April 2015
Well, I’ve been waiting for this release for a while now. If you’re in the film / tv soundtrack field — or just like awesome sounds – then you probably know about Spectrasonics Omnisphere already.
I first picked-up Omnisphere in 2012 – and it was love at first sight! Just an amazing depth of sounds (thousands) – a very practical to use sound library – and super editing features – make Omnisphere a one of those must-haves for those of us that have a need for rich, expressive, sounds you want to trigger with your keyboard controller.
I could take the time to list the tracks I’ve used it on – but it’s probably better to just send you to my Soundcloud site and listen for yourself. With the exception of most pianos (where I’ll often use Toontrack EZkeys or Avid’s Mini-Grand) and heavy industrial rhythmic sounds (where Heavyocity’s DAMAGE works wonders) Omnisphere is usually my go-to synth. Just beautiful lush soundscapes – easy to edit – and inspirational to boot. There have been many times where I’ve gone in to play around with Omnisphere – and come away with a new tune or two. I dare you to spend a couple hours with the patches and not find a few that you’ve heard in this TV show – or that film.
One of my favorite sounds in Omnisphere, actually, are the guitar sounds — I know… it’s blasphemous — but I’ve recorded a number of tracks where people have complimented my guitar-playing – when it was really Omnisphere! I owe that to the highly expressive nature of some of those patches. So, if you’re a synth player that likes to work the pitch and expression wheels to great effect – then Omnisphere might be the tool for you.
In any case, back in Feb or March it was announced that Spectrasonics would be coming out with their new Omnisphere 2 release – scheduled for April 30, 2015. I am about to order my upgrade – and once the box arrives (and I’ve had the time to install and play around with it – I’ll plan a video review.
Spectrasonics Omnisphere retails for around US$500 complete – with upgrade pricing at around US$250 from Spectrasonics – or US225 from some of the major online retailers. Not the cheapest out there – but, such a deep and amazing tool — if your budget allows, this is one amazing synth!
Steve