GP07 – Scoring Acoustic Guitars By Heavyocity

GP07 – Scoring Acoustic Guitars By Heavyocity

KK-Access Review

It has been almost a whole year since we saw the last release in the Heavyocity Gravity Pack series. Now with critically acclaimed releases like Damage 2 firmly established, the renowned sound design team are back returning their collective focus onto this the first Heavyocity release of the new year.

In GP07 Scoring Acoustic Guitars, this time it’s the turn of Nylon & Steel acoustics to receive the signature Heavyocity design treatment, and in doing so delivers yet another unique blend of wide screen cinematic splendour!

Tech specs…

GP07 runs in either Kontakt 6.4.2 or higher full version, or the equivalent free Kontakt player, and is Komplete Kontrol compatible.

Installing into 2.07GB of disk space, it uses the NCW file compression format.

GP07 also employs a combination of 229 categorised Kontakt NKI files, along with 40 companion NKSN Kontakt snapshot preset files and 300 NKA array scripts.

Download & Installation…

Download is achieved via the Heavyocity software portal, and final authorisation through Native Access.

As usual a rescan of Komplete Kontrol in standalone mode will add the new library to your browser ready for action.

Komplete Kontrol Browser & Plug-in Edit NKS Parameters…

Browser…

Knob 1 & 2 – Vendor & Product
Knob 3 – Bank: Acoustic GuitarScapes, Melodic Pulses & Phrases, Pads, Performance Palettes, Rhythmic Harmonies, Rhythmic Pedals,
Knob 4 – Sub Bank: Single Guitarscapes A Minor, Single Guitarscapes E Minor, Single Pulses Forward/Reverse, Complex, Pad Elements Ambient, Pad Elements Short, Single Pedals,
Knob 5 – Type: Guitar, Synth Pad, Soundscapes,
Knob 6 – Sub Type: Other, Acoustic
Knob 7- Character: Evolving, Sample Based, Tempo Synced,
Knob 8 – Presets

Plug-in Edit NKS Parameter Mappings

Page One – Punish & Twist

Knob 1 – Punish On/Off
Knob 2 – Amount
Knob 3 & 4 – Unallocated
Knob 5 – Twist On/Off
Knob 6 – Amount
Knob 7 – Rate
Knob 8 – Tone

Page Two – Master FX & Distortion

Knob 1 – distortion
Knob 2 – Delay
Knob 3 – Chorus
Knob 4 – Reverb
Knob 5 – Distortion Drive
Knob 6 – Tone
Knob 7 – Bass
Knob 8 – Treble

Page Three – Delay & Chorus

Knob 1 – Delay Time
Knob 2 – Delay Feedback
Knob 3 – Delay Width
Knob 4 – Delay Mix
Knob 5 – Chorus Rate
Knob 6 – Chorus Depth
Knob 7 – Chorus Phase
Knob 8 – Chorus Amount

Page Four – Reverb & Filter

Knob 1 – Reverb Pre Delay
Knob 2 – Reverb Size
Knob 3 – Reverb Mix
Knob 4 – Unallocated
Knob 5 – Filter On/Off
Knob 6 – Unallocated
Knob 7 – Filter cut-Off
Knob 8 – Filter Resonance

Page Five – Filter Modulation & Filter Envelope

Knob 1 – Filter Mod Envelope
Knob 2 – Filter Mod LFO
Knob 3 – Filter Mod Velocity
Knob 4 – Filter Mod Key Track
Knob 5 – Filter Envelope Attack
Knob 6 – Filter Envelope Decay
Knob 7 – Filter Envelope Sustain
Knob 8 – Filter Envelope Release

Page Six – Equalisation 1

Knob 1 – EQ On/Off
Knob 2 – Unallocated
Knob 3 – Low Frequency
Knob 4 – Low Frequency Gain
Knob 5 – Unallocated
Knob 6 – Low Mid Frequency
Knob 7 – Low Mid Frequency Gain
Knob 8 – Low Mid Frequency Q

Page Seven – Equalisation 2

Knob 1 – High Mid Frequency
Knob 2 – High Mid Frequency Gain
Knob 3 – High Mid Frequency Q
Knob 4 – Unallocated
Knob 5 – High Frequency
Knob 6 – Hi Frequency Gain
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated

Page Eight – Trigger FX 1

Knob 1 – Distortion
Knob 2 – Distortion Brightness
Knob 3 – Lo-Fi Bits
Knob 4 – Lo-Fi Signal Ratio
Knob 5 – Filter Cut-Off
Knob 6 – Filter Resonance
Knob 7 – Pan Width
Knob 8 – Pan amount

Page Nine – Trigger FX 2

Knob 1 – Delay Feedback
Knob 2 – Delay Width
Knob 3 to 8 – Unallocated

NB: As discussed later, some presets have a further page of NKS mapping for Channel Sound Source mixing, other presets have a couple of pages omitted. The minimum page count is 7, the maximum is 10.

Accessibility…

There is little to add or indeed take away from the level of accessibility within these Gravity packs. The engine has remained pretty much unchanged since the inception of GP01 Natural Forces now a couple of years ago.

This is quite understandable, as the user interface works essentially the same across all of the GP series, and as the old adage goes ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

Yes, there are certainly some tantalising control goodies we would love to interact with, some of which could work with NKS, others like the modulation and automation sequencers are most likely too complex to link into the NKS system with the limitations of the knob only controls.

At risk of my continued repetitiveness, and as I have previously championed, it’s the number of presets that Heavyocity provide that make the GP series appealing and workable for us as blind & visually impaired musicians and creative’s.

Scoring Acoustic Guitars In Use…

The library is divided into six distinctive bank categories, acoustic Guitarscapes, Melodic Pulses & Phrases, Pads, Performance Palettes, Rhythmic Harmonies and Rhythmic Pedals.

The GP engine provides three individual channels of sample sounds, however mixing between these sources via NKS is only available on the Pads, Performance Palettes and Rhythmic Pedals presets using an additional mixer page which offers both the volume and pan control of each sound.

We are unfortunately not able to select the source sample for each channel via NKS, however the Pads bank does seem to provide each of the channel samples broken out as individual presets, so we are at least able to isolate and use a timbre of particular interest.

It is worth pointing out at this stage that the library should not really be considered as an acoustic guitar sample library Per se, you will not find any presets that provide straightforward playable guitar samples, being made up of processed and loop content, alongside the melodically playable Pads and Guitarscapes.

Keyswitches…

Heavyocity have implemented a series of keyswitches in the upper unused octaves of the keyboard.

To be precise, F6 to A6 have FX assigned to them, which when pressed during play will provide things like distortion and filtering.

These Trigger FX are adjustable from within the NKS mapping template on the TFX pages.

Similarly keys A6 to C7 will offer you latched motion based FX, however unlike the audio FX adjustments to these parameters do not appear to be present in the NKS TFX pages.

guitarscapes…

It’s evident that the Heavyocity sound design team had a ball in creating the extensive collection of Guitarscapes, some of these sounds seem really quite far removed from the originally recorded sources, and rather than being a criticism it is in fact a testimony to their creativity and state of art design techniques that this is achievable.

There are 24 A minor and 26 E minor as well as 2 complete palette patches that hold all of the above mapped to their own key, in this scenario the pitch of which is controlled via keyswitches.

You will discover a myriad of cinematic washes and colours here that work across a variety of scoring genres, dark and dystopian are probably the most prolific of the content, however there are still lighter tones that the more ambient composers will appreciate.

The focus here is perhaps less on melodic and more on atmospheric, with swirling movement, reverses and tremolos there is plenty here to fill the audio spectrum, and maintain listener/viewer interest.

Melodic Pulses & Phrases…

Heavyocity throughout their entire product range have always excelled in their ability in creating great loop and phrase content. this outing is no exception, with a selection of 60 presets with which to build your track.

Again there are roughly equal amounts of A minor and E Minor material, and helpfully the variations are extended within each patch by offering a clean, effected and reversed version of the phrase in their own octave assignments.

The mood is overall a thought provoking and brooding minor key vibe, rather than a beer and barbecue beach party, but this is the cinematic sound that Heavyocity are synonymous with, and this is perfect for the range of media applications that their dedicated users keep coming back for, with Hollywood composers among their customer base.

playing one of the clean melodic phrases in combination with it’s reversed sibling, works tremendously well, and is just one of the more obvious applications and appeal of this mix and match approach championed by the Gravity Pack series.

Pads…

The bank of Pad presets is a further opportunity to exploit the hidden undertones and resonance’s that we may not have been aware the humble Acoustic Guitar could produce.

With 114 presets and variations in this section there should be something to appease even the most demanding of composers.

Many of these presets are long and evolving in their nature, which is superb when used as tension and drama builders, such notables as the excellent ‘Wavering Glass’ almost have the suspense and thriller genre encoded in their DNA, whilst ‘Blown Engine’ in my mind at least conjures images of a frozen Tundra (but that could be because it’s chilly in the studio with snow on the ground outside at the time of writing!).

      The whole point being though, is that the sounds themselves create vivid images within the mind, which is the whole concept at the heart of a cinematic scoring library.

Performance Palettes…

This section contains 10 presets, and takes elements from each of the sections and combines them into a series of gratifyingly playable patches, ideal for sketching and developing ideas.

The various elements do get assigned over a 5 octave or so range, so on a 25 or 32 note Komplete Kontrol keyboard you may be bashing the octave shift buttons just a little bit.

Rhythmic Harmonies…

Just a small section here of 6 Nylon and Steel harmonic loop presets, there is nothing overtly offensive here, with it’s series of clean sounding rhythms, this is probably as close to a more mundane pattern based strum library as GP07 ever gets!

Rhythmic Pedals…

Rounding off the bank sections then, we conclude with 30 presets consisting of a wide selection of Nylon and Steel rhythmic pedal notes. These work great for underscore where you want to keep the mood and tension going in perhaps a more understated manner.

More than this though, because many of these particular presets do combine both the Nylon and Steel string loop patterns on multiple channels, and they also feature the NKS mixer page. This means you can subtly blend and pan the simple yet cleverly structured interlocking rhythmic patterns to your own taste, and thus create a particularly nice sounding wide mix. This is almost certain to be one of the libraries most popular sections.

Conclusion…

Just when I think Heavyocity have all but exhausted the possibilities of the Gravity Pack series, they pull another rabbit out of their combined creative hats.

GP07 Scoring Acoustic Guitars is another in this series that many media composers are very likely to want to add to their disk drives.

It extends the Gravity Pack colour palette further still , being ideal as it is for film, game and media work, along with ambient and soundscape composition.

GP07 Scoring Acoustic Guitars is available for purchase directly from the Heavyocity website at an introductory price of $79.00 (usually $99.00) until February 22nd.

As a further special intro offer, GP07 will also be offered free with every purchase of Gravity – Modern Scoring Tools.

GP07 Scoring Acoustic Guitars – Product Page:
http://www.heavyocity.com/scoring-acoustic-guitars

Scoring Acoustic Guitars – Preset Playthrough:
https://youtu.be/tuc56ZMdDGc

Scoring Acoustic Guitars – Demo Walkthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVqK25-K6Vo

Scoring Acoustic Guitars – Content Overview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYbWMQozEgU

GP07 Scoring Acoustic Guitars – User Manual:
https://heavyocity.com/product/scoring-acoustic-guitars/#tab_downloads

(c) Chris Ankin
KK-Access.com
February 10th, 2021

Disclaimer

The author cannot accept any responsibility for subsequent purchase decisions made as a result of this article,or Any inaccuracies found within this review. All opinions or product functions stated are based solely on information perceived as a blind user whilst using the product and/or gathered from official factual sources such as the developer, web or supplied product manual.

About the Author

Chris Ankin has worked previously as a freelance review contributor with articles published in Sound On Sound, Home & Studio Recording and ST Format Magazines.

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