221 thoughts on “General Software”

      • on some cracking plugs – they are really simple to use and i think good – fabfilter

        the compressor is really great – its really fun to use which ive got to say is a new one for me

        ive never seen a fun compressor – ive not tried the limiter but i hear good things…

        the delay unit is such fun also . its really nice to use products that make you have fun and like look of. results are high quality etc.

        http://www.fabfilter.com/products/

  3. Can anyone point me toward some good transitional sound fx? Swooshes, sweeps, reverse hits, trailer type sounds. I’ve used some cool sounds that come stock with Logic but I’m just looking for some fresh transitional fx that don’t take a whole lot of time to create.

  4. im looking for a great vsti synth for writng electronic music. I reckon spectrasonics omnisphere would fill all my audio needs but i dont want something as big as 40GB. I already have FM8 and Massive but find a lot of the sounds a bit odd, emptyish or screechy. I need a synth than can produce full, fat and punchy synth sounds.(mostly for lead and bass) Im thinking maybe refx Nexus 2? I might be wrong but it seems to be for trance/techno music and i dont want to invest in something and end up with 400 trance sounds. Anybody got sum suggestions?

    • +1 to all the suggestions above, Omnisphere is great but a CPU hog beware. The Korg legacy stuff is all $49 per plug or $199 for them all. They are really good, and a steal. Alchemy is fantastic but a steep learning curve when you dig into it.

      • I used a program called absynth once (I think thats how you spell it) anyway it had some great punchy sounds but I don’t know if it’s still out there. I was working on a sci-fi project a bit like tron and all the sounds I used were in that one programe. Honest I wasn’t being lazy!!!!

        • It’s still going. I have Absynth 5 but I don’t used it much. Great synth but for me, it’s not really a go to type synth for regular bread and butter synth sounds but more sounds on the out there spacey movie sound effects side. Take that with a grain of salt since I’m more of a preset guy.
          You can do wonders with Absynth if your synth savvy unlike me.

          • Actually, Absynth is very powerful and allows you to work with your own samples. But if you’re into presets check the Biolabs vols.1-6 that Camel Audio made for Absynth.

    • Auturia’s Analog Factory software version. 3500 presets emulating a bunch off different synths.
      Great If you’re not heavy tweaker but you’ll have a fair amount of control to change a few things if you want.

      • okay thanks everyone. Had a listen to camel alchemy. Sounds lovely. At the moment its between Alchemy, Nexus, Reaktor or maybe sylenth. I already have the korg legacy collection. Some great classic sounds but i need sumthn modern/cutting edge. Atmosphere is a nice idea too. not sure if it will compare soundwise to more recent synths tho. ill have a look at it now on you tube. thanks all.

        • If you’re more interested in making music than sounds, my humble suggestion would be to pass by Reaktor as a go-to synth. It’s very deep, very powerful but requires (IMO) a lot of time so I find myself not using it. Frankly, I find it confusing. If you’re an old-school analog guy who loves tweaking, it might be fine, but if you’re looking for something with a minimum of hassle, it’s probably not the best bet. My 2c.

    • hi dude

      this synth is in my opinion the best synth out their, FACT

      The no 1 best –

      former arturia designer xavier left aturia and went to set up own company

      i like aturia and have all their synths but they really dont come close to

      what he has made now….

      he believes in anolog and remade the rare polykb

      its so so good, i put this above every other synth out there, of course only my opion

      and to another maybe not so good. i love it. listen to the demos if still looking.

      http://www.xils-lab.com/

  5. Does anyone have experience of running Logic Pro on an Imac, specifically the 2.93 Quad one.
    I am thinking of using a separate machine for Logic. My old G5 runs Protools HD3 flawlessly and is great for mixing, no running out of horsepower issues, BUT when running Virtual instruments it really sucks. Any experience appreciated.

      • Hi JD,

        I tend to agree with Denis. I don’t think that Soundminer will help with metadata in the way that you seem to want — alleviating the tedium when uploading tracks to websites.

        It’s more of a organizational tool for post folks to find tracks on hard-drives. It embeds data on the tracks. This would be very helpful if you are submitting your catalog/library directly to users, i.e, supervisors, producers, editors, who need to search for tracks in the studio.

        Cheers,

        Michael

        • Thanks Denis and MichaelL!
          That’s what I thought, but I still had my fingers crossed. 🙂

          Does anyone have a preferred program that they use for tagging/keywords? I still use iTunes, just because it is simple, for “standard” meta data, but I wish there was a “keyword generator” software package out there. Kind of like a thesaurus check list! Check box a couple of words and it starts spitting out the relative words.

          I wish I had time to be a programmer! If anyone on the MLR is a programmer, I work on small royalties. 🙂

  8. The thread on using Big Fish audio samples in library music got closed out but I thought I should interject. You can get a conditional license to use many of their products in library music. The person to call or e-mail is Debbie Mohr at Big Fish. I had a situation where I had purchased a sample CD not realizing I couldn’t use it for library music and she issued me a license. Generally you have to make sure the samples do not appear in the clear.

    Let me add that I didn’t have any hassle with Debbie on this or with another product I purchased from them.

    • Hi Art,

      Thanks for posting that comment….this Big Fish thing is news to me and upsetting to hear.

      A quote directly from the ‘About Big Fish Audio’:

      “And from the very beginning, Big Fish Audio has sold license-free sounds. Your purchase of our product IS the license: if you’ve bought our product through a legitimate source, you have the unlimited right to use it in your musical compositions. Unlike some companies, Big Fish Audio does not require you to fill out clearance forms or pay additional license fees,…”

      I do believe that regarless of the info on the FAQ page of their site, this paragraph IS misleading without a doubt. That information about library usage should be sitting on the face of their homepage, or on the invoice right before you press ‘complete purchase’.

      All of that having been said, their products are amazing. I will be contacting them about this as I am curious about your meaning of ‘conditional license’.

      Azarra

      • My question is, is a “special use license” good for as all library submissions?
        And what are the “Some conditions apply?”
        I have London solo strings I would like to use but put it on the back burner. I’ve got other products without built in hassles. I won’t buy any more Big fish stuff.

        • I went through this issue regarding Big Fish and Libraries some time ago. I was interested in Mojo Horns, from Vir2, but distributed through Big Fish. I inquired about the limitation. Heres is the response that I received:

          >Hi Michael,

          I will pass on the comments to the relevant people at Big Fish Audio.

          The central issue is that construction kit products, such as those that Big Fish Audio produces, include full instrumental mixes of the construction kits, and there have been significant violations in the past of producers of library music who simply take the full instrumental mixes and then submit those as library music, which isn’t really fair. Then there is a big gray area concerning how much manipulation must be done by a producer before a construction kit can be used for library music. The argument is this: that if you purchase a construction kit product, Big Fish Audio is licensing the material to you for use in your own musical productions, however, you are not free to re-license or sub-license the same material again, which is what happens in music libraries.

          This issue does not concern Vir2 Instruments products, since Vir2 products are multisamples, i.e. meant to be played note-for-note and therefore can’t be relicensed as-is because they wouldn’t make any musical sense. They can only be used by a player to create a new musical performance, thus, the library music restriction doesn’t apply to Vir2 products.

          I hope that helps explain. Big Fish Audio does grant waivers upon request, if a producer makes it clear what context they plan to use the construction kits.<

          That is the explanation that I got. I don't use construction kits, so it doesn't matter. And, I did not hear anything that I liked enough to bother with requesting a special license.

          Cheers,

          Michael

          • Thanks alot for that excellent post MichaelL. That makes perfects sense to me now.
            Now I can go back to using my London Solo Strings and the other multisampled instruments for library submissions.

            • Hi dblock,

              Because London Solo Strings is a Big Fish product and not a Vir2 product, I would drop them a email anyway, just to make sure that you’re in the clear.

              You may get asked by a library if your samples are cleared. So, it would be good to have a message from BF to that effect.

              Best,

              Michael

              • Good point MichaelL. I think I’ll do that. I actually did send them an email months back about the special license but never got any kind of response but I’ll try again.
                Thanks

          • MichaelL,

            That explanation they gave you about Vir2 products is misleading, IMO. Some Vir2 instruments DO contain loops and phrases. The bottom line is what license restrictions does the creator of the product impose? I always go to the product creators website and read their license because I don’t believe Big Fish have the right to impose additional restrictions merely because they are the distributor. If that were the case one should go buy the products directly from the creator or other distributors. Hence, I’ve bought Cinesamples and Vir2 (for example) through Big Fish because the respective creator’s licenses are fine. On the other hand, I won’t buy any Big Fish branded products because their license is restrictive and nothing they have is worth the hassle of having to apply for special use licenses.

            • On the vir2 page they actually state that they are part of Big Fish. Almost like Big Fish is the Mother company calling the big shots so now I see he connection. That’s what makes it kinda crappy. I have syntax but I don’t see a synth as a problem. I decided not to by Big fish stuff anymore. Just not worth the headache for library use. I just emailed them asking about London Solo Strings. Either way I’m done with Big Fish. Problem solved. Too many other products out there. I just don’t need to email tech support to feel safe using their products. Cost enough as it is. The logic behind the construction kits I can understand though.

              • You’re correct about the connection but the Vir2 license agreement doesn’t have the Big Fish brand restrictions…

                “The samples contained herein are licensed, not sold to you, the individual end user, by Vir2 Instruments. This non-exclusive, non-transferable license is granted only to the individual end user who has purchased an unopened, new, and lawfully made copy of this product from a dealer or distributor authorized by Vir2 Instruments. All samples remain the property of Vir2 Instruments and are licensed only for use in the creation of a live or recorded performance that includes the licensed samples as part of a derivative musical work created by the licensed end user.

                This license expressly forbids resale, rental, loan, gift, or transfer of these samples in any format or via any medium, except as part of a derivative musical work. The samples may not be included, whether unmodified or as part of a derivative work, in any sample library product. Any unlicensed usage will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under the law.”

                • This was another response from Vir2:

                  >Hi Michael,

                  Mojo can be used for library music. While there are some prerecorded riffs included with Mojo, just like in the previous mail, they wouldn’t make for very good music if used alone, so they’re still largely dependent upon a composer to put them in a musical context.

                  Bottom line: Vir2 products are fine for use in library music.

                  Big Fish Audio products may be used in library music only under certain conditions and via a special waiver that’s available by special request to the folks over there.<

                  Like I said, I don’t use any of their products. I did not buy Mojo.

                  Cheers,

                  Michael

                  • I should point out, again, my decision to not use BF was not related to their license policy. I just didn’t hear anything that I don’t already have covered, or as in the case of Mojo, there’s something that sounds better to my ear.

                    Things like CineSamples (great stuff), I buy directly from Mike & Mike, at their website.

                    • Yeh, I like buying direct too but there were some unbeatable deals over Christmas like Metallurgy for about $77. 🙂 And I shall leave it there as it’s waaayyy OT.

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