Zimmer & Vangelis, Expanding the Pianoverse & 80s Drums!

This week we have a veritable cornucopia of new sounds for you to use in your creations including sounds inspired by Zimmer & Vangelis, big grand pianos, Linn-inspired drums and yet more patches for Arturia’s magnificent PolyBrute!

‘Atreides Deckard’; Zimmer & Vangelis Inspired Patches for Cherry Audio’s GX-80 by James Dyson

With Dune Part Two astounding audiences in cinemas around the globe, James Dyson has taken its Hans Zimmer score as inspiration for his latest sound set for Cherry Audio’s GX-80 synth plugin. The GX-80 is their take on Yamaha’s two analogue behemoths of the 1970s, the GX-1 and the CS-80.

Making use of GX-80s brilliant recreations of these two classics, James has created an ethereal sound set that would grace any Sci-Fi movie. Of course, the CS-80 is synonymous with the maestro Vangelis. Using those trademark sounds as a starting point, James has crafted patches that are familiar yet new.

There’s a distinct Middle-Eastern flavour here, evoked possibly by the endless sands of Arrakis. Equally, there are plenty of patches here with pulsating bass lines and sharp, metallic timbres. James is a regular preset designer for many of Cherry Audio’s products. Now you can expand on his work by purchasing this set for GX-80.

The set is a steal at just £10 GBP and can be ordered by sending £10 GBP to James’ Paypal at [email protected] with a note ‘Atreides Deckard’. James will send you the set to your PayPal email address within the hour.

PolyBrute Bank by Sounds For Synths

Yes, yes, I know. I featured some PolyBrute sounds just a couple of weeks ago. They were cracking sounds too. And now, here’s another set of amazing sounds for this stunning analog polysynth. This time they come from Jexus Wcog aka Sounds For Synth.

This set comprises of over 200 new sounds for your Polybrute and also include numerous sequencer patterns. There is something for everyone in this set. Big, evolving pads, chunky basses, searing leads and a ton of very cool sequences.

I still feel that Arturia’s PolyBrute doesn’t get the love or recognition it deserves. This sound set, along with the GEOSynths bank I featured a couple of weeks ago, really exploits the power of the PolyBrute. Because of its unique architecture, each patch is actually two patches! You can seamlessly morph between these two voices using the Morphee pad.

Jexus’ approach to sound design is quite unique and appears to be more than just a collection of sounds. Real thought has gone into creating patches with character and usefullness. I’ve personally found them to be very inspiring. And at just $29.90 USD/€28.90 EUR/£25.90 GBP, they represent great value.

The patches can be ordered direct from the Sound For Synths website. And if you’re hankering after that PolyBrute, and these sounds tip you over the edge, both versions of the keyboard are currently €200 off at our affiliate partner!

It seems that there are a huge number of sampled piano libraries available today. That’s not a bad thing but there can be a lot of crossover and not enough differences to warrant the outlay. When IK Multimedia entered the fray, they decided to do something quite different to set themselves apart.

Pianoverse is an expanding collection of deeply sampled pianos from around world and across more than a century. Each library weighs in at 20-25GB in size and are meticulously sampled using automated processes. This ensures complete consistency and accuracy.

What sets Pianoverse apart is what you can do with the pianos beyond their original sound. Pianoverse allows you to place your chosen instrument in not just your typical environments but other, more esoteric ones such as a forest or on an ice flow!

The latest addition to this suite is the Hamburg Grand S274. This features a 1958 9′ Steinway & Sons D-274, currently located at the Officine Meccaniche studios in Milan, Italy. A pair of DPA 4011s were used as close mics, and two Coles 4038s in a Blumlein configuration used as the room mics. These captured this classic instrument with no signal processing used at all.

Joining other great pianos, both upright and grand, the Hamburg S274 retails for €99.99 and is available directly from IK Multimedia. IK Multimedia have also announced the availability of Pianoverse Max which includes all 6 currently available pianos and the ability to download the next two in the range.

Users can opt to subscribe to Pianoverse for a low monthly or annual rate, if that method suits them instead.

Super Lynn Drums by Sample Science

I don’t think there is any doubt that the definitive drum sound of the 1980s was the sound of the Linn. Using samples, the LM-1 and its follow up, the LinnDrum, it defined a generation of electronic pop music. Subsequently, the Linn 9000 would take the drum machine concept even further, ultimately leading to the classic Akai MPC-60. Roger Linn was an influential guy!

Buying a genuine vintage Linn drum machine is very much a rich man’s game these days. Well kept original examples can fetch $20,000, and some have an even higher asking price! With the Linn IP fiercely protected by Bruce Forat, who has been keeping OG Linn’s alive for decades, it’s not always easy to get a decent recreation these days. That said, there’s the amazing Luma-1 which clocks in at a mere $4,995!

Sure, there are tons of sample packs flying around. But who can be bothered mapping samples these days? Maybe I’m just lazy, but if someone gives me a set of Linn sounds ready to go out of the box, I’m in! And that is exactly what Sample Science have done with the Super Lynn Drums plugin.

Under the hood of a nice, simple to use UI whose colours mimic the original hardware, sit four kits based on the LM-1, LinnDrum and Linn9000. Instead of samples, they have used FM synthesis, physical modeling, and cutting-edge production techniques to get that Linn sound!

Each kit has 5 variations and there’s a ton of useful effects, as well as a sub-oscillator to beef things up. Just like the hardware, every drum can be tuned and sent to its own output. But the best bit is that this plugin is just $20 and available direct from Sample Science! At that price I will forgive them asserting in the blurb that the LM-2 was a thing!

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