Dave Gale

London, Surrey

Writer and Contributor at Freelance

EMMY Award-Winning Media Composer, Arranger & Producer. Occasional Guildhall Prof, Pianist and Trombonist, with an unhealthy penchant for Synthesizers!

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Articles

JASL-Audio Striking Strings Glissandi

Oct 24, 2024 | soundonsound.com | Kontakt Instrument |Dave Gale

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 StarsStriking Strings Glissandi adopts a fairly sharp focus that is likely to appeal to the professional or semi‑pro composer community, who frequently reach for tools with a singular purpose in mind. This is the first unique offering from JASL‑Audio, a company presided over by Jochem Weierink, a talented film composer in his own right and clearly equipped with useful insight. SSG includes just under 6GB of sampled content, divided up into four instrument patches.
Ghost Note Audio Conductor MkII

Oct 24, 2024 | soundonsound.com | Dave Gale

Within the ever‑growing world of orchestral sample libraries, it’s become the norm to provide a large degree of control over timbre when playing, in an attempt to garner an ever more realistic instrumental performance. At the most basic level this involves using the modulation wheel to control timbral dynamics, but extended control is often available, provided you have the MIDI faders to achieve it.
Why I Love... Minimal Synth Setups

Aug 22, 2024 | soundonsound.com | Dave Gale

Do you ever yearn for a simpler existence? A move to the country, or maybe a television that offers fewer channels? Putting the latter point to one side, there is a reason why so many creative types opt to shut themselves away in out‑of‑town studios or workspaces. It has everything to do with the way that individual creativity works, and removing distraction. A good synth‑friend of mine often recalls how he was far more creative when all he had was a four‑track Portastudio and a Roland SH‑101.
Sampleson Drumbada

Aug 22, 2024 | soundonsound.com | Plug-in Instrument |Dave Gale

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 StarsConjure an image of Cinematic Drums and you’ll probably be thinking about a battery of percussionists. In the case of Drumbada that means up to 15 Bombos Legüeros, which is a rare form of Andean bass drum that has apparently remained unsampled.
Soniccouture Kora

Jul 18, 2024 | soundonsound.com | Kontakt Instrument |Dave Gale

Rating: 4.5/5 StarsThe Soniccouture catalogue is a beautifully crafted and varied inventory that encompasses some unique gems. Their latest release is Kora, a 21‑string harp‑like instrument emanating from Gambia that fulfils their brief perfectly. The Kora consists of strings which are stretched across a bridge, which sit abreast a gourd resonator, much like a Berimbau. Being equipped with 21 strings it provides a considerable note range of just over four octaves.
The Very Loud Indeed Co Mobilis Ultimate

Jun 20, 2024 | soundonsound.com | Kontakt Instrument |Dave Gale

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 StarsWhen confronted with a sampled instrument from The Very Loud Indeed Company, you don’t have to be Tom Cruise to work out what might lay ahead. Mobilis is unapologetically a cinematic percussion library, designed for hybrid scoring where you might need some pace and raw power. The 4.1GB of sampled content supplies close to 3000 samples, which are split across four Kontakt Instrument modules. These modules appear to be far more about convenience than any category of sound.
Emergence Audio Viola Textures

Apr 18, 2024 | soundonsound.com | Kontakt Instrument |Dave Gale

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 StarsYou could regard Emergence Audio’s latest Kontakt Instrument as string section closure, because Viola Textures completes a line‑up that already includes Violin, Cello and Double Bass. If you are a bit of a string newbie, you’d be forgiven for wondering why you might want to plump for this edition, over the other variants in the Textures catalogue. The answer lies with the instrument itself.
Soniccouture Waterphone

Feb 22, 2024 | soundonsound.com | Kontakt Instrument |Dave Gale

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 StarsWith its bizarre appearance and endearing‑but‑creepy sound, the acoustic instrument known as a waterphone has become a firm staple of the horror and soundtrack worlds. Soniccouture have embraced the role of sample capture, while introducing some interesting twists to their reinterpretation in Kontakt form. Acoustic waterphones are circular instruments with a resonant cavity at the base which is usually filled with a small amount of water.
Icon Pro Audio V1-M & V1-X

Feb 22, 2024 | soundonsound.com | Dave Gale

Are Icon’s latest range of control surfaces the perfect interface between human and DAW? I still recall the day I gave in to the DAW powers‑that‑be and surrendered my generously proportioned mixing console in favour of mixing in the box. While I have never had a moment’s regret on a sonic level, I’ve always felt like I lost a piece of my soul that day, leaving a void to be replaced by a mouse and a computer keyboard.
Strezov Sampling Afflatus Chapter II: Brass

Dec 21, 2023 | soundonsound.com | Kontakt Instrument |Dave Gale

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 StarsThe tonal characteristics of orchestral brass instruments are notoriously difficult to capture and reproduce in sampled form. Any library wishing to encompass the full gamut of articulation and tonal colour is going to have to be fairly large, which makes Afflatus Chapter II : Brass by Strezov Sampling appear quite sensible, at an installed weight of 117GB.