Arte Nuovo’s Joseph Hollo has recently released a soundset for the Zebra 2.5 software synthesizer by u-he.
An ultimate collection of useful lyrical and dramatic pads, effects and soundscapes from a multiple golden and platinum record owner composer.
You can use them in almost all styles from classical pop/rock ballads to moviescores or even in the most up to date dubstep compositions.
Padsheaven features 128 presets, including 96 pads and 32 additional keys, leads, plucked instruments, bass, and drum/percussion sounds.
The patches have descriptive titles and they are categorized for ease of use. Various parameters are assigned to velocity, aftertouch, pitchbend and modwheel, and each patch has detailed information on what is assigned and how a sound was designed or intended to be played.
The video below demonstrates some of the sounds of Padsheaven.
So what do I think?
Format: .h2p patches for Zebra 2.5
Price: $20 USD
Like: Superb sound design, emotional & inspiring
Don’t like: —
Verdict: 9/10
Zebra has a gigantic vault of free patches available to its users. Right now I count over 125 banks listed, many of which feature high quality sounds. A commercial soundset like Padsheaven really has to have to something special to offer. And it does.
Padsheaven includes some absolutely stunning pads, in a wide variety of colors. Soft and warm, ambient, glass like, strings, and lots more. Joseph displays his sound design skills by creating incredibly emotional, moving sounds, with lots of expression.
While the focus of this soundset is on the pads, the other sounds are certainly no filler. There is a bit of an 80’s vibe throughout the set, and some references to artists and synthesizers of that decade are in the patch titles (e.g. the Roland D-50, Prophet VS, Oberheim OB-X).
A lot of work went into creating these patches, and I would recommend you check under the hood to see how they were made, as Padsheaven is also a lesson in sound design in Zebra.
In short, Padsheaven is an outstanding soundset. There is so much detail in the sounds, it just makes me want to sit still, listen closely, and let the sounds sink in. Truly exceptional. Joseph is offering a free demo bank with 16 patches so check it out.
More information: Arte Nuovo
Hey there, I'm Ronnie and I run Rekkerd.org. I'm a bedroom music producer and guitar player, and I love chicken vindaloo & all things glitch.
