Swords to Ploughshares is an experimental virtual instrument that weaves real-world field recordings and expressive sound design together into a unified creative toolbox. The sounds in this library were recorded during the invasion of Ukraine, between February and May of 2022, by Ukrainian sound designer and video producer Histibe.

It includes field recordings made in and around his home in Kyiv and during a temporary evacuation in the Carpathian mountains during the heaviest period of shelling near his home. The subject matter includes the everyday sounds of his life and his city, quickly adapting to wartime and often punctuated by blasts and the wail of air raid sirens. It explores the gentle sounds of nature in the mountains made all the more surreal by eerily distorted late-night shortwave radio broadcasts filling the airwaves.

This is not a Hollywood-style war sfx collection, or a traditional instrument or sound library. These sounds were recorded in uncontrolled real-world city and forest environments, by an ordinary person, under less-than-ideal conditions, using basic hand-held recording equipment, under wartime conditions. Needless to say, some of the edges remain naturally rough. The field-recorded sound effects and live environmental soundscapes captured in this library allow a glimpse into our observer's unique frame of reference at a specific place and time in the world. The sound-designed content follows the artist's mental journey from that subjective experience as they mentally process and re-articulate it from raw kinetic energy into more musically constructive forms.

This library offers the artist's unique vantage point during a transformative place and time in their life and the world around them. His goal is to transmute an act of oppression into a tool for expression. It is not meant to be a definitive, unbiased, unvarnished or complete representation of the artist's entire experience or those around him. It is intended as a work of constructive and reusable sonic art. It is a dim and hazy window into another human's personal experience, crafted with the simple hope that it serves and inspires your own creative process.

Histibe - Swords To Ploughshares (library Only) - Soundiron Swords To Ploughshares 30s

This classical string scoring solution brings brilliant sound, vast content and adaptive performance control into one powerful package with 1st & 2nd Violins, Violas, Cellos and Basses and a huge selection of long & short articulations, legato, portamento, dynamic expressions and aleatoric effects in 4 mic positions. https://soundiron.com/products/hyperion-strings-ensemble

Lars Chr Karlsson - Impromptu (Library Only) - Soundiron Hyperion Strings Ensemble

Marcus Da Fingaz Manderson - It Will Pass (Library Only) - Soundiron Hyperion Strings Ensemble

Craig Peters demo is a track using the sounds from Hyperion Strings Ensemble blended with other libraries.

This classical string scoring solution brings brilliant sound, vast content and adaptive performance control into one powerful package with 1st & 2nd Violins, Violas, Cellos and Basses and a huge selection of long & short articulations, legato, portamento, dynamic expressions and aleatoric effects in 4 mic positions.

Craig Peters - Unleash The Necromorphs - Hyperion Strings Ensemble

Chris Cutting's demo is a track using the sounds from Hyperion Strings Ensemble blended with other libraries.

This classical string scoring solution brings brilliant sound, vast content and adaptive performance control into one powerful package with 1st & 2nd Violins, Violas, Cellos and Basses and a huge selection of long & short articulations, legato, portamento, dynamic expressions and aleatoric effects in 4 mic positions.

Chris Cutting - 1 And 2 - Soundiron Hyperion Strings Ensemble

This examples are using only the sounds of Hyperion Strings Ensemble.

This classical string scoring solution brings brilliant sound, vast content and adaptive performance control into one powerful package with 1st & 2nd Violins, Violas, Cellos and Basses and a huge selection of long & short articulations, legato, portamento, dynamic expressions and aleatoric effects in 4 mic positions.

Close Mics Trem And Shorts (Library Only) - Soundiron Hyperion Strings Ensemble

This example is using only the sounds of Hyperion Strings Ensemble.  

This orchestral string library brings brilliant sound, vast content and adaptive performance control into one powerful package with 1st & 2nd Violins, Violas, Cellos and Basses and a huge selection of long & short articulations, legato, portamento, dynamic expressions and aleatoric effects in 4 mic positions.

Stage Mic Legato (Library Only) - Soundiron Hyperion Strings Ensemble

This example is using only the sounds of Hyperion Strings Ensemble.

This classical string scoring solution brings brilliant sound, vast content and adaptive performance control into one powerful package with 1st & 2nd Violins, Violas, Cellos and Basses and a huge selection of long & short articulations, legato, portamento, dynamic expressions and aleatoric effects in 4 mic positions.

Far Mic Swells (Library Only) - Soundiron Hyperion Strings Ensemble

Brandon Kootnekoff's demo uses a combination of sounds from Sick Ultimate blended with other libraries.

Sick Ultimate includes 8 libraries covering a huge range of disturbing SFX, atmospheres, instruments and special effects. It features over 17,000 samples, 20+ GB of sample content and 169 nki presets with advanced GUI features and sound design tools.



Dark Summoning

I'm always looking to shrink the size and weight of my rig. I just love carrying the minimum amount of equipment!  I did this test to see how small I could go with microphone separation without sacrificing quality. All configurations were Clippy EM172 stereo pair to Sony PCM-A10.

My conclusion is that AB40cm rig with simple Rycote lav wind protection gives me a great sound with a very small and light footprint but not great wind protection. The quasi-binaural rig gives perhaps a more accurate stereo field with the advantage of excellent wind protection (it is housed in the equivalent of a blimp with proper windjammer). To get better wind protection for the AB40cm rig would require a massive and heavy (by my standards) blimp.

1. AB20cm - narrow, too narrow...
2. AB30cm - getting wider, pretty nice...
3. AB40cm - wider still but nice balance of width and centre-image?
4. AB60cm - very wide but hole in the middle?
5. Quasi-binaural (20cm spacing with foam cylinder baffles) - improved placement of sounds in the stereo field?

Would be very interested to hear what other folks think. Please comment if you care to.

Omni Spacing Test

Soundiron LLC is co-owned and operated by Mix Foundation TEC Award (2007) winning and BAFTA nominated Sound Designer/Audio Engineers Mike Peaslee and Gregg Stephens, and technology, scripting and systems wizard Christopher Marshall. 

We're a premium instrument sample library and virtual instrument software design, production and publishing company, specializing in choral and epic scoring instruments and percussion, pianos, drums, ethnic instruments, professional sound effect libraries and inventive experimental sample collections. 

We specifically gear our libraries toward seasoned pros and working musicians in the film, television, advertising, video game, and music recording arts but we commit ourselves to bringing all users, from veteran to beginner, the same deep quality, outstanding customer service and low prices. 

With over 40 unique products and new releases every month, you'll always find something awesome at Soundiron.

If you’d like to check out current user demo submissions, look for their name to the right in the track title in the Soundcloud Player. 

You can see credits for the non-user submitted demos on our Soundcloud page, by clicking the Song Title to go to the track page, where you can see track info. 

For demo submission guidelines and information, visit here: http://www.soundiron.com/demo-submissions/



Histibe - Swords To Ploughshares (library Only) - Soundiron Swords To Ploughshares 30s

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