Designed for composers, sound designers, and music producers aiming to push traditional boundaries. Within this guitar series, you’ll find a mix of pads and atmospheres, alongside loops, rhythmic pulses, and impact sounds, all create from quality guitar recordings. 

The Man Behind The Sample Logic’s Cinematic Guitars Series

Steve Ouimette, a composer, artist, and producer whose diverse portfolio has significantly impacted video games, television, movie trailers, and streaming music since 2007. Renowned for his creative and innovative approach, Steve has successfully undertaken a variety of unique projects. 

Notably, he has composed bespoke national anthems for “Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” crafted Narco Corridos for “Ghost Recon: Wildlands,” and developed a nostalgic 70s/80s soundtrack for “Call Of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Zombies In Spaceland).”

Steve’s expertise also extends to re-recording iconic hits spanning from the 1940s to contemporary tracks for beloved franchises such as “Guitar Hero” and “Just Dance.” His prolific output includes dozens of original production library music albums, leading to extensive placements across media, notably in CBS’s “Let’s Make A Deal” and as the composer of the official theme for the Chicago Cubs for the Marquee Sports Network. 

Steve Ouimette’s career is a testament to the power of innovative musical composition and its impact across entertainment industry

Cinematic Guitar Ear Candy

Take a quick listen to these playlists, they showcase music compositions, illustrating the quality accessible in both Kontakt libraries. Each piece is a testament to the libraries’ technical prowess and creative potential, offering a glimpse into the possibilities. Deep, resonant tones to lighter, atmospheric textures, and catchy pulsing rhythms. You’re going to hear it all.

Sample Library Overviews

Let’s dive into an overview of both sample libraries, Cinematic Guitars Motion and Cinematic Guitars Infinity. The idea here is to highlight each library’s features and creative capabilities, helping music creators make informed decisions for their sonic needs.

Overview Cinematic Guitars

Cinematic Guitars Motion is designed for media composers and sound designers, focusing on creating cinematic textures and rhythmic elements using a wide variety of guitar-based samples. 

Cinematic Guitars Motion Key Features:

1. Extensive Library: 800+ instruments and presets with 33 GB of sample content made from multi sampled guitars.

2. Unique Sound Sources: The library features a diverse range of guitars and other stringed instruments recorded by Steve Ouimette, including unique items like Ouija Board and Cigar Box Guitar, Baritone, Ukuleles, Puerto Rican Cuatro, and many more.

3. Quad Step Animator: This feature with XY motion engines allows for more complex rhythm and textural patterns, providing a dynamic and expressive options for creating movement within your music.

4. Meta Tag Browsing System: The tagging system is helpful for navigating the library and finding the sounds you want to use quickly.

5. Randomization Features: Allows music creators to randomize nearly every element within the interface, tapping into a variety of sound combinations and endless inspiration.

6. Drag & Drop MIDI Patterns: This feature enables music producers to effortlessly take patterns from the Kontakt Library and drag and drop them directly into the DAW. This allows for quick alternative sound assignments, and an easy way to manipulate the patterns.

7. Swappable Effects Chain: Offers extensive customization and sound shaping capabilities.

Sound Library GUI

• A World of Motion: The library incorporates motion into every instrument through sampling techniques, effects, and performance animation.

• Deep Intuitive Interface: The interface is split up into four main sections: CORE, STEP, EFFECT, and MASTER, each offering a range of controls and customization options.

• Preset Browsing: Quick access to sounds and presets is vital, and CG Motion’s browser.

Cinematic Guitars Motion System Requirements and Compatibility:

Software Requirement:

• Requires the full retail version of Kontakt, version 5.8.1 or higher (Note: These libraries are not compatible with the free Kontakt Player).

Operating System:

• Mac: OS X 10.11 or later, Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB RAM (6 GB recommended).
• Windows: 7, 8, or 10, Intel Core i5 or equivalent CPU, 4 GB RAM (6 GB recommended).

Storage:

• At least 33 GB of free disk space is required for Cinematic Guitars Motion sample content.

Compatibility:

• Compatible with Mac (64-bit only) and Windows (32/64-bit) operating systems.
• Can be run in Stand-alone mode or as a plugin in VST, Audio Units (AU), and AAX formats.

Cinematic Guitars Infinity Overview

Cinematic Guitars Infinity, another great Kontakt Library, combines four libraries, offering a broad spectrum of textures and tones derived from guitar samples. 

Infinity Key Features:

1. Library Content: It combines four libraries – CG1, CG2, CG3, and INFINITY. All offering a great range of cinematic sounds.

2. Powered by Kontakt Player: Utilizes Native Instruments Kontakt Player to deliver a simple, and powerful performance interface.

3. Huge Sounds: Designed to create massive, dramatic, and cinematic sounds beyond traditional guitar timbres.

4. Sound Categories: Features lots of sound categories, including atmospheres, instrumentals, loops, and percussive sounds, all tailored for cinematic production in mind.

Sound Library GUI

• Innovative Design: INFINITY represents a leap forward in interface design, offering 8 simultaneous sound sources through a dozen effects, all controlled via XY sliders.

• 3D Mixer Technology: Incorporates Sample Logic’s proprietary 3D Mixer technology, for smooth mixing between soundcores with a simple drag and drop feature.

• Extensive Sound Sources: Over 2000 sound sources, 1000 core presets, and 750 ready to use instrument presets provide thousands of sonic combinations.

Cinematic Guitars Infinity -System Requirements

Kontakt Version Requirement:

• Requires a full version of Kontakt, version 5.8.1 or higher (Incompatible with the free Kontakt Player).

Operating System and Hardware:

• Mac: Requires OS X 10.11 or later, Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB RAM (6 GB recommended).
• Windows: Compatible with Windows 7, 8, or 10, Intel Core i5 or equivalent CPU, 4 GB RAM (6 GB recommended).

Storage:

• A minimum of 26 GB of free disk space is necessary for the sample content.

Compatibility Note:

• This product does not support NKS integration.

Supported Interfaces:

• Operable as a Stand-alone application or as a plugin in VST, Audio Units (AU), and AAX formats.

Cinematic Guitars Motion and Infinity: Who Benefits the Most From These Sample Libraries?

Cinematic Guitars Motion and Cinematic Guitars Infinity are excellent for any music producer, but offer benefits to those in these specific fields:

1. Film and TV Composers: Those looking to add textured, emotive, and dynamic soundscapes to their scores will find a wide array of options to underscore various moods and scenes.

2. Game Audio Composers: These libraries, with their immersive sounds, are perfect for crafting the atmospheric and thematic elements essential in video games, ranging from subtle ambient textures to bold, dramatic scores.

3. Trailer Music Producers: The dramatic, impactful sounds are perfect for the high-intensity and emotionally charged context of trailers, where every second counts.

4. Electronic and Ambient Musicians: Artists looking to incorporate cinematic textures and layers into their music will find a wealth of inspirational sounds.

5. Sound Designers: Those who create unique sound effects, ambient sounds, or any form of audio content for media will appreciate the depth and flexibility of these libraries.

6. Experimental Composers: For those pushing the boundaries of music and looking to explore new sonic territories, the innovative textures and manipulative capabilities offer a huge playground of possibilities.

Exploring the Nuances: Cinematic Guitars Motion vs. Infinity

Both Kontakt Libraries offer quality sound selections, catering to both, composers and sound designers. Understanding the differences and similarities between the two is essential. This should help when making a choice when it comes to investing in one or both libraries.

How They Differ:

1. Focus and Purpose:

• Cinematic Guitars Motion is tailored to bring motion and rhythm into compositions, specializing in dynamic textures and rhythmic elements that evolve over time.

• Cinematic Guitars Infinity encompasses a larger selection of sounds, merging the best of previous Cinematic Guitars libraries with new, innovative sounds. It’s designed for a broad scope of cinematic expressions.

2. Sound Content:

• Motion specializes in rhythm and textures, perfect for injecting lively, dynamic movement into tracks.

• Infinity offers many sounds, ranging from the ethereal and ambient to the bold and complex, providing extensive diversity for creative sound production.

3. User Interface/Experience:

• Motion highlights its quad-core step animator and XY motion engines, simplifying the creation of complex rhythms and movements.

• Infinity, with its 3D Mixer technology and multiple sound sources, offers a more intricate interface for users seeking depth and more options with sound customization.

How They Complement Each Other

The libraries can be used in together, turning a simple idea to a complex, richly textured piece with depth.

1. Range of Sounds: Infinity offers a broad spectrum of cinematic sounds, while Motion focuses on rhythmic and dynamic textures.

2. Creative Workflow: Users can start with the soundscapes of Infinity to set the mood and then and in Motion’s rhythmic elements for a layer of movement, creating more dynamic compositions.

3. Scoring Flexibility: Combined, they offer a versatile array of options to suit various moods. Both libraries are great cater to media based scoring.

4. Cohesive Sound Design: Stemming from Sample Logic’s innovative approach, both Kontakt libraries complement each other well. Together, they create a cohesive sonic experience. This unity offers a broad range of sounds for diverse musical projects.

Why Music Composers Love The Cinematic Guitar Series

The Cinematic Guitars series is highly regarded for its sound quality, ease of use, and inspirational qualities.

Firstly, music composers and producers praise the series for its sound banks that span from nostalgic to modern, catering to various musical needs.

Additionally, the libraries are extremely simple to use, allowing those without guitar skills, to effortlessly create great sounding rhythms.

The versatility of the libraries is a significant draw as they provide rich, adaptable sounds that can be used to help enhance any genre of music.

Furthermore, both Motion and Infinity are shining examples of Sample Logic’s dedication to pushing creative boundaries. They deliver a wide range of quality sounds that captivate and inspire.

The endorsements by industry professionals further cements the Cinematic Guitars series as a pivotal sound library in cinematic sound. This series redefines expectations and sets a high bar for quality and versatility in music production.

Size of Each Sample Library and Recommendations for Storage:

The total size of Cinematic Guitars Motion and Infinity is significant, and require HDDs with ample storage and speed. Hosting big libraries on an SSD (external/internal) is highly recommended for quick access, speed and reliability.

Cinematic Guitars Motion:

Size: The library is approximately 33 GB of sample content. This size results from multi-sampled guitars, along with layers of intricate sound design, textures, and cinematic effects. Each guitar recorded and produced with high fidelity, ensuring every sound is infused with depth and realism.

Cinematic Guitars Infinity:

Size: The total size combines four libraries into one, including CG1, CG2, CG3, and INFINITY. This said, the exact size may vary with different versions or updates, its approximately 26 GB.

Combined Size: Both Cinematic Guitar Libraries is roughly 60GBs.

Recommended Hard Drive for Hosting Both Libraries:

A good hard drive is vital for music production as it drastically reduces load times and ensures smooth operation of large, complex sound libraries.

1. Type of Drive: 

Solid State Drive (SSD): For optimal performance with both libraries, it’s highly recommended to use an SSD instead of a traditional HDD. SSDs offer great read and write speeds, ensuring smooth sample playback.

2. Specifications:

Capacity: Look for an HDD that is 500GB or more. 1-2TB is recommended as they are highly affordable and will provide space for additional content and projects if needed. 

Speed: While most SSDs provide decent speeds, aim for a data transfer rate of 1000MB/s or higher, to ensure optimal performance.

Reliability: Choose a reputable brand known for both durability and reliability. This is important as to minimize data loss and corruption.

Good brands include, but not limited to Samsung, Crucial, Sandisk and Kingston.

3. External vs. Internal:

External SSD: If you’re working across multiple workstations or need to take your libraries on the go, an external SSD with USB 3.0, USBC or Thunderbolt connection is ideal.

Internal SSD: For desktop users, an internal SSD connected directly to the motherboard will offer the fastest and most reliable performance, which is crucial for demanding music production tasks.

Conclusion:

The Cinematic Guitars Motion and Infinity libraries excel individually, yet together, they are versatile across multiple genres, including but not limited to; cinematic hybrids, fantasy, and lots of sub genres. These libraries don’t just add to your music; they transform it, adding new levels of expressiveness.

The post Cinematic Guitars: Epic Scoring Kontakt Libraries For Music Composers appeared first on Sample Logic LLC..

Although producers are familiar with most of these terms; Phase is something that often confuses them. What is the phase, what is its use, and how to use it in the Sound design? We will answer all these questions in this article.

What is Phase?

All synthesizers use single wave cycles as the basis of sound generation. While some synths use one single wave cycle per oscillator(Example, Sylenth 1, Harmor, Sytrus, etc), other advanced synths use the collection of single wave cycles, Noises, and samples.

Each of these single-wave cycles starts at some point in the beginning. That starting point is called the phase. Phase is the position of a point in time on a cycle of a waveform. The value of phase ranges from 0° to 360°. 0° means the SWC(We will use this abbreviation for Single wave cycle from now on) will start from the very beginning, 180° sets the starting point in the middle while 360° makes the SWC starts from the end. Notice that 0° and 360° are practically the same points (unless there is DC offset).

In most synths, each oscillator has its own phase control, but there are a few exceptions that use one phase control for multiple oscillators, like Harmor.

Significance of Phase in sound design and mixing

If there is only a single oscillator in use, the phase does not have any significance unless there is a moderate to fast modulation. However, the role of Phase becomes very important if there are more than 2 oscillators or sound sources playing. That’s because of the constructive and destructive interference of waveforms.

What are constructive and destructive interference? When 2 or more waveforms mix with each other, depending on their alignment the resulting level either increases or decreases. If the resulting level decreases, it is destructive interference. But if the resulting level increases, it is constructive interference.

Relation between phase and Timbre

In most cases, sound designers use different SWC in the different oscillators. It gives them a unique timbre. Timbre is the sonic quality of a sound that differentiates one sound from another. If is the result of a mix between the Harmonic level, harmonic phase, and in the case of physical instruments, the material used as well as the assembly(For example, check out this excellent article on the effect of tonewood on the timbre of the guitar). In order to get a unique and expressive timbre, the sound designer mix different oscillators at different phase values or modulate one phase with respect to another.

This gives a unique sonic quality and movement to the sound. Here is an example showing a mixdown of the simple triangle and square waves at multiple phase difference values. Notice how the final waveform changes with different phase values.

Phase Randomization: What is it and what is its usage?

In many modern synthesizers, there is an additional setting associated with the phase called phase randomization. Phase randomization as the name suggests sets a random phase value for the oscillator at the beginning of every note trigger. It creates a different SWC combination and timbre for each note, making the sound more interesting and alive. It also makes the sound continuous during the consecutive note triggers and makes the sound consistent.

Many additive synth engines have another type of phase randomization called Spectral Random. Additive engines use many individual sin waves called partials and combine them to generate the SWC. As such they have control over the phase of individual partial/harmonic. Spectral Random can randomize the phase of each harmonic as opposed to changing the phase of SWC as a whole.

How to use Phase as a sound design tool?

You can use the phase as a creative sound design tool in various ways. For example…

• Modulate the phase using an ADSR to change timbre with time.
• Modulate phase using an LFO to get movement in sustain basses.
• Use a moderate LFO Modulation to emulate the vibrato and analog effect.
• Use spectral randomization to make the sound soft and lush.
• Use SWC Phase randomization to make the sound continuous and timbre interesting.

Phase Issue in Multi Mic Recordings

One of the most crucial factors that affect the final sound of multi-mic recordings is the phase. While recording any instrument or vocal with multiple mics at different positions, there is a site time delay in recording input for each mic. This can create phase issues and make the sound degrade when summed in mono, change the timbre, or nullify the sound altogether.

You can find these phase issues by matching the frequency of your note with an oscilloscope. This will give you a standing wave, making the comparison very easy. Another way is, to sum up, all channels to mono or manually align the audio files in a DAW.

There are different ways to compensate for this phase difference-

1. Use a phase align plugin like Waves In-phase.
2. Many plugins come with a phase inversion option.
3. Use linear phase EQ or low order parametric EQ, especially on low ends and around fundamental harmonics.
4. Manually align the samples in DAW.

Final Takeaway

Thanks for reading! Now you are familiar with Phase, Phase difference, Phase randomization, and their use in sound design. Phase is one of the most overlooked factors while producing music, but it is an extremely crucial part of sound design as well as mixing and mastering. While producing music, make sure to always check your phase alignments, modulations, and phase difference.

The post Audio Basics – What is Phase in Synthesizers? Phase Explained appeared first on Sample Logic LLC..

A common topic of discussion here is which recent films, video games, tv shows, and their accompanying scores we love and why we love them. We came up with the idea of using our favorite recent scores as inspiration and the possibility of channeling these scores using virtual instruments, samples, and our own imagination.

Granted, I wanted to offer something a bit more applicable to any composer who uses a DAW, even if you don’t currently own any products from Sample Logic. While I use three specific libraries here in this video, these ideas and techniques can be applied to any sound source, whether it be from any sample library or your own recorded sounds!

Hans Zimmer is arguably the most influential and iconic film composer of the modern era, with over 150 film scores to his name and two Oscar wins (for The Lion King in 1996 and Dune in 2022). Whether you are a fan or not, it’s irrefutable that his name is synonymous with Hollywood film scores.

While his early work was more traditional and thematic, his recent works have been more experimental, relying on evocative textures and soundscapes to establish mood, often going against the expectation of what a traditional orchestral score should entail.

The score for Dune was a great example of this – incredibly evocative, brooding, yet still bold and often beautiful, we decided to deconstruct some of the music from Dune and channel it using our DAW, samples, and the limits of our imagination. 

We chose three libraries from Sample Logic to use – Bohemian, Drum Fury, and World AI, and I relied only on sounds from those libraries and whatever sounds I could record to create an original track inspired heavily by the opening track for the Dune score, Dream of Arrakis.

Before I started writing, I wanted a bit more background information on the score, its creation, and how Hans generally approaches writing. Here’s what I found out:

• The human voice is the main element for many of the tracks from Dune. A main plot point of Dune is the organization called the Bene Gesserit, and it’s members can make use of a power called “The Voice” to will others to do their bidding. Fun fact- Some often speculate that this is one of the elements which inspired Star Wars, specifically the Force Mind Trick. Other similarities include the desert setting of Arrakis and Tattooine.

• Hans often uses organic sound sources and synths to create a sound palette before writing the full score. It’s my understanding he records various instruments, playing techniques, experimental textures like bowing instruments that aren’t normally bowed, or famously using a razor blade to play the cello (The Dark Knight, 2008), etc. There are actually many versions of the Dune score available, one is even titled The Dune Sketchbook, and features extended cuts, B-takes, and other material cut from the final score. For more information regarding this, check out the Hans Zimmer Masterclass available online.

In creating this track I made heavy use of filters and reverb – low pass filters to create swells and add resonance, and reverb sends to create a HUGE sense of space and ambiance. I chose samples that heavily featured the human voice as a source, as well as some bowed cymbal textures and some intense drums. All of these add to the “otherworldly” feeling of the Dune score.

Finally, I wanted to make it a bit more unique and special, and using what I learned as inspiration, I tuned my Yamaha FG-330 acoustic guitar down to G (the key of the song) and used a bow to bow the lowest string. It created a very metallic, eerie, resonant tone that fits perfectly with the soundscape I was trying to create. Then I recorded my voice, doing my best attempt at throat singing, and pitched my voice down an entire octave using Melodyne in Studio One. It took a natural, human sound source and made it very strange and other-worldly.

The last step was exporting the entire audio track and making a new project, and time-stretching the final section from a tempo of 120 bpm to 160 bpm. (Just make sure you’ve enabled time-stretching in your DAW.) This gave it that heightened sense of tension as it built to a fever pitch and finally ended the song with a long, intense reverb tail!

The post Channeling Hans Zimmer’s Dune with Sample Logic (and thinking outside the box)! appeared first on Sample Logic LLC..