Commenting on the recent move, Piers Plaskitt, CEO of SSL Inc., says, “This is an exciting opportunity for SSL to expand its West Coast office and reaffirms our commitment to our U.S. operations and our planned growth over years to come. The new location offers the ability to provide a more comfortable environment to demonstrate our products. Customer demonstrations are already underway for our new C10 HD broadcast console.”

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Solid State Logic is the world’s leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for music, broadcast and post production professionals. For more information about our award-winning products, please visit: www.solidstatelogic.com.

http://alexanderpublishing.com/studyhall.aspx

Narrated by Peter Lawrence Alexander, author of the Professional Orchestration™ Series, the audio seminar covers what string divisi is, how it’s created, and how it applies to the new string sample libraries offering it as a feature. Alexander is a graduate of Richard Bland College of the College of William and Mary, and Berklee College of Music in Boston. His books on orchestration and harmony have been endorsed by winners of the Academy®, Grammy®, Emmy,® BAFTA, and G.A.N.G. Awards. He’s Film Music Magazine’s award winning journalist and the host of Sonic Control’s DAW School webisode series.

Hollywood Strings is the first string sample library to be recorded in a Los Angeles recording studio, specifically EastWest Studio 1, which prior to being purchased by EastWest, has boasted many a string ensemble being recorded within its walls with Frank Sinatra and others. So the studio HS was recorded in already has a longterm demonstrated track record for achieving a quality string sound.

Consequently, a key feature for HS (Hollywood Strings) is its studio sound vs. the concert hall sound in EW’s Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra.

HS’s studio sound provides composers with another choice as to which string ensemble recorded in which space do we want for the piece we’re working on. I use the word “piece” because it’s too easy to box Hollywood Strings into a specific genre when it has capabilities in virtually any musical genre.

The string ensemble size is 16-14-10-10-7 making it a large orchestral string section. The library has the strings recorded in their seated positions using this stage layout: Vlns 1, Vlns 2, Violas, Cellos with Basses behind the cellos. According to the presentation, Violins 2 are independently recorded.

Divisi for this library has been achieved through a unique mic placement technique (described by co-producer Nick Phoenix in the video presentation) allowing for div a 2.

There are three different methods by which divisi can be achieved in a string section. Per the presentation, it appears the method used by EW is, from the conductor’s position, dividing the strings so that players to the left side of the music stand play the high part while the players on the right side play the low, or inner, part.

In the presentation, Mr. Phoenix used the term first chairs to describe players on the left side of the music stand. The use of the term first chairs should not be confused with that term as used by L.A. Scoring Strings, which refers to the soloist for each section.

It should be noted that according to co-producer Nick Phoenix, Hollywood Strings have modeled muted strings. This means that the sordinos included with Hollywood Strings were not recorded with mutes on the strings. Instead, the Hollywood Strings interface creates a muted string effect. “We recorded real sordinos in HS, but they were only for analysis and comparison to the regular recordings,” explained Mr. Phoenix on the VI-Control.net forum.

Comments on the Overall Presentation
By way of background, on January 6, 2010, members of the press (including myself) received a written invitation to attend a live demonstration of Hollywood Strings on January 13 at the EastWest facilities.

Unfortunately, because of the number of journalists that didn’t come to NAMM this year, that meeting was canceled and replaced with this video presentation, which was made available to both the press and the general public on January 14th. On January 15th, a revised presentation was posted.

Observations and impressions here are from the revised video. Just to restate, the revised video is the only information journalists have at this writing with which to write about Hollywood Strings. Consequently, I’ve posed a number of product feature questions that this first introduction to Hollywood Strings didn’t cover.

After months of waiting for what promises to be a game changing library, I confess, I was somewhat let down by the video presentation  (which EW calls a tutorial). With so much time available before formal product launch, it would have been good for EW to produce, using Keynote or Power Point, a basic 5-10 minute overview that could also be posted on YouTube. Hollywood Strings has a number of features and string bowings not found in other libraries, and its approach to recording with a Decca Tree all point to the need of a presentation modeled along the lines of, The Making of… especially with a product name like Hollywood Strings.

About my Comments on the Hollywood Strings Library
My comments take into account that this is an unfinished library not shipping until mid-February. I look at the video as things to come, understanding that the programming is still being worked on. That HS was originally scheduled to ship on January 13, 2010 and has been deferred until mid-February indicates the immensity of the library.

Remarks are pegged to timings (minutes: seconds) in the revised video presentation.

2:56 - Slur Runs - compelling feature especially with five mic position choices.

3:19 - The dream - load a patch, play chords in the left hand and a melody in the right so that it sounds like finished music. A program is displayed labeled “Tommy Williams” (?). Is this a preset? A custom program? Some explanation is in order. Re: Mr. Phoenix’s comment that the demonstration at this point was on a feature that’s never been done before. This also needs a little explanation. Plenty of composers in the past and present have used a program usually labeled All Strings to quickly knock out a cue with chords in the left hand and the melody/theme in the right hand. So I’m not sure what Mr. Phoenix means when he says, “It’s never been done before,” and then refers to, “unthinkable power.”

4:12 - Celli Legato Monster Patch - If I’m understanding this correctly, what EW has programmed in the Monster Patch is comparable to the concept behind several of the Vienna Instruments programs where all the basic expressive articulations are within a single program (patch), including up bow/down bow in the demonstration.  If I’m understanding this correctly, this is an awesome programming achievement, and I’d like to know if there are equivalent patches for the violins, violas, and basses.

5:43 - Mic positions - Mr. Phoenix used the Cello Legato Monster Patch as the basis for demonstrating the five mic positions. While brief, you certainly see the great options available with this feature. It would have been useful to have a one-sentence explanation for each mic position demonstration to clarify better what you’re hearing, especially for those who are recording novices and unfamiliar with a Decca Tree and how it works.

6:47 - Mic Mixing With Reverb - Impressive. Certainly allows an ease for using HS with other libraries, and certainly with HS alone. Since there are no direct woodwind, brass and percussion libraries recorded to match HS, it would be useful for EW to provide some template setups for QLSO, StormDrum 2, Gypsy, Quantum Leap Pianos, and Ministry of Rock, so that you can have a ready-studio orchestra post-installation built entirely of EW products.

6:58 - Full Strings Patch - This was demonstrated both open and muted. It was performed live at the keyboard by Thomas J. Bergersen, one of the co-producers. Though brief, you get the idea. Quite lovely. However, the program displaying in the browser is Violas Sus RR Omni. So which program was it we were hearing?

8:05 - This is a demonstration of the First and Second Violins in octaves (Vlns 1 - Vlns 2) using what Mr. Phoenix called a Violin Performance Legato. A different group of players were recorded for each of the sections. This combination is most frequently used when Violins 1 are in the Medium through Very High registers with Violins 2 in the register an octave below.  I’m impressed with this demo. String octaves are a major writing technique, and they’re a major technique in film score writing.  This can be a very difficult technique to do with samples, and even though we’ve only heard a little portion, EW seems to have captured this.

9:07 - 2nd Violins Shorts Mod Speed Patch - Mr. Phoenix didn’t say, and I couldn’t tell from listening to the Marcato Shorts if whether the shorts, all activated by the Mod Wheel, are with an arco string program so that on the same patch, you can go back and forth between arco and a particular “short” depending on the melody’s needs. If not, it would certainly be great to have such a program so that you can have a fluid string line on a single track. Least impressed with Staccato-on-Bow in this example. Otherwise, impressive.

10:40 - This demonstration uses multiple programs but only one program displays in the browser, 1st Violin Legato (1). Very good demonstration.

12:58 - Divisi - Good explanation of their recording approach.

15:46 - Measured tremolo - Demonstrated the program and the micing. Good feature.

17:06 - Tremolo controlled by mod wheel. Good.

Audio Demos
There were two audio demos by Mr. Bergersen, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the presentation. The first demo was Hollywood Strings alone and the second was Hollywood Strings mixed in with a full electronic orchestral mix.

My questions really come from the second demo.

Was this HS with only QLSO or was this HS with Mr. Bergersen’s other libraries mixed in? If it’s with QLSO and other PLAY products exclusively, then those having QLSO will see immediately how their investment can be enhanced. If it’s with other libraries mixed in, then we have an excellent example of Hollywood Strings’ blendability. If it’s the latter, it would be most useful to have some explanation of what was used and how the mix was achieved.

Pre-Ordering Considerations
At this writing, Hollywood Strings, listing at $1699 and shipped on a hard drive, can be pre-ordered at a $200 discount off list. As a fellow composer, I believe the question is, “For what you’re writing today and what you think you might be writing in the next year, do you think having Hollywood Strings will add to your ability to earn income? “

If the answer for you is, “yes,” then by all means consider pre-ordering.

Installation - Hollywood Strings Diamond Edition comes on a hard drive that is not to be used for streaming the samples. Fair enough. But what we need to know is can HS can be split over multiple drives? Should the library be spread across a couple of computers?

Other - We need an explanation of what, “multiple finger positions for all sections including open strings,” means and how to use it.

Conclusion
There are two elements to me that are game changers with Hollywood Strings. One is the need to really understand string instrumentation and string arranging/orchestration techniques to fully get the most out of this library. The other is having the instruction to understand how to mix Hollywood Strings alone with the Decca Tree (as demonstrated in the video) and, then applying that knowledge to working with other libraries in your collection.

As composers, we need to realize that this is a musical game change. It strikes me that with Hollywood Strings the emphasis may shift from discussions about editing and envelopes, and endless discussions on eq’ing strings, to the joy of writing and creating, to having the kinds of musical discussions arrangers, orchestrators, and composers typically have with each other.

This is new. And it’s about time.

NOTE: Post publication we found a post on the Soundsonline web site stating that the samples used by Mr. Bergersen in the second demo Hollywood Strings mixed with other libraries.

Peter Lawrence Alexander is the author of the Professional Orchestration series which has been endorsed by winners of the Academy®, Grammy®, Emmy®, BAFTA®, G.A.N.G, Telly®, and AVA Gold® Awards.

Consequently, we shouldn’t get too giddy. We still need to keep our eye on the ball. But before we step up to the plate and start swinging for the fences, we need to scan the field and see where things are at.

Thus, the year-end prognostication column. Where do I see things going?

Shaking my “8″ ball, I foresee 2010 becoming even more the year for the Mac. With the Mac Pro Nehalem, we are seeing more problems solved than created. Digital Performer and Logic, unless something drastic happens, will remain with the 3.65GB limitation of RAM. But by learning more effectively how to run VSTi’s in stand alone, composers can get around that issue. I have one composer friend in Los Angeles who reduced a 7-computer studio down to one system – a Mac Pro Nehalem.

The potential bottom line – the end of black spaghetti in our studios. Simplicity. (Sigh a breath of relief here). Lower electric bills reflecting a different kind of green – money that stays in our wallets.

2010 could become the year of Kontakt. What’s in Kontakt’s favor is, “learn once.” Master Kontakt at the basic operational level, and it’s theme and variations thereafter for each licensor, making it quicker for end users to learn each library. What’s also in Kontakt’s favor are the sheer number of independent developers creating new product for it. As such, Kontakt can easily become The Standard for virtual instruments. However, K4 will not be backwards compatible to Power PCs. So G5 users are locked out of K4 and it remains to be seen if the programming will be broken on older Kontakt libraries you try to load into K4.

2010 could become the year of the Vienna Ensemble Pro Virtual Mixing Board which hosts Vienna, Kontakt and other VSTi’s. Why? Same reason as Kontakt, “learn once.” Today, it’s not yet working with PLAY, however the word-on-the-street is that this issue is now in beta. So if the Vienna wizards get this resolved, and we hope they do, that will be one more step towards the simpler recording studio.

2010 can also become the year for Canada’s Plogue Bidule. The kind of system integration and routing possibilities are truly exciting. To see Plogue Bidule in action, go to the Cinesamples web site and scroll down to the last video titled, Orchestral Film Scoring Template With Bidule and DP.

Then there is the quagmire. It’s GigaStudio. No need to rehash the past, because it’s the present that has to be dealt with, especially for those with thousands of dollars of investment with the Vienna First and Pro Editions, and its Performance Tool. The situation is as follows:

1. Machines are getting older.
2. There’s no legal mechanism in place to re-register the Giga software on a new machine.
3. There’s no formal ongoing testing to determine which older Giga versions, specifically 2.x, will work on Vista and Windows 7, assuming they can be re-registered.
4. And if a perfect world emerges, what audio cards and drivers will work with an older Giga 2.x on Windows 7?

This isn’t just about moving on. Thousands of dollars was spent on the software and hardware, but few take into account the thousands of dollars that went into learning, not just the software, but the sounds, and how they work and what they work best with.

I see two potential marketplace solutions.

The first marketplace solution is the new G-Player from Soundlib. It’s a new Mac plug-in from the folks who brought us CDXtract. It’s showing real promise and can be purchased as a digital download. It’s now available for Mac and PC.

The second marketplace solution can come from Vienna by re-opening cross grades from older Vienna product to the newer. Every First and Pro Edition owner’s name is registered in the VSL computer. Send an email. It’s an easy thing to do.

There are also marketing considerations for European developers.

2010 could be the year their sales begin to explode even more in the U.S. then in the past. But to do so, they need to seriously consider imitating Toyota and other Japanese automakers by establishing a manufacturing presence in the United States, since for now, and for the foreseeable future, the dollar will continue to remain weak against the Euro and British Pound Sterling. Exchange rates overprice European libraries by default, and sales are limited as the consequence.

The place to locate isn’t Los Angeles, it’s Nashville, or Memphis. They’re both practically in the U.S. center, and UPS shipping in any direction of the compass averages 3-4 days. Real Estate and health costs are much lower than either California or New York, there’s an active music scene, and quality DVD dupers and printers are all available in the central U.S.

It’s just a thought. The Old World has its charm, but so do the Great Smokey Mountains, and the Grand Tetons, and the Rocky Mountains, and the Grand Canyon.

We must also take into account the trend of independent sample library developers selling direct, especially with their own direct downloads. This is a firm trend for 2010 and it will continue to be so. But here’s the thing. Getting the product to buy will be faster. But my observation is that the decision making time to purchase will be slower, especially with fewer and fewer quality composers available to create great demos. The convenience will be balanced with concern. “Am I really getting what I’m being asked to pay for?” will be the not so unspoken question. It’s the challenge of a not-so-new business model.

And now, a final thought.

With 2010, we’ll have yet another opportunity to start a new year afresh to forge our way. But the better news is that we have the same opportunity before us each day we awaken with our eyes open and with limbs that move.

SC - What’s your musical background? Instrument you play? Did you go to music school? Play in a band?
AS- I learned the Piano when I was four in a conservatory, but only for two years as, as I said it back then, “there was too many notes”… so I switched to the drums that I learned for like twelve years at the conservatory. Then I have been playing and practicing it on my own. I also have learned electric bass for six years and then Upright Bass for another two.

That was the music studies part, but I am also graduated in physics and have two masters, one in acoustics (at the IRCAM research institute in Paris), it’s called ATIAM (Acoustics, Signal Processing, and Computer Science Applied to Music), and the second one in Architectural Acoustics.

So I’ve been studying a lot, but I have also been playing music in various bands, mostly jazz and funk bands, and more recently in an acoustic drum’n bass band that I started where we played my compositions Now I am creating a new one with three friends of mine that are professional musicians, but as you maybe know, good musicians are pretty busy, so it takes some time

SC - When did you decide you wanted to sample sounds?
AS - I always have loved electronic music, some of them like Amon Tobin are sampling all kinds of old Jazz or Funk records, and I wanted to do the same. At first I sampled my CD’s, tapes or vinyl records, then I realized i could record stuff on my own with my brand new mini-disc and the various instruments I had. I began copy-pasting every wav file into my sequencer, and I realized that having like 20 snare samples in the same measure would be easier to deal with if I were using like… a sampler… and I made my first libraries.

Sampling was also a need. When I started that drum’n bass band, I had to show the people I wanted to play with, something to make them trust the project, this is where I started to make larger sample libraries of my own instruments. I thought about buying some libraries, but on one hand when I was listening to the demos, I wasn’t convinced and thought mine were not that bad compared to it, and on the other hand, of course they were too expensive for me at that time

SC - When did you realize you could turn it into a viable, money making business?
AS - At first I began selling stuff on a simple website and I only thought I could earn a little money with it as a side job, but with time I saw that people really liked my job and were encouraging me. At that time, I was a computer science engineer and I didn’t like it so as I saw that it was growing and that companies like Native Instruments and Mach Five [ed. note: Digital Performer] were interested in my products, I thought I would quit my job and give it a shot!

SC - Is your total focus on acoustic instruments?
AS - For now, yes. As I told you before, I studied acoustics and really loved the part about mechanical behavior of instruments, in fact I loved it so much that I almost began a luthier career. I even builded like 7 upright basses! They did not sound as good as I wanted them to, but I really enjoyed myself. In a way, sampling instruments is also trying to simulate its behavior, at least that’s how I see it.

I still may give it a try someday because I love electronic music and strange noises.

SC - Of all the instruments you’ve sampled so far, which did you find the most challenging and why?
AS - That really is a hard question. Every instrument has its own sampling difficulties. The pianos and keyboards are quite simple because they are supposed to be played with a keyboard too, all the MIDI standards are keyboard oriented, but the time and consistency you need to record them is really enormous. It takes a lot less time to record a bass or a guitar, but then the hard part is on the scripting and articulations.

So I guess that the hardest instruments would be the horns as I am working on a horn library right now and it really is harder that everything I’ve been sampling until now simply because the way it’s played is completely different from a keyboard.

SC - What for you is the challenge in sampling a piano?
AS - For me the challenge is to reach playability and the feeling that when you play it, it actually behaves as a real one. There is a huge debate on whether the sampled piano or modeled pianos are the best. I think it can be summarized as: the sound is a lot more realistic with sample libraries, but modeled pianos just feel like a real playing experience. So my part is to make the sample libraries act and feel real.

SC - With so many sampled pianos on the market, why did you feel another one could be commercially successful?
AS - Just because I think that this Kawai-EX does fell like a real piano when you play it

I’m also thinking that people have a lot of different piano libraries because they love to have different sounds, most people that compose music on their computers are sound lovers and collectors.

SC - In creating your sales plan for each new sampled instrument, what for you is your measure of success both artistically in your work and in your sales?
AS - In my work, it’s when I release a library and am fully satisfied with it, most of the time, it’s not the case, I have the feeling that I could have done better.

In the sales, it’s obviously when a lot of people buy it as it means that people like it and recommended it to other people. But the best reward is when people send me some messages or talk about it in the forums saying that they love it AND use it.

SC - As a developer, why do you see so few companies creating product for the EXS24 since you have an automatic built-in base of customers?
AS - I think it’s mostly because it’s Mac only. There is still more than half of the audio community that use PCs. Then you have use Logic, I love Logic and am using it for absolutely everything, but some people prefer Pro Tools, Digital Performer or Cubase and they can’t use EXS. In terms of the software itself, the disk streaming is really well implemented, but there are also some basic features that are missing like the time envelope for releases that cannot go over two seconds (unless you’re using Keymap) or a good legato function. Most of all, there are no scripts and that’s why Kontakt is used the most.

SC - For you, what are the advantages of working with Native Instruments’ Kontakt program? Is there also a downside?
AS - The scripting feature is really a must in Kontakt. First you can build a product that will have a dedicated interface and some user interface controls, not just a simple .nki file that you open and looks the same as the other libraries. Secondly, the scripting capabilities allows you to simulate an instrument behavior, as a simple example, you can play a pedal noise when you press or release the sustain pedal on a piano.

Until now i did not see any downside apart from the fact that people that want to use it need to own Kontakt.

SC - Do you use the same micing techniques for each acoustic piano you sample?
AS - No, absolutely not. I’ve learned a lot about instruments acoustic radiation, microphone positioning techniques and room acoustics and you always have to take those three factors in account. The sound esthetics you want to get is also really important. For example, a jazz piano will need to be recorded closer to the strings than a classical one.

SC - From the day you started recording to the day you finished editing, how long did it take you to sample the Kawai EX?
AS - Actually, on the Kawai EX, I’ve been working with Lance Herring and he has been recording the piano and cutting the samples. My part was more the script and patch building, but this piano was sampled like 10 month ago

SC - Which for you is the most demanding: recording or editing?
AS - Frankly, i don’t know. The recording takes a lot of time and is really tiring. You really have to stay in front of a piano playing it without breathing or making any noise and, of course, stay focused and consistent on what you play.The editing is even a longer process because you have to take care of every file making sure that there is no unwanted noise in it, or that you don’t trim it too much, but that’s when you begin to hear what the library will sound like and most of the time this is when I get excited.

SC - What’s next for AcousticsampleS?
AS - Ha, good question! I have a lot of projects going on for all kinds of instruments, but I guess the one I’m the most excited about is the horns library I was talking about earlier.

I also have another piano in mind that will feature everything I’ve been thinking of while doing the Kawai

Oh and maybe I will partner up with a sampler maker to make my libraries available as virtual instruments…

I say this with the utmost of seriousness as writer, teacher, and former marketer at the Fortune 500 level.

Notion 3 sports a well designed mixing board by which to mix your virtual scores, insert plug-ins from IK Multimedia (their Classik Studio Reverb and AmplitTube are included), an enhanced orchestral and jazz rock sound set, a lyric tool, and most impressive, the ability to insert VSTi’s (virtual studio instruments) from East West (QLSO PLAY), Garritan Aria, Kontakt, and the Vienna Symphonic Libraries. The new mixing board also enables you to add effects plugins, which is good, because the Notion mixing board lacks an EQ plug-in.

Notion 3 lacks one feature to really compete with Garageband: the ability to record a vocal.

Adding this one feature would enable Notion 3 to be the basis for a beginning recording program at both the high school and collegiate level. And with a $199 street price, Notion is a program many parents and students can afford.

In its new form, complete with mixing board, reverb and guitar amps from IK Multimedia, it’s ready to be the basis of a recording training for virtual recording only. To fulfill this teaching mission, as I already mentioned above, Notion 3 only needs an EQ plug-in and basic effects package (compressor, limiter, etc.) to complete the mix (pun intended) which IK Multimedia already has.

With this brief summation, let’s get a starting look at Notion 3.

WHY NOTION 3 IS A COMPETITOR
The most compelling reason that Notion is a competitor is that Notion 3 recognizes and has setups for VSTi’s (virtual studio instruments) for : EastWest QLSO PLAY, Garritan ARIA, IK Multimedia, Native Instruments Kontakt, and the Vienna Instruments. It’s dual platform (Mac and PC) and is backwardly compatible to OS 10.4 on the Mac and Windows XP on the PC. So at the retail level, there are many bundling opportunities, not to mention the potential for sample developers to license Notion 3 to package their orchestral libraries with.

Second is that Notion 3 notation is a breeze to learn. It’s just much faster to learn than the other notation programs on the market. I can say that as a Sibelius user and as someone who’s written two books on Finale. And because of that, I always thought Notion was more fun to work with.

Third, Notion 3 has cleaned up its act in two critical areas. First, and I can’t believe I’m writing this, Notion 3 finally has both MIDI import and export. Second, it finally has a lyric notation tool. So now, you can actually do lead sheets for copyright filings.

Fourth, Notion 3, like the new GarageBand, shows the guitar fret board, has tablature and the ability to insert guitar fingerboard positions.

All of these features, and others I’m still discovering, make Notion 3 a serious contender in the marketplace.

Let’s take a look at some of these features.

IMPROVED NOTATION

This example is a demo that comes with Notion 3. It’s an avant garde work and as you can see from the graphic, this is pretty serious notation! You wouldn’t expect a notation element this complete in a $199 package, but with Notion 3, it is.

THE MIXING BOARD

This is the mixing board of the same work. Each stave has its own mixer track. There are four inserts per track and four busses. Each fader has its own Peak Meter and dB calibration. Of course, there’s panning, mute and solo.

INSERTS

This is one of the included plug-ins from IK Multimedia, their Classik Studio Reverb. This is a fully programmable reverb. So what you’re seeing is a very complete concept. However, you’re not limited to IK. You can use other audio effect VSTi plug-ins, too.

Consequently, you have a lot of options a fairly luxurious production package for a moderate sum.

FACTORY SOUND SETS
Notion 3, along with its earlier versions, has sample recordings of the London Symphony Orchestra. These have been newly programmed, and they do have a better sound. I would say if you’re just using the included orchestral sound set to give you an idea of what you’re doing, OK. You do get most of the sounds from the earlier Notion packs on a separate DVD.

But on the other hand, the real value (to me) is that Notion 3 works with Kontakt, VSL, Miroslav Philharmonik, and QLSO PLAY. That being the case, since the templates are already setup, then I can just use QLSO, key in my score, and I’m good to go.

OVERALL IMPRESSION
I have to explore more, but I’m really impressed. For professionals, Notion 3 isn’t going to replace Logic or DP. But, if you read music, and you do scoring, I can say that because it’s so quick to key in your scores, that Notion is just restful to use. With QLSO on an iLok, put Notion 3 on a laptop and go away for the weekend.

Now, my caveat emptor is that I haven’t really tried to set up QLSO or other programs inside it, but I know someone who has, and he produced a really nice demo with QLSO + Notion 3 that was most impressive.

The thing about Notion 3 is that it’s truly turnkey. Because VSTi implementation is so important, they should go back through the PDF manual, and redo that chapter by adding more screen shots so that every step is clearly mapped out. Make it as no-brainer as possible.

CONCLUSION
As a fellow entrepreneur, if I had the money, I’d buy the company. Notion Music is finally on the right path. They’ve got a great product. What they need now, is the sales marketing and licensing vision to match and take it to the moon.

For more information see www.notionmusic.com.

Direct-to-customer-only from independent developers. Their prime source of distribution is their web site with the sale being either a downloadable product, a boxed product, or a combination of the two. Advertising is first derived by word-of-mouth on forums, sometimes banner ads, and occasionally, small print ads in select music magazines whose focus is on electronic music production. These developers are found world wide, from China to the Netherlands. Consequently, outside of local geographic customers, they have no show room to demonstrate their products or to give customers a direct hands-on experience to play-and-hear. Thus, their web site must do it all from sales to customer service to tech support.

A majority of independent developers will house their product in a Kontakt player. While extremely costly to go this route, the benefit of being housed in a Kontakt player means that Native Instruments takes on the responsibility for system integration for both Mac and PC formats. Consequently, the system specs for the Native Instruments Kontakt player will also be their system specs.

Larger developers with multiple sales channels and who’ve R&D’ed their own proprietary player. East West, IK Multimedia, Spectrasonics, SONiVOX, and the Vienna Symphonic Library all have R&D’ed their own proprietary sample library player. Excluding Spectrasonics, all sell through retailers and direct-to-customer. However, Spectrasonics sells exclusively through distributors, who in turn sells to retail and direct-to-customer. Within this group are those developers who’ve amortized their distribution costs by sub-distributing other developer’s product. Companies that do this include Best Service, East West, ILIO, and SONiVOX.

With the exception of a few music technology software products in Best Buy, such as Notion 3 and Sonar, all retail distribution is accomplished through music stores and online merchants.

So for this group, they’ve spent R&D money to develop their own player and they sell through multiple distribution channels: to distributors, to retailers, and direct-to-customer.

THE CHALLENGE - WHAT’S IT SOUND LIKE?
What makes or break library sales from any company are audio demonstrations, especially if they’re released throughout the sales year so that demos of existing products keep the product name in front of the customer generating new word-of-mouth, while also showing versatility of use. An ongoing demo program has another side benefit when placed on non-company web sites - virtual free advertising for the developer, especially if a non-employee has created the demo.

The Vienna Symphonic Library is one developer who consistently releases new demos promoting their libraries and now MIR, their proprietary virtual sound stage for mixing and recording.

Demo Costs. Audio demonstrations are created by composers either for a small fee plus a copy of the library, or, more commonly, in exchange for a copy of the library. Here, sample library developers face a serious challenge: there are more libraries than there are composers who can afford to create great demos for free. Creating a great demo takes several days or longer. Some have taken two weeks, four weeks, and most recently for Vienna’s electronic realization of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, nine months. A professional composer grossing USD $100,000 annually has to generate $1923.10 weekly to meet expenses. Given the time required to learn the library and then to create a demo, few composers can “gift” a developer with two or three weeks worth of working for no pay to get a free library.

This may not be an issue for larger, well financed developers, but for smaller under capitalized developers, it’s a very big deal.

The historical sales pattern is this: without an ongoing PR plan, an independent will see an initial burst of sales, which will then fall, level out, and then drop to a trickle, or zero. So the more frequently a developer can release fresh demos into the market, the better for their sales in the long run.

Two types of audio demos. The first are those produced by the developer for the initial product launch. The second type of demos taking on increasing importance are those coming from the Innovators, representing 2.5% of the market, the first purchasers of a new library who produce their own demos which are shared in forums. The importance of these demos is that they show what the “average bloke” can accomplish in a few hours vs. spending days perfecting and ultra polishing a two-three minute work. User demos can be less than pristine because they’re both experimental and works in progress.

Nonetheless, both are needed for marketing and sales. What should be stressed about demos is that they now precede print publication reviews. Except through careful coordination, and usually only with major advertisers, most print reviews of a new product will not take place for 30-60 days or longer after the release of a major product. By then, the street reviews are out, in some cases, the same day as the product is received post-purchase.

CHANGING SPECS
New technology creates new specs. Even so, developers must be observant as to how backwards compatible their sample players will be. On the Mac, Power PCs are rapidly becoming obsolete as only Intel-based systems are now being supported. For operating systems, OS 10.5 is as far back as many are going. The new development wave is getting software operating for Snow Leopard. At this writing, not all programs or audio card drivers are Snow Leopard-ready. On the PC, Windows XP and Vista are being supported, and ultimately, Windows 7.

Customers buying Mac Pro Nehalems and PCs with the i7 Processor, will get the biggest bang for their buck - today, if they can afford it.

Because of lack of organized industry research, no developer or retailer can guess how many customers with older systems will be knocked out of buying the new computer hardware, and thus, the new sample libraries.

COMMODITY PRICING AND FLAGGING RETAIL SUPPORT
In the past 12 months, three major developers have done buy 1/get 1 free sales which they’ve offered both direct and through their dealer network. While such sales boost immediately the OEM/distributors sales, the net result, as many music retailers have expressed is that the big players are training their customers to wait for the sale pricing.

Another issue at retail is tech support. With so many sample library products on the market, few retailers can provide the tech support and customer training needed. Nearly $8,000 in hardware alone (computers, monitors, audio cards, MIDI keyboards) is needed to setup listening stations, one for each platform. And if the developer doesn’t provide free in-store evaluation copies, then the dealer must purchase the software either directly or by getting a review copy from buying in quantity.

Additionally, a retailer must also have employed an individual fluent on both platforms, knowledgable about software for both platforms, and able to tech support customers. An individual with this level of knowledge and applied skill is handily worth USD $50,000 annually, if not more. Few music retailers can afford such an individual. And none have yet formed the music industry’s response to Best Buy’s Geek Squad.

Thus, retailers, both brick-and-mortar and online, are in the awkward position of trying to maintain quality sales and service, while competing with other dealers who slash product pricing to the bone (”We beat any price!”), or with developers offering special direct-to-customer pricing dealers cannot compete with.

TREND LINES
What’s been happening in other retail segments and in other industries has now firmly planted itself in the music technology sector of the music industry. Developers selling direct-to-customers doesn’t necessarily translate to lower consumer prices for the simple reason that even with higher marketing costs for independents, developers keep more money, which enables and empowers them to continue the R&D required to create new products.

By taking this approach, independents can avoid commodity pricing of their products, but the trade off is that they’ll sell fewer of them. To avoid this, developers have to create alternative lower cost distribution channels along with having an aggressive PR plan.

However, once a developer begins selling through retail distribution, commodity pricing is automatic. Once a retailer begins cutting prices then the developer who’s also selling direct, now finds themselves competing with their distribution and having to sell at lower costs to maintain cash flow.

The only tool a developer has with retailers to avoid commodity pricing, is to create a reasonable price, and then give short discounts to insure that product value is upheld.

Part of product value is tech support, and tech support is labor intensive. Unless the developer is selling a one-off product, profits will be needed not just for personal income, but to build that organization called, a company.

Evolve

Fortunately, both the manual and the free updates from the Heavyocity site gives you a list of all the sounds that you should definitely print out and put it into a notebook. Because you have different sounds mapped to both white and black keys, you’ll need to play through them and on the sound sheets, write prose statements to help you define how, when, where you’d use a particular sound.

Evolve is organized into five components each with its own “skin”. Descriptions below are from the Heavyocity web site.

1. Rhythmic Suites - Walls of cinematic percussion, punchy beats, and next-gen tonal elements make up 7 genre-specific loop suites (Dramatic EVOLVED, Dramatic Techtronic, Electro Tech, Industrial Elements, Industrial Grunge, Quirky and Cartoony, Rock Pop, and Tonal Suites.) Over 600 beat sliced loops arranged with an intuitive keymapping system.

2. Stings and Transitions - 5 categories of otherworldly sounds like Uncharted Metals, odd Noise and Buildups, and Atonal Stings, offer distinct new ways to heighten emotional impact. Perfect for adding terrifying sonic punctuation to a film soundtrack or bizarre textures to the breakdown of a pop song.

3. Seq and Arp - Utilizing a custom step-sequence arpeggiator, users can control Velocity, Pan, and Filter on nearly 60 presets, ranging from percussive hits to tweaked pianos. Develop your own groove, or choose one of the 12 factory presets to get started.

4. Percussive Kits - Over 30 modern percussive-type menus and drum-like kits containing sounds gathered from an array of bizarre sources (warehouses, amusement parks, murky stairwells, and more). Whether it’s a massive hit, an ear piercing screech, or a subtle clang, this category provides an enormous variety of sounds for beat production.

5. Tonality and FX - A mashed up array of instruments that stray from the traditional “meat and potatoes”. Including both instruments and pads like Frozen Piano and Lydian Choir Gods, this category will bring an innovative quality to your arrangements.

All of the loops are in 4/4 time and will lock to your sequencer’s tempo.

One thing you’ll need to consider is that all of the sounds are pre-effected. So if you’re using Evolve with an orchestral library, you’ll need to do some reverb matching.

Evolve is the brainchild of two fellow Berklee grads, Dave Fraser and Neil Goldberg, both of whom have nearly a decade’s worth of experience in production and sound design.

Not to be a punster, but you’re literally getting the sound of experience from Dave and Neil and their programming team whose credits include the NFL, Sony, Gillette, Atari, NBC, 2K Marin, MTV, VH1, Sci-Fi Network, NBC and many others.

From this experience and the obvious client need of being able to work quickly, Dave/Neil and Team have developed a program that clearly has a solid quality control design that leads to swift and efficient work flow. As bizarre as this may read, the menus are a joy to work with because they’re laid out in a simple, easy to follow format. And recently, the company gave away a free update that contains hundreds of more sounds, drum loops and MIDI files.

These guys take care of their customers!

Given the tight economy and the heavily competitive environment out there, Heavyocity Evolve, like Symphobia from Project SAM or LASS from AudioBro, is going to give you a serious edge. With so many sounds, you won’t run out of uses any time soon.

List Price: USD $399.00.

Minimum System Requirements:
Mac :
-OS 10.4.X or later
-G4 1.4 GHz or faster
-512 MB RAM or more
-DVD drive

Windows :
-XP SP2 or Vista
-Pentium IV or Athlon 1.4 GHz or faster
-512MB RAM or more
-DVD drive

Plug-in Formats :
AudioUnit, VST, RTAS, DXi and Stand Alone

Powered by the Native Instruments Kontakt Player 2 engine

The following is a 13-part tutorial created by Gerald Berliner of More Human Than Human pictured above with his writing partner in London (Gerald is in New York), Nick Gaiger.

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If you have questions for Mr. Berliner, please post them below.

There were five key reasons Alexander University selected BV Software.

First, and key, was BV Shopping Cart’s shipping features which allows the retailer to input both product dimensions and weight. This enables the computer system to match item to box and then pick the most financially efficient shipping method for the customer. “This is a godsend for our international customers,” explained company Vice President Caroline Alexander.

Second, and equally critical for Alexander University, is that BV Software has a bonus program which enables data export directly to QuickBooks, saving the company over 500 manhours per year, which is the equivalent of 15 weeks of work.

Third, BV Software comes with cascading style sheets allowing for more creative home page design and layouts.

Fourth, with the BV Shopping Cart, Alexander can more effectively implement digital downloads including original music (MP3s), sheet music, graphics and video.

Finally, BV Software provides Alexander with shopping cart services made standard by companies like Amazon.com and L.L. Bean. “Today a shopping cart is a competitive tool so having wish lists, gift certificates, coupons, mail-a-friend, track-your-order are now mandatory features,” noted Ms. Alexander.