Fracture Sounds – Trails v2 Full + Update

Enter the world of violinist and composer Alehander Parans, with his collection of evocative soundscares and string technologies. Alongside a collection of unique string technologies reformed bу Аlehander, thе librаrу inclusions sunth samples аnd а rаrе Faulkner Dulсiсhord tablet pianо from his Collection of instruments-all of whiсh саn bе manipulаted in оur сustom granular раtch, designed sресifiсаllу fоr this librаrу. 

Partnering with composer Alehander Parsons, and trained violinist with a back ground in electronic music, Trails artures his technological arrears to composition. The libraru features solo strings-a violin performed by Alehander himself-alongside other instruments from his collection.

SOLO STRING TEXTURES

The main element of this library is the solo violin and cello textures recorded by Alexander Parsons and his frequent collaborator and friend, Joe Zeitlin. Eight of Alexander’s favourite and most frequently used articulations have been captured in the same dry studio space in London that we used for Dan Keen’s Petrichor library.

The dry space enables the use of more effects within the instrument presets and as part of our brand-new granular engine, transforming the sounds into mesmerising textures with limitless possibilities. Returning is our Lo-Fi and Delay effects found in Hemisphere Ambient & Cinematic Guitars, which, when combined with the Reverb and 16 unique Atmosphere Layers, can alter the original acoustic recordings into a dramatic underbelly of undulating textures- what Alexander refers to as Trails.

OUR NEW GRANULAR ENGINE

Our newly designed Granular engine has distilled both the knowledge and experience from the Fracture Sounds team with Alexander’s methodology of working with Granular effects on his modular rig to expand his sound palette and create truly unique compositions. The engine is a culmination of curated sounds found throughout the library and offers many control options as well as simply being able to shuffle all of the parameters and let the instrument decide the direction of the sound for you.

The original sounds can be reversed, mutated, and tweaked using the controls available on the interface, making the original source unrecognisable, and generating a level of randomness and inspiration that Alexander craves in his writing tools.

The team at Fracture Sounds and Alexander Parsons have curated 57 presets as starting points for those who are new to Granular Synthesis. These presets are also found in a basic form in the Lightweight folder for those who need greater CPU efficiency.

Over the years Alexander has collected an array of his favourite analogue synthesisers and modular effects units and has provided a personal collection of samples inspired by those that he has used on scores over the years, combined with recordings made at Press Play.

To enable maximum playability, we have placed the synth samples into the Layer Blends engine that was introduced with Zen: Meditations, enabling up to three synth samples to be blended and controlled using the mod wheel. There are 28 unique synth sounds found in this library with 28, providing 546 possible blending options, which can then be extended further with the ADSR envelope, filters, and other effects found on the interface.

FAULKNER DULCICHORD

A key tool in Alexander’s arsenal is the Faulkner Dulcichord, a small single-stringed tabletop piano that has a delicate and enchanting tone. As well as the effects included with the solo string textures, Dulcichord has a Broken Tuning function that can alter the original cleaned-up samples into a more antique sound. Those who are familiar with our pianos will be aware of our Colour and Timbre Shift controls that can shift the tone of the instrument into a darker or brighter space, and we have also included an extended range switch to increase the range of the instrument beyond its natural limitations.

MIX

Each performance was captured with an array of close and room microphones and combined in a single, broadcast-ready mix. The raw mix can then be combined with up to three Atmosphere Layers created by the Fracture Sounds team and Alexander Parsons.