Friday, March 25, 2022

Studio Bass Guitar Collection. Electric Bass Guitar Soundfonts. SF2

 


I have, for some time found quality electric bass sounds and samples a little difficult to come by, which is why I've developed the Studio Bass Guitar Collection as a series of Soundfonts. 
Soundfonts are still widely used, with Reason's NN-XT, and Bitwig's Sampler instrument both able to load the .SF2 version. 

Beat.de's Zampler sample player synth accepts .SFZ types samples, although I have developed the collection as a series of Zampler patches. 

Various other VST instruments are also able to load and play .SF2 Soundfonts. 

Volume One is now available. . 
Five Soundfonts are available in the collection, Articulate Fretless, Soft Finger P-Bass, Precision Power Pick, Velocity Slap Bass, and Velocity Funk Pull Bass

Soft Finger P-Bass is available as a free bass guitar soundfont, with the remaining four instruments available for the price of a drink. 

Soft Finger P-Bass Electric Bass Guitar features on the track below arriving in the second section just over a minute in. It's a powerful, defined bass guitar sound that will fit into many mixes.  




A full demo for the whole collection is arriving soon.

Free Bass Guitar Soundfont Download Link. 

You can download your free Soft Finger P-Bass best free bass guitar soundfont from the link below.
Simply download the .SF2 file and download it into your soundfont compatible instrument. 



Why not follow/like me at my Facebook Page to find out when it arrives and to keep up with all my soundware projects and developments many of which are free to download and use. 

Thanks for looking/listening!



Disclaimer:

The information contained within this blog post is offered on an informal basis and is correct to the best of my knowledge. I accept no responsibility for outcomes arising from the mis/interpretation or use of this information and/or associated download files. Always download files via security/scanning software.



Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Studio Bass Guitar Collection. Best Sounding Bass Guitars for Zampler.

 

For Zampler 


The Studio Bass Collection is now available for Zampler. 5 instrument groups with a total of 72 ready-to-play patches for Zampler

The sounds are ready-to-play with their associated samples and .sfz files, so there's no sample mapping or synthesizer editing requires, although, of course, you can use Zampler's powerful synthesizer eidting and effects suite to create your own unique patches and sounds. 

Zampler is a freeware sample player/synth for which I develop many of my sample/patch libraries. 

You can get your free copy of Zampler from the link below, and I strongly recommend you download it. It's really a classic freeware instrument. 



Bass Guitar Sounds for Zampler. 


The collection is in five library group. 

Soft Finger P-Bass - Free. 
Articulate Fretless.
Velocity Slap Bass
Precision Power Pick
Funk Slap Bass

All of the sample/patch groups use Zampler's powerful synthesizer editing and effects suite to full effect, to give you a wide variety of extremely playable, articulate, and realistic bass guitar sounds. 

All of the patch groups have 16 sounds within them except for the Soft Finger P-Bass group which contains 8 ready to play patches. 

This group of sounds is available free of charge to give you a flavour of the library. You can download these using the link below. 


The Soft Fingure P-Bass is featured on the 'Temple Sitar' demo track. It arrives in the section section just after the 1 minute mark. Check it out below. 





The rest of the collection is a very reasonably priced, great sounding bass guitar collection, which features the best bass sounds for Zampler around, in fact some of the best bass guitar sounds around for any instrument. 


In addition to the Zampler collection, The Studio Bass Guitar Collection will also be available as Reason/Combinator bass guitar patches and as a series of .SF2 Soundfonts.  

Why not Follow/Like my Facebook Page for all the latest soundware project updates including the Studio Bass Collection Demo Tracks and alternative platform versions when they arrive. 




Sunday, March 13, 2022

MUSIC: Tunnel of Love. Piano/Synth/Electronic Version of Bruce Springsteen's Beautiful Eighties Hit.


Hear it via my hearthis.at channel:




Haven't done any music/backing tracks/cover versions lately, been focusing on the soundware and samples, etc. 
So here's a bit of music. 
One of my favourite songs of all time. 
Not that big a Bruce Springsteen fan, but I love this song. 
Fairly simple four chord sequence, but it's magical!
Beautiful lyrics. When Bruce said; 'but this house is haunted, and the ride gets rough', he wasn't kidding!

All the elements of this piece use my soundware, sample libraries, synth patches, etc. 

The piano is from: Piano Mechanics One: Prelude. Piano library/patches. 
Bass Guitar: Fingered P-Bass from Studio Bass Collection. 
Synth Bass Arpeggios: ANIMAtronica Vol 1Steinberg ANIMA synth patches. 
Synth Pads: Several from DUNE CM Pads and Soundscapes Free Synth Patches for Synapse Audio DUNE CM. 


Whatever keyboards or programming you require, let me know. Whether you're a singer and need some original backing tracks programmed for gigging, or a studio cover version, session keyboards, or if maybe you're in a cover band based in London/SE England looking for a keyboard player, and think I might fit the bill, then let me know. Costs nothing to talk.  

I try and do at least one free backing track for singers a month, so I'll post this shortly without the piano and synth lead lines so you can use it in your set if you like. 



Monday, March 7, 2022

CONTROLLER KEYBOARDS. Akai Pro MPK249 and MPK261

 

Akai MPK249 Review. Akai MPK261 Controller Keyboard Review



So moving on from my review of the Alesis VI49 and VI61 USB controller keyboards, we'll now take a look at products from their InMusic stablemates at Akai Pro and see what the Akai MPK249 and MPK261 instruments have to offer. 

Like the Alesis VI49 and VI61, the two mid-sized Akai Pro MPK Series products represent a popular mid-range solution, so they offer plenty but won't break the bank for many users. 

When comparing to the Alesis 249 and 261 key controller keyboard products, it can instantly be seen that the layout of the Akai Pro product is noticeably different with the trigger pads now located above the keyboard, so the dimensions are 'chunkier' rather than 'sleek'. Shorter but wider, if you like. 

The Akai Pro MPK249 and MPK261 offer seamless integration with Akai MPC Beats and MPC Software music production platforms, so if you're using one of these DAWs (and they are very good, with MPC Beats being one of the best freeware DAWs available), then the choice of one of these keyboards as a USB controller may well be a 'no brainer', with dedicated controls for MPC Swing, Note Repeat, and MPC Full Level available as instantly mapped, dedicated controls.  

The 16 trigger pads with four banks for a total of 64 also matches up to the MPC/Beats layout and functionality. So these offers 48 more trigger pad 'notes' than the 16 of the Alesis VI Series which has a single bank of 16. 

Elsewhere, the keyboards are velocity and aftertouch (channel and polyphonic) sensitive with 49 (four octave) and 61 (five octave) note versions available with the octave +/- buttons delivering a total range of 10 octaves. 

Two chunky real-time pitch bend and mod-wheel controllers are located nice and close to the keyboard on the left hand side. 

Again the DAW transport section is fully MPC/Beats ready with Rewind, Fast Forward, Stop, Play, and Record buttons, but these will also integrate with just about any other music production platform, although it will always be worthwhile checking via Google.


Akai MPK249 / 261 Preset Mode.

One huge advantage the MPK49 and MPK61 have over the Alesis VI Series products is the Preset Mode which allows you to store and recall the keyboards fader, switch, and trigger pad note assignments in an instant without having to re-program it every time. All of these parameters can be altered in Edit Mode and then stored. 

This is great really not just for live performance applications but also for studio/writing applications where you can store a preset for each song or track. 

These Akai MPKs also have an on-board programmable arpeggiator. A lot of software synths and platforms have arpeggiators, but I still think this is a great feature. I love arpeggiators wherever they are found. Naturally, the keyboards also have a built in tempo clock to determine speed of the arpeggios. There are also a number of modes which include double, up, down, random, inclusive, exclusive and chord modes. 

Eight of each assignable knobs, faders and switches are available on the right hand side of the control panel, and there are 3 banks for a total of 24 of each. All of these assignments can be stored within a 'preset'.  

  

Akai Pro MPK249 / MPK261 Rear Panel.





The MPK249 and MPK261 can be powered from a laptop via USB bus power although there is a power supply option of you're using it just for MIDI applications. This has to be purchased separately, it is not supplied as standard. MIDI out is provided as well as MIDI in for synching/tempo control. A dedicated sustain pedal input is provided as well as an assignable real-time foot controller which can be used for volume or other real-time control parameters. 


Akai MPK249 and MPK261 Bundled Software. 

Ableton Live Lite and Akai's own MPC Beats music production software platforms are supplied alongside two software synths: Hybrid 3 by Air Music Technology, and Sonivox Twist.

MPC Beats is an ideal way to get into music production, particularly if you're into modern pattern based dance/EDM style production. But it has to be said that MPC Beats is available as freeware without purchasing the keyboard, and I've been unable to verify whether or not the MPK bundled version is supplied with any additional soundware, samples, patches, etc. 






Ableton Live Lite is an excellent introduction to this very popular and powerful software DAW. Again, this is very popular among contemporary EDM/dance producers and artists. 

Air Music Tech's Hybrid 3 is a powerful, virtual analog synth which is a very worthwhile piece of bundles software worth at least around £80, so that's well worth having!


The MPK249 is also available with black key. Which I would find a bit weird, but hey......



Is The Akai MPK249 Any Good?

Yes. These keyboards are an excellent combination of value and features for use with any DAW platform or especially Akai's own MPC or MPC Beats software. Polyphonic aftertouch is a welcome advanced feature, this is about where things start if you want programs/presets, they offer lots of realtime control with the right combination of faders, knobs and switches, and the bundled software package is excellent with two great DAWs and two excellent software synths, although it is clearly aimed at contemporary/dance/electronic music production, not so much singer/songwriters that might be looking more for acoustic instrument recreations.    



Links

You can find out more information at the links below. 

Official website description/specs, etc:


MPK249 User manual:


Akai Pro MPC Beats:




AIR Music Tech Hybrid 3. 


Ableton Live Lite


Sonivox Twist:


For a general look at controller keyboard functions and features:



Disclaimer:

The information contained within this blog post is offered on an informal basis and is correct to the best of my knowledge. I accept no responsibility for outcomes arising from the mis/interpretation or use of this information and/or associated download files. Always download files via security/scanning software.

Saturday, March 5, 2022

GHOST MACHINE PAGE: Vintage Digital and Analog Drum Machine Samples, Resamples, and Kits.

 


Dedicated page for all the Ghost Machine free vintage drum machine sample libraries is now available to view with info and download links for each collection. 

Each library contains a collection of beefed up and/or polished resamples as well as some ready made kits. The latest downloads include kits for Soundbridge's Ritmix drum machine instrument but there are also some for Redrum (Reason) and Decomposer's Sitala.

The library currently features Roland R8/R8MKII, Yamaha RX5, Korg S3, Akai XR10, and Kawai R50/R50e machines. 

I try and post at least one Ghost Machine update per month, so why not Follow/Like my Facebook Page to get the latest updates, and you can visit the dedicated, regularly updated page at the link below.