I think the term phrase-based for Sonokinetic libraries can be a bit of a misnomer, as the patterns can and do lend themselves to being used in myriads of ways. Both phrase-follow functionality and harmonic shift defy conventional phrase-based approaches.With all respect to the value of phrase based composition ... does any one ever think of these libraries more as "figure libraries"?
That is, sitting somewhere between full on phrase bases libraries and the kind of libraries we see commonly for ostinato/runs/evos/ waves/ arcs. That is figures that are hard to capture with multisample, without being full baked phrases.
Clearly, all the sonokinetic phrase libs have at least some phrases that are figures rather than fully melodic phrases. Bass lines, mostly obviously. But also flourishes on the flutes etc.
It also strikes me that another reason to justify buying these phrase libraries is to learn how to compose at the granularity of figures.
Because, sure, transcribing and score study is an essential way to build your own internal library of these kind of figures and orchestration effects. Yet it strikes me that if you take the figural elements of the libraries (bracketing the more fully baked melodic phrases for a moment) then again the fluidity, improvisational, performability gives you a way to learn to compose at this figural layer of granularity.
Which is an extension of my justification of buying Modal Runs (or how I would have justified buying it if it hadn't landed in my lap for free ) This notion that the improvisationabiltiy of the library might, whatever its additional merits in actual composition and mock ups, might greatly assist the pedagogical process.
Just a thought.
(Though I if I keep this up, I'll be broke buy day 12).
It also depends on the product, though the tools are familiar and universal across the product line. Soto, for example, lends itself to texture, though is inherently timed to adapt to host tempos. Some patches can be adjusted more rhythmically, or used as texture. Largo, with it’s more melodic phrases, has the same tools for determining start points to the phrase/figure, offset, when and where dynamics can be applied, and even off/on mutes to tailor the behavior of the source material. These tools appear in all the pattern-based libraries.
I think Phrase-follow is an overlooked feature, where the phrase/figure being played can change chord in mid-measure without re-triggering the phrase from its start (or you can opt to have it do that). Indie added a more advanced set of tools to determine how a phrase will play while layering in several patches concurrently.
As for a workflow approach previously highlighted, I just added Grosso string figures/patterns sparingly, Indie phrases more generously, and sustained Largo winds judiciously to a musical theatre soundtrack project that is otherwise composed of played-in notes from my array of orchestral libraries. There is a bit of mixing involved, but it seams together well for me.
As for “figures,” I think it’s safe to say many Sonokinetic libraries nuance both phrases and patterns amongst their the curated choices of available patches, even as each product stresses a particular genre or style. Even so, I routinely blend different SK products if the pattern simply works in the context of my composition, where even a “driven” library like Maximo has a variation of phrases that can cross over to other styles, and so forth.
I presume by mentioning your “justification” for purchasing several times, you mean justifying personal expense? The libraries themselves certainly need no justification or proof, as these are proven and effective tools, but where such approaches may not be for everyone. Just the ideas alone these things can generate has jump-started me many times, even where I may not use the source inspiration in the final mix.
I think I chime in every year during the SK sale. Maybe I should cut and paste, lol? Where I get frustrated in the discourse is sensing how some interpret these libraries as if one is meant to only orchestrate or compose with a phrase, in a predetermined notion of what that even means. But that’s never been Sonokinetic’s intent. These are innovative mockup tools that, in good hands, broaden many kinds of workflows.