Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars
Sam Thomas is a composer, producer and session musician who describes his debut solo plug‑in as being somewhere between a synth, guitar and organ. This is a sound that he has been honing as a guitarist over the last two decades, although it has recently been used in a track he released with Isamaya Ffrench called ‘Love Lost’, from which this library takes its name.
Compatible with the free and full versions of Kontakt 6.8.0 and above, Lost Love is just 3.57GB with a very simple‑looking interface. The plug‑in is intuitive enough, but also includes helpful mouse‑over instructions. The sound was created using a Boss GT‑8 pedal to add the synth, pitch and wah elements, then passed through an array of amps and effects. There are 13 samples per note across the full 88 keys and each has 20 seconds of natural sustain, achieved with just the force of the sound itself in the lower register and by utilising an Ebow and sustain pedal to achieve the same sustain in the higher register. The sound was completed by Sam and engineer Anni Abigail by adding EQ, saturation and stereo width during the mastering process.
There are two elements to the sound — the first is a deep, muted growl, filled with harmonics and ideal for bass and lead lines (Love) and the second, a lighter sound that includes a wah, which can be softened to create an ambient pad effect (Lost). These two elements can be used individually or blended to great effect. There is also the option to switch each to mono or add a low‑pass filter to the Love element.
Below this is an attack fader with a range of 0‑10, 0 being the slowest setting. Engage the Reverse button to slow the attack time down even further. Holding the notes down produces a very glitchy, organic sound that’s verging on feedback.
The Space section of the plug‑in brings in a mixture of reverb and delay with the option to adjust the tail, allowing for some very large, ambient effects. For the Wah section, each note was sampled 11 times. The wah notches can be triggered using either a slider, mod wheel, velocity or keyswitching. The effect can also be locked so that it’s unaffected by velocity. Another addition to the plug‑in, again taken from the song, is the option to blend two tunings, A=440Hz and A=432Hz. The slider simultaneously drops the pitch and inverts the stereo field.
...it’s very versatile due to the separate elements and extensive processing.
Although this whole library is based around one GT‑8 sound, it’s very versatile due to the separate elements and extensive processing. If you’re looking for a really thick, organic, guitar‑based sound with plenty of harmonics then this is a great addition to your collection.
£37
£37