Forgot to add... about the Anomaly Player... I am pretty sure Camel does not allow 3rd party sounds to be played via the Alchemy Player. You could try downloading the four demo presets and see if they will load....

Hi Daniel, Yeah the demos all load fine into the player but as you say wont play.
 
These are just some ideas so please take it this way, not being critical. I just feel that for $75 all of those sounds are very very similar and I would love to see some more variation like in the Alchemy libraries eg darker heavier textures right through to lighter sweeter textures. Some cinematic hits and some loops perhaps that sort of thing some arps tc... People want value for money and if you mixed these things up a bit I bet it would be a better option.
 
I once bought (for about $20 mind you) a fantastic set of heavy textures for AKAI S1000. (Made by Platinum Audiolabs and is called Twisted Soundscapes) Except my Kurzweil and EMU samplers can load them up which is pretty cool.
 
Here is the thing though. The first preset in the banks are like yours. Very deep dark complex textures which sound incredible and have everything in and happening. Hold one note down and sit back and revel in how huge it sounds and evolves. But each complex texture only consists of 16 individual elements. The individual components all vary, some are pads, some are hits, noises, bangs arps etc you name it.
 
The next 16 presets are each component of the total sound on their own separately. Except now each component can be transposed over 10 octaves and not only that each component can be assigned a separate midi channel and you then set up a 16 track midi sequence and go in and play/record each component totally separately like a musical part on its own. So now the sky is the limit and you now have infinite and endless ways of playing the first texture. Very individual performances can now be had. Isn't that an interesting approach to it.

Okay.... You have your point of view. I can appreciate that.
 
The sounds are anything but similar, if you can bring your ears out of expecting darkness to be mixed with sweetness and light. Look at it this way. There are people who drink coffee black, and those who drink it with milk and sugar. You are obviously the milk and sugar type.
 
Not a problem, because you can get all of the coffee you want and add milk and sugar to your taste. See?
 
That is not what I do....
 
The example you give, to me, is padding. There is nothing to stop anyone who buys Anomaly from setting up single sound presets and exploring from there. And if I broke each of the 250 presets down into their single component parts and then made variations (8 of them) for each one I would be dead before I finished the project. And, in the end, padding what I feel is a unique and useful sound library for no reason.
 
Sure, I would have an amazing preset count, but that is not what I am about here.
 
What this is - is a compilation, specifically selected for Alchemy, out of nineteen volumes (soundsets) I have released since 2005. You may feel the price is heavy, that is your opinion.
 
I am really beginning to feel like someone pissed in your cornflakes this morning and you arbitrarily decided it was me. I assure you it was not....

I was offering constructive criticism but obviously you cannot handle it. Smart people learn and take on board from what others are telling them.
 
I am a very experienced composer especially of ambient textures and I have been doing it since 1980. I learned from listening to people like Brain Eno for example. (Stomu Yamahsta for dark) I know what elements you need and what sort of raw materials you need especially under deadline conditions. Anomaly is OK for certain things. You can only use those dark textures in so many situations. I just don't agree that it is great value for money that is all.  A lot of it sounds very similar to me.
 
Interesting yes but as I originally said there is an abundance of material already lurking within existing Alchemy libraries to create very similar sounds.
 
It must be hard to create something very original for Alchemy because a lot has been created for it already and it is quite amazing. That is why I think they take quite a long time between bringing out new libraries themselves. But when they do they are very new and refreshing and usually I buy them without hesitiation. And more importantly I find immediate use for the presets which sort of speaks for itself.
 
But good luck with it. I appreciate the work that you have put into it for sure.
 
 

Constructive criticism is one thing, but relentlessly going on about how something does not meet your expectations when it is what it is - is another.
 
Obviously we have different approaches.
 
You could always come out with your own soundset - exactly the way you want it.

Okay, you do not "get" the darkness.... That much I finaly understand.

Let me tell you a story. The story of how the Anomaly series came to be.

But let me also preface that. You think you are trying to be helpful. I get that. You think that by saying things like if it were cheaper, or better to your ears, or had more light, or was like something else - that you are in some way helping me. You are not. However, you are fully justified in your own feelings and thoughts.... For that is you...

Anomaly... was born out of my experiences in going through Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans. People I knew died. I lived through it.

This is not something I really make public. But it was hell.

You want to see the polite version of this? Go here:

http://www.westgatenecromantic.com/photoalbum.htm

and visit all of the pages...

You pushed and pushed, and I finally had a bad day reaction. I hope you are happy, I am human.

Anomaly is darkness, it is what is in me, and has been from the beginning, accentuated bt events in my life. It is my vision, my expression of what has come to pass and what may come to pass.

Wasteland is a very real place to me, and I attempt to express that through sound. So forgive me if I think that your suggestions of arps or melodies belong here. They do not exist in this place.

PS - if you really think you can create the same thing - go for it.... and feel free to share the preset that does so...

Your story is very interesting. However you are looking at it from an inward perspective looking out. We the buyers of these kinds of things are on the outer looking in. What do we see. We see $75 buys you 250 presets that are all very dark. And with 8 variations on each that amounts to 2000 sounds that are all dark.
 
That is OK and yes I do get dark. And there maybe a group of sound designers out there who may have to create lots and lots of dark textures all the time so your library would be a great option for them.
 
But you are also narrowing it down now to a rather small group of people. You may not sell that many. Us sound designers might have to create lots of ambient textures that vary much more so than just dark. So we are always on the look out for interesting ways to do that.
 
What would be graet from you is small library say for $35 or so that offers 100 dark presets. I would be in that for sure. You might find you will get more sales. Even the existing Alchemy libraries that are dark and atmospheric still have a wider range of variants contained within that library that extend its use well beyond just dark. People want value for money. I get that for $75 you are offering a lot of (dark) sounds and that is great but only for a limited number of individulas in my opinion who are really going to use them.
 
Any decent sound designer also does not put all their eggs in one basket either. I would never just use Alchemy alone and your sounds to create a texture. That is not how it is done. If you do that you run the risk that everyone else will do that also and create the same result. I would use your sounds as part of or even just a small part of a final texture. There are many other amazing VST's like NI Prism that can do dark. Even Dimension Pro has some amazing dark sounds on board. Analog synths, digital instruments, live recordings of very organic sounds with lots of manipulation. What about Izotope IRIS. Now there is an amazing instrument.
 
I am not pushing or trying to upset you, I am a pro user who has to do these things (not all dark either) for a living and I am on the lookout for intersting sounds and libraries all the time that is all. Just trying to give you some good advice and possible ideas. I hope you to succeed. You are not taking it the right way though.

You really do not get it....
 
There are some people, who just like to put forth what they feel, and share it with others.
 
They used to be called  musicians .....
 
 

In the end... you would never use my sounds. So this is pointless on the verge of trolling....