Steve Wilson's Ghostwriter reviewed on popular German music tech site
German music tech website delamar.de recently put Steven Wilson's Ghostwriter by EASTWEST through it's paces and gave it 4.5/5 stars.
If you read German, you can read the full review here.
Otherwise, here is a basic translation of the review:
Successful producer and musician Steven Wilson has created this library together with Doug Rogers in the East West Studios. Our review will reveal if Ghostwriter keeps its promise and let you create music, film, game and television compositions at the highest level.
What can you expect?
In East West Studios in sunny California, Madonna, Elton John, Johnny Cash and other global stars have recorded many super hits. This is also where producer and solo artist Steven Wilson and studio owner Doug Rogers produced the sample library tested here today. It comes with a variety of different sounds, with a focus on sound for music, film, game or TV compositions. The 60-gigabyte library includes 8 DVDs with 800 multi-sampled instruments. Each instrument comes with several presets.
To install you need an iLok, which is not included. In the Sample Browser, you can choose between bass, drums, guitars, keyboards, vocals, and other sounds; for my taste there could be more vocals.
Each category has several sub-sections that are easy to navigate. In my opinion, the content of this library allows you to handle complete productions. There are many different instruments, including modulated chimes and similar options, to give your sound design a special touch. The editing options are also abundant.
Play 4 - The Sampler Software
The clearly arranged and easy to use Play 4 software provides quick access to a high-and low-pass filter, an envelope and pitch and delay, amp, and reverb effects in the main menu. Once you selected a sound, you can edit it quickly and without any problems. The mixer offers more editing options such as various SSL Oxford effects in the usual quality and a convolution reverb with over 700 presets.
In the mixer section you can mix the sounds, and find common functions such as pan, mute and solo. The player is available for the plug-in interfaces VST, AU, AAX; if necessary, it can also operate as a standalone software. Via the routing settings it can easily be integrated into your DAW. Each channel can be assigned a separate MIDI or audio channel. Thanks to the MIDI Learn function you can assign each regulator a control element.
The software is not included. During the installation of the library you can download the 32 - or 64-bit version for Windows or Mac via a link.
Effects
The software includes various options for sound design. New on board are the amp simulator with 80 presets, the tape delay Echoplex EP-1 and a convolution reverb with 726 impulse responses of different rooms. As a special feature, there is a Channel Strip by Solid State Logic. This includes filters, EQ, compressor and noise gate / expander. In addition, you can find a Transient Shaper and the popular EastWest bus compressor.
The 80 presets on the amp simulator consist of different amps and boxes that were recorded with known microphones such as the Shure SM57 or the EV RE-20. The 726 presets of the convolution reverb are admirable. They sound good with the sounds of the library and there is enough choice for every taste.
The Sound
The sounds are generally in the genres of action, crime, thriller and horror. There is a lot on offer for both game and film music design. It is perfect for those who like to use gloomy atmospheres in their productions. The sounds are intense and you’ll easily manage to turn your listeners’ blood cold. You’re not going to find sounds to design a score for a chocolate bar ad.
The bass sounds nasty and convincing. The clean and distorted guitar sounds create a mystical atmosphere. The guitars are my favorites in this library, and you will have rarely heard such quality. Despite the clear sentiment, the sounds are very diverse with lots of different facets. Even longer compositions will stay exciting.
Those who like it a little harder will have a lot of fun with the amp effect. The 80 presets offer plenty of variety. The well-tuned drum sounds bring additional excitement and action. The convolution reverb and tape delay provide the necessary depth.
Conclusion
Anyone looking for dark to shrill and intense sounds cannot go wrong with EastWest Ghostwriter. The Library can accompany or handle even entire compositions. The sample player is clearly laid out and you quickly get to the desired result. The sounds are well-produced and coordinated. You can tell that Steven Wilson and Doug Rogers put in a lot of effort to make sure everything sounds rich and intimate.
You won’t find happy, funny sounds but fans of the genres horror, thriller and crime will get their money’s worth. The included instruments complement each other perfectly. Thanks to the many editing options and effects along with the presets, it’s fun to compose with the sounds and experiment.
Overall, we give EastWest Ghostwriter four and a half out of five points, a very good rating. For productions in the genres mentioned before, this is a highly recommended product.
More about East West Ghost Writer Review at www.delamar.de