Novo Pack 03 Synthetic Strings Review
Heavyocity launched a Novo expansion pack, this time Novo Pack 03 Synthetic Strings. This latest release includes the well-known emotion and weightiness that these iconic synths can summon, with none of the unreliable tuning issues of the analog versions. For more on NOVO pls take a look at Intimate Textures Novo Pack 1 by Heavyocity Review, NOVO PACK 02 – Rhythmic Textures by Heavyocity Review, and FORZO by Heavyocity Review
The sound characteristic is excellent as you expect it from a Heavyocity NOVO Kontakt library, the company did send a review copy with no strings attached.
You may ask yourself “Who is Heavyocity?” Heavyocity Media develops award-winning Virtual Instruments for the modern composer and sound designer. The instruments don’t contain the typical sounds that form the foundation of most composers’ setups.
Heavyocity philosophy is simple: Provide cutting edge, inspiring instruments and sounds that supercharge creativity, formatting them in ways that enhance productivity. One of the main goals of Heavyocity is to provide those perfect “go-to” signature elements quickly and effectively.
Installation
After purchase, you receive the needed codes to download the virtual library with the help of the Connect application. It works with the full version of Kontakt or the free Kontakt ver 5.8.1 or later Player
Sound
The library Synthetic Strings comes with over 200 snapshots. Those snapshots or presets are produced for playable and musical acts. There are ten string-based synthesizers included: Juneau 2, Boomsynth, Analog Brute, Sub 307, StringFett, Nova, Performer One, HY-101, HY-202, and String Ensemble
Novo Pack 03 Synthetic Strings does not require the purchase of NOVO (a question that is searched for and ask frequently).
These Synthetic Strings are excellent to layer with other instruments, producing a hybrid theme or thicken a track.
Heavyocity has used the tools behind the lush expanses of synth-heavy scores — from films like Dunkirk and The Social Network, and TV shows like Mr. Robot and The Knick — and infused them with new life.
- 81 sound sources sampled from 10 vintage and modern synthesizers
- 120 rhythmic sounds based on the source material
- 4513 samples
- Six
nkis with a total of 227 snapshots - 13.6GB of uncompressed content (compressed to 11GB with Kontakt’s lossless compression)
Included is Synth Designer – an instrument is for extensive sound design, Synth Loop Designer – a variation on the Synth Designer, but designed to playback and layer loop content. On top of that, you receive four instruments emulating: Modern Synths, Vintage Synths, Rhythmic Synths (Straight), and Rhythmic Synths (Triplet).
Modern Synths and Vintage Synths are sampled modulations of different string synths. The two Rhythmic Synths are all about musical content (pedals and atmospheres) made from the current and vintage synths.
User interface & Usability
All instruments share the same NOVO-inspired and well-established interface layout and navigation. The adopted NOVO engine arrives with further sound-shaping features that are also key to the other NOVO releases (Intimate Textures Novo Pack 1, NOVO PACK 02 – Rhythmic Textures) and has made the whole series such a success. The UI can be used at its basic level or you can easily dive into advanced settings and shape the resulting synth sound. Alex Zhukov, Dave Fraser, Ari Winters have done a great job when designing the GUI Design & Artwork.
Rating: Four out of five stars
Novo Pack 03 Synthetic Strings is an exceptional compilation of vintage and modern string synthesizers. Synthetic Strings is all about vintage analog vibes. For a composer, it has everything you need from mysterious evolving cinematic vibrations to vintage strings. There are over 200 snapshots to get started with a new score in no time.
