My birthday is coming up and I was considering asking for a set of instruments if I could find anything that was relatively cheap. I'm looking to upgrade my piano sound, and it would be nice to have some decent strings and possibly brass. So far I've only really heard of Eastwest and Kontakt, and I'm a bit confused about how you even go about purchasing them. The former particularly - Do you pay for a licence and then download it from the site? I've got a bandwidth limit so that'd be a bit of a pain. What I've heard of the eastwest stuff has been gorgeous though!
Anyway, I just wondered if anyone had suggestions. I'm in the UK by the way.
Budget instruments for logic?
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tessbmusic
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kclements
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Re: Budget instruments for logic?
hello Tess -
You didn't mention what kind of music you write, or what computer/DAW you use, so I am going on a general basis.
I would recommend you pick up the full version of Kontakt. I wouldn't necessarily considered it budget software - it normally runs around $300 (I think it is on sale for less now) but it comes with a lot of samples including, piano, electric piano, guitar, orchestral, synth, pads, choirs, ... It comes on DVD (5 or 6) so there isn't anything to download, other than updates.
Another good thing about having Kontakt full is it opens up the door for other instruments that won't work with the free Kontakt Player. Like LASS and Spitfire Audio stuff and a number of other high end libraries.
As far as how things work; usually you pay for the software and download the samples/program. Most companies are going that way, which may be an issue for you with bandwidth limits. i.e. LASS full is a huge download (but you can still opt to get it on DVD). Once you download and install, you just put in your serial number and authorize the program via the internet.
Some software requires an iLok, which is a little USB stick that holds your authorizations - so the programs won't work without the iLok plugged into your computer. Waves software is like this - although I think they are getting away from using iLok.
As for budget software companies that I really like:
Piano: Sampletekk
Strings: Embertone is a new company that has some nice stuff really well priced.
Processing: Stillwell Audio and PSP Audioware (stand alone products - don't use Kontact at all)
Percussion: 9-Volt Audio
Others to check out that aren't so much in the budget catagory: Spectrasonics, Audiobro (LASS), Spitfire Audio, Imperfect Samples, ProjectSam.
But like I said, you get a really good foundation included with Kontakt full version. So I would start there. Also, with the above companies, look to see if they require the full version of Kontakt or just the free Player version. A number of the high end libraries require the full version. Some, like Spectrasonics and East West have their own "engines" and don't use Kontakt at all.
You can download the free player version of Kontakt at the Native-Instruments website.
hth
kc
You didn't mention what kind of music you write, or what computer/DAW you use, so I am going on a general basis.
I would recommend you pick up the full version of Kontakt. I wouldn't necessarily considered it budget software - it normally runs around $300 (I think it is on sale for less now) but it comes with a lot of samples including, piano, electric piano, guitar, orchestral, synth, pads, choirs, ... It comes on DVD (5 or 6) so there isn't anything to download, other than updates.
Another good thing about having Kontakt full is it opens up the door for other instruments that won't work with the free Kontakt Player. Like LASS and Spitfire Audio stuff and a number of other high end libraries.
As far as how things work; usually you pay for the software and download the samples/program. Most companies are going that way, which may be an issue for you with bandwidth limits. i.e. LASS full is a huge download (but you can still opt to get it on DVD). Once you download and install, you just put in your serial number and authorize the program via the internet.
Some software requires an iLok, which is a little USB stick that holds your authorizations - so the programs won't work without the iLok plugged into your computer. Waves software is like this - although I think they are getting away from using iLok.
As for budget software companies that I really like:
Piano: Sampletekk
Strings: Embertone is a new company that has some nice stuff really well priced.
Processing: Stillwell Audio and PSP Audioware (stand alone products - don't use Kontact at all)
Percussion: 9-Volt Audio
Others to check out that aren't so much in the budget catagory: Spectrasonics, Audiobro (LASS), Spitfire Audio, Imperfect Samples, ProjectSam.
But like I said, you get a really good foundation included with Kontakt full version. So I would start there. Also, with the above companies, look to see if they require the full version of Kontakt or just the free Player version. A number of the high end libraries require the full version. Some, like Spectrasonics and East West have their own "engines" and don't use Kontakt at all.
You can download the free player version of Kontakt at the Native-Instruments website.
hth
kc
kayle clements
When opportunity knocks, you better be dressed and ready to go!
clementunes.com | taxi | soundcloud
When opportunity knocks, you better be dressed and ready to go!
clementunes.com | taxi | soundcloud
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tessbmusic
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Re: Budget instruments for logic?
Thank you so much for all that kc!
I'm pretty impressed with the stuff you can get for free so I'm going to have a little play with the freebies for a while I think. I just installed the Kontakt free player and I've been having a play with that and the embertone stuff sounds very exciting!
I'm pretty impressed with the stuff you can get for free so I'm going to have a little play with the freebies for a while I think. I just installed the Kontakt free player and I've been having a play with that and the embertone stuff sounds very exciting!
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kclements
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Re: Budget instruments for logic?
Another great resource is kvraudio.com
You can search for plugins and see ratings and costs.
Cheers
kc
You can search for plugins and see ratings and costs.
Cheers
kc
kayle clements
When opportunity knocks, you better be dressed and ready to go!
clementunes.com | taxi | soundcloud
When opportunity knocks, you better be dressed and ready to go!
clementunes.com | taxi | soundcloud
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