The controls in both the string and loop designer are wonderfully laid out allowing for quick access to the things that change the sound the most.Plugin Boutique has announced an exclusive sale on Scoring Guitars by Heavyocity, offering a 50% discount on the Kontakt Player powered instrument featuring an inspiring collection of cinematic guitars. Now that I’ve experienced the ability to control virtual bowing of the section I don’t know if I can ever go back. The string dynamics control (something I’ve always felt is one of the keys to ‘realism’ with string libraries) isn’t tucked away in a submenu but is front and center. The use of snapshots allows for fast patch switching/rotation. There are so many little features that I find myself excited to tell folks about when I show them NOVO. NOVO aims to redefine what you can expect from a virtual string instrument, and in this Heavyocity definitely succeeds.

NOVO’s take on what a modern string library ‘should be’ is really wonderful, and it reminds me a bit of what Spectrasonics did recently with Keyscape. The sonic possibilities of NOVO are vast, and I had a really fun time playing through many of the patches. The fact that you can run traditional string samples, tempo-locked loops and string-like synth pads all through this same engine is fantastic.

The loop designer tool allows you to craft rhythmic phrases and ambient textures in the same paradigm, and it’s amazing how fast you can create sounds and compositions that sound like they have dozens of tracks mixed together. The gratuitous use of snapshots and morphing throughout the library makes every patch useful. Heavyocity has already proven with instruments like Evolve and Gravity that they know how to deliver interesting sounds with motion, but NOVO is a whole new level.

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