Review: Indie Twelve by Dream Audio Tools

by Sam Burt

Authentic sound
Creative sound design elements
Good value for money

Not true stereo
No round robins for the sustains
Lack of multiple mics

Dream Audio Tools brings all your Hotel California-esque dreams to life with a well sampled 12 string acoustic guitar. Alongside the basic sustains are a bunch of interesting features such as various patterns, chord patches and some sound designed snapshots.

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Review: Indie Twelve by Dream Audio Tools

Indie Twelve by Dream Audio Tools sells for €19.90 from Indie Twelve by Dream Audio Tools

Thoughts

Acoustic 12-string guitar has been responsible for the creation of some of the worlds most popular songs such as Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, Rod Stewart’s Maggie May, and of course The Eagles’ Hotel California. So, it was only a matter of time before guitar sampling specialists Dream Audio Tools would decide to construct their own version.

The discreet layout of the GUI reflects the somewhat modest size of the sample folder, coming in at just under 930 MB. However, this in no way limits the sonic capabilities of Indie Twelve which has a huge sound palette available to the user. All patches included use the same basic GUI which is tidy and easy to navigate.

We have a volume and filter ADSR with a low pass and high pass filter as standard. The pingpong delay is on every patch by default (which is a little annoying as I like to begin by just hearing the raw sound!). The reverb is locked down to a room verb, with amount and size being the only parameters, but it does a good job of adding some life to the very dry recordings. The other effects are typically guitar oriented and the include drive, chorus and Leslie speaker effects. Luminance adds a set of designed impulses which send the instrument into spacey territory, whilst the Rhythmizer brings a somewhat random tremolo element to the table. A stereo switch adds a pseudo widening effect. Nine of the sixteen patches incorporate the Step Bender which is essentially an eight step pitch sequencer.

There are a number of nki patches that move this beyond a simple multi-sampled library. They include harmonics and various patterned types. It is worth noting the chord patch which utilises the modwheel to trigger release samples. If you set the modwheel just right, you can create a decent chord strumming sound, but be aware the range of chords on offer here is quite limited.

Dream Audio Tools have also included some multis which really show off the depth and breadth of a 12-string guitar going to the extreme.

Sonically the instrument does a good job of emulating the distinct character of a 12-string acoustic. The basic sustain patch is clear and crisp without sounding overly harsh, and note-to-note movements are very evenly balanced. Sadly, there are no round robins, so the machine-gun effect has to be avoided by clever note sequencing and programming. This makes the instrument less useable as a truly convincing solo instrument, but as 12-string guitars are typically layered to provide a lush harmonic texture this might not be a huge issue for most users. With that said, Indie Twelve performs very well indeed and I can see this being used very easily on a number of cues. I was able to create some lovely broken-chord glissando sweeps using the sustain patch, and the harmonics patch really shines through too.

Bringing the step bender into the equation expands the possibilities exponentially and things can get pretty complex when you combine this with the pre-recorded patterns, rhythmizer and delay, resulting in some wild sounds that move far beyond a 12 string acoustic. Many of the designed snapshots also use the impulse responses to create trippy synth patches, which widens potential use to more experimental compositions.

For those in need of a typical 12-string acoustic guitar at a superb price Dream Audio Tools Indie Twelve should definitely be on the shortlist. The lack of deep sampling and multi-mic stereo samples may perturb some users, but the sound design capabilities may well clinch the deal for those on a tighter budget.