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UVI released IRCAM Solo Instruments volume 2.

Just upgraded for free as well. It mentioned the dongle wasn't necessary and could be licensed to a computer. No such option in the ilok manager. I'm only able to put it on my ilok (which I avoid like the plague) Anyone able to get it to activate on the computer directly?
I had this problem with a plugin demo recently. They stated clearly on the website that you could use the ilok manager instead of a dongle, but when I loaded it up and entered the serial, I was told it was dongle only. What gives?
 
First, I have heard that there is some history between IRCAM Solo Instruments and conTimbre, that the developer of conTimbre had some hand in designing and/or recording IRCAM Solo Instruments and IRCAM took him off the project for whatever reason and decided to release it as a smaller set of extended techniques instead of the large scale library he had in mind. So, he made conTimbre based on his original vision for what he wanted IRCAM Solo Instruments to be.

conTimbre has many different extended techniques available. The recordings are certainly not amazing, but clean, professionally done, and quite usable. It is very dry, however - everything sounds like it was recorded in a very small room. I use EAReverb 2 to position everything, putting things back in the space, like what I do with other really dry libraries like Sample Modeling Brass and VSL. Generally if I am working in a DAW I need a particular articulation and I have it in another library, I will use that since the recordings are better, but conTimbre fills in the blanks, giving me dozens or hundreds of unusual articulations that I can't get from other libraries. I have IRCAM solo instruments as well (haven't upgraded yet to 2) but conTimbre really has a *lot* more extended techniques than it does. Especially different types of tapping on instruments, unusual choice of mallet with percussion instruments, etc. I generally feel more comfortable using extended techniques if I have a really good idea of what they sound like, so having them makes me feel a bit more comfortable using them.

conTimbre was recently integrated with Dorico and so now when composing in Dorico I mostly use the conTimbre sounds, supplemented with NotePerformer. It certainly doesn't sound better than other libraries that I have but I really want to know what the result is going to sound like with the extended techniques.

Recently Thomas at conTimbre added CC11 support based on my request (previously it only supported CC7 to control dynamics).


Is there any chance you could link to some tracks where you've used conTimbre to "fill in blanks"? I've been really interested in getting conTimbre specifically for this reason and I'd love to hear how it sounds.
 
How do people feel about this as a writing tool vs. something used as a final product? I'm unimpressed with the normal sounds against any of the other usual suspects in the same arena (especially with regard to legato), but I'm very intrigued by the ease with which you could test out extended techniques over, say, conTimbre—though I'd be curious to know if conTimbre is significantly better for this.

That being said, even at the sale price, $200 could be potentially steep for a writing tool that isn't going to get used on a recording...but I could be convinced. It's a shame that Bastille Day sale isn't still running, if it was less I'd feel more comfortable taking a plunge. NotePerformer has also caught my eye, but I've had tech issues running the demo in Finale and it doesn't look like Dorico (which I'm in the process of switching to) fairs much better. Also, despite it listing sul tasto on the website, it doesn't actually appear to be in the library? None of the manuals list it, which is very strange.
 
How do people feel about this as a writing tool vs. something used as a final product? I'm unimpressed with the normal sounds against any of the other usual suspects in the same arena (especially with regard to legato), but I'm very intrigued by the ease with which you could test out extended techniques over, say, conTimbre—though I'd be curious to know if conTimbre is significantly better for this.

That being said, even at the sale price, $200 could be potentially steep for a writing tool that isn't going to get used on a recording...but I could be convinced. It's a shame that Bastille Day sale isn't still running, if it was less I'd feel more comfortable taking a plunge. NotePerformer has also caught my eye, but I've had tech issues running the demo in Finale and it doesn't look like Dorico (which I'm in the process of switching to) fairs much better. Also, despite it listing sul tasto on the website, it doesn't actually appear to be in the library? None of the manuals list it, which is very strange.
Personally I think not only works as a supplement i.e. you need another library for the core stuff and this for the stuff the "main" library can't produce. The problem is to get the timbre and space to match. I use them with VSL and they sound like they are the same instrument in mockups.
 
conTimbre was recently integrated with Dorico
May I ask you how you interface Dorico with conTimbre's articulations?

My first idea has been to create a schema, where each articulation could find a precise place, so that I could use a single expression map to select everything. But the number of articulations in conTimbre is so huge, that a simple expression map can’t contain everything.

So, I’m thinking to just create a temporary expression map for each Dorico project, and just build a custom conTimbre preset while composing. Preset and expression map will be saved with the project, and they will always serve the one the other.

Looks like a much faster way of working. Cleaning up, to make the preset more readable, can be done later.

Paolo
 
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