Long and Evolving Pads, Drones and Soundscapes
MELD is a Kontakt instrument allowing you to blend and crossfade between 4 different soundsources, creating beautiful, evocative, evolving and cinematic drones, ice like pads, textural soundscapes and more.
We sampled a range of acoustic materials such as drinking glasses, crystal, bells, bottles, chimes, violins, metal bars being bowed, struck, blown plucked etc to create the basis of each sound. These can then be combined in the 4 part engine, and using the XY pad to cross fade between each of the sounds, you can create beautiful, long, evolving sounds.
Choose from 93 individual sound sources from a variety of different sound categories, each varying in attack and timbre. There are 275 patches available in 4 different categories:
- Meld Duo (55) – two sound sources combined
- Meld Instruments (94) – single instrumental sounds
- Meld Textures (65) – single textural sounds
- Multis (61) – complex sounds created by combining multiple patches
This library is ideal for anyone looking for unusual and hugely evolving pads, soundscapes, drones and more.
The Sounds In Depth
Blend 4 Distinct Soundsources At Once
The Meld GUI has 3 distinct sections:
1. The 4 sound source modules
2. The XY pad
3. The master FX section
The sound source of each individual module can be changed by using the left / right buttons on the soundsource name, or clicking on the sound source name, then selecting a new one from the dropdown list. There are 93 different sound sources to choose from (meaning hundreds of thousands of combinations) with each sound varying in terms of timbre and attack.
Additionally, there are a number of custom pads that have been created which you can blend into the sound to add an additional silky, synthesised layer.
Stuck for inspiration? Simply load up any patch and click on the “Randomize” button to load any 4 random sounds to get a new unique combination of elements to work with.
The “Random” button will randomise the settings (soundsources, convolution IR options etc.) to give you completely new sounds. “Reset” will bring XY pad back to the previous state.
Demo Tracks
Meld
Create Movement with the XY Pad
The XY pad is mapped to MIDI CC 74 and MIDI CC 75 allowing you to record your own movement within the XY pad as MIDI CC data.
It can control either volume crossfading or filter manipulation of each individual sound source. Using the XY pad to control the volume of each of the sound sources gives you more control over how much is being added to the overall sound, whereas using the XY pad to control the filter, adjusts the cutoff level in the filter of each source, giving a more natural blending of sounds.
Transform Each Sound with FX
Each of the 4 individual source sources within Meld has its own FX, allowing you to sculpt the sound of each sound source individually.
The FX options within each sound source are ADSR, LFO, Filter, ADSR Filter, LFO Filter, ADSR Pitch and LFO Pitch
Additionally, there is a master FX section at the bottom of the interface which allows you to add delay, reverb, chorus, convolution reverb, saturation, stereo, EQ or compression to the overall patch
The Sounds in Isolation
Listen to the completely unprocessed examples of MELD patches below. No additional processing (apart from compression) or libraries/layers were used in these examples, just the specific Meld patch named in the track title.
Technical Requirements and Specifications
- 4 individual sound sources with 93 different sampled sounds to choose from
- XY pad to cross fade between each of the sounds, creating movement and modulation
- Individual controls for ADSR, LFO, Filter, ADSR Filter, LFO Filter, ADSR Pitch and LFO Pitch on each sound source
- Master FX with delay, reverb, chorus, convolution reverb, saturation, stereo, EQ or compression
- Randomise button to create completely new sounds at random for immediate inspiration
- 49 convolution reverb samples with pre-delay, IR size and amount options
- 1.4GB of space required (700MB for download and 700MB for extraction)
- 275 Kontakt patches in total
- Kontakt 5.7.1 or higher required – not compatible with the Kontakt Player
Recap:
- €29 – reduce the price by using your VSTBuzz reward points (even down to €0 if you have enough points!)
- 275 Kontakt patches
- Combine 4 soundsources for unusual and unique new sounds that continually move and modulate
- 93 different sampled sounds
- Range of sampled sounds including bowed glass, metal, crystal and violin, blown bottles, struck mallets, pads etc.
- 49 convolution reverb samples included – eg. “piano FX”, “guitar FX”, “mute gliss” etc. Each convolution reverb sample completely changes the sound of the overall patch and creates massive pads
- .WAV files included
- Kontakt 5.7.1 or higher required – not compatible with the Kontakt Player
- Perfect for pads, drones, textures and soundscapes
- Ideal for creating dark, gloomy, icy, evocative, crystal, ethereal and ambient sounds in a variety of styles
- Exclusive to VSTBuzz – not available anywhere else!
Irv – :
I found it easy to use and the sounds are very enticing. Subtle but useful for a delicate atmostphere.
Stan – :
Meld’s GUI is more colorful but Meld and Shadows have very similar 4-layer/source interfaces with common/shared voices, a central XY-Pad, randomization, effects, and layer parameter options selected by drop-down menus. Randomization is only for the selection of sound sources (parameter settings not affected) and this usually produces useable results (I tried over a dozen randomizations in a row without a resulting “dead” patch). Meld layers have more options available for adjusting the sound of the layers due to more options available in the envelope/filter drop-down menu. Most of the extra options are LFO target options. Meld also has more effects available (Meld has eight, Shadows has 4) and more IRs for the convolution reverb (Meld has 49, Shadows has 30). Since it has a separate reverb, Meld’s convolution IRs are of the sound design type, not the spaces type; Shadows single convolution reverb addresses various spaces. A big difference between Meld and Shadows is that Meld’s effects are global; Shadows’ effects can be set/adjusted for each layer. Shadows also has a Link button to allow the simutaneous adjustment of parameters for all four layers. Melds’s XY-Pad works on two parameters, Shadows works on six. The XY-Pad for both only affects one (the selected) parameter at a time. Neither Meld nor Shadows has GUI arpeggiation available and both will lock you out of their GUIs if you use Kontakt’s back-end to access it.
All in all, both are capable and useful and quickly generate workable variations via randomization or by manually selecting individual layer voices and features. Meld has 94 available voices (~78 million combinations), Shadows has 84 (nearly 50 million combinations) and voice selections can be duplicated for layers. Meld also ships with nearly 300 patches. As to be expected, Shadows’ tones are consistently darker than Meld’s. I’ve paid more than the list price for a lot less so thanks to VST Buzz for the nice points bonus. 8 Stars for features and ease of use, 10 Stars for value.