Soundiron Harmonic Tides

Harmonic Tides is an aetherial sound-designed string library crafted from delicately resonant cello and double bass string harmonics. Soundiron collaborator Pierce Constanti created Harmonic Tides with the specific goal of making a uniquely expressive textural sound designed instrument ideal for film scoring. His goal was to create a custom scoring tool that could be just as expressive, versatile, and nuanced as a typical orchestral string library. It's perfect for modern arrangements and film/game scores whenever lush swells and huge waves of intense feeling are called for.

Harmonic Tides has two primary sound sources. The first is a shimmering, delicate and airy texture derived from layered celli harmonic glissandi. This patch is designed to add organic movement to music. Every key is sampled with four dynamic layers. The second sound source is a sharp, hollow sound derived from layered samples of bowing the after-length of strings on a double bass between the bridge and tailpiece. This sound is designed to add subtle tension and movement to music. Both articulation sets feature a wide chromatic and dynamic range, allowing them to be played expressively live with a keyboard or other midi controller.

While Harmonic Tides was recorded using traditional orchestral instruments, the unusual performances and processing disguise their origin. The celli and basses were close mic’d to pick up as much detail as possible, with as many as eight layers of solo performances panned around the listener. These multi-dynamic instruments can be woven and blended to create nuanced swells and textural waves. Combined with additional creative processing, the result is a sound that is more pad or drone-like than orchestral and fits well into a variety of mixes and arrangements. Beginning from this source, we've expanded the collection outward to explore a deep range of detailed leads, pads, short notes, stingers, fluid atmospheres and rich textures.

The Kontakt interface includes a suite of automation-ready sound-shaping controls to give you total creative flexibility. You have control over swell, attack, release, offset, vibrato, filter, pitch (coarse & fine), articulation switching, cross-fading and layering, and so much more.

This library comes with an adaptable LFO system, with selectable LFO shape, modulation target parameter, speed, intensity, tempo-syncing and fade-in time. You can also apply your choice of 12 lowpass, high-pass and FX filters, with assignable modulation targets such as velocity, modwheel, expression, after-touch, key position and step-sequencer table control. Our customizable arpeggiator offers a velocity table and control over arp direction, timing, swing, randomization and duration. We’ve included a key and scale lock system to constrain your notes to common scales and keys for easy melodic composition and live performance.

The interface is rounded-out by our modular FX rack panel, with 27 different DSP effect modules that you can assign in any of 8 available slots, in any order that you wish. You’ll find classic phaser, flanger, delay, distortion, amp and cab simulators, compressors, EQ, rotator and so much more. The Reverb effect includes our favorite convolution reverb impulse responses, including 99 different rooms, halls, chambers and outdoor environments, plus another 40 custom FX impulses to radically transform the sound and open up whole new worlds of musical possibility. We’ve added a great bank of FX rack chain factory presets to get you started!