We've had several requests for a sample pack focused around Meems ambient inspired vocals. So here it is! Quick Stats: Genres: Ambient, Electronic, Cinematic, New Age Vibe check: Ethereal, Spiritual, Epic Journey Pack Size: 1.47 gig of audio samples Number of Phrases: 323 Musical Keys: 5 Bonus Granular Phrases: 222 Bonus Vocal Vowel Instruments: 5 Formats Supported: Ableton Live 11 (Pack Format) MPC 2.11.7 (Software & Hardware) SoundFont2 Waldorf Iridium/Quantum Wave Audio 44khz 24bit License agreement. Five Musical Keys Here's how we created the phrases. First, we chose the key. Let's say A minor for example. A drone pad was laid out in Ableton Live for 15 minutes and Meems improvised over the A minor chord for roughly 8-10 minutes. That performance was then cutup into individual phrases. Those phrases then became the basis for this pack. Note: This was recorded free form, so the phrases are not tempo synced! You could take the individual phrases and time align them in Ableton (or your DAW of choice) but that'll take some extra effort. So we have 5 different keys... A minor (C major) C minor (Eb major) D minor (F major) E minor (G major) F minor (Ab major) From a chord perspective, as long as you stay in the key of the phrase, you can change the harmony all you want, which is a lot of fun to experiment with! MPC Software/Hardware With the phrases chopped, we set out to build the programs that would support the phrases. Each key is about 50 phrases, give or take or few, with E minor having two sets total. The main program provides a little compression, EQ, and reverb. A secondary set of granular versions is included as well that utilizes the granular plugin in the MPC 2.11.7 platform. Ableton Live 11 The Live version is slightly different and comes in a pack with several drum racks loaded with the samples. Macros are setup for each rack so you can quickly adjust reverb, delay etc Alternatively, you could just cherry pick phrases out of the WAV files and add them to the timeline (or new drum rack) and do your own effects chain. Waldorf Iridium We also tried loading the phrases into the Iridium to test out the granular features and loved the results! We decided to include them as sort of a last minute bonus for people that own the Quantum/Iridium synths. So if you own one, the samples sound great in the Waldorf engine. Only problem is it takes about 247mb of space on the internal drive. (Iridium has 2gb of internal space available). Bonus Granular Samples If you don't have a Waldorf Iridium, fret not! We've included 222 samples that were sampled directly from the Iridum in it's granular mode. Basically we took each key and recorded the first 37 phrases as a granular sample, without effects, so you can add delay, reverb etc afterwards. Bonus, BONUS Content... Last year we did an experiment with the Korg Wavestate to add Meems vowels into the synth for sound design purposes. It worked out great! So we've included those samples as bonus instruments for all platforms, including the Iridium. Sound Fonts Finally, everything was also packaged up as Sound Fonts, so if you'd prefer to load the samples (premapped) into your Sampler of choice....assuming it reads SoundFonts, you're good to go! Curious about the Vocal Chain? Warm Audio WA-251 tube mic, into a RND 511 preamp. Then the signal hit two compressors, a Pete's Place BAC-500 FET style compressor (reminiscent of 1176 style compressors), followed by a Buzz Audio Essence Opto style compressor (similar to a LA-2A compressor). Finally the signal hit a Purple Audio LilPEQR shelving EQ that has a delicious transformer in it to give a touch more vibe before seeing the inputs on our MOTU 828es audio interface. Supporting what we do If you do decide to buy a copy of our sample pack, please keep in mind it also helps support what we're doing on YouTube and Bandcamp. So hopefully you can find some inspiring sounds for your productions and in return we get to make more videos, sample packs and music! Cheers and Thank you!Tefty & Meems
