Strix Instruments EMISYNTH brings back the sounds of 11 rare, vintage Soviet analog synthesizers as a Kontakt 5/6 library.
Sample libraries (Kontakt …) are used a lot by composers for film scores. Often they are hundreds of gigabyte huge and covers up every corner of a complete orchestra. What technology makes possible today is impressive. However, sample libraries are not popular with everyone. Many prefer to design their own sounds instead of buying ready-made sound collection.
I like SL when they offer me sounds that I can’t easily get like orchestral, choirs, etc. There are also Synthesizer libraries that can be very exciting. Strix Instruments has collected 11 rare analog synths in the past few months and turned them into virtual instruments for Kontakt with great attention to detail.
Strix Instruments EMISYNTH
EMISYNTH is a virtual instrument for Kontakt 5/6 (full version) that consists of samples from 11 rare Soviet analog synthesizers. The library includes sounds from the PILLE Grey & Black, PIF, Melody, Notka, Emifon-M, Elektronika, and more. Lots of synthesizers I’ve never heard of myself. The fact that these instruments are so rare makes this library very unique.
In order to make the sounds as authentic as possible, the developers recorded the eleven instruments directly on the original speakers. In a long restoration and sampling time, over 3500 samples in 48kHz/24-bit were captured. 11 virtual instruments were created from the sample content, all of which run in the NI Kontakt 5/6 sampler.
Each instrument has its own nostalgic, synthwave-like graphic layout, but all have the same features including an envelope generator, filter, and different effects. The latter includes a chorus, skreamer, distortion, rotator, delay… The developers did not stop there. For the ultimate retro soviet synth vibe, they visited the Chernobyl exclusion zone and recorded a collection of unique impulse responses for the built-in convolution reverb.
NKS
Further, EMISYNTH is compatible with the NKS format and ships with 100 presets, 979 variations, and the unique impulse response from the Chernobyl exclusion zone. So a lot to play with.
The developers have put a lot of love into this library here. Often, Kontakt libraries cover more or less the same thing. I find sampling of super rare Soviet synthesizers and that directly on the noisy, characterful loudspeakers exciting. The library will certainly not completely reproduce the charm of these vintage synths but they give you the possibility to play and make music with these sounds. A lovely idea for a virtual instrument.
Strix Instruments EMISYNTH is available now for an introductory price of $49 USD until June 6th, 2021 (reg, $99). The library requires the full version of Kontakt 5.8.1 or higher.
More information here: Strix Instruments
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