UVI—the developers of Falcon, the outstanding environment for sound design and synthesis, is now offering the SonicBundle. It includes an incredible collection of presets, instruments, samples, and effects for a one-time purchase price. The company has primarily focused on subscription and single product models, but this new offering is great for those who want it all without the monthly bill.
FALCON AND EXPANSION PACKS
Aside from the robust collection of presets and sounds that come stock with Falcon, the bundle includes 26 expansion packs that cover a variety of electronic, genre-based sounds, modular and analog-driven content, cinematic sounds, and more. Packs include those designed by eminent sound designers such as Richard Devine and Simon Stockhausen. These packs and presets take full advantage of Falcon’s multi-part, multi-layer infrastructure to create rich sounds that are infinitely tweakable for those who like to get their hands dirty. Expansion packs come with custom interfaces that are visually inspiring and encourage experimentation.
UVI WORKSTATION
The UVI Workstation is a free sample player available as a stand-alone or plugin instrument. The interface includes an outstanding search matrix allowing you to search by Sound Bank/Sound Category/Preset, and it will display detailed information about any selected bank. Each Sound Bank comes packed with general presets and those for arpeggiation and sample source.
You can load any of the UVI Soundbank collections for instant access to high-quality libraries with unique interfaces. While these instruments may not offer the same level of detailed tweakability as does Falcon, they have all the functionality typically found in other full-featured sampling instruments, including envelope control, onboard effects, sequencers, and modulation possibilities. You can get immediate results or twist a few knobs to create a unique sound in just a few seconds.
SONICBUNDLE EXAMPLES
Listen to a few examples from particular packs and sound banks that stand out for me. No other processing was done on these sounds other than the onboard effects included with the instrument.
Modular Noise
This collection is designed from sampled Eurorack hardware:
Kinetics
“Deep and thematic sounds emphasizing movement, from evolving ambient scapes to rhythmic glitch and more.”
Organic Arps
Arpeggiated sounds with a convenient chord generator:
Quadra Metal and Wood
Samples based on resonant objects with plenty of onboard effects and arpeggiation possibilities.
Whoosh
A great tool for sound designers or producers need transition effects. Below are a few examples:
Drone
Another great sound design tool for creating sonic textures and abstract movement:
FMX-8
This is part of the FM Suite with vintage sounds based on iconic instruments:
IRCAM Prepared Piano 2
This collection offers 45 preparations made on a C7 Grand Piano:
UVI SONICBUNDLE EFFECTS
Aside for instruments you get with the Sonic Bundle, there is a solid suite of effects included that will enhance your current plugin arsenal. I was especially impressed with:
Tape Suite
“The series of FX plugins offers 4 physically-modeled effects including Delay, Flanger, Chorus, and Color, deliver the authentic sound of analog tape, from pristine to lo-fi and creative.” Below is an example of the Tape Color plugin used on a drum loop with the “Detroit Low” preset. (Dry (A) and Wet (B)):
Drum Replacer
As the name suggests, this plugin is designed for drum replacement. In this example, I’ve doubled the kick with a sampled kick (Dry (A) and Wet (B)):
Shade
This is a full-featured EQ with incredible modulation possibilities. Below is an example of the plug applied to the Kinetics example heard earlier (Dry (A) and Wet (B)):
Visit the product page to hear many more examples.
VIDEO DEMO
Below is a great demo video featuring devices from the UVI Sonic Bundle.
CONCLUSIONS
The beauty of a software bundle is typically reduced overall cost and having instant access to the all-inclusive collection from a developer. As anyone in music and audio production knows, there has been a shift to subscription-based models for sometime time now. I can certainly see the benefit in terms of initial cash outlay, but I prefer to purchase a perpetual license when available. The examples I provided above do not even begin to scratch the surface of what is offered in the Sonic Bundle. Each of the 116 included products is worthy of a separate review—but that is beyond the scope of this article. Look for select individual product reviews in the future.
The Sonic Bundle from UVI is a world-class collection of sample libraries, virtual synths, and effects capable of satisfying the most discerning sound designers, post-production specialists, producers, and music creators working in all genres. If you are just starting to grow your instrument collection, the Sonic Bundle will serve you well for many years to come.
