12-Bit Crunch releases "Soul Machine" for Kontakt

12-Bit Crunch has released Soul Machine for NI Kontakt.

Inspired by the sound of Atlantic and Stax records, Soul Machine contains 84 gospel chords (seven types in all twelve keys), each individually played on four different vintage instruments, switchable on-the-fly:

• A Challen upright piano.
• A Fender Telecaster electric guitar.
• A 1950s Wurlitzer 720a electric valve piano.
• A Hammond C3 organ.

Soul Machine sits somewhere between a sample player and a chord generator. When a user hits an individual key, they hear a different type of gospel chord. There is no MIDI outputted, instead you hear a chord played by a real human-being, on a real instrument, recorded to 44.1kHz/16-bit .WAV files (then compressed into an easily downloadable Kontakt patch). Just like when you sample a vinyl and map it to a pad or key.

The instrument has a real-time display which shows a user what chord they are hearing. You can drag from this chord name direct into a DAW to export the voicings themselves, for playback on other VSTis.

Soul Machine has all its chords in twelve keys. This also means a user can work backwards: imbue a pre-written chord progression with sampled charm and character.

Depending on how hard you hit a key, and whether the modulation-wheel is up or down, you access one of the 4 different articulations:

• A straight chord.
• the same chord with it's attack chopped off.
• a raked chord.
• a top melody-note.

When you combine them all is when Soul Machine Machine starts to really sound like a lost vinyl gem.

The (optional) vinyl crackle that you hear on Soul Machine is not a permanent effect. Vinyl crackle is embedded into each file. When you re-trigger a key, you re-trigger the same vinyl crackle. Just like you would when sampling off a real record.

There's a fun Warble effect which adds wow and flutter, and you can control the instrument's envelop by engaging the Choke button.

Price: £29.99.

Here's a link to exactly what Soul Machine can do: 12-Bit Crunch 'Soul Machine' Walkthrough