Camel Audio, the team behind last year’s impressive Alchemy soft-synth, have just announced a ‘Player’ version of their popular plug-in instrument.
The Alchemy Player comes free with any Camel Audio soundbank, and includes 150 presets and 360MB of samples taken from the full version, on top of the 150 presets included in the soundbank — all of which means that people can get access to the sounds that Alchemy is capable of, but without paying the full retail price. Furthermore, despite the name of the new cut-down version, Alchemy Player features 16 adjustable parameters, or “performance controls,” the functions of which have been assigned by the designers of each of the soundbanks, making each preset “like a small synth in its own right.” 
The Player features a ‘remix pad’, which allows you to ‘morph’ between eight different versions of each preset, and the presets are arranged in categories to make navigation easier
Camel Audio have also expanded their range of soundbanks with two new products: Cinematic, and Dance & Trance. The Cinematic soundbank features soundscapes and atmospheric sounds, which Camel say are suitable for a range of film and TV genres, including action, sci-fi and horror. Dance & Trance, meanwhile, comprises a collection of basses, leads, stabs and pads for dance-music production. The soundbanks can be used with the full version of Alchemy, or on their own with the included Alchemy Player.
Soundbanks cost £39 in the UK, but between now and the end of March, Camel Audio are offering a 20-percent discount. Also, should you later decide to upgrade to the full version of Alchemy having purchased a soundbank, you can do so for a special upgrade price of £143.
