Natural Gate by Rabid Elephant | It's REALLY good. But why?

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"The NG is often considered as the best sounding LPG you can get - if your fortunate, lucky and patient. It's analog, but it doesn't use a natural vactrol decay because it can ring much longer thanks to the Decay slider. I guess the term 'natural' applies more to the physical properties of hitting something soft, hard, slow or fast, where the materials and pitch also matter. A classic LPG has a static hit, but DXG is advertised as dynamic. To get the most out of our not-so-natural LPG's, it's cool to demystify these physical properties and try to patch them up so we'll understand them better. They can make a lot of difference. So this is not going to be a 'look what I got' video because it doesn't help anybody. There's a big section about advanced envelope patching with Maths and Optomix to add physical properties like pitch dependent decay and strike intensity. But it's not easy, and it doesn't sound as natural as the NG.

When I was hooked on Optomix, I 'protected' myself from non-vactrol LPGs like the NG and the SSF SSG. I often said, if it doesn't have vactrols, it's not an LPG. I've been biased and prejudiced and it happens to all of us from time to time, considering the endless analog vs digital discussion. Technology serves a result, and when the result is excellent, it's great technology. I've been expecting wonders from the NG and in the confined realm of classic LPG's it really delivers. But I am not sure if it can compete with the fun that comes with a module like the SSG. The NG is one of the very best. But the best one is the one that helps you make the music you love most. Honestly, I think the SSG will serve more genres and styles.

The African track is composed and performed by me when I was still in the box and used NI Maschine a lot. It's named after the expansion pack 'Global Shake'."