Kirk Hunter - Easy String Arranger Group Buy

I am interested in this.  I went to the Kirk Hunter Studios' page for this product and see that it requires KONTAKT 5.  So make sure you have Kontakt 5 if you are interested in this group buy.

[Edited:  I have found conclicting info about whether or not Kontakt4 will work or not.  This page indicates that Kontakt 4 and Kontakt5 are acceptable: http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/upgrade.html ; however, this page seems to indicate that Kontakt 5 is required: http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/tvec5.html .  I have sent a message to Kirk Hunter asking to clarify this and I will report back when I receive any clarification. ]

Intresting - I have Pop and Rock strings. The normal price for the add on in $59. Get that down a bit and I am really intrested.

I am pretty happy with Pop & Rock strings and Diamond, particularly with the TVAC 4 upgrades so I can't justify Concert Strings even if it comes down to $400

I joined up for the Pop Rock Strings version.

If it approaches 50% I'll add on the Concert 2 version as well.

There is still about 25 days left.  Hopefully more people who already have Concert Strings II and Pop & Rock Strings will sign up for this.  I sure hope it gets more attention.  If 100 sign up the price gets reduced by 50% which would make it only about $30.00--very affordable ad on.

So here is my "bump"

It's slower than molassis in winter - its up to 46 now.

I just checked and it's now at 52 - I'm surprised this is not a bit faster as the products are really good  - I love those pop strings and the auto arranger is a nice touch

Well, as I am only in for arranger to add to my Pop and Rock Strings, each step only saves me $6, but its a bit disapointing so far for anyone looking to buy one of the libraries.

#92  and 40% now

8 more and we get 50%

7 more days left

Short answer - Pop/Rock Strings is a library - you will need Kontakt to use it! It is not a stand-alone product, with or without the Easy String Arranger add-on.

This might be a little dated, but I did check the KH web site, and it appears to still be the case...
Pop/Rock strings is an NI Licensed library - it will work in the free Kontakt player, and if you use it in the full version it will show up in the library tab. I can confirm this from personal experience. My version is still back at TVEC3.

Concert Strings 2, Concert Brass 2, and Diamond all require the full version of Kontakt, and none of them will work in the free player beyond the 15 minute demo timer, and none of them show up in the library tab. This is also confirmed from personal experience, and again all mine are still back at TVEC3.

That said...

I really like the KH CS2, CB2, and Pop/Rock Strings libraries. I like Diamond, and use it for woodwinds, but they are behind in terms of features and completeness, I know Kirk is just one person, but I really wish he'd update the woodwinds to the same level as CS2 and CB2.

And that's about the only negative thing I can think of!


CS2, CB2, and Pop/Rock Strings have a very distinctive sound, and they include all the major articulations. I was told that Pop/Rock strings is really a sub-set of Concert Strings, and I think it is probably true, they sound very similar. From memory there are some articulations that are unique to CS2 and others that are unique to Pop/Rock, but with updates that may have changed.


Please understand - these are NOT 'out-of-the-box' libraries. They sound good, but you do have to work with them to get them to sound great. I happen to think that's a benefit, some might consider it a problem.


One of the innovations I really like is the single patch approach used in CS2, CB2, and Pop/Rock Strings. You load  a single patch and then select the division(s), articulation(s), and feature(s) you need by way of key switches, MIDI CCs, or even host automation. All three are available with Sonar and StudioOne, and likely other hosts.


Until recently I used key-switching, with an additional MIDI track mapped through a drum map, to help me manage key-switching. I am now on a kick to move everything to host automation. Why? First, keyswitches are limited to 128 values, and if you load the entire CS2 library, and want to control every feature, you need around 160 key switches. Oops.


While it is highly unlikely that a single project would ever use them all, I'm tired of creating 'custom' instruments for each project. With the advent of background loading in Kontakt5 it is now quite practical to just load all the instruments, and load the samples on the fly. (yes, it really works!)


Second - you can't reverse chase key switches, but you can reverse chase automation, host or MIDI.


Third - I still work with standard notation, and while the drum map approach works to keep the notation clean, it is a bit of a kludge.


The bad news is that you need an envelope for each change, I'm still trying to figure out a way to map all articulations, or all division sizes to a single controller message, but I haven't figured it out yet.


There are quite a few great sounding string libraries out there, LASS, Cinematic Strings, and Hollywood Strings jump to mind. All three of these sound better, out of the box, than CS2. But all three are more expensive! And really, all of these libraries have their strengths and weaknesses. If I was more successful as a composer I'd own most of them<G>!


All of these libraries represent one approach to libraries - the various instruments are available as individual patches. There is another approach, the antithesis if you will, where the patches are recordings of ensembles. I recently picked up Project Sam's Orchestral Essentials. It's really cool, and it sounds AWESOME without doing a thing. But you are limited by the instruments and articulations they provide.

Probably way more than you wanted to know...

I can say, without reservation, that you will not regret getting on the Kontakt bandwagon!

Your wallet may hate you, but your ears will not.

A couple things you may want to know:

1) NI has managed to paint themselves into a bit of a corner - they have insane sales throughout the year. Many people wait till the sales hit (mid-year is often the changing of the version, end of year is, well, end of year.) AND, they have these Komplete bundles that make it less than attractive to purchase individual libraries from them. Shortly after they release a library it often finds its way into the bundle. Some users find this frustrating.

2) On the plus side, once you make the initial investment they treat you very well, programs are available to upgrade individual tools, or cross-grade to bundles, and the prices are more than fair. It's just that first bite that can be painful if you are in a hurry.

When that happens, I look at it as an investment. If purchasing a tool at list price today brings in money then it may be money well spent. If waiting for the sale is an option I will usually wait.

Once you get a Kopy of Kontakt (kouldn't resist), there are a number of developers that you'll want to check out - the depth and breadth of sample libraries for Kontakt is just short of 'wow'!


- SoundIron & 8Dio started out as Tonehammer - they have a wealth of libraries ranging from small, very specific tools to large, conventional offerings like strings and choirs.

- OrangeTreeSamples - the best (my personal opinion) guitars and basses out there. If you need a guitar or bass library. He also recently released a lovely piano library.

Bolder Sounds - some really cool, and very unique libraries. Not your run-of-the-mill stuff.

Soniccouture - another great developer of small libraries, and also off the beaten path.

Cinesamples, ProjectSAM, AudioBro, Chris Hein, Cinematic Strings, SanpleLogic, VSL, and Spitfire - heavy hitters, mostly large scale (read expensive) libraries, but Spitfire has several freebies (donationware), and Cinesamples has some very cool smaller libraries as well.

Dream Audio Tools, Impact Soundworks, Indiginus, Embertone, Stresov, and a bunch of others I am regrettably forgetting - all make great libraries, these are generally smaller, and newer companies, but that doesn't mean they won't be the next heavy hitters.

There is also a slew of free, or $5 libraries out there. If you get Kontakt give me a holler and I'll send you a list.

Its there - I just looked an its at 103

Never mind, I just got it down loaded...

I'm in as well - thanks fwrend for spelling this out for us!

Impression after downloading and the buy - Group buy sign up ends 4/15...
 
Really glad I did it. Great value!
 
Impression 1 - it's a more complicated download than usual. A good number of steps to put it all together, but he documents it well and everything works as he explains it. It's just not a typical one-click install.
 
Impression 2 - I bought the Pop Strings with Easy Arranger. It is very versatile and after experimenting with the settings I have been able to come up with incredibly lush string sounds. Without question this package has upgraded my strings capabilities several times over.
 
I like the sounds a lot. I'm curious as to whether the full Concert Strings 2 set would even hit it out of the park further. But I'm very satisfied with what the Pop Strings set provides.

I've downloaded it for my pop rock strings. The videos look great. I haven't had a chance to work with it yet. Does anyone know if it renders the harmonies out as midi??  That would be tres fab!!