# Rhodope 2 released - intro price till !!! May 26nd !!!



## Strezov (Apr 21, 2017)

Thank you for your interest! Rhodope 2 has officially been released. Here's the official product page on our website: 

=== RHODOPE 2 PRODUCT PAGE === 



---



Hello everyone!

After three years we're proud to present Rhodope 2! Based on the acclaimed Syllabuilder Engine, Rhodope 2 combines all new recordings of ethnic throat singing with Next Generation Scripting, giving you the option to merge it with Freyja, Wotan and Arva for the ultimate choral experience.

Again this is a very special library for us, because it is our national heritage - and we did our best to capture the beauty of those choirs. Please stay tuned for more information regarding pricing, walkthroughs, release dates and, of course, demos by some crazy-talented composers!

All the best from Bulgaria,
George and the team


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## lp59burst (Apr 21, 2017)

Very nice... I'm interested... so, when will there be pricing, walkthroughs, and release dates available..?

oh yah... and some crazy-talented composer demos too...


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## Parsifal666 (Apr 21, 2017)

Looks great! George, have you ever considered selling your libraries through Sweetwater? I've dealt with them for well over a decade and they're a fine company who can give your amazing libraries even more exposure. There are quite a few folks I know who would buy your stuff through Sweetwater. Just a thought.


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## sostenuto (Apr 21, 2017)

A bit fuzzy now for newcomer to Strezov Sampling (and Rhodope) to sort what to do. Hope to see Replies to earlier Posts re. buy existing/expA/Upgrade ...


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## Zhao Shen (Apr 21, 2017)

Looks like Strezov Sampling has found its niche in choral libraries... And considering the quality of the products, I'm totally fine with that


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## markleake (Apr 21, 2017)

After watching those beautiful landscapes that were so wonderfully shot, I can't recall what new library you were actually selling us. Something about a choir...?


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## tokatila (Apr 22, 2017)

Yes you should think about Audiodeluxe too, I missed your last choir libraries, because added VAT was too heavy. Without VAT would have been instabuy. Congrats on new Rhodope, I'm happy owner of the first one.


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## J-M (Apr 22, 2017)

When I get the full version of Kontakt I'll probably buy a lot of Strezov libraries...


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## StrezovSampling (Apr 22, 2017)

sostenuto said:


> A bit fuzzy now for newcomer to Strezov Sampling (and Rhodope) to sort what to do. Hope to see Replies to earlier Posts re. buy existing/expA/Upgrade ...



If you don't own any product from the Rhodope Series, just wait a few more days.




markleake said:


> After watching those beautiful landscapes that were so wonderfully shot, I can't recall what new library you were actually selling us. Something about a choir...?



Those beautiful landscapes are btw the reason why the product is called Rhodope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhodope_Mountains


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## StrezovSampling (Apr 22, 2017)

Zhao Shen said:


> Looks like Strezov Sampling has found its niche in choral libraries... And considering the quality of the products, I'm totally fine with that



Sorry to disappoint you, but I heard rumors that our percussion, solo strings and more experimental orchestral libraries also have found many happy users around the globe.  Sampling choirs was one of our main priority during the last year, since we were not happy with the current state of choir sampling, but you can expect more experimental libraries again from us in 2017. Especially libraries which focus on new unexplored sounds... 2017 will for sure be a very exciting year.


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## Parsifal666 (Apr 22, 2017)

StrezovSampling said:


> Sorry to disappoint you, but I heard rumors that our percussion, solo strings and more experimental orchestral libraries also have found many happy users around the globe. Sampling choirs was one of our main priority during the last year, since we were not happy with the current state of choir sampling, but you can expect more experimental libraries again from us in 2017. Especially libraries which focus on new unexplored sounds... 2017 will for sure be a very exciting year.



That's why I'm so hoping to be able to someday special order through Sweetwater. I find the demos for your Macabre Strings and Aleatoric Brass to be wildly interesting, and would like to pick those up among others. With Sweetwater things are just easier for me, and there are quite a few musicians I know who feel the same. It would also make Strezov more "out there" in terms of getting to people who otherwise might not know about your amazing products.

Forgive me if I seem pushy, I just want to buy several of your libraries and hope to see the distribution widen, even if just for special orders. I'll understand if it's not something happening anytime soon. You folks do have great sales.


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## StrezovSampling (Apr 22, 2017)

Parsifal666 said:


> That's why I'm so hoping to be able to someday special order through Sweetwater. I find the demos for your Macabre Strings and Aleatoric Brass to be wildly interesting, and would like to pick those up among others. With Sweetwater things are just easier for me, and there are quite a few musicians I know who feel the same. It would also make Strezov more "out there" in terms of getting to people who otherwise might not know about your amazing products.
> 
> Forgive me if I seem pushy, I just want to buy several of your libraries and hope to see the distribution widen, even if just for special orders. I'll understand if it's not something happening anytime soon. You folks do have great sales.



Don't worry, you are not pushy. We do collaborate with third party distributors, for example the ladies and gentlemen at bestervice and timespace do a brilliant job at distributing our product line and we also have many happy customers buying our products through them.

Is there any particular reason why buying our products directly from us is currently not an option for you? I am sure we can find a good solution for you. If you are interested just drop us an email contact(at)strezov-sampling.com


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## tokatila (Apr 22, 2017)

StrezovSampling said:


> Is there any particular reason why buying our products directly from us is currently not an option for you? I am sure we can find a good solution for you. If you are interested just drop us an email contact(at)strezov-sampling.com



In case you miss it: VAT. Timespace and Bestservice are in EU and collect that too, Audiodeluxe/JRRShop don't, even when I'm located in EU.

I have cancelled many baskets cause added VAT, for example I would have bought Freya+Arva bundle but it got too expensive with added tax.

Don't want to complain, and I have otherwise no idea how the taxation goes, so maybe it's not even feasible for you to use distributors outside EU. But I want you know that it affects buying decisions when one does buy things as a person and not a as a company.


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## Parsifal666 (Apr 22, 2017)

tokatila said:


> In case you miss it: VAT. Timespace and Bestservice are in EU and collect that too, Audiodeluxe/JRRShop don't, even when I'm located in EU.
> 
> I have cancelled many baskets cause added VAT, for example I would have bought Freya+Arva bundle but it got too expensive with added tax.
> 
> Don't want to complain, and I have otherwise no idea how the taxation goes, so maybe it's not even feasible for you to use distributors outside EU. But I want you know that it affects buying decisions when one does buy things as a person and not a as a company.



Helpful post. I have special ordered Best Service products in the past through Sweetwater and it was an easy transaction.


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## Alohabob (Apr 29, 2017)

Any update on the release and pricing? I own Rhodope and its expansion so I'm hoping for a nice discount.


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## desert (Apr 29, 2017)

Can't wait to add this to my Freyja and Wotan collection!


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## MillsMixx (May 2, 2017)

Now out! Just got the email :--)


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## Thorsten Meyer (May 2, 2017)




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## Thorsten Meyer (May 2, 2017)

There is a discount in your email that you may receive which further reduces the intro price.


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## Brendon Williams (May 2, 2017)

Alohabob said:


> Any update on the release and pricing? I own Rhodope and its expansion so I'm hoping for a nice discount.



I'm wondering this too. The email says there are crossgrade and upgrade discounts available, but it doesn't seem to list them anywhere.


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## Thorsten Meyer (May 2, 2017)

Brendon Williams said:


> I'm wondering this too. The email says there are crossgrade and upgrade discounts available, but it doesn't seem to list them anywhere.


I got two emails called "Your personal Rhodope 2 Crossgrade Discount"with two different discounts on top.


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## Brendon Williams (May 2, 2017)

Thorsten Meyer said:


> I got two emails called "Your personal Rhodope 2 Crossgrade Discount"with two different discounts on top.


Interesting. I didn't get that, though I am a Rhodope 1 owner. Thanks!


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## Alohabob (May 2, 2017)

Send therm an email if you didn't get your discount code. I own 1 and the expansion and got a discount email as well.


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## The Darris (May 2, 2017)

Hello VI-C'ers. I am working on a review of Rhodope 2 and I received an early Beta version to work with. My wife and I are huge fans of the show, Xena: Warrior Princess and I've always loved the original Main Titles theme composed by Joseph LoDuca. So much so that I wanted to do a proper midi mock up transcription for fun, *as a fan!!!*  The beta version of Rhodope 2 is what I used in this mock-up so there were some little bugs I had to work around. However, since then, they have added some great new features such as tightening controls for staccatos, you can disable the top dynamic layer to avoid the more throaty, yelling style of the true FFF, and they have also tweaked the dynamic control to make it more responsive which you can hear how quickly they dipped in my mock up. I will eventually go back and tweak this piece with the release version when I get some time because I want to smooth out those swells, but anyway, here you go. Enjoy my mock up of the Xena Main Titles which features Rhodope 2.




 Cheers.


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## StrezovSampling (May 2, 2017)

Brendon Williams said:


> Interesting. I didn't get that, though I am a Rhodope 1 owner. Thanks!



Pls shoot us an email.


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## StrezovSampling (May 2, 2017)

Alohabob said:


> Other than the new world builder is anyone seeing much new from 1 and the expansion? This has 10 syllables but 1 has senior about 20.



The content is completely new. All new recordings. New scripts, different microphone positions, Round Robins on each Staccato Syllable, Whispers, Shouts, Clusters, Agile Legato in three different speeds for each Syllable. Ah and Eh polyphonic true legato...in short: It's a new sample library in every aspect.

Hope this helps!


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## Quasar (May 2, 2017)

I have the original Rhodope and like it. After seeing the discount options for v1 owners, I'll just stick with what I have... Looks cool though...


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## Alohabob (May 2, 2017)

The Darris said:


> Xena: Warrior Princess



That sounds fantastic! I'd like to know if you'd have been able to do this with version 1 and would it have sounded similar?


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## Alohabob (May 2, 2017)

StrezovSampling said:


> The content is completely new. All new recordings. New scripts, different microphone positions, Round Robins on each Staccato Syllable, Whispers, Shouts, Clusters, Agile Legato in three different speeds for each Syllable. Ah and Eh polyphonic true legato...in short: It's a new sample library in every aspect.
> 
> Hope this helps!


But it's the same singers, right? So other than modifications to the different sounds (mic positions, staccato, etc.) won't owners of version 1 and the expansion basically be getting the same vocal sounds with just some added variation? 

Don't get me wrong, I think it sounds awesome and if you don't own either Rhodope I'd strongly recommend it to anyone. But as someone who has already paid $350 (or whatever it was) for the first version and expansion, it seems that the discount for the upgrade should be more than it is.


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## StrezovSampling (May 2, 2017)

Alohabob said:


> But it's the same singers, right? So other than modifications to the different sounds (mic positions, staccato, etc.) won't owners of version 1 and the expansion basically be getting the same vocal sounds with just some added variation?
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I think it sounds awesome and if you don't own either Rhodope I'd strongly recommend it to anyone. But as someone who has already paid $350 (or whatever it was) for the first version and expansion, it seems that the discount for the upgrade should be more than it is.



Thanks for the nice words. Glad you like the sound. 

It's a different choir and therefore sound compared to V1 as well. The Core version of Rhodope 1 only had 1 dynamic layer and no Round Robins at all, which is very limiting in terms of expression. And as said above it's *all new recordings. *New recordings of the same are never the same in sampling, especially if you change the recording space, equipement, the singers, articulations and the whole post production process involded in sampling. Version 1 also didn't have staccato samples. (What a crazy product it was...)

The price of Rhodope 1 Complete was $269, everyone owning that is able to save $129 bucks and can buy Rhodope 2 for just $199. Which for roughly 4 times the content, our scripting from Wotan/Freyja and Árva and all new recordings of *the* world class ethnic bulgarian choir on planet earth is quite a deal. Especially when you consider that this library is probably the most deeply sampled choir currently available on the market in terms of technical features (Round Robins for each Syllable, 3 Polyphonic Legatos for each Syllable) and the only one dealing with authentic ethnic throat singing at all.


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## The Darris (May 2, 2017)

Alohabob said:


> That sounds fantastic! I'd like to know if you'd have been able to do this with version 1 and would it have sounded similar?


Not sure. I never owned version 1. Strezov Sampling has removed all of their video walkthroughs for me to compare the two. This is probably because R1 is no longer available for purchase from their site and they don't want potential customers confused between the old and new. 

tl;dr = No, I don't think so. Read below for more reasons. 

With all of that said, what I recall is that their word builder in ver. 1 wasn't as intuitive as it is now. This comes down to being able to sequence between longs and staccatos via the builder and being able to morph consonants to add depth and realism to your phrases (not mention creating sequences within the engine and just hold the notes out to play it. All of the functionality in the old word builder did not let you control parameters like Attack, Release, crossfade timing, and volume for each word like the new one can which is a big deal for me. This is what really separates Strezov Sampling's latest releases (Wotan, Freyja, Arva, and now Rhodope 2) from the rest of the choir libraries out there. I'm really looking forward to seeing if they give this treatment to Storm Choir. That would be awesome.

Anyway, Rhodope 2 offers a hell of a lot more, despite not having as many words as the original. It certainly made tackling my mock-up a lot easier. I hope that helps.

Cheers,

C


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## Alohabob (May 2, 2017)

Ok, I'm sorry for my misunderstanding. I thought it was the same singers with just those differences.

Out of curiosity, since 2 is so different and has a totally different sound and syllables, why isn't 1 offered for sale anymore?


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## Daniel James (May 3, 2017)

Sounds absolutely incredible guys! wow.

-DJ


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## StrezovSampling (May 3, 2017)

Alohabob said:


> Ok, I'm sorry for my misunderstanding. I thought it was the same singers with just those differences.
> 
> Out of curiosity, since 2 is so different and has a totally different sound and syllables, why isn't 1 offered for sale anymore?



Because it isn't up to our standards. We don't feel comfortable selling products, which aren't as good as we want them to be. Believe me developing Rhodope 2 was a gigantic undertaking. Sampling throat singing is a very exhausting process. The decicion to do it again with 4 times the content wasn't an easy one. That's why we took our time to make sure we do everything right and deliver you guys a perfect product, so we can close that chapter on our side and people get the best possible experience out of their money.

With Rhodope we want to deliver *that *one famous sound, without any compromises. V1 had compromises, so we went crazy and did V2. 

Here are just some examples of throat singing. You could never achieve something remotely close to that with V1 without spending hours of programming. With V2 you just load up patches and it sounds like that out of the box.


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## Alohabob (May 3, 2017)

As I said earlier, I absolutely love Rhodope so I did purchase Rhodope 2 and am downloading it now. I just wanted to be sure that I wasn't buying something I already had. I'll be playing with it a lot tonight.


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## Thorsten Meyer (May 3, 2017)

Another great choir library from you guys! Applause
Thorsten


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## sostenuto (May 3, 2017)

Sounds terrific !! Quality source and product !

Cannot post again _ cuz no matter how many times I see posts ... translates to rope-a-dope, rope-a-dope, rope-a-dope .....


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## Thorsten Meyer (May 4, 2017)

Rhodope 2 is great and _works great_ with the other Strezov Sampling choir libraries.


(Edited, video removed)


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## Jdiggity1 (May 4, 2017)

Thorsten, respectfully, I don't think you should post your video 'reviews' (and other) in the announcement threads started by the devs.
It's a bit like trying to tape a home-made poster over a billboard.


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## Thorsten Meyer (May 4, 2017)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Thorsten, respectfully, I don't think you should post your video 'reviews' (and other) in the announcement threads started by the devs.
> It's a bit like trying to tape a home-made poster over a billboard.


I did reach out to the admin for guidance.


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## Jaap (May 4, 2017)

Wonderfull sounding product and maybe a tip to post some links in the opening post to the product page and demos? I didn't mind to manually look it up, but of course always better when it is at the ready!
Congratulations on this fine release!


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## sostenuto (May 4, 2017)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Thorsten, respectfully, I don't think you should post your video 'reviews' (and other) in the announcement threads started by the devs.
> It's a bit like trying to tape a home-made poster over a billboard.



Hmmmm ..... Yeah, personally VERY new here and already slapped down for improper comment in Announcement Thread. Then, many other similar, critical discussions as other products arise. Some producers quite tolerant, others quite sensitive ..... _typical of individuals in general_. 

Seems that 'most' new Announcements should generate a simultaneous SAMPLE Talk Thread.

This is for others to decide, but seems like much inconsistency in Announcement Thread tolerance and discussion(s).


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## Thorsten Meyer (May 4, 2017)

Thorsten Meyer said:


> I did reach out to the admin for guidance.



I talked to the admins and got good guidance and removed the video )


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## Alohabob (May 4, 2017)

After playing with Rhodope 2 last night I have to say that I am very happy that I also have 1. The new version does sound much better, bigger and fuller. But there are some syllables from 1 that I really miss in 2, like Ah, Yah, Nah that I fell in love with in 1. 2 will be my main choir but I'll use 1 for certain passages. They work really well together.


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## StrezovSampling (May 22, 2017)

Hello everyone,

the Intro Pricing for Rhodope 2 will end this Friday May 26. The product won't go on sale for a long time as with every of our new releases, so better don't miss this chance.

Rhodope 2 Ethnic Bulgarian Choir

We also received a nice and very detailed review by the incredible Chris Harris last week. 

*“All I can say at this point is that Strezov Sampling knows exactly how to sample a choir, no matter what type of vocal tradition is out there. Rhodope 2 opens the doors to new capabilities for the virtual composer.”*




cheers,
Team Strezov


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