Hemisphere Guitars By Fracture-Sounds
KK-Access Review
Every now and then, a new product comes along that successfully applies a shake & awake strategy to an existing sample library concept.
Fracture- Sounds appear to have achieved this, by taking many of the popular core values of their excellent Woodchester Grand, Midnight Grand and Glacier Keys Piano libraries and including them into Hemisphere Guitars, their new ambient cinematic Guitar library.
With Hemisphere Guitars, we can forget about fancy strumm pattern engines, or great sounding but otherwise inflexible pre-recorded guitar loops, and instead focus our attention upon enjoying a blend of two carefully sampled classic guitars.
there is also the added bonus of having some lush and evocative pad layers, as well as useful and intuitive creative tools.
Tech Specs
Hemisphere Guitars runs in either the full version of Kontakt 6.6 and above, or it’s free Kontakt player counterpart, with support for Komplete Kontrol.
The library will require 12GB of installation space, in NCW compressed format, from a 20GB sample pool.
There is one master Hemisphere Kontakt NKI preset file, with a further 55 NKSN snapshots that feed the wider range of presets that we will access from within Komplete Kontrol.
Download & Installation
This comes courtesy of Native Access upon registration of the post purchase serial number, and thank goodness that this whole process is now so simple with NA2 easily and accessibly taking care of our Komplete Kontrol software management needs.
There is no need to run the standalone application after installation, just run your DAW, load up KK, select a preset and play!
Komplete Kontrol Plug-in Edit NKS Parameters
Page One – Layer Volume/Sound
Knob 1 – Raw
Knob 2 – Atmosphere Layer 1
Knob 3 – Atmosphere Layer 2
Knob 4 – Atmosphere Layer 3
Knob 5 – Sound Colour
Knob 6 – Transient Emphasis
Knob 7 – Atmosphere
Knob 8 – Unallocated
Page Two – Guitar Tone/Fret Noise
Knob 1 – Low Cut
Knob 2 – High Cut
Knob 3 – Timbre Shift
Knob 4 – Air
- Knob 5 – Fret Noise Level
Knob 6 – Mode, Auto, Manual
Knob7 – Chance
Knob 8 – Unallocated - Page Three – Lo-FI
Knob 1 – Amount
Knob 2 – Age
Knob 3 – Saturation
Knob 4 – Warble
Knob 5 – Hiss
Knob 6 – Buzz
Knob 7 – Mechanical
Knob 8 – Speaker Type: None, 12 Inch, Small, Car Radio, Ambient, Telephone, Boom Box, Cassette, Horn, Speaker
Page Four – Echo
Knob 1 – Echo Wet
Knob 2 – Echo Type: Tape, Modern,
Knob 3 – Time: 1 Bar to 1/64th
Knob 4 – Saturation
Knob 5 – Damping
Knob 6 – Feedback
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated
Page Five – Reverb
Knob 1 – Reverb Wet
Knob 2 – Type: Room, Hall, Plate, Shimmer,
Knob 3 – Size
Knob 4 – Fade In
Knob 5 – Modulation
Knob 6 – Damping
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated
Page Six – Feel, Pitch bend, Other
Knob 1 – Velocity Response
Knob 2 – Sample Start
Knob 3 – Pitch bend Mode: Standard, Held Keys
Knob 4 – Pitch bend Range +/minus 12
Knob 5 – Noise Mode: Always On, Post, Auto
Knob 6 – Atmosphere Mode: Decay, Sustain
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated
Accessibility
Fracture-Sounds have gone to great lengths in their effort to make Hemisphere as accessible as possible, with the vast majority of user GUI controls finding their way across to the NKS mapping template.
In particular there are some quite extensive sound shaping parameters available including Lo-Fi, Delay & Reverb, as well as basic EQ along with the ability to adjust Fret noise, Timbre & Air.
The one feature that is unfortunately not available in this release version is the option to select our own choice of atmosphere layers which populate the three successive sound channels after the Raw Guitar sample.
There is a technical reason for this, which it is hoped can be addressed in an update, however to compensate for this, Fracture-Sounds have endeavoured to include as many layer combination variants to use as starting points for your own sound design purposes.
All About The Atmosphere
What differentiates Hemisphere from other Guitar libraries is the inclusion of the additional atmosphere layers, which certainly attribute a good deal to the whole ambient cinematic feel of the product.
These ambient layers were a permanent fixture for previous Fracture-Sound piano libraries, and are certainly worthy of a listen if you were not previously aware of their existence.
There are in total 14 atmosphere layers , Void, Helix, Shard, Stasis, Prism, Orbit, Abyss, Vivid, Fathom, Horizon, Kinesis, Lunar, Astra & Atom, all making an appearance in various combinations throughout the 50 factory presets.
All of these sounds have in one way or another originally been derived from Guitar based sound elements, and then subsequently been processed through various amps, filters, reversed, granulised and morphed into some lush and beautifully dreamy ambiences which compliment the Guitar tones perfectly.
Layer Love
There are several presets which serve to highlight the strength of the atmosphere layers in isolation, with an apparent absence of the more obvious guitar timbres.
In fact, by dialling down the transients level to zero andthe also adjusting the Raw level, pretty much leaves you with a gorgeous set of atmosphere only layers which are ideal for setting a mood.
Some of the layers have darker inflections than others, so it’s a case of finding a preset that feature the combination of sounds that are most reflective of the ambience you are looking to create, and then perfecting your sound from here.
Guitar Scapes
To get back on topic, as this is a Guitar library after all, Hemisphere features a blend of two classic Guitars. The intent here, rather than being an exact reproduction of a specific model, is instead to offer a hybrid mix of various articulations mutes, picks and plucks, which will work seamlessly to provide you with an ambient cinematic style guitar instrument.
The result I would say, is laudable in achieving this goal, the guitar has enough commanding presence as a lead instrument with the various FX offering a myriad of sound shaping options, up front, gritty, crunchy, subtle and mellow are many of the diverse ranging attributes that Hemisphere is easily capable of pulling off.
the optional dial in fret noise can add that extra touch of realism to the proceedings providing further degrees of realism.
Performance Enhancements
Hemisphere Guitars has a nice trick up it’s sleeve which can add a little je ne sais quoi to your playing performance.
Using your sustain pedal if you hit a chord and then sustain it, the layers will hold infinitely, you can then play other notes and pitchbend by any amount up to an octave which is definable in the NKS controls, without this altering the pitch of the original sustained chord.
Conversely, you can also switch to the standard pitchbend mode where everything you bend with your wheel or touchstrip will be affected.
This feature can be particularly effective in those ultra reverberant patches, where the shimmering motion of the atmosphere layers sound amazing as backdrops to the notes of a much bolder lead guitar line.
Hemisphere FX
The included FX pages that are mapped to the NKS controls may initially sound like standard fare, however, there are some niceties that set them apart from those generally provided elsewhere.
The Lo-Fi page includes a great speaker simulation, which when Lo-Fi is engaged can dramatically alter the global output tone of the library.
This can be useful for quickly achieving environmental sound placement when scoring for picture.
Other useful nuances include, Age, Saturation, Warble, Hiss & Buzz, for even more customizations of your sound.
Delay & Reverb
With the Delay, it is reassuring to find that the essential sync to project tempo is included with a wide range of speeds up to 64 note.
The unusual, and seldom seen feature of a Reverb fade-in control is a bonus asset that offers yet more useful options to benefit the ambient style of the product.
As ever, do checkout the link to the walkthrough at the review footer.
Conclusion
Hemisphere Guitars is a library that is sure to appeal to many modern composers, with it’s versatile and richly ambient tones making it an ideal contender so well suited to a wide range of music genres and with a high quality that defies it’s price point.
From an accessibility perspective, If the guitar and atmosphere layers could also be made user selectable via NKS in a future update it would then cover every possible requirement.
As things stand, the extensive selection of sound shaping features that are accessible via NKS mapping really do help to provide a one stop experience which is truly a joy to play.
Hemisphere is available to purchase from Fracture Sounds at an introductory price of £69.00 inc VAT, until April 4th.
Hemisphere Guitars Product Page:
https://fracturesounds.com/product/hemisphere/
Hemisphere Guitars – Walkthrough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiO2W0kIOLk
c) Chris Ankin
KK-Access.com
7th March 2023
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 as a freelance review writer and contributor with articles published in Sound On Sound, Home & Studio Recording and ST Format Magazines.
He has also successfully worked extensively in and around music, recording, film Soundtrack scoring, Game & media composition, the creative arts, Charitable trusts,publishing, music streaming and property investments since 1982 whilst continuously and deliberately managing to evade any mainstream recognition under his own name by the use of various pseudonyms.
E&OE
KK-ACCESS 