Like No Orange has introduced a Boards Of Canada inspired sound library for U-He Diva, CMYK.
Here’s what they have to say about it:
CMYK explores the iconic sounds of Boards of Canada, Ulrich Schnauss and vintage Roland analog synths.
Degraded, nostalgic and etheral this sound set takes a dive into the world of yesterday and tomorrow.
Pricing and Availability
CMYK is available now with an intro price of US $25, normally $35.
i don’t understand the imitation. if you like boards of canada listen to them. i don’t get it.
‘Sound-alike’ sound libraries sort of strike me as strange too, since for me the coolest thing about synthesizers is coming up with new sounds.
But there are a lot of people for whom synthesizers ore instruments like guitars, and they just want to learn how to play some of the music of their heros. It’s another way of experiencing and understanding the music, even if they don’t make their own sounds.
Please understand that this is not just a collection of copies of well-known BOC sounds. It’s a library of BOC inspired sounds. So I don’t think it’s aimed at people playing BOC covers in their bedroom 🙂 Some of the presets are really close, a lot of them are ‘in the vein of’. As you may or may not know, ‘BOC sounds’ has become a shorthand for a certain type of (usually melancholic) sound with lots of artifacts. Not only among electronic musicians, even many (ambient) guitarists refer to these sounds as ‘BOC sounds’. Of course you could argue that we need to move on and stop using these sounds, but I think this type of sound really resonates with a lot of people.
I bought this library primarily because I wanted to see how one could go about creating this type of sound in Diva. I’ve been programming synths for 25 years, and I know my way around. And I have no problem programming this type of sounds. Still, it’s always nice to get a look in the kitchen of other synth programmers. I went through the presets yesterday and there are some really beautiful and inspiring sounds in there with some clever techniques. So this library not only inspires me, it also enlarges my toolkit. And I wouldn’t be surprised a few presets (tweaked or not) end up in my productions.
As somebody who makes a living from producing music and sound design for others, libraries like this make a lot of sense to me. I simply don’t have time to noodle around and learn how to create every single sound out there. So if a client demands “that BOC sound”, and it’s something I would usually not have a use for, a library like this comes in handy to get the job done. It’s also a nice way to learn synthesis by reverse-engineering the patches. And last but not least, I find pleasure in browsing patches and discovering what others came up with.
I’d guess people are challenged by trying to emulate their favorite artists sounds. Also it’s not exactly uncommon that people take inspiration from music they like. I’m guessing they put a bit of an effort into this sound pack as well, and i think that’s worth some credit.
Having said that, i wouldn’t mind seeing a bit of newly created sounds too. Maybe these people do that as well.