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SPL launch Phonitor 3 SPL's new headphone amp and monitor controller will serve as a direct replacement for the Phonitor 2.
Is EastWest’s Fantasy Orchestra the one sample library to rule them all?$995 (currently on sale at $389), or as part of Composer Cloud+ subscriptions, soundsonline.com
Last year, EastWest set out on a quest: capture the sonic essence of fantasy scoring, tame it into something usable, and place it in the hands of film, TV, and game composers worldwide.READ MORE: Ableton Live 12 dives deep under the hood for its latest milestone Live update
The first offering, Fantasy Strings, got full marks from us here at MusicTech and, since then, each successive entry in the series has gone from strength to strength. Joining the string section, we now have brass, woodwinds, percussion, choir, and a new version of the all-powerful Orchestrator plugin.
The quest is complete, and it’s time for us to take a step back to appreciate the grandeur of Fantasy Orchestra as a whole.What’s in the EastWest Fantasy Orchestra?
Let’s begin with the winds. Gone are the traditional flutes, bassoons, and oboes; instead, we have a collection of instruments that you might not know by name but you will instantly recognise when you hear them. There’s the soft, woody sound of renaissance flutes, the even softer and woodier ocarina, the sonic power of Ireland’s uilleann pipes, but, for my money, the Irish whistles are the star here.
There are four whistles on offer. In the upper register, we have a high B flat whistle with a rich and warm tone that works well for solo melodies. By contrast, the D whistle has a bright, almost cutting tone that can easily be heard amongst a thick musical arrangement. The low whistles have an overall darker and softer sound, but the differences between the low D and E flat whistles are fairly subtle; arguably, the low D whistle sounds a bit more breathy.
Hugely versatile, they’re perfect for fast, energetic scoring, or for slower, emotive passages – and all of them deliver that iconic timbre we instantly associate with rolling green hills and magical creatures.
While the woodwinds, brass, and string libraries stay firmly rooted in European traditions, the percussion section ventures further afield with ceng ceng cymbals from Bali, ashiko drums from Africa, a selection of taiko drums from Japan, and many more.
Fantasy Orchestra Library
The workhorse is likely to be the Celtic Bodhráns, since these feel very tactile and energetic to play — an ideal option if you need to bring some forward motion to an action sequence. There’s also nice articulation options throughout this library, with lots of rolls, flams, and extended techniques to add some extra authenticity to a passage.
Plenty of lovely samples are available for the upper register, with crotales, an orchestral bell ensemble, and many small hand shakers. On the bottom end, the standouts are Gran Casas and the gigantic Nagado-daiko drum, which, in its low turning, boasts some of the deepest resonances we’ve ever heard in a sample.
Sounds that thump, rattle, and ring are all well and good but if you need to go epic, then the brass section will be your destination of choice.
The Wagner Tubas have a huge sound that feels expansive and heroic straight out of the box, while the Alpen Horns — four-metre-long instruments that were originally designed to be heard across the mountains and valleys of the Swiss Alps — carry a sense of high drama and brooding intensity that is genuinely special. Their sound is unique, with a hint of pitch instability that you won’t get from modern brass.
Fantasy Orchestra Orchestrator Presets
What’s really nice about the brass section is that it has scope; there are the warlike textures aplenty, grandeur and mystique, but it’s also easy to conjure delicate and emotive swells from the flugelhorns and low brass ensemble.
Last, but far from least, is the vocal library. Female, male, and mixed choir ensembles have been beautifully captured with four vowels and three dynamic layers to work with. The Opus player’s Mood presets demonstrate their worth here, easily showcasing the emotional range of these ensembles from melancholy to majestic.
The choirs are impressive, but the undeniable showstopper here is Merethe Soltvedt, whose solo vowels, melodic phrases, and words — sung in Quenya, J.R.R Tolkien’s language of the Elves – make this library worth considering even as a standalone collection.
Soltvedt’s performance is so evocative that it left us wishing EastWest had also included a solo male vocalist as well. Sure, it’s much more common to hear a solo female voice in fantasy scoring, but a male tenor would have provided a wonderful counterpoint here.
Fantasy Orchestra Orchestrator MIDI Editing
These instruments do admirably well in isolation, but make no mistake — this is a library with a cohesive vision behind it. All five sections integrate beautifully with each other to make a formidable scoring tool and, as you start to build a full orchestral arrangement, it’s hard not to be impressed with the sound quality EastWest has achieved.
Of course, a good fantasy soundtrack needs more than just authentic instruments, it also requires specific scoring techniques. In an ideal world, composers would have tons of free time to get comfortable with the musical styles of the middle ages or the Baroque period but, if you’ve got a deadline to meet, EastWest’s Orchestrator plugin is going to be a godsend.
As we’ve previously noted, Orchestrator is an incredibly powerful tool that streamlines key aspects of modern composing. The new version (developed specifically for Fantasy Orchestra) arrives with almost 500 genre-appropriate presets covering everything from ensemble arrangements, rhythmic ostinatos, to fully realised scores. It’s an incredible resource that can take in a few chords and give you back a near-finished scoring cue, and, if you want to dig deeper, there is plenty of scope to tweak these presets, pull them apart to see how they work, or build your own from scratch.
Fantasy Orchestra Main Interface
Should you buy the EastWest Fantasy Orchestra?
As a standalone purchase, Fantasy Orchestra comes in at $995 — a serious investment for any composer. Of course, with regular sales at East West, or a Composer Cloud+ subscription, it’s possible to snag this library at a much lower price.
If you’re looking for affordable alternatives, consider Sonokinetic’s Fantasy, or the small but lovely Conservatoire Collection from Soniccouture. However, there really is no other sample collection that offers a full orchestra with this level of sound quality, usability, and genre specificity.
EastWest has managed to stick the landing, producing a library that will surely be an essential resource for screen and game composers for years to come.
Fantasy Orchestra Articulations
Key features145 GB library
36 instruments across five orchestral sections
474 Orchestrator presets
Available as part of a Composer Cloud+ subscriptionsThe post Is EastWest’s Fantasy Orchestra the one sample library to rule them all? appeared first on MusicTech.
Tekton Audio allegedly threatens critics with legal action for leaving negative reviewsUS speaker company Tekton Audio has allegedly been threatening popular critics with legal action for leaving negative reviews of its products.
Erin’s Audio Corner and Audio Science Review published negative reviews of the Tekton Audio Troubadour and M-Lore speakers, citing technical flaws according to tests they carried out.READ MORE: “We aim to make this an indispensable tool for DJs, independent artists and producers”: New AI stem separation technology secures UK government funding
Erin Hardison of Erin’s Audio Corner published a review of the Troubadour speaker, taking a look at its frequency response. Hardison contacted Eric Alexander of Tekton Audio before reviewing to get setup advice and followed his instructions, then explained that his original review was aactually quite positive; he hadn’t highlighted any major issues. You can watch his second review below:
Per Headphonesty, Tekton’s Alexander claims he’d have offered more specific guidelines if he’d known Hardison was going to measure the speakers, and Hardison alleges that Alexander “suggested that in the future, I provide him with data before I publish anything. I told him that’s not how my channel works and that I always try to remain transparent to my audience.”
Hardison asked for advice in his Facebook group, purporting that he’d received a threat of litigation. He also claimed in another post that a designer at Tekton took issues with his review methods. He never made a direct link between Tekton and the litigation threat in his posts, but many of his viewers have drawn inferences – particularly as the company removed the Troubadour speaker from its website too.
Meanwhile, Amir Majidimehr of Audio Science Review published a negative review of the Tekton M-Lore speaker. And, in a now-deleted video, Alexander reportedly claims that Majidimehr misinterpreted the data he took. Assering that the negative review affected sales, with no M-Lore speakers sold in two months, he says, “I feel blindsided by Amir. I believe he owes me a personal and a public apology. I believe Amir should be doing everything in his power to rectify this problem.”
Commenters have since weighed in on the drama, with many criticising Tekton and Alexander’s approach. One commenter writes: “The facts are you have not posted your measurements and a tutorial on how they were done and what Amir or Erin has done wrong. Show us your science?”
“You should be ashamed of the threat of legal action against an honest review. No one has an agenda against Tekton, a simple posting of the results by the reviewer and Tekton would be sufficient to support your position. (or not).”
Read more music technology news.
The post Tekton Audio allegedly threatens critics with legal action for leaving negative reviews appeared first on MusicTech.IK Multimedia announce TONEX ONE IK Multimedia's latest TONEX hardware offers a compact and budget-friendly way to take their Tone Models to the stage.
We Can Learn A Lot From the Dance Music IndustryThis week, Ari is joined by Moody Jones, the General Manager of Dance at EMPIRE.
Highlighting this post for productivity and the pics are cool too 🤓 and it relates to anything
Using my phone built-in voice recorder a lot to not forget new ideas
“Voice Memos are a no-brainer” for music production, says TouristCollecting gear is fun, obviously, but sometimes simplicity prevails over all. Just take a look at Fred again.. who recorded the bass sound for his track Jungle from the crackle of a bad cable, or even Tourist who... ...Tracktion present Dawesome MYTH Tracktion say that MYTH has been designed to provide the joy and inspiration of playing a hardware instrument, and takes a different approach to sound creation that your average soft synth.
How to grow profit? -Decrease expenses, open new lineup, don't pay royalties with less than 1000 streams. #Spotify #FairSpotify #MusicBusiness
Spotify stock surges 11.4% as users grow to 619M in profitable Q1 2024Spotify [NYSE: SPOT] stock jumped 14.94% mid-morning Tuesday morning on news that the streamer had turned profitable despite slower-than-expected user growth in Q1 2024..... The post Spotify stock surges 11.4%... ...Spotify CEO Daniel Ek outlines 3 new ‘core’ opportunities for musicSpotify CEO Daniel Ek discussed three "core trends" for music during the company's Q1 2024 earnings call and said that the streamer is already working on all of them.....
The post Spotify CEO Daniel Ek outlines 3 new ‘core’ opportunities for music appeared first on Hypebot.Spotify stock surges 11.4% as users grow to 619M in profitable Q1 2024Spotify [NYSE: SPOT] stock jumped 14.94% mid-morning Tuesday morning on news that the streamer had turned profitable despite slower-than-expected user growth in Q1 2024.....
The post Spotify stock surges 11.4% as users grow to 619M in profitable Q1 2024 appeared first on Hypebot.Recording Academy® Producers & Engineers Wing Launches "Mixing for Atmos – What We’ve Learned” WebcastThe Recording Academy® Producers & Engineers Wing® recently hosted the first episode of its new online series dubbed "The Forum," which aims to connect P&E Wing members with exclusive insights on an array of the industry's hottest topics. Titled "Mixing for Atmos® – What We've Learned," the event initially took place on March 28 and attracted more than 180 P&E Wing members who tuned in for the live session, which has now been archived for public viewing and is available here). The two-hour segment, hosted by producer/engineers Glenn Lorbiecki and Jordan Hamlin, was an in-depth exploration with the mixing team of Matt Wallace and Will Kennedy, whose immersive projects include work ranging from Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner and the B-52s to Selena Gomez, Nina Simone, Jason Mraz, and many more. This lauded duo has helped pioneer immersive audio mixing with over 200 Dolby Atmos® projects to their credit. P&E Wing Vice President Maureen Droney introduced the event, welcoming attendees and offering background and info for the session's esteemed hosts.
Discussion began with an overview of the extensive credits garnered by the duo, ranging from classic recordings from their decades-long careers to their adoption of the Atmos mixing ecosystem. "As we made the transition from stereo mixing into Atmos, the learning curve was exponential and much more beyond what we had imagined," recalled Wallace. "And, because there were no kind of rules or guidebooks or guide rails, and no elder statesman we could refer to and say, 'Hey, how do you do this?' We had to make it up as we went along — new software, new technology. I think all of us [the whole industry] were basically thrown in the deep end," he added, noting the invaluable support of the informal "Dolby Atmos Mixers Network" of fellow engineers sharing their own discoveries.
The Recording Academy® Producers & Engineers Wing® recently hosted its first event in the new monthly online series dubbed "The Forum," which aims to connect P&E Wing members with exclusive insights on an array of the industry's hottest topics. The first event, titled "Mixing for Atmos® – What We've Learned," took place on March 28, 2024, and attracted over 180 producers and engineers in attendance. Shown clockwise: Jordan Hamlin, The Forum co-host; Will Kennedy, featured guest; Matt Wallace, featured guest; Maureen Droney, P&E Wing Vice President; and Glenn Lorbiecki, The Forum co-host.
Complete video of this first The Forum series event, "Mixing for Atmos – What We’ve Learned," is available here, with further events to be announced soon.
Tesla profits drop 55%, company says EV sales ‘under pressure’ from hybridsTesla profits fell 55% to $1.13 billion in the first quarter from the same year-ago period as a protracted EV price-cutting strategy and “several unforeseen challenges” cut into the automaker’s bottom line. Tesla reported revenue of $21.3 billion in the first quarter, a 9% drop from the first quarter of 2023. Analysts polled by Yahoo Finance […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.80s Function Generator is Both Beauty and BeastYou know how the saying goes — they don’t make them like this anymore. It’s arguably true of pretty much any electronic device given the way technology changes over time, though whether or not it’s objectively a bad thing is going to vary from case to case.
As a practical example, take a look at the insides of this 80’s vintage HP 3314A function generator shared on the EEV Blog Forum by [D Straney].
Hinged PCBs allow for easy access
With multiple PCBs stacked on top of each other, it’s hard to imagine that more components could possibly be crammed into it. One board in particular appears to be an entire Motorola 6800 computer, something which today would likely be replaced with a single microcontroller.
Which is actually why [D Straney] shared this with us in the first place. After seeing our recent post about a modern waveform generator that’s basically an empty box thanks to its modern components, they thought this would be a nice example of the opposite extreme.
So, is it a good or a bad thing that test equipment isn’t made this way anymore? Well, it’s hard to argue with the improved capabilities, smaller footprint, and reduced cost of most modern gear. But damn is the inside of this HP 3314A gorgeous. As one of the commenters on the page put it, hardware from this era was really a work of art.Universal enters strategic partnership with producer Binetou Sylla and Wèrè Wèrè Music to lead Def Jam Africa across French-speaking AfricaThe partnership will see Paris-based Binetou Sylla lead Def Jam Africa within French-speaking markets on the continent
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