When we talk about sample libraries of acoustic or electric instruments, we must necessarily make the comparison with the real instruments to which we refer. The focus is mainly on how faithful the samples are to the original. On the other hand, when we are faced with a library of samples of synthetic instruments, not attributable to any existing acoustic or electric instrument, the discourse changes radically and the attention is turned to the quantity and quality of the new sound materials reproduced.
Synergy by Sample Logic belongs to this second family and is a collection of more than 1200 virtual instruments for a total of 18 GB of samples divided into 8 categories (Ambience, Bass, Drums, Impacts, Melody, Pads, Rhythms, Multis).
Installation:
In the Synergy package we find 3 DVDs and the user manual that explains the installation procedure and all the parameters of the Kontak Player (Fig.1The library, in fact, is supplied with Kontak Player 2 by Native Instruments and can be used both in standalone mode or as a plug-in for sequencers / DAWs that support the following formats: AU, VST, DXi, RTAS. it is quite simple but requires a manual step, that is to copy the files contained in disks 2 and 3 in the folder of the samples chosen during the setup. At the end of the installation it will be necessary to authorize the library through the Native Instrument Service Center, otherwise Synergy will run in demo mode for a limited period of 30 days.
Sounds:
Often when you consult such large libraries (as already mentioned Synergy occupies 18 GB) it is very important to have all the presets divided into easily accessible categories. Searching for a sound within Synergy was very simple thanks to the division into banks and sub-banks (Fig.2). The main ones are:
• Ambience (295 presets)
• Bass (54 presets)
• Drums (55 presets)
• Impacts (269 presets)
• Melody (173 presets)
• Pads (57 presets)
• Rhythms (270 presets)
• Multis (40 presets)
many presets are also loops (tempo - synced) or complex sound textures.
Note: The presets that have the “MW” tag in their name have been programmed with effects that can be controlled with the modulation wheel.
Synergy's purely synthetic mold is particularly suitable for a target of electronic / experimental music composers, DJs, but also producers and composers of music for films / TV commercials or video games. Therefore not being able to relate the many sounds with existing material, I pass a quick description of the families related to my first warm impression. One of the most interesting benches is certainly the first one: Ambience. Although most of the presets on this deck are synthetic / electronic, there are many textures that can be easily adapted to any situation. Many sounds present in the Bass desk are dark, dull and with sounds far from the usual trite sounds. Just a few presets bring to mind old analog synths (Fig.3).
In the Drums bench I found the electronic drum kits unconvincing, especially considering that the sounds are not mapped according to the GM standard, still widely used by various other software today. Despite this, the rest of the percussion, among which we find different sounds of an ethnic nature, are far more exciting. In the Impact bank, on the other hand, we find many presets of so-called one-shot sounds. Mostly of a synthetic nature and often not in tune, therefore dedicated more to effects. The Melody desk, on the other hand, as the name suggests, offers a series of sounds that can be used for phrases or melodies of all kinds thanks to the different sub categories present (Fig.4). Among the 57 presets in the Pads bank, I noticed (as several users have noticed in some online discussion forums) that the most interesting sounds are those with small samples but with more advanced programming than the heavier ones which are less captivating. This demonstrates once again how the quality of a sample library is not based on tens or hundreds of GB, but, in addition to the quality of the samples, the ability of the programmers / sound designers to exploit the potential of the sampler used is fundamental. To realize all the sound material present in the Rhythms section, you should go through the presets one by one and test them in projects that may already exist considering that they are all loops and beats synchronized with the tempo of the host / DAW. Finally, the Multi section combines some of Synergy's best presets together to give you the sounds you might need for any production right away. In essence, Synergy represents an important source of new sounds but also a starting point for solutions when you are short of ideas.
Technical information:
Synergy is available, as already mentioned, in the following formats, AU, VST, DXi, RTAS and the minimum requirements to use it are:
MAC - G4, 1.4GHz, OSX 10.4.x, 512MB RAM
PC - Windows XP / Vista, 1.4GHz, 512MB RAM
The product test was carried out on an iMac with Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 2,66GHz, 4GB of RAM memory with OSX 10.5.8 using both Logic Pro 9 and the standalone version of the Kontakt Player as host. The use of CPU / RAM resources is in line with the average of Kontakt libraries of this size. Clearly many instances of the Kontakt Player or Kontakt can drastically burden the project.
Conclusions:
For many composers it is often the chosen sound that generates the inspiration. Just scroll through some Synergy presets and move your fingers on your MIDI controller to see how many new ideas can arise, especially by taking advantage of the loops and arpeggiator presets synchronized to the project's tempo. This library is certainly an excellent resource for those who, working in different musical fields, need many different sounds to try immediately, without having to program them by hand. But Synergy can also be very useful to an expert sound designer thanks to the many parameters that can be adjusted from the Performance View of the Kontakt Player or, for those who want to go further and already use Kontakt 3 or the very recent version 4, take advantage of the countless possibilities of manipulation.
Pro:
Subdivision of presets into categories and easily accessible sub-categories; essential sound controls, available for each preset in the Kontakt Player Performance View; possibility to load Synergy in the full version of Kontakt to be able to act even more on the individual sounds.
Against:
Some presets may be too similar to each other and too synthetic in nature; several presets are not “in tune” and therefore dedicated exclusively to effects.
Approximate price: $ 299,00
