Sounds and samples
€149
>UVI add to their impressive instrument line-up with another library for hosting in their own Workstation software. This is free to download and usable in both standalone and DAW-hosted plugin versions – and as with previous offerings, users of
UVI’s Falcon can also join the fun. In a manner similar to that employed in competitor Native Instruments’ Kontakt, multiple instruments can be hosted and loaded in the software, and their premium expansions largely make use of custom GUIs to control underlying DSP processing.
Most UVI instruments we review are based on a straightforward sample-playback engine combined with some decent effects processing. Notwithstanding the differing visuals, it is this approach that is taken with their expansive Vintage Vault synth project. Drone, a so-called texture and atmosphere designer, covers some similar territory in places, but ups the ante in terms of sample manipulation.
At its core, this is a dual-layer sample-based synth which is capable of playing back some long, and well-curated, samples (taken from both ‘real’ and synthesised or digital sources). There are more than 300 presets to get you started, but this instrument also excels when it comes to both casual tweaking and deeper sound design. UVI’s long association with IRCAM (one of the world’s foremost experimental music research institutions) reaps further rewards here with the inclusion of the ‘IRCAM Granular Engine’, which helps turn any sample into something entirely different (by looping tiny fragments of audio material). This is a worthwhile inclusion, but doesn’t offer much parameter modulation – something that dedicated granular synths will often include. Other processing and modulation options do however make up for this. The simple but effective XY Pad provides a quick way of adjusting the relative balance of the two layers, and overall effects mix. The neat addition here is a two-dimensional XY LFO, which can be switched to become a very effective ‘Chaos’ modulation source – perfect for creating less predictable changes. On the Edit page you will also find Swarm (a detuned unison voice-stacking effect), and Feedback Loop (frequency-shifting delay), both providing options for adding complexity or thickness to the sound. Next we move to the Effects section, where distortion, filtering, EQ, tape delay and reverb take care of the important, but more conventional, side of things. It was the innovative Harmonics processor here that proved to be the most engaging, not only providing a way to independently change the gain of eight harmonics, but modulating the level of each with its own LFO. A Gate Sequencer (which can also be used for more subtle amplitude changes when the ‘Smooth’ parameter is dialled up) can be found on the Mod page. It is here, and in Settings, that you can also configure external mod sources, including support for polyphonic expression (with an MPE-equipped controller). For media sound design the surround options are alluring, but the lack of user sample provision in Drone might put some more adventurous users off this otherwise very good instrument. uvi.net
VERDICT 8.0