by John Krogh
SAMPLE LOGIC HAS BEEN GOING STRONG FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS,
producing a number of high-caliber collections aimed at composers-for-media and
musicians looking to add a modern cinematic edge to their tracks. Though Sample
Logic is still a relative newcomer, its libraries have quickly gained critical acclaim and
permanent positions in the sound palettes of many A-list composers and producers.
For Synergy X, the company has returned to one of its earlier products, Synergy (reviewed
Dec. ’08 by yours truly), and given it a major overhaul both functionally and
sonically, adding an inspiring level of customization and tweakability to the instruments
and boosting the sonic quality to new heights.
Sounds
Synergy X is a Kontakt-based library/instrument
that weighs in at just over 20GB of sampled material,
with the library divided between individual
instruments and multis, which are stacks of instruments
assigned to the same MIDI channel to
create a composite sound. Much of what I wrote
in 2008 remains true for Synergy X. Th e instruments
come in seven categories: Ambience, Bass,
Drums, Impacts, Melody, Pads, and Rhythms,
and each has been moderately expanded with
patches that are variations on the original material.
For example, whereas the original version
may have a single creepy texture, in Synergy X
that texture may have several variations, with
one offering rhythmic modulation or character
and another radically EQ’ed and eff ected. In
almost every case, EQ and dynamics processing
give the original presets a new lease on life,
imbuing them with a level of hi-fi polish that the
original instruments lacked. I was surprised by
the improved sonic quality across the board.
Multis have also been expanded with 53 new
presets in three categories: Construction Beds,
Instruments Stacks, and One Note Glory. Most of
the new multis comprise between five and nine instruments to create a composite that typically
includes several rhythmic parts, either loops or
pulsating harmonic/melodic material, paired with
impacts, pads, and bass/foundational sounds. In
many cases, incidental sounds and miscellaneous
ear candy are mapped to the higher and lower
registers on the keyboard, with the main layered
sound mapped to the middle. Th is lets you get a
groove going or play a texture from the middle,
and then add interesting musical gestures with
the sounds at either end of the board. In practice,
that proved to be very effective for writing nearfinished cues in record time. It’s exactly that kind
of musicality and forethought that makes Synergy
X more than a collection of sounds—it’s a creative
and compositional partner.
Graphically, the interface has been redesigned
to off er an impressive array of sound-shaping controls.
Visually, it’s a cross between something from
an X-Men movie and Avid’s orange-plated Eleven
Rack. Th e new look and functionality is made possible
via Kontakt’s scripting language, which lets
developers customize their instruments to provide
specific functionality that’s otherwise only accessible
by digging into an instrument’s edit mode. In
the case of Synergy X, a consistent interface has been implemented, with dedicated sections for
EQ, dynamics, reverb, delay, lo-fi , distortion, and
other effects, as well as the arpeggiator. Additionally,
instruments based around looped audio
samples feature a step editor for adjusting volume,
pitch, pan, and filter cutoff settings for each slice
within a loop. There’s even a button for randomly
generating new parameter values. I haven’t seen
this kind of depth and programmability from any
other Kontakt-based product.
In Session
With just over 20GB of content and more than
1,600 presets, Synergy X is a large collection
that could easily take weeks to sift through to
decide which sounds to include in your template
or tag as favorites. I suspect that many original
Synergy owners never dug deeply into the
wealth of presets, which is why the new multis
are so beneficial. They’re deftly programmed to
combine complementary sounds in musically useful
and creative ways.
In the process of auditioning the new multis,
I soloed each instrument to hear how it contributed
to the overall sound, and through that I
discovered many more gems that I’d previously
left unearthed. Adding to the inspiration factor,
the preset names make obvious blockbuster references: “Blade Walker,” “Tatooine Pad,” and
“Tron Racer,” to name three.
I have a couple items for the wish list. For
starters, a lot of the looped material is presented
as one- or two-bar patterns; I’d like more variation,
as some of these can get repetitive. More
four- and even eight-bar patterns would be
welcome. Also, there are no velocity-switched
multisamples, and because of that many of the
acoustic instruments (e.g., ethnic fl utes, strings,
and mallets) are lacking in dynamics. Lastly,
the instruments can’t be opened in Kontakt’s
edit mode. While the interface provides a ton
of tweakability, I’d like to get under the hood
more deeply. According to Sample Logic, they’re
awaiting a bug fi x in Kontakt that will make
this possible. You still get plenty of tweaking in
the Synergy X interface itself. None of this is a
deal-breaker, but it’s worth noting that Synergy
X’s strengths are its textures, atmospheres, and rhythmic material, as opposed to deeply multisampled
musical instruments.
Conclusions
Synergy X is an impressive redux on what was
already a stellar collection of sounds that blurs
the lines between music and sound design. Th e
$60 upgrade is a no-brainer for existing Synergy
users. For anyone looking for a high dose of inspiring
cinematic sounds, Synergy X should be at
the top of the shopping list.
Key Info
FORMATS AU, DXi, RTAS (Pro Tools
8 and later), VST, plus standalone.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Mac:
Latest version of OS 10.6 or 10.7,
Intel processor. PC: Windows 7 with
latest service pack. Both: 2GB RAM,
Native Instruments Kontakt Player
5.0.2 or later (free) or full version of
Kontakt soft sampler.
Bottom Line
A comprehensive one-stop collection
for all things “modern cinematic.”
$399 direct | $60 upgrade
from earlier version
samplelogic.com