Spectrasonics s - Keyscape Soundsource Library description:
Year / Release Date: 11/14/2021
Version: 1.3.4
Developer: Spectrasonics Developer
site: spectrasonics
Bit depth: 64bit
System requirements : Windows: 7/8 / 8.1 / 10, Mac OS
Processor: 2.4 GHz or higher
RAM: 4GB minimum, 8GB recommended
I bought Keyscape on the first day and have played with it every day since. Here is my impression 1] It is the best electromechanical keyboard package in my studio - the level of the game has been raised. It can't be compared to packages like NeoSoul keys which I also have. Neosoul keys are more about creating original sounds in the same genre. 2] Though I would not describe the acoustic piano as weak, I would say that it is 8.5/10. My goto solo sound is the concert grand on my Roland 700NX (which is a little metallic), one to one comparison with that lead me back to the Roland, though I fully appreciate that Keyscape's Yamaha is a very good instrument. It is likely to sit in a mix better. Many of the presets are very high quality and instantly give the composer the sound for that setting. As a solo practice day-to-day piano, the Yamaha will certainly do the job, but there are better (IMO). This is more of a top-quality studio engineer's piano collection than a solo practice creature. 3] The Electric keyboards are the best I have heard - they wipe away the opposition, they have dirt and character. 4] There is no Hammond, but I think that's wise as the Hammond is a beast on its own. I own a few Hammond VSTs plus a real Hammond A100 -frankly, no VST comes that close, but the NI B4 comes closest IMO. 5] The electrical mechanicals are the BIG thing about Keyscape, they have the nuances that are often rinsed out of digital emulations. I don't own any of the original instruments, but I do feel like I am playing the real thing when I play them. If you were to be hyper-critical then you can sometimes notice that a particular character is 'layered in' rather than being a fully integrated part of the three-dimensional sound, but you would have to be listening closely and have very picky, schooled ears. They are meticulously recorded and are responsive and expressive. They all have appropriate function dials that alter the sounds in a way that is consistent with the original sound, so you are not just stuck with a two-dimensional sound. Though it is probably not the case that each instrument has exactly the same controls as the original (I suspect), the controls do seem to be appropriate to the keyboard in question. 6] There are toy pianos. Some may think these are a little pointless, but this is not the case at all. Their delicate high range sounds have that mechanical instrumental noise that gives reality, they (to my mind) are much more preferable to a synth-based sinusoidal bell-type sound when used in a mix. Great for decoration. 7] Though these sounds would be fine for any gig, I find that they are what they say on the tin - they are VST sounds, primarily aimed at a studio. The presets are crafted by people that obviously know what is required of the sound genre to fit into song genres of a different character -sad, upbeat, ballad, heavy grunge, sci-fi, spooky, spiritual, soul food, etc...Just the ticket - out of the box; but with an ability to alter in meaningful ways. Best of all worlds really. 8] Integration with Omnisphere is great. What happens is you can choose Keyscape only as a library as you wish in Omnisphere - one click. Click on a chosen sound in Omnisphere (2 only I think) sound and the Keyscape interface opens up within Omnisphere. You can stick with this, or you can click an (additional) button provided on the Keyscape interface and you go straight into the Omnisphere interface with your sound loaded as a sample set and mangle away. Could not be easier. Trillian can also be loaded this way. 9] Keyscape comes with an FX rack. I find the fx units to be of very high quality, especially the reverbs. These racks are similar to the Omnisphere racks- if you know Omnisphere or Trillian you will be at home. Each instrument also has its own controls in another panel, these controls are instrument specific. Overall this is one of the best investments I have made in my studio. I think Persing has again raised the game. Basically, it's a must-have. Set up warning! I have all of the Spectrasonics stuff. My Steam folder is now over 160 gigs and my Sage folder (RMX) adds another 13 gigs. I would strongly advise dedicating an SSD drive to Spectrasonics. Also, IF YOU NEED TO MOVE THE STEAM FOLDER DO THIS BEFORE INSTALLATION! For some reason my copy of Keyscape did NOT behave itself, even using the instruction for moving on the Spectrasonics site, I had no luck. They also recommend moving the STEAM folder before installation. I ended up re-installing ALL of the Spectrasonics packages - which share the steam folder - this took a day and a lot of rummaging in old cupboards. You can either download Keyscape or buy it on credit card-type USB drives. I found that the USB plugs on these drives were a little thinner than most USB plugs, and they waggled a bit. This meant that one of the two cards did not read well. I had to try several ports and keep very still. Bug wise the program seems immaculate. Once installed everything just works. The overall geography of the app is the same as Omnisphere and Trillian, both of which have great browsers. SO easy to find the sound you want. Groove3 has a great course on Omnisphere which teaches you this interface in-depth, but for just Keyscape it is largely self-explanatory. Eric Persing has said that he has a huge collection of retro electrical mechanical instruments and these are just a few. I fully expect that he will release more at some point.