Hey everyone, today is Greg Schlaepfer's birthday. Greg, of course, is the principal of Orange Tree Samples and one of the most talented sample developers on the planet. Why not take a moment and wish him a happy birthday???
I've known Greg for around 5 years. We got to know each other a short time after I stumbled upon his newly created business, Orange Tree Samples. I want to share a little of the story, as I'm sure some people wonder how we're connected.
I'd been using guitar and bass sample libraries in software samplers and VSTs since the 90s and hardware samples before that. I've been through practically everything you could think of, Steinberg's VirtualGuitar, RealGuitar, sample libraries, always trying to find something that sounded more authentic. So when I came across the demos for Strawberry Electric Guitar, I was blown away and even persuaded a long time guitarist friend who was always hypercritical and consistently negative about every guitar sample library and VST he ever heard to give the demos a listen. His first reaction was to tell me that he believed the guy was trying to pass off real guitar performance as sample library demos and he explained to me in very great detail why. I shared that with Greg. When I ended up getting the library, my friend Keith, a longtime working guitarist, said to me, "Wow. I can't believe the detail this guy thought about. It's amazing how he went after the smallest details and, in the end, that's why it fooled me to believe it was a real guitar performance. Now I think I understand how you felt when drum machines came out!"
So, I contacted Greg again and shared the story and told him that I'm a marketing professional who has managed and led digital marketing for some major brands and that I've helped out a lot of independent devs in my spare time to come up with new products, plan out promotions for new products, name and price products, advise on their website, digital marketing, publicity, advertising and SEO and that if he could ever use my help, I'm a huge and long time user of sample libraries, especially guitar libraries and VSTs, that knows the marketplace well. Greg took me up on my offer and we soon became friends too. He'd contact me to bounce ideas off of and sometimes, I'd randomly shoot him an email with an idea I had and we go off on brainstorm on things together, live the Evolution guitar line, which really was my dream guitar library.
I can honestly say that I find him to be not only a brilliant, innovative sample developer, but a wonderful and kind person with a great deal of integrity. And trust me, I'm not the type to shower false praise on anyone. I stay pretty subjective about my own abilities as well as others, even dear friends. When I say (or rather, write) that Greg is a brilliant sample developer, I truly mean it. And I've heard the same opinion from A LOT of sample developers I've gotten to know over the years. And when I say that Greg is a wonderful person, I mean that as well too. I love seeing someone with that amazing combination of talent, innovation, drive, attention to detail, customer focus, integrity and ideals succeed. Consequently, my five years of watching his business succeed and grow is very satisfying to me as is using the great libraries he creates.
Happy Birthday, Greg! I hope it's your best yet.