Dave Stewart is an English keyboardist, composer, producer and author who started his career as a band member in the early 1970s. Since 1981 he has made 'pop music for grown-ups' with singer Barbara Gaskin, releasing seven albums on the duo's own Broken Records label and performing live in Japan, USA and the UK. He has also written TV & film music and created string and choir arrangements for various artists.
Dave is the author of two music books: The Musician's Guide To Reading & Writing Music (Backbeat 1992) and Inside The Music (Backbeat 1999). He has written for Sound On Sound (while resting between engagements) longer than any of us care to remember.
Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. This tasteful 60GB library is the flagship of the Organic Samples range and consists of violin, viola and cello solo instruments recorded at the Teldex Scoring Stage, Berlin, from five mic positions.
Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. The 32 singers of this choir sample library were recorded in soprano, alto, tenor and bass sections, each on a separate day, so you can mix and pan them as you like.
Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. This library focuses on orchestral trumpet and horn sections played with maximum resonance to recreate the rich, full-bodied tone heard in classic Hollywood 1990s film scores.
Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. Stratus centres around a collection of phrases, polyrhythmic patterns and textures performed by a pair of Yamaha Disklavier felt-dampened, self-playing upright pianos.
Rating: **** 4/5 Stars. If you're used to old-school percussion libraries consisting largely of single hits on individual instruments, this collection may come as a pleasant surprise.
Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars. Time Micro continues the intriguing temporal-symphonic experiments on a smaller stage, using chamber-sized sections, small vocal groups and softer instruments.