bang for your buck with loads of usable and inspiring loops for your next album, commercial, or tv spot.
Use code QUIRKY1 to receive 30% off when you buy both Quirky Guitar Vol.1 and Quirky Guitar Vol.2.
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.
At Big Fish Audio we are obsessed with putting out content that is the best of the best. We strive to put out products that far exceed the industry standard for quality when it comes to loops and samples. The two products I want to look at this month are no exception when it comes to the highest quality in recording, production, and loop formatting. Suite Grooves, and the newly released Suite Grooves 2 were created by one of the leading Smooth Jazz producers out there. Jeffery Carruthers is a Grammy nominated, Platinum and Gold Record producer who has been creating music professionally for over 25 years. When we first linked up with Jeffery we were instantly blown away by the quality of his production and new we wanted to form a partnership. Suite Grooves volume 1 was an instant hit and continues to be a top seller for Big Fish Audio. Just released this past month is the long awaited volume 2 in this stellar line of products.
Suite Grooves volumes 1 contains over 4.3 GB of smooth sax, trumpet, keys, guitar, bass, piano, drums, percussion and more. You’ll instantly notice the quality of musicianship, recording quality, and overall production when you take this guys for a spin. As you browse through the content of this product you may forget that you are listening to a sample library as these construction kits are so well crafted you’ll think you we’re listening to a chart topping smooth jazz album.
Suite Grooves 2 is now available in both the WAV/REX/AppleLoops version as well as being part of our new Kontakt KLI Series. Instead of being “more of the same ol”, we have truly stepped up this collection even beyond the standards set by volume 1. Each kit now has multiple sections with multiple variations. In addition we have a full set of hits from each kit included as well as multi-track drums for all drum parts allowing you to create custom mixes of the drums. The one thing that hasn’t changed from volume 1 is that these kits are truly infectious with memorable melodies and grooves that you can just sink your teeth into with nothing but the highest quality that you would expect from Big Fish Audio.