Indiginus Acoustic Guitar Collection updated for 2010
I’ve long been a fan of the Indiginus sample libraries and their amazing attention to detail and authenticity. The guitar is a very difficult instrument to recreate in an electronic environment in an authentic fashion, but Tracy Collins, the man behind Indiginus has used very clever sampling techniques, namely detailed velocity switching and multisamples, to achieve what is in my opinion, the best acoustic guitar sample library in existence. And the price of this amazing library? A mere $40 in Akai AKP (S5/6000, Z-Series, MPC4/5000) & Kontakt 3/4 format!! That, my friends, is a deal, it’s a steal, it’s sale of the fuckin’ century!!!
Last month, Tracy released an updated version of AGC with improvements to the StrumMakerII scripts in Kontakt. Having played with this now for a bit, it’s a pure joy to use. But don’t take my word for it, use the player below to watch some videos demonstrating the beauty of this sample library.
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It’s also worth mentioning here that there is a new instrument in the Indiginus portfolio now too. The Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer is, in Tracy’s words:
…. a four stringed instrument usually played on the lap, by strumming or picking with the right hand and fretting with the left. It is normally diatonic, with the frets creating a major (or itʼs relative minor) scale. The tuning is most often D-A-D, with the two highest strings close together and in unison. When the instrument is strummed, the high strings can be used to play melody, while the low strings drone. Or, chords can be formed and strummed guitar style.
As far as anyone can tell, this type of dulcimer originated with the settlers of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States as far back as the 18th century. Itʼs cheerful sound and characteristic heart-shaped sound holes must have been a comfort in what was, for the most part, a hard life. The instrument has enjoyed a revival in recent decades, and can have a Celtic, Middle Eastern, or Oriental sound. Our sampled Mountain Dulcimer is presented chromatically, and you will see the “in between” notes on the fretboard of the Strummer instruments.
Amazing stuff and only $30!! Available in Akai AKP (S5/6000, Z-Series, MPC4/5000) & Kontakt 3/4 format.
And while we’re at it, don’t forget the Indiginus Solid State Symphony library, another steal at $40, which is nothing short of stunning…
Exclusive & Exciting! Novachord in more formats!
Hollow Sun’s brilliant Novachord library is going from strength to strength by encompassing even more formats all the time, bring this exquisite library of vintage synthesis to an even wider audience.
It is looking increasingly likely that the library will soon be available in three more formats, to complement the existing EXS24 & Kontakt versions.
Last night I was given an exclusive sneaky peek at a Reason ReFill of the Novachord and it certainly looks pretty! 
I hear work is progressing apace and we should hear something very soon regarding a release date. Keep checking back here and at the Novachord website for the latest info. You can subscribe to my RSS feed right here.
Suffice to say, Reason is an extremely popular tool. It’s been my weapon of choice for some time now, with it’s immediacy and unrivalled stability. Some bemoan it’s closed format but in all these years, I have never felt restricted by it. Everyone has their own preferred tools for music making that suit their ideal work flow, and Reason ticks all my boxes 
And if that wasn’t enough, it looks like we will see the Novachord gracing the Akai S5000/6000 format soon, which means instant compatibility with the MPC4000 & MPC5000 production tools as well as the legacy Z Series rack samplers. The other beauty of the Akai format is that it will be readable by many other samplers and converters so this will increase the catchment of this unique library.
And finally, the Alesis Fusion will see it’s own version of Novachord soon after. Even after it’s untimely “death”, this vastly underrated workstation, which is rapidly gaining cult status and still commanding high used prices on eBay, is still getting up to date library from not only Hollow Sun, but places like Back In Time/KPR too.
Whilst I held Hollow Sun to ransom and squeezed this info out of them, they let slip of a number of high profile users of Novachord of which they are rightly proud, so who knows where we might hear this sublime collection of sounds soon??
Korg M1 Piano Samples
Remember that classic piano sound from 90′s house records? The ubiquitous Korg M1 Piano patch was the 90′s equivalent of the DX7′s EP patch or the Fairlight’s Orch5 stab.
A long time ago, a cohort on the KvR forum, a guy from Norwich by the name of Kriminal, sampled his M1 keyboard and made the piano patch available as a soundfont, I believe. Being an avid Akai user, I asked him if I could convert to the Akai S5/6000 and Z Series formats, to which he agreed. Those are still available here:
S5/6000 (16 bit)
Z Series (24 bit)
Today, Nick at SonicState.com put out a call for the M1 piano sound and he has converted them to EXS24 format and shared them accordingly:
So I thought I’d share the love too
Thanks to Kriminal, Nick and of course Korg
