The cat is out of the bag, and Straight Ahead Samples is now thinking out of the box! The jazz box that is. Over twelve years ago, we began with a mission of making realistic jazz sample libraries. While we certainly have not fully completed the task of "every jazz instrument" we have covered all the staples, meanwhile having developed some groundbreaking technology along the way. From the way a jazz ride cymbal works to the revolutionary Smart Delay, we have done things differently. Although our roots are in straight ahead jazz, our appreciation, love and experience composing music goes far beyond. The film composers/orchestrators are the O.G. users of sample libraries and makeup the bulk of the customers in the market. Up to this point, we are well aware that are products have only been aimed at the small segment that also crossover to the jazz spectrum. This new release not only reaches across the aisle, but it begins a new chapter and therefore a new line of instruments we are referring to as "Bel Canto". I'll save all the technical details and description for the item pages and videos, but the general inspirations is that we wanted to be able to write for and hear strings both solo and ensemble that sounded like the way strings players played before there were sample libraries. But we also need to acknowledge that the composer today wants a highly playable instrument that sounds like t was recorded today, with a mix of vintage and modern microphones and toggling between real-time and Smart Delay we believe this has been achieved. Although we are looking out of the jazz box so to say, we don't feel like we have taken a step away from our core customer or the jazz arranging idiom, as strings are just as present the Great American song book discography as horns. We hope you'll dig it.
