Welcome to Neocymatics
Neocymatics is developing Sample Libraries from the perspective of a musician/composer.
When we started the creative process of development we founded certain rules that should apply to all our present and future products. Let's take a deeper look at the profile of Neocymatics.
Extended Midi programming kills Creativity
First in our list is reaching the maximum playability that can be achieved during real-time playing. Being composers, we have used libraries that sounded great but in order to achieve a realistic outcome we should invest a lot of time on programming midi, combining different patches or blending the actual Virtual Instrument performances with ready loops, just to introduce some amount of realism to our compositions. But, all the steps involved in the above procedure certainly take away from the Creativity and the Inspiration of the musician. Ιnspiration is a versatile subject with many hidden aspects to investigate. Most of the times Inspiration comes in primitive form, at an accidental moment and self-evolves towards its final shape, depending on the intensity of several feelings. Big part of the emotional catalyst is reserved for the feeling of excitement. Can excitement be a part of the procedure described in the above lines? No, at least not at a satisfactory amount.
Stimulating the Receptor of Inspiration
The human brain continuously transmits and receives data. On that basis, excitement, triggered by external factors, stimulates certain receptors that act as a prism for both incoming and outgoing information. Inspiration is that outgoing information, filtered by our mood, then translated to notes and other musical parameters such as amplitude, tempo or tone. It is important to understand that Inspiration itself is seriously affected by the incoming stimulation, and a Virtual Instrument's sound can be the basic source/modulator of our Inspiration (that will be further enhanced by our present mood). Thus, to give you a real-life implementation of these matters, the same composer at the exact same moment would take a different composing direction while schetching with the sound of a Violin rather than with the sound of a Celesta. The conclusion of these findings is that the most effective way for a musician to create inspired compositions is through real-time experimentation with expressive Sounds that have the potential to set-off the Emotional interaction we analyzed before, and not through static programming of midi events that puts our "Emotional Processor" and Inspiration into hibernation.
Unlimited Development Time-line
The next important rule in our list is that we don't work with deadlines. Every development stage does not proceed until we accomplish our goals, without any release-date oriented compromises. This is of vital importance for our principles, as attention to detail plays a major role in the concept of Neocymatics.
The Role of Visual Art
On another topic, some people claim that the Graphic Interface of an Audio Software product is not of significant importance, as long as the Audio content is top-notch. While agreeing on the second part of this statement, we believe that Visual Quality must keep on the same pace, both in parts of functionality but also on inspiring Graphic Design. The Visual Environment of a Sample Library should fulfill its Artistic approach and inspire the user to create, in the same manner that a clean and nicely decorated Office Environment inspires the staff to work into, and facilitates work and thought.
Simulation Strings
After 3 years of continuous and dedicated development, we are very proud to present our New Generation of Virtual Instruments. Simulation Strings is a deeply Innovative Ensemble & Solo String Library for Kontakt 5, that breathes a more Scientific approach into the Art of Sampling.
Introduction
This Project's challenge was to create a highly expressive, flexible and customizable Sample Library that can deal with every possible Scenario, without sacrificing Sound Quality for Playability and Versatility. We wanted the best of both Worlds. Simulation Strings is powered by our brand new engine that offers unparalleled control over every performance aspect and detail of each individual player in the Ensemble. The inspirational User Interface is packed with a really long set of features, with the Sound Design capabilities being comparable to those of a powerful Synth.
Features
Articulations
Choose between Monophonic or Polyphonic playing and explore our Articulations palette, consisting of 30 Articulations, which can be mixed and matched between players, allowing you to freely shape a unique sound, only limited by your imagination.Here is the complete list:
Short Articulations:
Spiccato, Spiccatissimo, Staccato, Staccatissimo, Martele, Sautille Hard, Sautille Soft, Harmonics, Accented Harmonics, Pizzicatto Var I, Pizzicato Var II, Snap Pizzicato (Bartok), Col Legno, Tremolo, Trills.
Long Articulations:
Non Vibrato Harsh Attack, Non Vibrato Normal Attack, Non Vibrato Slow Attack, Non Vibrato Bouncy Attack, Espressivo Vibrato Slow Speed, Espressivo Vibrato Normal Speed, Espressivo Vibrato Fast Speed, Regular Vibrato Slow Speed, Regular Vibrato Normal Speed, Regular Vibrato Fast Speed, Light Vibrato Slow Speed, Light Vibrato Normal Speed, Light Vibrato Fast Speed, Non Vibrato Harmonics, Harmonics with Light Vibrato. The Monophonic mode features an Auto Articulation system which smartly decides the best Articulation choice, based on a number of parameters, like your current playing Speed, Velocity and Dynamics.The Attack, Sustain and Transition portions of both the first notes of every phrase and the legato notes can be tweaked separately. In Polyphonic mode it's possible to have more than one Articulation enabled for each player, allowing you to build massive Section sizes.
Legato
The main shortcoming of most String Sample Libraries is the unrealistic behaviour on fast Legato parts, which is often worked around by providing Runs as a separate articulation, resulting in an unconnected "patchwork" performance, missing the Phrasing and the Flow of an actual Ensemble.
Another common glitch is the varied time inconsistencies in the Legato transitions that make the instrument completely unplayable in a live situation, even at average tempos.
Both of these problems are completely absent in Simulation Strings. Everything is extremely consistent and 100% playable in real time, from rapid blurred runs to slow lyrical lines, and all these with the same setup, without the need of Key-switching or extensive Midi programming.
Our innovative Legato Engine continuously analyzes your performance and seamlessly morphs between adaptive Portamento, Slur, Accented Legato or Re-bow while offering a ton of customization over each Element of every Note of every player.
Dynamics
Simulation Strings is the first Ensemble library on the market to offer phase-aligned Dynamics. The Dynamic Range is huge and continuously evolving, from whispering pp to harsh ff, without any audible cross-fading or bumps in between.Additionally, the soft dynamics are crystal clear, free of any type of unwanted noises.
Performance
Moving forward to the performance features, we have developed an intelligent Humanization algorithm, deriving from our long research on actual String Ensemble performances of world-class Orchestras to amateur student Ensembles. Timing, Pitch and Note inconsistencies, everything is decided on the fly for each played Note, creating a sense of Motion and Liveliness while you are still having total control over each Humanization parameter. On top of that, you have the option to add Vibrato to non Vibrato Articulations, or intensify the Vibrato on Vibrato Articulations, while the Speed and Intensity can be freely controlled and automated in real time. Another performance feature of Simulation Strings is the Polyphonic Legato Divisi which automatically analyzes the incoming Voices and splits them into their respected Sections accordingly. Alternatively, for the ultimate control over any Voicing Division, you have the option to record each player individually in a single Midi track inside your DAW and play them back as a whole afterwards.
3D Space
True 3d positioning allows for realistic placement of each player anywhere inside the Stereo Panorama, from really close and intimate to distant and ambient.Our big selection of Spaces, ranging from small Studio Rooms to huge Concert Halls or even ultra dry, anechoic environment, plus the ability to combine different Reverbs for each Section creates an endless list of Spatial possibilities, offering you the versatility to adapt to your project's needs.
Tone Profiles
We feature 360 Tone Profiles for coloring each Section, allowing for an endless number of Sound combinations. These profiles don't act as a simple EQ, but they are detailed Harmonic Prisms that modify various characteristics of the sound, like sharpening or blurring the Transients, dampening the Bow Noise, or altering the Vibrato tone. 40 of these profiles are Sordino emulations.
Mixer
Manage Tone and Bow Noise levels separately and for each player individually, through our dedicated Mixer console.
Microtuning
In the Microtonal section of Simulation Strings you have many Byzantine and Middle Eastern Scales & Maqams right at your fingertips, plus the ability to build your own custom Tunings. Additionally, you can select the Pitch-Bend range of each instrument.
Development
Simulation Strings is a work in progress and it will be updated on a regular basis (for free!) with new presets, features and improvements. Violins I & II are available to purchase, while Violas, Cellos and Basses will be available in November 2018.
Requirements
Native Instruments Kontakt 5 (full version) In order to use Simulation Strings to its full potential it is highly recommended that you have a Quad Core CPU and 8 GBs of ram (or more).The Hard Disk space required for Violins I & II is 6 GBs.
Purchase Options
Simulation Strings: Violins I & II 425€ Simulation Strings: Violas, Cellos & Basses (preorder) 375€ (50€ preorder discount) Simulation Strings: Full Ensemble 625€* (early bird offer) * by purchasing the Full Ensemble you will receive Violin I & II, while Violas, Cellos & Basses will be delivered in November 2018.
Comments