SAMPLE SOUND REVIEW: REVIEW: UFO 61 by SoundIron

Friday, May 24, 2019

REVIEW: UFO 61 by SoundIron

The UFO 61 is a 1970's vintage five-octave electronic organ synth originally created from Italian instrument maker Viscount.

OVERVIEW

The UFO 61 features 6 main front panel knobs on the front of the GUI interface.

LFO, FILTER, and ARP are the advanced controls.

DSP EFFECTS RACK

2 main nki instruments
    20 Custom Sound-Designed FX and Ambient presets
    1.74 GB Installed
    544 Stereo Samples
    24 bit / 48kHz Stereo uncompressed PCM wav audio
    Unlocked wav samples can be directly imported into almost any wav-compatible plugin or DAW.

REVIEW

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from the UFO 61, but I knew if Soundiron released it as a Kontakt instrument, there must be something special about it. As for me, I knew nothing about this 1970's Italian five-octave electronic organ synth created by Viscount. I expected a sound that would be more niche oriented and probably wouldn't appeal to me. Boy was I wrong. This instrument has a lot more than meets the eye, and when I dug in, I found it to be a satisfying experience.

UFO 61 was recorded by John Valasis a Greek-born composer, producer and sound designer. Through John's professional career he has had clients including Native Instruments, Ableton, Virgin, Amazon Prime Video, Vice Magazine, and the BBC. However, his musical resume goes far beyond that. He recorded the UFO 61 at his studio in Athens using two pairs of Neumann TLM 103 large diaphragm microphones and to me, it sounds flawless.

Even though there are only 2 Nki instrument files, the number of features in this cost-effective library makes it well worth the purchase. UFO 61 comes with 12 Organ presets, 30 Ambience Articulations, and 20 sound designed FX presets. The controls on the front page of the instrument are volume, attack, release, offset, vibrato, octave, and a glide slider for legato & portamento leads. There is also an Advanced tab where you can access LFO, Filter, and an Arpeggiator.

My favorite part of the library is the custom FX presets and the ambient presets. However, if you ever wanted to own a UFO 61, or like that retro organ sound then you should really like the Organ presets. As for me, the former collection of presets captured my inspiration. It’s cool when you hear what sound design technology can do to a vintage instrument. Soundiron has a way of turning the most uncommon of instruments into something fresh and enchanting. There is plenty of dreamy, ethereal, and evolving ambient soundscapes. However, with 19 different DSP effects, you can turn a lush ambience into something dark and harsh. Out of the box, you get a package that hits the mark!

UFO 61 is a unique Kontakt library that contains an abundance of features that not only sounds nostalgic but refreshing. Soundiron made me appreciate an instrument I had no idea existed, and I loved every minute of it!

5 Out of 5 Stars!