Neo Soul Keys Crack
Aquilino Neadstine
Just to update some of my earlier thoughts, I"ve never been satisfied with Jamal"s presets in any of the Neo Soul Studio products and redesign the preset I like best to a Rhodes that works for me. Not to much surprise, then, I"ve found I end up in the same place after deep tweaking both NSKS and NSKS2.
Before you buy, do a practical comparison of the interface graphics on the App Store and see if you might want to start with the original Studio. The original app is much less complex with a completely different set of controls that are way more Rhodes-like and intuitive than the later version, which has a synth style interface and pretty clunky. The advantages to the later version are the huge leap in the after-fx section, and infinitely more control over the minutiae of sonic detail using a GUI that"s become the base design of the other Gospel Musicians apps that came after it, if you think you might go there in the future. Something to consider.
FWIW Rob, I have screen shots of editing panels from NSKS2 I could send your way, at least for something you could build on. I haven"t used the apps at all since designing in Kronos hardware so I"m not sure if my 2021 ears are the same as my 2019"s, but PM if interested.
Before I buy, I have to say that I have an old version of what I'm assuming (hoping?) is a totally different iOS neo-soul product, called "Neo Soul Keys." It was free to download, ad-supported, and offered in-app purchases of six different keyboard samples for between $3 and $5 which I assume only removes the ads, but doesn't get you improved versions of these. They are, to put it kindly, "rudimentary" virtual instruments that I could never use on any gig, ever. If this was a way to entice users to upgrade to their "real" product, I'm not sure it was the best way to go about it. It's actually making me nervous about spending any amount of money on their stuff! These six "instruments" sound virtually identical to each other, and appear to have no sample layers at all. Anyone ever check this out? Below is the first page that comes up when you run the app, then two of the six instruments, the "Stage EP" and "Suitcase EP" - they sound identical. I don't get it.
I guess I'm a Scarbee guy; the NeoSoul Studio is not doing it for me, sorry to say. I use the original Scarbee Rhodes on my MacBook Pro (via Kontakt) on all my gigs. I want an old-school rhodes like 70s-era Herbie Hancock. Nothing fancy sound wise, no "synth" parameters, just a playable rhodes - and by that I mean one with enough layers so when I play hard I get the corresponding funky bark I like. That video above doesn't actually tell me if the Korg Scarbee will give me that, because the uploader doesn't seem to vary the dynamics much and isn't hitting the keys too hard. I'm just tired of hunting through youtube for one solid example of someone playing a plain iOS rhodes like I would. If the basic sound isn't there, and more importantly if the way the sound evolves with increasing velocities is not natural, all the knobs, sliders, buttons, presets, etc. mean squat to me. I'm also guessing that in order to use the Korg Module Scarbee I need to buy both the Module Pro and then make an in-app purchase of the Scarbee. No indications of any black friday deals on those, right? I'm sure the deals on Neo Soul right now are great but even if they gave that to me for free I would probably not be inspired to use it much.
I'll also mention that I have the Orange Tree "Famous E" Rhodes for my Mac, and it's a beauty, very playable - just not the right sound for the gigs I'm doing right now. Mid-70s Herbie with Headhunters, that's the sound I want.
I'm also a Scarbee guy when it comes to iOS EP. I have both NSKS and NSKS2 but could never find or build a preset which fits to my taste. It comes actually from the base samples, which all sounds strange to my ears. I find it a bit of a pity, because I find the app concept and programming quite good. But in the end, it all comes down to whether the basic tone is ok for your or not.
@Reezekeys: there is a on-going sale for all Korg apps, so you can grab Korg Module Pro and Scarbee for a lower price. Korg Module Pro base version is currently at 19.99 USD and Scarbee at 9.99 USD. I think it is a good deal ;-)
I have VTines too. Very clean and good tone, imo... it sounds like a Rhodes to me (unlike some of the iOS "Rhodes" I've checked out!). My issue is that once you play past a certain dynamic level you get nothing back; it needs a few more loud layers, imo. That can be very frustrating when you're playing music that demands those. For ballads, it's fine! And, I can use it with a nice low buffer on my old iPad Air 2.
It"s clear the main reason Jamal changed the entire approach of his apps going forward was to provide extra engines to build the sound more completely. For example, each of the four oscillators in NSKS2 are there for you to program how much and the type of tone you want, and where it will appear. In other words, if you want that bark to appear when you hit the note hard, you can now program that. If you want any degree of bell to be there as you softly strike the key but disappear when you strike harder, you can program that.
The problem is that the interface is quite daunting at first appearance and it takes quite a bit of work to get where you want to go. For those who expect an app this flexible to provide a perfect Rhodes within their stock presets, I don"t think you"re going to find it anywhere. You have to start with a preset that you feel has promise and tweak away. Once you"re used to that, you can begin with an init and build your own from scratch. I guess it depends on what you"re willing to do.
Granted, what can be (so far) achieved on an iPad is minor compared to a computer, but NSKS2 is the closest to that possibility. The only other app that lets you shape a Rhodes sound with great flexibility is VTines, but it"s based on one basic sound that you can manipulate only so far.
I have to admit that I'm more a preset guy, simply because I don't have much time to spend on sound programming. So I usually start from a preset, and then make some little tweaks to adjust it to my taste. But I tried really hard to program tones with NSK2, and you know that Rod :-) You even help me by sharing your own tweaks, which in the end didn't work for me. I spend quite some time with the app, going back and forth, with no success.
But it's just me, I've seen many other people praising it, so I will not say it is a bad app. Just that it is not for me lol. I'm happily keeping on using Scarbee, and also the EPs from my SV2 and Vox Conti, which I'm also recording in my iOS DAWS (Gadget 2 and Cubasis 3) with an AUDIO/MIDI interface.
Hey, Jrme my remarks weren't directed at you and of course I remember our back'n'forths. They were more for others who would dismiss the app out of hand. It's definitely not for everyone. Again, I'm so happy with the flexibility of my hardware lately I haven't given this topic much thought in quite awhile.
As I said before, I'm not really interested in anything but a basic Rhodes sound. To my way of thinking, a Rhodes virtual instrument should start with just the basic sound of the instrument with little or no effects and flat EQ, then allow tweaking to more non-standard tones. Your post seems to say that is not the case with Neo Soul. In any event, I'm just not into doing "quite a bit of work" to get to a stock MK 1 rhodes.
I think it's just sampled. Oscillator can refer to anything that generates a waveform. Lots of keyboards use "oscillator" to describe their tone generaing unit, where the underlying mechanism for generating the waveform is (or can be) a sample.
Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)
I was going by the panel labelled "Oscillator" in the editing page. NSKS2 is edited/programmed like a synth, but I'm assuming everything is built from a core set of samples. They're downloaded (free) a la carte after purchasing the app. This way if you don't want certain core samples (ie CP70) to take up storage space on your iPad, you don't have to download them.
Yea I should have known from the description of how large the app was that it used samples. Part of me was questioning it because I heard a synthetic quality to the sound, which made me think there was more than sample playback going on.
Checking out apeSoft on u-tube now, and once again as of now anyway, 10 - 15 minutes into checking various vids all I'm getting is demos with multiple effects slathered on, making it impossible to evaluate the basic sound. Great, I can automate 1000 parameters. Can it sound like a f^&7ing stock Rhodes? Kids today.
edit - I found a vid where the uploader seems to be hitting the keys a little harder with a more stock sound called up and I hear very little bark, so I think I'm gonna pass on this one. Too bad, $5 is a good price that's like $0.000001 per controllable parameter!
That"s what the init is, and you could certainly start there. I was just suggesting an easier route to working the editing functions would be to begin with a preset and modify it, at least that"s how I approach 'most everything.
7fc3f7cf58