“Apollo is significantly different from other guitar libraries and one that’s well worth exploring.”
By combining acoustic and electric sound-production techniques, electric guitars and basses are the modern world’s most prevalent electro-acoustic instruments. Their uniquely musical timbral qualities ensure their enduring popularity as each new generation of guitarists coaxes undiscovered sounds from them. Some of my favorite guitarists are adept at making their instruments sound like anything other than guitar. I especially appreciate players like Adrian Belew and David Torn who create unusual and atmospheric textures you just can’t achieve with other instruments. A new sample library from Vir2 Instruments delivers just these kinds of unconventional guitar sounds, many of which are genuinely cinematic in scope.
Apollo divides sounds into five folders: Instruments, Swells, Pads, Phrase Builder and Ambient Designer. Instruments supplies what you’d normally expect from an instrument sample library—individual notes, most with plenty of effects, many of them quite lovely. Swells gives you tons of chromatic notes and chords you control with your mod wheel. You may be surprised at the variety achieved using effects. The Pads category furnishes some beautifully evocative textures, with a range of moods suitable for calming your audience, lifting them up or making them tense. Each pad comprises two sampled sources, each with independent tuning and panning. They sound so nice, I’d recommend Apollo for the pads alone.
Phrase Builder provides a collection of licks, picked arpeggios and strummed chords you can trigger in sequence to create complete tracks. Ambient Designer is a single instrument that divides the keyboard into six sections. Each key triggers a different guitar tone, phrase, or sound effect you can latch to loop various combinations. All told, Apollo is significantly different from other guitar libraries and one that’s well worth exploring.
Read the Apollo: Cinematic Gutiars review at Audiofanzine.com