Warning: If you are sensitive to criticism leave now. This content contains critical thought combined with personal opinion in the guise of mindless banter only intended for mature polite adults. You have been warned

I generally don't care much for synthesized music or many of the synth sound libraries which are becoming very popular as of late. Take for example the newest offering from Spitfire - https://www.spitfireaudio.com/ Mercury. It is the perfect example of a sound which to me is simply not music to my ear. But folks are going ga ga for it.

Over the years I have owned several big-ticket synth libraries, but as of today I can’t name them because they are no longer on my computer. There is actually one notable exception - Pioanotec which I own and love. Great sounds and cool features.

So why did I just drop $51.60 on a synth library? Well, the fact is synth libraries are changing. They are combining real instruments (loops and sample sounds) along with the strong emphasis on adding synth effects. Of course, that is the claim for Mercury and it still upsets me to listen to it. But this one I just purchased is based on rhythms and percussion. I am talking about Zero-G Elements Cinematic Rhythms a brand new Kontakt Instrument https://zero-g.co.uk/products/elements-cinematic-rhythms.

The reasons I bought it:
1) I love what the developer is doing and have purchased other of his creations, e.g. Atlantis which is lovely.
2) I am a big fan of percussive rhythms.
3) Like Pianotec, great sounds and cool features.
4) Pricing was well within my comfort zone.

I welcome any dissenting opinions or common experience if you care to share. However, if there are any personnal attacks, I will apologize and delete this thread immediately.

Dan

OK, since I am what I am .. no personal attacks or need to delete the thread I hope

Mercury is a 'Hollywood' synth, meant to be used for film soundtrack type stuff. Seems pretty good at what it does to me.
It's not meant to be 'music to your ears', it is intended for ambient background to film etc. to add effect.
I actually like it.
I have a few synths with these type of sounds, and I'm glad I do.

/everyone has different tastes (thank goodness) and different needs. Mercury seems pretty good at what it was intended to do, so thanks for sharing

Elements Cinematic Rhythms sounds pretty good too.

Wow, those huge drums in Zero-G Elements Cinematic Rhythms are pretty awesome!

Dan, I also hope there are no personal attacks on you. What you wrote is your opinion and others may or may not agree with you but if they don't agree with you they should do it respectfully.

I am in the same boat as rharv. I have a number of soft synths that are very similar to Mercury. I use them as ambient backgrounds. You may have heard them in the showcase forum, no problem if you didn't.

I am going to compare that warrior drum program against the warrior drum softsynth I have. You may have cost me some $$$$$$$.

Mario, the developer of Elements CR has a live stream right now going through the app. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lwD3bCXc2M
And the price is current on sale with another $15 off is you sign up for news letter. Thats under $50 for a lot of sound.

Thanx Dan. I'll have to check it out.

I think you have to differentiate here between music you listen to (e.g. on a stereo) and music used as sound effect for visuals.

The latter is mainly used to support the visuals, and to evoke and/or emphasize feelings. On its own, it is most often not what you'd call "a song".

Listen to the famous murder scene in Alfred Hitchcocks "Psycho": isolated, no one would consider the string stabs as "music", in the context of the visuals they make sense and work extremely well, and in the context of the complete score they are certainly music. Extremely well composed music I must say.

Some moons ago I wrote a little instrumental with the only purpose to transfer a certain mood.
Is it music? According to my wife, not. It's boring. (okay, ALL my music is boring according to my wife. But that's not the point...)
But a friend used it for a short-movie, and whoever watched the movie loved it.

I guess it all comes down to the definition of "what IS music, what not", in general and in the subjective view of you and me, and of course the context in which the "music" is used. Context can change everything...

Got ya BD. A time and place for everything. Nothing like a loud Skreetch to make one jump out of their chair.

I certainly have been enjoying all the efforts associated with this sound track: https://www.spitfireaudio.com/bridgerton?utm_source=youtube.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=bridgerton_breakdown. But this is still musical in the backing.

Yes, definitely.

A while back a friend asked for backing music for a promotional video my local U3A. I thought the song "Bring Me Sunshine", as used by Morcambe and Wise, would be ideal. But in practice, whilst watching the video, I found the song too distracting. I elected to use the chord progression without the melody, in a jaunty gypsy jazz style, and like that it worked very well.

It's definitely geared towards the folks writing cinematic soundtracks.

Is it music as in a song. No. Is it music. Sure. Instrumental cues for TV, Movies, commercials etc., are all music, but in many cases, not songs and never to be listened to on their own just for pleasure, mostly. somebody has to create that stuff and they need tools to do it just as many of us need the tools to create our songs. I have several cues licensed to use in TV and Movies, but I wouldn't call any of them songs and certainly would not expect anyone to buy them for listening. They are to create a mood, the mood that the director, musical supervisor or whoever is in charge of the project wants.