IDIOPHONES BY SONOKINETIC
KK-ACCESS REVIEW
SonoKinetic have recently released their latest product, Idiophones, which focuses it’s attention on Crotales, Glockenspiel, Marimba, & Xylophone from this family of instruments.
The sampling is as usual of a very high standard, capturing each subject in meticulous detail with a variety of microphone types, all of which are selectable, throws in a neat little sequencer, and finally wraps the entire collection in an intuitive to use NKS mapping template for Komplete Kontrol users.
TECH SPECS
IDIOPHONES requires Kontakt 7 full version or the free Kontakt Player, and is compatible with Komplete Kontrol.
The product will occupy 19GB of disk space, with it’s 44.1KHZ & 24BIT NCW FORMAT samples, of which there are 150000, and up to 20 round robins to further increase the realism stakes.
There are four master Kontakt NKI preset files one per instrument, with a further 189 NKSN snapshot presets.
DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION
Following purchase, the provided license key can be used either with the SonoKinetic software manager, or probably preferable for most, pasted directly into Native Access where the whole ka boodle can be authorised, downloaded & installed in one simple exercise.
Finally loading up an instance of Kommplete Kontrol in your favourite DAW will trigger the auto scan feature, and Idiophones will be available to use almost immediately.
KOMPLETE KONTROL PLUG-IN EDIT NKS PARAMETER MAPPING
PAGE ONE – Main Settings, Mixer Levels
Knob 1 – Style: Sequence 1 to 5
Knob 2 – Mixer Level: Ribbon Stereo
Knob 3 – Small Stereo
Knob 4 – Dynamic Stereo
Knob 5 – Omniphonic
Knob 6 – Binaural
Knob 7 – Large
Knob 8 – Classic
PAGE TWO – Impulse Response Settings, EQ
Knob 1 – Microphone
Knob 2 – Location: Spot Mics, Conductor, Side Stage, Balcony,
Knob 3 – Amount
Knob 4 – Delay
Knob 5 – EQ Preset 1 to 5
Knob 6 – EQ Range: Low, Low Mid, High Mid, High
Knob 7 – Frequency & Gain: Selectable
Knob 8 – Range: Frequency or db depending on Knob 7 selection
PAGE THREE – Other Settings, Bounce, Cluster
Knob 1 – Tail: Full, Short, Tiny
Knob 2 – Mallet Type (Depending on Instrument): wood, rubber, brass, plastic, soft, medium, hard
Knob 3 – Bounce Number of Notes: 2 to 12
Knob 4 – Spread: 1 to 24
Knob 5 – Cluster Number of Notes: 2 to 12
Knob 6 – Spread: 2 to 50
Knob 7 – Range: 2 to 24
Knob 8 – Unallocated
PAGE FOUR – Tremolo Settings
Knob 1 – Level
Knob 2 – Speed: 1/4 to 1/32 Straight & Triplet, plus CC11 Control
Knob 3 – Start hit On/Off
Knob 4 – End Hit On/Off
Knob 5 – Humanise
Knob 6 – Sticking: Auto, Alternate, Chord
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated
PAGE FIVE – Sequencer Settings
Knob 1 – Preset 1 to 5
Knob 2 – Number of Steps 0 to 24
Knob 3 – Speed 1/4 to 1/32 Including Triplets
Knob 4 – Sticking: Auto, Alternate, Chord
Knob 5 – Sequencer Table Setting: Pitch or Velocity
Knob 6 -Table Step
Knob 7 – Step Value
Knob 8 – Pitch Range
ACCESSIBILITY
For those who already have the SonoKinetic Bells Collection as part of their compositional palette, then Idiophones once again provides you with a similar plethora of microphone types offered in that release.
The Bells Collection at the time of release featured an extremely innovative audio speech guide, which SonoKinetic scripted especially for it’s blind& visually impaired customers, we do now of course have spoken feedback for the plug-in edit mode of Komplete Kontrol, and hence this facility is no longer required.
This doesn’t mean that SonoKinetic do not continue to develop with accessibility in mind, quite on the contrary, they continue to implement features that will make their products as useable as possible.
This ideology is borne out with the Idiophones NKS mapping, which despite it’s apparent simplicity, does cover all aspects of the user experience, with some useful keyswitch functionality included to boot.
IDIOPHONE, IDIOSYNCRASIES
The style selection control enables you to choose between the performance types, you can opt for a straightforward single hit, bounce, cluster, tremolo, auto trem or one of the 5 sequence presets.
Bounce and Cluster let you adjust nuances such as the number of notes involved and the spread of the notes along with the note range.
Tremolo goes deeper still, with a wide range of note speeds & timings, a start or end hit toggle which adds an emphasis to the beginning or end of your played notes, a humanise percentage option, and the ability to choose whether your sticking duality is alternate, auto or chorded.
I particularly liked having the CC11 option under the timing control, which for S-Series owners is assigned by default to the horizontal touchstrip under the pitch and modwheels.
Using this setting will let you control in real time the speed of the tremolo hits, adding an additional layer of realism to your Idiophone performances.
IN SEQUENCE
Idiophone includes a page dedicated to it’s own basic sequencer. There are 5 available presets which you can use or tailor to your own note requirements.
Available controls allow you to select up to 24 steps, then change the timing rate including triplets, followed again by the sticking choices.
Finally there is a virtual table format which lets you switch between velocity & pitch, and you can then go on to alter the table step, step value and pitch or velocity range.
It’s a beautifully simple take on a basic sequencer, but one which other developers could do well to follow and implement via NKS.
MICROPHONE MAGIC!
SonoKinetic have managed to pull off some special magic when it comes to using the Idiophones microphone settings.
You can adjust the levels for the selection of seven available microphones which are:
Ribbon (stereo pair), Small Diaphragm (stereo
pair), Dynamic Mic (stereo pair), Omniphonic, Binaural Head,
Cardiod Stereo and Cardioid Classic.
Beyond this, it is also possible to choose the location of those microphones from within the recording venue using SonoKinetics proprietary impulse responses, these will allow you to hear the instruments from the perspective of the spot mics, conductor, side stage & balcony.
Add to these options the ability to control gain, EQ, Frequency & delay, and the options to hone your sound are extensive.
KEYSWITCHES
idiophones features a large number of keyswitches which allow you to rapidly select various elements on the fly, which can help negate the need to button bash your way through the NKS pages.
Changing the mallet type, length of tail, articulations and other user interface presets are all possible with this duplicate method of control.
IDIOPHONE SOUND
We have already covered the full range of microphones that Idiophones has to offer, but SonoKinetic really have made an excellent job of capturing these instruments in such exquisite detail.
The metallic ringing of the Crotales seem to sing out forever, such is the length of the samples, and they die away with such a natural purity that you can almost be forgiven for believing they are right there in the room with you.
The same is true for the Xylophone, Glockenspiel & Marimba.
Finally, the included presets are extensive and provide pretty much every possible connotation of settings for the four instruments, and serve as an excellent start point for your own tweaking.
I would recommend checking out the various links at the review footer to hear some great walkthroughs and audio examples for Idiophones.
CONCLUSION
SonoKinetic have been meticulous in their capture of these instruments, and also gone a whole lot further in scripting additional ways to ensure that the realism for the end composer is not just left at the recording studio door.
As ever, they have also been mindful to extend the user experience beyond that of the traditional mouse driven visual interface, with comprehensive NKS mapping and keyswitch controls, together with ample factory presets.
While cross referencing the manual there appears to be little if anything missing that we are not able to do in the library as blind & visually impaired users.
The extensive microphone types and wealth of positioning options mean that Idiophones should happily blend with any existing SonoKinetic products.
Idiophones is certainly a treat for your ears!
Idiophones by SonoKinetic can be purchased from their website at the introductory price of 59.94 euros (regularly 99.99 euros).
Idiophones Product Page:
https://www.sonokinetic.net/products/instruments/idiophones
Idiophones – Product Overview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNzrk3mm-uo
Idiophones – DAW Cast Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1etzBHK7my8
Idiophones – User Manual:
https://www.sonokinetic.net/manual/idiophones/Idiophones_Reference_Manual.pdf
(c) Chris Ankin
KK-Access.com
9th June2023
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 the 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.
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