"The Crow Hill Company creates POCKET STRINGS as no-barrier-to-entry-styled string library plug-in produced without compromise… with added ‘synthy spice’
EDINBURGH, UK: having recently rebranded itself with an aesthetic that truly realises company co-founder and composer Christian Henson’s heartfelt dream of encouraging people to make music and help them on their journey, regardless of whatever point they were at and wherever their journey began, The Crow Hill Company continues its journeying into ‘Season Two’ as a producer of resources and tools to protect, inspire, support, and provide opportunities for music-makers the world over, believing that music is, and should remain, a wholly human experience, one that is by far one of the most powerful forms of expression, escape, comfort, and remembrance, of which its newly-created POCKET STRINGS — styled as a definitive string library plug-in that opens the doors to collaboration between anyone anywhere, creatively combining live cinematic orchestral recordings with some rarefied vintage synth classics made to measure for added body, depth, and character — readily represents the cornerstone of this ethos, as of July 10…
“A string library that’s accessible to all without compromise — a distillation of the last 25, nearly 30, years that I’ve been working as a media composer, which means that I write music for film, TV, and computer games, giving you the very basic necessities to write pro-end string arrangements. Whether that be adding to productions, songs, collaborating with others, or, indeed, creating professional film scores — whether that be to demo for an orchestra to play, or, indeed, to go to broadcast, there’s been no compromises here. But accessibility is the key — not just with the price point, but with usability.” So says Christian Henson himself, perfectly positioned — as The Crow Hill Company’s original founder, forging forward by building upon his extensive experience gained from founding Spitfire Audio to originally offer a palette of sounds he had created for his own use as a professional composer to his film world colleagues by invitation only, though the rest, as they say, is history — to proudly introduce POCKET STRINGS as a never-tried-before strings library plug-in that aims to bring broadcast-grade string possibilities to everyone.
"Analog Era is a collection of 50 presets for the Korg Wavestate synthesizer, featuring 9 arpeggios, 6 brasses, 6 basses, 6 keys, 9 leads, 5 pads, 2 sequences, and 7 strings. 📼 This sound bank draws inspiration from the iconic sound of Vangelis, the legendary composer behind numerous film soundtracks, most notably Blade Runner. Vangelis' signature style is also prominent in his works from the 1970s, such as Spiral, Albedo 0.39, Earth, and others.
📻 This sound was heavily shaped by the pre-digital era, where electronic music relied on analog synthesizers like the Moog Minimoog, ARP Odyssey, Yamaha CS series, Roland Jupiter series, Korg MS-20, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, and more. Unlike the crystal-clear precision of digital sounds, analog is characterized by warmth, detuning, and subtle distortion, creating a rich texture. I aimed to recreate the essence of this era and sound in the "Analog Era" soundset.
📸 Analog sound remains highly relevant today and is in great demand across various musical styles. Many sound designers strive to emulate it using modern instruments and plugins because it evokes strong nostalgia and emotional connections, taking listeners back to their childhoods, retro music, and classic films.
🎹 Although the Korg Wavestate is a digital synthesizer, it offers a wide range of features that allow for an accurate emulation of vintage analog sounds. It includes an extensive collection of waveforms and timbres, analog filter emulations, and a variety of effects. I worked to maximize these capabilities to craft the "Analog Era" soundset.
🧿 These performances are perfect for genres such as Synthwave, Retrowave, Synth-Pop, Ambient, New Age, Cinematic, Electronica, Pop, Techno, Industrial, Psytrance, Garage, Progressive, House, Experimental, Breaks, and Drum and Bass. They also work well for movie soundtracks, games, apps, digital art, sound art live performances, and VR landscapes, providing the retro atmosphere that many projects require.
"GRENOBLE, FRANCE: music software and hardware company Arturia is proud to announce that it is offering an unprecedented 50% discount on V Collection 3.0 — a software suite of Analog Classic instruments already adopted by the most demanding music producers worldwide — for a time-limited, one-month period starting on December 16...
V Collection 3.0 brings together the sought-after sounds of several of the most legendary analogue synthesizers and classic drum machines that helped shape the sound of modern music-making into an attractively-priced premium software suite fit for transporting those sounds to today’s computer-based production systems. Indeed, thanks to Arturia’s tried-and-tested TAE® (True Analogue Emulation) technology-powered software instruments, those sounds are proving more popular than ever, making themselves heard on countless hit records, Hollywood film scores, blockbuster games, and all manner of praised productions around the globe.
V Collection 3.0 includes no less than ten of Arturia’s multi-award-winning 64-bit software instruments — namely, Mini V, Modular V, CS-80V, ARP2600V, Prophet V & Prophet VS, Jupiter 8-V, and Analog Lab, as well as the latest Oberheim SEM V and Wurlitzer V additions, plus Spark Vintage, a comprehensive collection of 30 classic drum machines.
Each of these instruments can be used as a standalone application or as a plug-in within your DAW of choice. An ability to work at up to 32-bit/96kHz resolution means you can now make music on your computer the way you would with a hardware synthesizer. Set the controls to stun with an external MIDI keyboard, such as one of those from Arturia’s own KeyLab range, and you’re good to go! And with 400-plus presets per instrument to get you going, innovative inspiration is a given.
As an advanced proprietary technology allowing accurate modelling of analogue circuitry behaviour on personal computers, TAE® has not only allowed Arturia to successfully recreate all the features of the original synths, but, better still, add more to take advantage of today’s possibilities, including innovative modulation matrices, new-fashioned filter types, sophisticated step sequencers, contemporary keyboard splits and layering, modern modulation sources, smart preset management, additional effects, and advanced arpeggiators.
All told, then, now is the time to treat yourself and your music to V Collection 3.0 — ideally sometime during the next month to take advantage of this unmissable time-limited discounted pricing offer! Why wait? Welcome V Collection 3.0 to your studio setup. Welcome to Your Dream Studio...
V Collection 3.0 is available to purchase for 50% off and directly download from the Arturia online store (http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/buy/online-shop.html) between December 16, 2013 to January 16, 2014, inclusive, for €199.00 EUR only.
Boxed versions can be purchased from any authorised Arturia dealer — ask for the V Collection 3.0 ‘Dream Studio’ promotion.
