We’d almost given up hope of Apple ever updating Logic Pro’s much-loved but undeniably archaic EXS24 sampler – resolutely unchanged since 2002’s Mk II update – when, in 2020, out of nowhere, an entirely new replacement for it was revealed as a headline feature of Logic Pro X 10.5.
Probably the most overtly powerful plugin in our list when it comes to sheer sound design potential, HALion takes the very concept of what a sampler can be to the next level. Support for LUA scripting, meanwhile, enables the creation of impressive custom graphical interfaces and although HALion is nowhere near as well catered to in terms of third-party libraries as Kontakt, the 40GB+ factory soundbank is packed with excellent instruments of all kinds. It also puts actual sampling back on the agenda with the Sample Recorder, which makes light work of capturing any input signal and automatically mapping it as a multi-sampled instrument. As well as the expected comprehensive multi-sample mapping and editing, HALion integrates analog, granular, and wavetable synthesis engines, and provides all the effects and modulation sources required to bring them to life. Released in 2001, Steinberg’s flagship virtual instrument has since ballooned from its original specification as a straightforward sampler into a truly epic sampling and synthesis platform. From drums, basses, synths, keys and guitars to full orchestral suites, world instruments, complex vocal generators, cinematic sound design tools and so much more, there’s almost no musical sound imaginable that hasn’t been worked into a Kontakt NKI. Ultimately, though, it’s the endless stream of free and commercial third party libraries that’s established this remarkable sampler as a cornerstone of modern music production. NKS compatibility makes it a particularly good fit for NI’s Komplete Kontrol S-Series keyboards, too, on which the Light Guide RGB LEDs are used to reflect the onscreen keymap colours.
Although the editing interface could be generously described as ’a little tired’ these days, the power and versatility of the engine behind it – incorporating a raft of superb filters, effects modules and modulation options, and a diversity of time stretching/pitch shifting algorithms – are unarguable. One of the first ‘serious’ software samplers to hit the market, Kontakt has become the de facto industry standard in the two decades since its launch, thanks in no small part to the ever-expanding universe of amazing multi-sampled instrument libraries available for loading into it.
0 kommentar(er)
