Results for Simon Stockhausen

I am always excited to see what Simon Stockhausen of Patchpool can do when he gets his fingers on a new synthesizer plug-in. After hearing some of the teaser sound clips, I knew the Diversion soundset for the Diversion synthesizer plug-in by Dmitry Sches was going to be good.

Diversity includes a total of 101 patches and 6 variations. Simon aimed to create a wide range of diverse sounds…

… reaching from mellow and beautiful bells, pads, textural instruments and expressive lead sounds to edgy and soaring sequences and synths to dark and mysterious drones and soundscapes to otherworldly and abstract textures.

The patches use many custom waveforms made with Diversion and other sources. The sounds of this set were designed to be expressive, featuring complex modulations and x/y morph parameter assignments & aftertouch for more dynamic and expressive playing.

A breakdown of the patch categories:

• 9 Bell & Plucks + 1 variation
• 21 Keys & Synths
• 19 Pads + 2 variations
• 29 Scapes & Drones + 2 variations
• 23 Sequencers + 1 variation

For each of the patches there is a description and/or insights into how the x/y, aftertouch, velocity etc. can be used to control the sounds.

Some of the patches use quite a lot of CPU. Simon recommends reducing polyphony or switching off the unison mode while tracking (and turn it back on for the render). Diversion does some high quality sounds, and I’m more than happy to work around some of the CPU issues until I get a better CPU.

While checking out the sounds I got inspired to do a little piece of music. The sound clip below is made with 5 instances of Diversion, only using patches from the Diversity soundset.

I only spent about 15 minutes from start to render so I didn’t spend much time on the mix and just slapped on a gentle compression on the master. No other processing was done.

For more elaborate examples of the sounds of Diversity, make sure to check Simon’s demos.

So what do I think?

For a synthesizer as good as Diversion, it’s a bit of a shame there are only so few soundsets available for it. I guess there is a smaller market than for Massive, Sylenth1 and the likes, but luckily Patchpool supports the lesser known plug-in developers.

Diversity offers a most wonderful collection of sounds, beautifully designed by seasoned composer and sound designer Simon Stockhausen. With his signature cinematic style, Simon’s sounds are great for soundtracks and ambient music. They are ready to use out of the box, all you need to do is be inspired by them.

If you had a listen to the demos you undoubtedly heard that these sounds are designed in a way that when played alongside one or two other patches, or even individually, they are completely musical, expressive and generally totally mesmerizing. You just get completely immersed in the sounds, what inspiration!

More information: Patchpool / Diversity

Applied Acoustics Systems has announced Cardinals, a new soundset for the Chromaphone software synthesizer.

Cardinals is sound designer and composer Simon Stockhausen’s presentation of dualism in all sort of realms.

You’ll find dark and light, tonal and atonal, serenity and anxiety, and eastern and western scattered across the Achromatic and Chromatic Percussion, Danger Zone, Keys, Synths, Strings, Pads, Textures, and Scapes categories.

The 109 presets encapsulate their own enclosed universe for many hours of exploration.

Cardinals is available as a preset bank for Chromaphone including the AAS Player plug-in for Windows and Mac (VST/AU/RTAS), priced at $39 USD.

More information: Applied Acoustics Systems / Cardinals

Applied Acoustics Systems has announced the expansion of the Sound Bank Series with titles for Chromaphone, its latest creative percussion synthesizer.

Renowned sound designers Martin Walker, Simon Stockhausen, and Michel Drapeau have been commissioned to produce the first three collection of presets.

“These banks will cover a lot of sonic ground as each sound designer will bring his own influences and signature touch,” said Marc-Pierre Verge CEO of AAS, “Chromaphone is still very new so the sound design possibilities are wide open and we really liked what the sound designers have presented so far.”

The new sound banks will be available during the first quarter of 2012 for $39 USD each. The instant download delivery package will include both Chromaphone preset files as well as the free AAS Player plug-in for Windows and Mac (Standalone/VST/AU/RTAS).

More information: Applied Acoustics Systems

Simon Stockhausen of Patchpool is a rather prolific sound designer, releasing sound libraries faster than I can check them.

After previously briefly browsing some of the sounds of TripleX – and already ending up using it in one of my tunes, I finally had a chance to take a closer look at this soundset for Tone2′s ElectraX software synthesizer.

TripleX comes with 102 patches and 30 variations in 6 categories:

• Arps/Sequences: 20 + 8 variations
• Instruments: 9 + 2 variations
• Pads/Synths: 23 + 7 variations
• Percussion: 9 + 6 variations
• Sci-Fi: 17
• Soundscapes: 24 + 7 variations

ElectraX includes custom sample and waveform import, a feature used extensively in the TripleX set.

Many sounds are sample based utilizing samples especially produced for this Bank, also making use of a split-stereo workaround so that there are true stereo samples involved. You’ll find sampled Saxophones, Flutes, Kalimba, electronic and vocal textures and lots more, often modulating VA Oscillators with those samples via FM, a unique ElectraX feature yielding very interesting results. Quite a few resynthed waveforms are incorporated as well expanding the sonic palette even more.

The sample content used in this soundset is close to 200 MB, making many of the patches truly unique. The patches generally use a good amount of effects and modulation, creating patches that sound like complete musical pieces. The overall feel of TripleX is rather cinematic.

And as if the sounds aren’t expressive enough, the patches have the Modwheel assigned to things like filter, ringmod, FM, LFO, etc., and many also use Aftertouch for even more dynamic playing.

Simon has created a bunch of demo tracks for TripleX that showcase the patches in this set rather well. Check out these amazing sounds, done with TripleX/ElectraX only!

So what do I think?

TripleX is a beautiful combination of unique sample material, advanced synthesis and good use of effects. Pretty much every patch sets a mood, inspires, and invites you to play and get lost in it.

I started noting down some of my favorite sounds but I ended up putting nearly every patch on the list. The set is a proper treasure for musicians/composers looking for cinematic sounds.

With TripleX, Simon Stockhausen once again brings decades of experience to the table – as a musician, composer, arranger and sound designer, crafting a wonderfully musical collection of sounds for ElectraX.

More information: Patchpool / TripleX

Simon Stockhausen of Patchpool has announced the release of Spectral Territory, a collection of patches for Razor by Native Instruments.

This Bank includes 65 unusual and exciting patches for Razor + 20 patch variations.

It focusses on cinematic Soundscapes, big drones, beautiful pads, animated weirdness and useful stabs and keyboard sounds.

All patches have the Modwheel and the Pitchbender assigned for expressive playability, many also use Aftertouch.

Spectral Territory is available to purchase for 15.95 EUR.

More information: Patchpool / Spectral Territory

Note: Spectral Territory requires the full version of Reaktor. It does not work with the Reaktor player version.

In collaboration with new partners, Kreativ Sounds has released sound banks for u-he Zebra2 and Tone2 Gladiator 2.

Kreativ Sounds is pleased to announce new partnerships with more sounds designers in an effort to release even more original sounds for your favorite audio software and VST instruments. We are pleased to release the first results of these collaborations.

New sound banks at Kreativ Sounds

• Zebra² 1st Encounter Sounds – A collection of 64+ ambient, soundscape and drone presets by Simon Stockhausen for the award winning U-He Zebra 2. It also contains 20+ presets for Zebrify.
• Gladiator Dance Sounds Volume 1 – A fantastic collection of 180 carefully designed presets produced by Culture Electronic for the aggressive Tone2 Gladiator 2.
• Gladiator Dance Sounds Volume 2 – The second volume contains other 210 fantastic presets designed by Culture Electronic for the aggressive Tone2 Gladiator 2.

Zebra² 1st Encounter is available to purchase for 15 EUR. The Gladiator Dance Sounds banks are “pay-what-you-wish”, with a minimum of 10 EUR each.

More information: Kreativ Sounds