FOUNDATIONS Nylon Guitar By Heavyocity
KK-Access Review
Back with another of their amazing free libraries, Heavyocity have now followed up on Foundations Piano & Staccato Strings with this their third release in the series, Foundations Nylon Guitar.
I’m making no apology for quoting the following paragraph directly from their press release, simply because I could not really have put it any better!
FOUNDATIONS | Nylon Guitar is a modern introduction to the vibrant, classical guitar. Combining the lush, soft dynamics of a nylon-stringed acoustic guitar, a meticulously-crafted sound design layer, and a highly customisable interface – FOUNDATIONS | Nylon Guitar delivers a variety of mellow, ambient sounds specifically developed to enhance your story.
Tech Specs
Running in either Kontakt full or free Kontakt player version 6.7.1, the library is serialised and NKS compatible for use within Komplete Kontrol.
At around 294 MB the tiny data footprint proves that small things can indeed come in small packages, with one master Kontakt NKI file, there are a further nine NKSN snapshots making a total of ten presets.
Download & Installation
Download is via the Heavyocity Portal after first obtaining it from the Heavyocity web site, you will of course need an account.
After download, the provided serial is also used to authorise Nylon Guitar within Native Access to the location of your choice.
The library then takes just mere seconds to be scanned into Komplete Kontrol upon you loading it within your DAW.
Plugin Edit NKS parameter Mappings
Page One – Mixer/Envelope
Knob 1 – Channel 1 Volume
Knob 2 – Channel 1 Pan
Knob 3 – Channel 2 Volume
Knob 4 – Channel 2 Pan
Knob 5 – Envelope Attack
Knob 6 – Decay
Knob 7 – Sustain
Knob 8 – Release
Page Two – Punch/Delay
Knob 1 – Punch On/Off
Knob 2 – Punch Amount %
Knob 3 & 4 – Not Allocated
Knob 5 – Delay On/Off
Knob 6 – Delay Amount %
Knob 7 – Delay Time: 1/1 to 1/32 (including triplets)
Knob 8 – Not Allocated
Page Three – Reverb
Knob 1 – Reverb On/Off
Knob 2 – Reverb Amount %
Knob 3 – Reverb Time %
Knob 4 to 8 – Not Allocated
Accessibility
Those that have previously grabbed the first two products in the series will instantly be familiar with the available NKS parameters, these all being identical as the now default Foundation Kontakt Engine.
The NKS controls are again basic yet functional, naturally we would still love to have access to things like the arp being able to double or halve the tempo sync time, or perhaps changing the time signature, but for the arp you could always try employing the services of the inbuilt Komplete Kontrol feature.
Beautiful & Melodic
Foundation Nylon Guitar on this occasion brings out the softer side of the Heavyocity sound design team, the presets are all generally rich, warm and melodic in nature with the extra channel of design FX complimenting the clean string sounds with a lush ambient layer of cloud like fluffiness, there is no evidence of any atonal malevolence here!
The provided sparse yet well crafted presets as ever offer the user ample opportunity to explore the polished facets of the library, quality rather than quantity is the order of the day in the Foundations series, so in this regard there is little room for complaint.
The two channels of sample sources are blendable, allowing you to add a little more or a little less of what takes your fancy.
The delay & reverb FX can be turned on or off, meaning you can easily opt to add your own choices within Komplete Kontrol on slot 2 and onwards.
Nylon Briefs
There is actually a limited necessity for me to go into too much detail for Foundation Nylon Guitar, I don’t need to sell or convince you to consider it, as it’s entirely free to own, and to this end your time would be much better spent playing it for yourself rather than reading about it from me!
As always it’s certainly worthwhile checking out Heavyocity’s own videos for guaranteed inspiration on how Foundations Nylon Guitar can be used in the context of a composition.
Conclusion
This is yet another really nice addition to the Foundations series, Heavyocity have to be applauded for making these bite sized offerings freely available, despite being completely gratis there is no compromise in sound quality and can really offer the aspiring composer the opportunity to create something perfectly tangible and premium sounding without being prohibited by cost.
Get online, Go download it, and make some beautiful music, that’s the simple intent and I look forward to popping back quite soon with yet another in the series.
The Foundations Nylon Guitar is available directly from the Heavyocity web site for free
Foundations Nylon Guitar Product Page::
https://heavyocity.com/product/foundations-nylon-guitar/
Foundations Nylon Guitar Preset Playthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2znj95MMMA&t=14s
Foundations Nylon Guitar Creating An Ambient Cinematic Track:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmDpPeqef9E&t=15s
Foundations Nylon Guitar Product Manual:
https://heavyocity.com/Downloads/FoundationsNylonGuitar_Manual.pdf
(c) Chris Ankin
KK-Access.com
June 28th, 2022
Disclaimer
The author can not accept any responsibility for subsequent purchase decisions made as a result of this review,or Any inaccuracies found therein. All opinions and 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
Based in Buckinghamshire, England, Chris Ankin has worked previously as a freelance review author and contributor with articles published in Sound On Sound, Home & Studio Recording and ST Format Magazines.
He has also worked extensively in, and been associated with music, recording, film Soundtrack, Game & media, the creative arts, publishing and investments since 1982 under his own name and various other pseudonyms.
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