First Look & Review: Elysion by Sonuscore

If Sonuscore blasted their flagship product, The Orchestra, into space and it came back home, we’d be greeted by Elysion. Covered in dark matter and pulsing electricity, this beautiful instrument will bring the wonder of the cosmos to your productions.

Jump to the Videos of Elysion by Sonuscore/Dynamedion

Jump to the Demos of Elysion by Sonuscore/Dynamedion

Huge thanks to Guest contributor Pete Checkley for getting us this review of Elysion just days after the release!

In this first look video (above), I share my experience opening up the library for the first time and sharing my experience with the presets and functionality. Be sure to read all of Pete’s thoughts on the library below.

Review: Elysion by Sonuscore/Dynamedion

Elysion is a new Kontakt library from Sonuscore and Dynamedion who developed the game-changing The Orchestra. Using the improved and re-imagined Ensemble Engine 2.0 and 12,500 samples, the sonic capabilities of this library are endless. Each sample has three round robins and five different velocities to ensure natural playback and variation. Sonuscore promises this is a new approach to sampling synthetic instruments by treating them as though they are organic instruments. This provides a new level of sonic and dynamic control. Could this be the future of hybrid scoring?

Elysion by Sonuscore sells for $229.00 from Best Service
If you own The Orchestra, The Orchestra Complete or The Strings of Winter, Elysion is available at a crossgrade price of $179.00, See Best Service for details.

Thoughts

Elysion Browser

It’s very rare that I purchase a library on release date, especially one that we do not know too much about. What I already know is how effective, ground breaking and fun the original The Orchestra is. With the recent upgrade to The Orchestra Complete with Strings of Winter, Sonuscore proved that they do not rest on their laurels when they have a great product on their hands. By listening to their users, they implemented ideas such as the MIDI drop function, new articulations and gigabytes of new samples. Therefore, my feeling is with Elysion, Sonuscore will take this one step further which they have.

Before diving in, let me tell you what Elysion is not. While tagged with the hybrid scoring label, it is not a sound design library full of braams, impacts, whooshes and risers. It is however, an expansive, lush sounding sonic palette to provide movement, atmosphere and emotion to your hybrid scores. Out of the box, Elysion sounds incredible and is instantly playable. I had Elysion working in my latest track within minutes as navigating the snapshots in Komplete Kontrol was a breeze. Elysion works flawlessly with other libraries and can either sit on top of the mix or provide a harmonic bed for your track.

Elysion is split into three themes, “Spheres”, “Pulses” and “Animated”. Each set of themes utilizes The Orchestra ensemble engine. This means that up to five samples can be played at once and they change depending on whether you play single notes or whole chords. Creating your own pads, pulses and playable instruments has never been so easy and powerful.

Elysion preset “The Arrival”

The Spheres are a range of ethereal pads that can be evolved through the use of the modulation wheel. These are instant mood setters with forty-one snapshots and of course the endless ability to create your own. The Spheres also contain instruments known as “hits” which are short, playable melodic instruments. Again, these are as customizable as the pads, giving endless possibilities. All of these are split into planets or terrain to suggest the mood and aggressiveness. A Venus pad would be softer and more romantic then say a Mars pad which would feature maybe distortion and more lo-fi elements.

Elysion Pulse Engine

The Pulses are a staple of hybrid scoring and there are eighty-two snapshots out of the box. Here, the new “Motion Engine” developed by Sonuscore is put into play allowing control over dynamics, FX and much more. These are again mixed by planet indicators and feature straight timing, triplet feel and a range of different time signatures. There are 3/4, 5/8, 6/8 and 7/8 pulses which would suit the needs of most projects. The pulses can again be manipulated by the modulation wheel and parameters such as panning, sequencing and pitch can all be altered within the beautiful GUI.

Finally, the Animated themes combine pads, hits and pulses to create instantly playable ensembles. This is where Elysion really shines as the ensemble engine is at it’s most effective. You could easily score an entire scene within minutes by just developing an ensemble and adding a melody using the hits. Depending on which chords you hold down, the ensemble engines adapts meaning you no longer have to spend a large amount of time layering different instruments and playing around with keyswitches to get the chord changes right. Elysion does all of this for you and it does it exceptionally well. With the synthetic samples being treated like organic samples, the level of playability is exceptional as there is so much control over what each sample does. Out of the box, Elysion sounds superb yet by delving a little deeper this is a powerful tool with endless possibilities. Coupled with the MIDI drop feature, the engine can be applied to your favourite synths too. During my limited time with Elysion, I did not see a function where you can add your own samples. This may change as Sonuscore listen to their users and embrace change, although this is not a con for me as the sheer amount of samples is staggering. When you decide it is time to mix up samples, the menu splits these into sustains, hits and ambient effects, each with hard and soft categories. I cannot begin to work out how many combinations of these you can make across five playable instruments. That is incredible value for money.

Elysion is a Kontakt Player Instrument compatible with both the FREE and full version of Native Instruments Kontakt 6.

As I spend more time with Elysion, I discover more functions, sounds and uses for it. Over time I will find more and more applications for it and this has easily found space in my template now for hybrid scoring. Elysion is not limited to only the hybrid genre. While it is cinematic, I can see this being used in all manner of electronic, pop and ambient music.

In conclusion, while you can find pads, sequences and melodic instruments elsewhere, there is nothing else that combines all three in such an intuitive, accessible and potentially endless way. The samples, to begin with, are pro-level and combined with the ensemble engine and ease of use, this is a must-have for any cinematic/hybrid composer. For everyone else, it will add something different to your productions. Sonuscore has once again created a unique product that will be unrivaled for years to come.

Facts

Elysion downloads as 12.94 GB and is a synthesizer instrument with up to 3 round robins and 5 velocity layers.
The library is housed in the Ensemble Engine 2.0 with a Motion Engine and has the ability to export MIDI from the instrument into your DAW.

Elysion comes with 142 playable instruments and is organized with over 230 themes in categories of: Shimmering Spheres, Powerful Pulses and Animated Themes.

Elysion is a Kontakt Player instrument, loading right into the Kontakt “Libraries Tab” and compatible with both the FREE & full version of Kontakt 6 or higher.

Elysion by Sonuscore sells for $229.00 from Best Service
If you own The Orchestra, The Orchestra Complete or The Strings of Winter, Elysion is available at a crossgrade price of $179.00, See Best Service for details.

Demos of Elysion by Sonuscore at BestService

Videos of Elysion by Sonuscore at BestService

Contributor Pete Checkley reviews Elysion by Sonuscore/Dynamedion
“If Sonuscore blasted their flagship product, The Orchestra, into space and it came crashing down, we’d be greeted by Elysion. Covered in dark matter and pulsing electricity, this beautiful instrument will bring the wonder of the cosmos to your productions.”