Hi Bee,So I bought and downloaded it last night, but it was too late to really play on it. I've just had a chance to check it out.
There are two NKIs, one for general playing with a choice of articulations that can be layered, and one with the keyboard separated out into different sections for effects. The available effects are good quality distortion, chorus, rotator, delay and reverb. There is ADSR and a choice of as recorded sound or processed through an amp or tape, or a mixture of all three. There are also variable options for glitching, pitch (in this case, introducing a variable amount of high pitched doubling), frequency cutoff (useful for quickly dialling the strings in or out) and resonance.
You can midi map and adjust vibrato, dynamics and expression for the main NKI; and expression for the effects.
For the main NKI, there are also two chord options, each of which divides the keyboard up into different chord-playing options.
The main NKI also has the Fear dial. Turn it up to change the playing style from fairly conventional to increasingly demented. Lovely!
This is all very similar to Haunted Strings 1, but greatly increased. The effects NKI is new, and there are now more articulation to choose from, and the Chord modes are new.
What seems to be missing is the note length/rhythm option - e.g. quarter notes, an eight note plus a sixteenth. Since I have Haunted Strings 1, I still have this available there. It isn't a great loss, as the overall effect of these options tended to get lost in the general sustained sound.
And how does it sound? You can get a very processed sound easily, great for that hybrid feel; and you can also get a very natural string sound. That string sound is much like you would get with a chamber string section playing these things as composed, without doing anything especially weird or textured; but when you layer the articulations (including things like 'Erratic Trem Sul Pont') and vary the vibrato, dial in some higher doubling pitches, you get a distinctive and suitably spooky sound.
This works for texturing and particular effects (especially the FX NKI); but it also works for playing regular musical pieces - albeit thrilling, unsettling, uncanny ones!
Marvellous job! I have a few Insanity Samples instruments now and they have all been wonderful at what they aim to do. And this is a major step up from the original Haunted Strings, so it was a very worthy update.
Thanks for the feedback, it's great to hear!
Thanks,
Billy - Insanity Samples