Publisher : Soundiron
Format : Kontakt (6.2.2+)
Quality : Stereo 48 kHz 24 bit
Description : Pipe organs
Alpha Organ is a beautifully sampled pair of pipe organs recorded at St. Paul’s Church in San Francisco, California. They have rich sound, powerful bass, a huge variety of presets, sound design, microphone placement, tone settings, customizable effects and an intuitive and flexible graphical interface. Each organ contrasts distinctly with the other, and when they both play in unison, the sound is simply magnificent. We recorded both instruments separately and together in unison, using different microphone types and placements to offer you a variety of aesthetic options.
About the recording
The lower organ, built by the Kilgen Church Organ Company of St. Louis, Missouri, was originally water-powered but has since been converted to an electrically driven supercharger system. The console is located on the south island near the side entrance. The pipes are hidden behind the altar and the blower and machinery are hidden under the apse floor, allowing the lowest pedal sounds to resonate through the floor, seemingly shaking the foundation.
The upper organ, much larger and more refined, was built by Schoenstein & Co. from San Francisco. It is located high above the portcullis and vestibule in the mezzanine between the two bell towers. While the first organ, the Alpha, is gentle and silky in sound, the second, the Omega, is thunderous and powerful in its body and energy, with a more powerful supercharger, larger console and more pipes.
We believe that this space has extraordinary acoustic properties bordering on mysticism. Every time we recorded, we experienced waves of strange synchronicity. It seems that the whole hall is singing like one big live instrument. To highlight the singularity that this space seems to evoke, we have enriched this library with a very wide selection of sound atmospheres, leads, pads, drones and effects presets, delving deep into psychoacoustic and metaphysical aesthetics. The church was built by parishioners over two decades, starting in 1897, with a lull in 1906 due to the San Francisco earthquake, and was finally completed in 1911 using stone found in the destroyed city. It has a lush, pristine quality, full of spacious airiness and crystal clarity, without a hint of cloudiness or oversaturation. This echoing hall is one of our favorite recording venues, home to our renowned Requiem Light Symphonic Choir , Native Instruments Symphony Series Brass Ensemble and Solo , and many other classic Soundiron libraries .
Content :
We’ve designed the user interface with powerful sound shaping controls to give you complete flexibility. Controls for volume boost, attack and release times, sample start offset, vibrato and sound bank selection are included in all presets. The main preset is also equipped with a microphone mixer and an octave effect. The Multi-Layer Preset contains 4 independent audio layers, each with a full set of parameters that can be linked, automated and customized. The first three layers are the microphone positions: close (Mic 1), mid (Mic 2) and far (Mic 3). The fourth layer is the environment layer. We used a variety of sound design techniques to transform the sounds from our journey into 30 different tonal and dissonant pads, synth tones and ambient fantasy landscapes. They can be played alone or used to add texture and dimension to underlying sounds.
In the advanced settings drop-down window you’ll also find an adaptable low-frequency oscillation system for each layer, with the ability to select frequency shapes, modulation targets, speed, intensity, tempo sync, and intro times. You can also apply a choice of 13 low- and high-pass filters, as well as effects with assignable modulation targets such as velocity, mod wheel, expression, after-tap, key position, and step sequencer table control. The custom arpeggiator features a built-in velocity sequencer table and allows you to control arpeggio direction, note timing, wobble, randomization and duration. The built-in modular effect rack window offers 27 different DSP effect modules that can be placed in any of the 8 available slots in any order desired. You will find classic phaser, flanger, delay, distortion, amp and cabinet simulators, compressors, equalizer, rotator and much more. The reverb effect contains 99 convolution reverb pulse presets. We captured a huge variety of different rooms, halls, chambers and open spaces, as well as 139 unique, unusual and creative special effects impulses that completely transformed the sound and opened up whole new worlds of musical possibilities.
Characteristics :
• product version 2.0;
• two organs with deep sampling and three microphone positions: near, middle and far;
• 12 steps in Alpha organ, 20 in Omega, 3 in Unity, pedal tones + special effects;
• 16671 samples;
• 24-bit lossless NCW stereo at 48 kHz;
• flexible and intuitive user interface with professional features, deep customization and simple workflow;
• designed for the free Kontakt Player (version 6.2.2 and above), Komplete Kontrol, all S-series keyboards and NKS software and hardware from Native Instruments;
• works with the Libraries tab in Kontakt, as well as Native Access.
