The story
Synthphony S2 Pluck is the 2nd sample library of the Synthphony S series. The samples were generated in organic variations with randomness and it produces unique plucky sounds. It comes with a wide range of carefully chosen samples, a variety of natural and yet unexpected keys or finger-picking sounds can be easily discovered and created. The possibilities & combinations are countless.
Synthphony S2 Pluck is available for Kontakt 6 (Full Version) & Decent Sampler. Kontakt & Decent Sampler are two different Samples Player. You will notice that the output sounds from both players are different as both of their Effects engine is not the same. It will be a good idea to have both libraries installed to complement each other and make them a good combination for sounds and music productions.
Arpeggio MIDI files are included in the zip files. Load the MIDI file into DAW to start playing with the library.
Synthphony S2 Pluck Walkthrough Video
Interface
Reviews for Synthphony S2 Pluck
- Sound
- Character
- Playability
- Inspiration
- GUI
Leave a review to let others know what you thought of the instrument!
Beautiful plucks
Without a doubt, this is one of the best pluck packs I have tried so far. The quality of the sounds is incredible. I love that you can choose and play 4 samples at the same time.
The GUI is very similar to that of Synthphony S1, but not boring and continuist. On the contrary. I think this interface design is functional and very suitable for this type of content.
Excellent sounds
This is another great Synthphony pack and is tweakable to infinity, with a load of great patch sounds out-of-the-box.
I'm reminded of the late great Isao Tomita when listening to several of the included patches and will have to dig out some of his tracks to try and emulate them with this pack!
Infinite choice of plucks!
In a similar, yet incredibly exciting fashion as the Synthphony S1, the S2 pluck offers a literally infinte amount of synth pluck sounds that are formed through the 4 different panels. These panels provide many controls, including sample control.
The options are, again, literally limitless, especially if you factor in the randomizer buttons that can completely change the game with one simple mouse click!
Again, in a similar fashion as the S1, and due to the engine differences of the samplers, The DecentSampler and Kontakt version will offer different results, so... you get it, even more options. Crazy right? And all that for... 35MB. Yes. Do you need to know anything else? Pluck it up!
Synth Pad/Pluck Blender - in the right direction!
(Note - I am reviewing the Kontakt version of this sample instrument)
What you get
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5 complementary plucky synth sounds.
Each sampled @ 2 different notes (MIDI note 60 & 65).
Sampled w/3 round-robins.
5 x 2 x 3 = 30 samples, total.
The Kontakt sample playback engine allows you to choose/blend up to 4 of the 5 sounds, controlling:
- volume, octave (-3 to +3), pan, solo (on/off)
- low pass filter, high pass filter
- 'rotator', delay, reverb effects
- ADSR envelope
The engine also allows you to randomize any of the 4 sounds, individually, or all 4 at the same time.What I like
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I really like the fact that this is not just another 'pad machine'...
Instead, the samplist has focused on 'plucks', which are arguably just as important as 'pads' for music-making. And the pluck sounds are very usable, and very tweakable. Nice job, there!
The engine is quite versatile, easy to use, and sports an inviting GUI.What I would wish for
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More sounds to choose from. Since the instrument blends up to 4 sounds, I found myself wishing that the instrument had more than just 5 sounds. This would be as important as (or more important than) sampling at different note levels - especially considering that the two notes sampled for each sound were C3 & F3 (very close together), but then the playable range was extended down to C0 and up to C7.Maybe the samplist could add some, over time, with a follow-up version?
One other minor GUI thing, and this is just my opinion. But I would prefer the controls to be in the same order, left-to-right, for each of the 4 sections. Having most of them in opposite order makes for a cool/'symmetrical' look, but consistency among the section controls (a la Vektor, by Nova/Loot Audio) is even more important, I think.
All in all, a really nice library, and I was convinced enough to go download 'Aba Synthphony's other (similar) libraries! Synthphony 1, 2, and S1 - they are all worth a listen!
