When I heard there was a group of
programmers called the ESC (European Sound Collective) that created a tribute
library for the legendary PluginGuru (John “Skippy” Lehmkuhl) who started sound
designing in the late 80's, I got really excited. John Lehmkuhl has put a lot
of work in teaching his talents to others. He has done music, sound
rhythm and remix programming for many top musicians like Hans Zimmer, James
Newton Howard, Harry Gregson-Williams, Kenny Loggins, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna,
Mariah Carey, Whitney Huston, and Richard Marx- just to name a few.
The ESC group decided they were going to thank John and
build a new Omnisphere 2 Soundset Library as a Tribute to sound designing
master PluginGuru. The ESC is a collective of incredible sound designers and
composers.
Even though there are more than 16 members currently part
of the ESC, these are the names of the 16 who contributed to this library:
Burny Huber (Holland), Gareth Adonai (Germany), Tim Dale (Wales), Wolfgang
Stindl aka Ikarus (Austria), Florian Gerger aka Clark Parker (Germany), Harald
Geyer (Germany), Jan Bakker (Belgium), Henrik J. Larsen aka JX3D (Danmark),
Darius Jambor aka Wizmos (Poland), Marcel Krapels aka Prikwol (Holland), Anton
Anru (Russia), Stephan Baer(Zwitzerland), Marius Janssen (Germany), Henrik
Johanson aka Henky, Airwave aka Laurent Veronnez, Adam Henderson aka Caxa.
The library consists of 250 patches with
50 sound sources and requires Omnisphere 2.1 or later.
REVIEW
To be honest, I wanted this library so
badly to live up to its name. However, I approached it with a neutral unbiased
approach. Even though I was a huge fan of John the PluginGuru, I wondered if
the sound designers could really produce a worthy tribute and pull this off.
With fingers crossed I unzipped the file, imported it into Omnisphere 2, and
took a deep breath. I knew damn well this was going to be a long session. No
matter how long it took I was going to sit there and audition every patch in
this library. Next to me, I had a pot of coffee brewed and my monitors turned
up. I began with first folder ARP+BPM and holy cow did it hit me, this is
sounding powerful, but will it stay strong. Folder after folder I played and
when I landed in the Pads+Strings folder I almost choked on my coffee. The
patches were so lush, full and rich with emotional character that I didn't want
to stop playing them. The production level of this library is top notch and
obviously has been developed with the PluginGuru standards. This is an absolute
astonishing tribute that really showcases these sound designer’s talents. I
can't wait to see what the ESC releases next, I'm sure it will be a tour
de force. It must feel great to have sixteen Luke Skywalkers show off their
jedi sound design skills to the great Obi Wan Kenobi. Sorry for the Star Wars
pun but I couldn't help but think what a great gift to receive from such
talented individuals who have learned something from John's Youtube videos. I
feel this library is worth so much more than its regular price point. It not
only contains a huge amount of stunning material, but it offers patches that
can be used in all kinds of genres of music. Everything from killer vintage synth sounds to modern scoring textures, you'll find it here. Another part of the library I really liked was that it contains 50 new sound sources which is a combination of 100% original and some are from other PlugInGuru Sample libraries (Del Norte EDM / MegaMagic: Viola / MegaMagic: Pads, and more.
If you want to hear every patch in this library, I recorded a video below that is over 2 hours and 48 minutes long auditioning every patch. This is a tribute library that really lives up to its name and is not an Omnisphere library you should think twice about buying. 5 out of 5 stars!!
is a collection of 50 textures for Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2. The sounds are designed primarily for atmospheric, otherworldly and experimental ambient, film and game music.
The soundset features:
25 Textures Playable
25 Textures Soundscape
Omnisphere Ylem II is available for € 14.00 (incl. VAT). You can download a demo pack of patches from the collection for free.
Omnisphere Ylem II requires Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2 version 2.3.2 or higher.
REVIEW
Before playing Omnisphere Ylem II, I was wondering if a soundset with only 2 categories 'textures playable' and 'textures soundscapes' was going to offer anything substantial, even if it has a fair and reasonable price point. I have so many soundsets for Omnisphere 2, I was worried that I heard it all before. If you're not familiar with Gahrn Audio, it's a sound design company owned and operated by composer, producer, and sound designer Claus Gahrn . So before pressing the first note on my keyboard, I had hoped for something special. Believe me, when I say, I can tell when a patch has been lazily created or when someone actually put some heart behind their creation. I'm here to say it's not quantity but quality here. Omnisphere Ylem II dropped any concern I had about a library that has only 50 patches in 2 categories. When I continued playing the presets I realized I was totally engrossed in another world. This set does what it's supposed to do- engross the listener. When I play an instrument I imagine the story that can be told by it on film.
Ylem II conjured up multiple scenes of dread, suspense, fear, sadness, hope, and even serenity. Some of the patches had a perfect mix of atmosphere and lo-fi giving the listener and composer the perfect gritty underscore for a dystopian world like moving picture. Whether your composing films, games or writing darker ambient music you will find an incredible use of Ylem II. The only downside to owning Ylem II is that you are going to want first Ylem. Gahrn Audio even offers some free demo download patches of this soundset making this a no-brainer to check out for yourself. I have made a video below that auditions every patch if you would like to check out. Omnisphere Ylem II is a 5 out of 5 Stars.
Empty Fields – F.2 for Omnisphere 2 is an ongoing project
with 10 releases in a one-year timespan (every 4/5 weeks a new release). Each release
will contain 50 – 70 new patches, 10 – 20 multis and it will use a hybrid setup
with using both new recorded material and using soundsources from the
Omnisphere 2 core library.
You pay a one-timeprice of €75,00 and
you will receive automatically each new release. If you are joining in later,
you will get all the previous released packs.
There is also an unbelievable 90
day money back option which
you will not have to worry about because
this library is so damn good, I mean it!
I was totally engrossed into a world
of peaceful ambiance with nature scenes all around me. As I played this library
I could see myself on my own little adventure away from all the madness of
technology. I believe I could score an entire documentary or a film underscore
with just this pack alone. The new soundsources were top notch breathing a serene outdoor life into Empty Fields. The patches are divided into Ambiences, ARP's, Basses, Keys, Leads, Pads, and Soundscapes. What also impressed me was the fact that I experienced different atmospheres and environments in this series. I felt like I was traveling in the cold dead of winter and then reborn with the birth of spring. Tons of emotions have been crafted in the sound design of Empty Fields and Triple Spiral Audio has once again created a masterpiece.I don’t mean to gush over the power of this series,
but I can’t help myself. Anyone with Omnisphere 2 would be falling way short by
not picking this up.
Final Thoughts:
The Empty Fields series for Omnisphere 2 embodies ambient
perfection in every way. Triple Spiral Audio has risen in the ranks of one of my
favorite sound designers. A one-time
price of €75,00 will give you 10 releases in one year, has to be the the best
values I’ve seen in years. This is a Mandatory Buy!
In this video, Sample Sound Review will audition the incredible sounding
Pads section in String Audio's new Darkless library for Omnisphere 2.
Its 2.7 GB of new samples, exclusively recorded and
produced for Omnisphere 2 STEAM engine, gives all the Spectrasonics
Omnisphere 2 users a new gem full of new soundscapes, signature samples
and musical cues that will help you to write and produce your new
musical masterpiece.
DARKless is
more oriented towards bright tones and a positive/emotional mood, making
it the perfect companion of LIGHTless, which has sound characteristics
oriented towards dark tones and a mysterious/sinister and aggressive
mood.
Content Description
2.7+ GB of brand new STRING AUDIO signature samples exclusively
recorded and produced for Omnisphere 2
305 Soundsources
346 Patches
128 Multis
All Patches and Multis names contain an indication of the type of sound
based on its tone and mood.
Please note that this is only an indication
and you can easily edit the tone and mood of the sounds using the
powerful editing functions offered by Omnisphere 2.
[white] : usually a bright tone and a positive/emotional mood
[grey] : usually a bright tone but with a mysterious/sinister mood
[black] : usually a dark tone and a gloomy/creepy/aggressive mood
In my opinion, this is a Perfect addition to your Omnisphere 2 library and it deserves my highest rating. This is a must buy like all their other libraries.
