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New Xsample release: Contemporary Saxophones (4 saxes suited for extended techniques | EUR 210)

doctoremmet

Senior Member
"The Xsample AIL Contemporary Saxophones consists of recordings of a soprano saxophone, an alto saxophone, a tenor saxophone and a baritone saxophone."

I haven't really done any real research yet, but this one does seem suited for those of us who are into chamber music and using "extended techniques".

Each library is EUR 55 and the bundle (all four of them combined) is EUR 210. They require Full Kontakt. Minimal version is 5.5.

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Musical impression / demo:

Website: https://xsample.de/xsample_contemporary_saxophones.htm
 
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@doctoremmet

I can see this working in some modern jazz as well,if it also had growls and honks I’d be in 7th Heaven,what a beautiful tone!
 
Yes, most of @Hans Josef ‘s instruments have that quality, in the sense that I tend to find them really suitable for that realm that isn’t strictly classical and isn’t strictly jazz either. These saxes appear to fit right in that slot too.
 
I’m not familiar with this developer,thanks for posting this 👍
I have most of his stuff by now, and I may be perceived by some as a fanboy... but the thing is most of his stuff is just very good. I can’t share any experience about these new saxophone recordings however. Make that: not yet ;) *)

*) edit: I have just purchased the bundle and will try to do a review soon.
 
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I have most of his stuff by now, and I may be perceived by some as a fanboy... but the thing is most of his stuff is just very good. I can’t share any experience about these new saxophone recordings however. Make that: not yet ;) *)

*) edit: I have just purchased the bundle and will try to do a review soon.
I am now very interested in this and I would love to hear your review! Especially the extended techniques! Please tag me when you put it up👍
 
So I had a spare 15 minutes and loaded up Xsample Contemporary Saxophones again, because I want to review it shortly and need to get further acquainted with the instruments. My God, these are incredible! The tone is gorgeous, and there are so many very useful articulations... I have to say I am very impressed.

Just me noodling around, and by no means to be judged as a serious demo or doing justice in any way to the capabilities of the instruments... here’s what I just recorded on the fly (SATB). Consider it a lousy teaser of a better demo I plan to make to further showcase this library.

View attachment Xsample Contemporary Saxophones - demos.mp3
 
So I had a spare 15 minutes and loaded up Xsample Contemporary Saxophones again, because I want to review it shortly and need to get further acquainted with the instruments. My God, these are incredible! The tone is gorgeous, and there are so many very useful articulations... I have to say I am very impressed.

Just me noodling around, and by no means to be judged as a serious demo or doing justice in any way to the capabilities of the instruments... here’s what I just recorded on the fly (SATB). Consider it a lousy teaser of a better demo I plan to make to further showcase this library.

View attachment Xsample Contemporary Saxophones - demos.mp3
That sounds great! How useful are the multiphonic? Can I get my Colin Stetson on?
 
That sounds great! How useful are the multiphonic? Can I get my Colin Stetson on?
I am not totally familiar with his work, but IIRC he did some very cool stuff for the Red Dead 2 game, right?

Anyway, there’s really a ton of multiphonic samples and also fourths, fifths and sixths in there. It seems like the intervals are different across the SATB range. I haven’t even gotten to them yet, but I will and I will try and address it in a review I want to post here.
 
I am not totally familiar with his work, but IIRC he did some very cool stuff for the Red Dead 2, right?

Anyway, there’s really a ton of multiphonic samples and also fourths, fifths and sixths in there. It seems like the intervals are different across the SATB range. I haven’t even gotten to them yet, but I will and I will try and address it in a review I want to post here.
I think I'm about to just buy it. So hard to resist 🤷‍♂️
 
I think I'm about to just buy it. So hard to resist 🤷‍♂️
The only thing I will say, if I had to point out a “con” - it would be this: the Xsample UI packs a LOT of power and options and it has a very steep learning curve. Personally I am still learning and the documentation is out there. But this is something to be aware of and I believe that it was a conscious design decision. But this is not for the faint of heart haha. Also, with this many articulations, you can (and maybe need to) dig deep and you are going to have to automate your stuff to get the most out of it.

On the other hand.... you can just load up the default Vibrato MW patch and have fun for hours...
 
The only thing I will say, if I had to point out a “con” - it would be this: the Xsample UI packs a LOT of power and options and it has a very steep learning curve. Personally I am still learning and the documentation is out there. But this is something to be aware of and I believe that it was a conscious design decision. But this is not for the faint of heart haha. Also, with this many articulations, you can (and maybe need to) dig deep and you are going to have to automate your stuff to get the most out of it.

On the other hand.... you can just load up the default Vibrato MW patch and have fun for hours...
I appreciate the warning! I don't mind getting sucked into the minutiae of it, it makes it more worthwhile in the end! I really appreciate you bringing this library to my attention and I'm still looking forward to your review!
 
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