Riot Audio have released Gholem, available at the intro price of £79.00, increasing to £99.00 after the promotion.
GHOLEM is a two-layer aleatoric/extended techniques instrument focusing on violin, cello, viol da gamba, modified Spanish guitar and a selection of bowed metal and ceramic resonant objects.
Based on multiple 90 second long performances for each instrument, a random sample position function allows for up to 11 unison voices per layer to play at the same time. The considerable aleatoric variation across each of the performances rule out phasing issues between the different sample start points and create a realistic sense of an ensemble performing together.
This unique approach results in an extraordinarily versatile instrument that can switch from soloist performances to full 22-player ensembles with just a few minor user changes.
With Gholem you can very easily fine tune the size of your ensemble, from 1 player (1 layer only) to 22 players (11 in both layers). This allows for a wide variety of applications, including intimate solo pizzicato drops and quivering wandering vibrato patches to full ensembles with 22 aleatoric cellos and violins.
The different voices’ entries and exits are randomised in accordance with the layers’ envelope settings, to avoid them all firing up at the same time and sounding fake. The up to 11 voices per layer can also be panned across the stereo field with a Width control, allowing for a spacious ensemble feel.
The instrument really comes into its own with higher numbers of voices, where the aleatoric performances start to gel together to form an unsettling mass of movement and excitement.
If the source sound selected is in “Stretch” Mode the sample playback speed can be adjusted between 1% and 800%.
Settings between 50% and 200% will generally sound realistic, while more extreme settings will result in warped sounds with crunchy artefacts, great for experimentation and sound design.
One application for Time Stretching in this context is to pick a particular moment in one of the samples (Fixed Mode), and slow down the performance just right for a transition or particular musical landing point.
Gholem includes a tempo-synced LFO which allows for time-based oscillations between the two layers.
Four shapes are available here – sine, triangle, square and sawtooth wave. Direction can be inverted and speed and depth adjusted.
Allows for anything from percussive high-low alternating sounds (e.g. with sawtooth, medium speed and strong depth settings) to almost imperceptible shifts between the balance of two flavours of ensemble (e.g. with triangle, slow speed and low depth settings).
With slower speed settings (up to 8 bars) long evolving textures are possible, oscillating very gradually from one layer to the other.
Gholem comes with 150 ready-made cinematic and experimental snapshots/presets, including:
- 39 Mixed Ensembles (Small to Full Sized)
- 36 Sections (groups from identical articulations)
- 20 Soloists
- 20 Percussion Patches
- 35 Sound Design Patches
Gholem is fully supported for NKS. Harnessing the power of Native Instruments’ Komplete Kontrol keyboards, you have full hands-on control of the instrument, using the built-in display and parameter controls on the keyboard. This makes Industry accessible to blind and visually impaired musicians.
Features include:
- 20 high quality sound sources, available in standard and time-stretch modes
- Two layer engine with independent envelope, voice number and filter controls
- Instrument sources: Cello, Violin, Viol da Gamba, Passerelle (modified Spanish) Guitar,
Bowed Chinese Gong, Bowed Metal Drum, Bowed Ceramics, Bowed Plant Pot - 150 ready-made presets including 39 ensembles, 36 sections, 20 soloists, as well as 20
percussion and 35 sound design patches. - Up to 22 unison voices with adjustable stereo spread
- Extensive time-stretching controls (from 1% to 800%) for extreme manipulation of the
sample material - Tempo-synced LFO applicable to the balance between the two layers (with sine,
triangle, sawtooth and square shapes) - Custom set of serial Impulse Responses (TRANSMOGRIFY 1-3)
- 5.47 GB uncompressed sample content (3.6 GB compressed).
- Diffusion/Classic Style tempo-synced delay, Reverb and Mangled Tape effects included
Watch the walkthrough video HERE.
Gholem requires a free or full version of Kontakt 8.2.1 or later.
For more information on Gholem, click here:
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