Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 5/5 Stars
Panorama Guitars is the second offering from Scotland’s Sonora Cinematic that runs on their bespoke Aria engine. Running under NI’s Kontakt or Kontakt Player (v7.7 or later), the instrument takes the guitar sound and transforms it into something altogether more cinematic. We’re told that in addition to sound designer Alessandro Mastroianni, the experimental ambient artist Elif Yalvac also contributed to the sounds of this instrument. Users can also import their own WAV samples to be manipulated in the Aria engine.
The sound library is based around 39 sample sets built from seven instruments: five standard electrics (a Tele, a Tele Thinline, a Strat, a Jaguar and an SG), one Gretsch baritone and a Fender Jazz Bass, all played through carefully selected guitar amps and pedals. Most of the sounds appear to be picked, though there are some eBow samples in there too. Articulations prefixed by IMPRO are short monophonic improvisations that are not tempo‑sync’ed.
Timbral movement can be created using the integrated X/Y pad to control the blending of two sample layers, after which the sounds can be further treated via attack and release controls, two step sequencers and effects such as delay and reverb. The movement of the X/Y pad puck can be recorded so that it replays automatically during performance. There’s also a MIDI Learn function that allows the X/Y values to be controlled directly via MIDI CCs.
Level controls are available for the A and B samples along with Fade buttons that link or unlink the sample playback level to the X/Y puck movement. Record and Motion buttons below the X/Y pad allow for recording and replaying the movement of the puck, which can be dragged around using the mouse. Simple attack and release controls look after basic envelope shaping with additional controls to activate ‘round robins’ and to offset the pitch of layer B relative to layer A. There’s an expression slider and a Dal Niente button; translated as meaning ‘from nothing’; this sets whether the lowest value of Expression equals silence or not.
The sounds go from recognisable guitars and basses all the way to ethereal pads, faux harps, spy movie harpsichords, dreamy pads and timbres that could easily be mistaken for processed electric piano. The X/Y option adds a useful degree of movement and of course the bass and baritone sounds can be used in one layer and regular guitars in the other if you want something with more depth. The term ‘evocative’ springs to mind, with patches that reward slow, thoughtful playing. There are 50 presets that show off the range of sounds and these are arranged by category, though making changes or swapping out samples to create your own patches is easy.
£59
£59