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New NI Spotlight Series: Ireland

I remember the exact moment when I was converted to draft Guinness.
I was in a pub in Brixton with Lucy, standing at the bar with a pint of Stella I think and suddenly lost the taste for lager.
I was completely lost, for about ten seconds, then I looked up and was drawn to the Guinness pump and that was my road to Dublin moment.

Do try the zero stuff if you like the regular stuff but would rather not imbibe alcohol.
We've come a long way since Barbican alcohol free lager of the 80s.
I'd rather drink meths than that.
 
I watched the walkthrough. Spotlight Collection: Ireland looks like a good alternative to Celtic Era 2 for those that don't like the Best Service Engine 2. It has the essentials, though, I think it is a shame they didn't include any low whistle options. Low whistles are beautiful and quite popular in Celtic music.

I own Celtic Era 2 and do not mind the Engine 2 player. The instrument I'm seeing that might make Spotlight Collection: Ireland worth buying is the button accordion for ornaments. Ornaments can liven up a MIDI performance nicely.

I wish NI included different mic positions. Just like Celtic Era 2, it appears that Spotlight Collection: Ireland was recorded close and dry.
 
Nigel Andreola said:
I watched the walkthrough. Spotlight Collection: Ireland looks like a good alternative to Celtic Era 2 for those that don't like the Best Service Engine 2. It has the essentials, though, I think it is a shame they didn't include any low whistle options. Low whistles are beautiful and quite popular in Celtic music.

I own Celtic Era 2 and do not mind the Engine 2 player. The instrument I'm seeing that might make Spotlight Collection: Ireland worth buying is the button accordion for ornaments. Ornaments can liven up a MIDI performance nicely.

I wish NI included different mic positions. Just like Celtic Era 2, it appears that Spotlight Collection: Ireland was recorded close and dry.
Click to expand...
Shire Winds has a low whistle should anyone be interested. The main demo was very Irish-inflected. (Although Ireland doesn't have shires; that's an English thing.)
 
Nigel Andreola said:
I watched the walkthrough. Spotlight Collection: Ireland looks like a good alternative to Celtic Era 2 for those that don't like the Best Service Engine 2. It has the essentials, though, I think it is a shame they didn't include any low whistle options. Low whistles are beautiful and quite popular in Celtic music.

I own Celtic Era 2 and do not mind the Engine 2 player. The instrument I'm seeing that might make Spotlight Collection: Ireland worth buying is the button accordion for ornaments. Ornaments can liven up a MIDI performance nicely.

I wish NI included different mic positions. Just like Celtic Era 2, it appears that Spotlight Collection: Ireland was recorded close and dry.
Click to expand...
My biggest issue / gripe with Engine 2 is it STILL is not a native Apple Silicon plugin. And I don't want to run Cubase in Rosetta 2 mode for a single plugin. That's why I've slowly started replacing my Celtic Era instruments with stuff from Ilya Efimov and maybe now this.

Musio's World Series for Ireland is about to be released soon too.

I think NI did a great job on the interface for this - especially compared to Celtic Era's UI.
 
Bee_Abney said:
The first piece you posted: brilliant, yes; but I really only liked parts of it. The second: the horror! The album: oh, is that the time? Sorry, I can't listen to it right now but I promise - I promise - that I'll try it later (unless I forget).
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The album does seem to make a nice case for the concertina (which I'd guess is similar to the one in NI Spotlight?). "... her many live and studio collaborations with bass and baritone concertina player Cormac Begley... The concertina player is still present on All of This is Chance with his instrument used as a drone on several songs."

spellbindingmusic.com

Lisa O’Neill: All of This is Chance | Spellbinding Music

Dublin-based folk singer songwriter Lisa O'Neill's "All of This is Chance" - a magnificent quasi-orchestral and visionary chef-d’oeuvre.
spellbindingmusic.com spellbindingmusic.com



The concertina is also prominent in this cover she did of a Bob Dylan song for the soundtrack of Peaky Blinders:

 
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ALittleNightMusic said:
My biggest issue / gripe with Engine 2 is it STILL is not a native Apple Silicon plugin. And I don't want to run Cubase in Rosetta 2 mode for a single plugin. That's why I've slowly started replacing my Celtic Era instruments with stuff from Ilya Efimov and maybe now this.
Click to expand...
don't worry, I asked best service last week and they said engine 3 would be "coming soon" 😆
 
Bee_Abney said:
Oh, this is nice. I'm embarrassed to admit that Irish folk music is pretty much the only kind of folk music I know that I'm not keen on. Obviously it varies, but in general it's not for me. But the instruments always sound fantastic and these demos sound pretty good too, so I'm still personally really happy to see this release.
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So I guess that means you won't be impressed with my latest creation :sad:

 
Sears Poncho said:
It's weird, there are 27 million decent 'violin' samples but fiddle is another story. Cinesamples Taylor Davis violin can kinda sorta pass for fiddle in a pinch, but it is extremely limited.
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Ya, all the instruments seem pretty dry and close miked in the walkthrough. Which is fine I guess, for versatility, but not the usual sound for Irish instruments. I'm hoping that some reverb and room effects will warm things up as it does in the demos. For the fiddle, my current favourite is the Indiginus Fiddle but I still love the Joshua Bell for slow pieces.
 
I haven't done much with Celtic sounds or "fiddle " for that matter . I'm trying to broaden my horizons but don't know if I can. I went to music school with Josh Bell, it's highly amusing seeing people discuss using him as "fiddle ", the little kid who practiced Paganini all day.
 
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