Peter Schouten has written recently about the uncertainty of being a
third-party Kurzweil soundware developer. He fears that Spectrasonics'
decision to stop releasing new sample CDs in Kurzweil format signals the
demise of the Kurzweil platform as a sample market. I disagree.

The Kurzweil market isn't dead. It just needs some bolstering. And WE
can do that.

According to ex-Kurzweil support guru, Larry "Synthbro" Hopkins, there
are 30,000 Kurzweil K-series instruments out there, world-wide. That's a
huge potential market--and the key word here is "potential."

As Kurzweil users, we need to support the *quality* soundware
developers--especially small ones like Mike Martin's Key Solutions,
Dennis Burns's Bolder Sounds and Peter Schouten's Pyramid Sounds. These
guys have smartly chosen to provide the sounds Kurzweil and Sweetwater
left out of their ROMblocks and CD-ROMs. It just so happens that these
three small-timers produce the very sounds the I like most. I want to
see them continue to offer these great sounds and I want them to thrive.
What are samplers without sounds? It's in OUR interest to look out for
THEIR interests.

Support means buying their products and recommending them to other
Kurzweilers. The purpose of this e-mail list is to spread information
around. Let's do that by addressing the CD-ROM buying experience for
Kurzweilers.

THE GREAT FEAR
The problem with buying sample CD-ROMs is the risk of blowing good money
on sounds that you haven't heard. Prices vary from $129-$399 for
Kurzweil format CD-ROMs and that price barrier stops many potential
customers from taking ANY chances. All you need is to be burned once by
a shoddy sound collection or poorly programmed "Kurzweil" disc and
you'll be put off future purchases. We need to be confident that the
sounds will be good and the programs useful.

HOW DOES IT SOUND?
Of course, one man's "good" sound can often be another's idea of "lame."
Soundware developers can reduce sound quality fears with MP3 demos such
as the excellent ones for Pyramid's "Real Rhodes" and other collections.
These audio demos let the buyer decide if the sounds are to their
liking.

Whether you're shopping or not, take a few minutes and check out these
MP3 demos:
http://www.pyramid-sound.com/mp3_demos.htm
http://www.boldersounds.com/mp3.asp
http://members.aol.com/keysolutns/

SOUNDS GOOD, BUT HOW DOES IT PLAY?
The other questionable area is how well are the K-programs implemented,
either with useful keymaps and envelopes, or with smart VAST
programming. That'll take reviews, testimonials, and "I got burned by
xxx" postings, here on KurzList.

Here are some sound reviews worth looking at:
http://sonikmatter.com/reviews/
http://k2users.org/k_revu.htm

CAN I GET A WITNESS?
For the testimonials and "I got burned by xxx" info, I request that
KurzList members post about both our good, AND bad sample collections.
Also, please voice your opinions about other collections, such as Shane
Etter's SoundSubscriptions and Brian Cowell's many free and for-sale
sounds.

http://members.aol.com/SoundSubs/SOUNDSUBS2.html
http://www.soundengine.com/html/samp/k2000.html

If enough members rave about "this" collection or trash "that" one, we
can increase buyer knowledge and confidence--and THIS will translate
into sales. More sales would spur more collections--and THAT would
benefit everybody.

Let's show Peter and every other Kurzweil developer that there's still
life in this market. Post today!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Tony Palermo - Los Angeles, USA
Palermo@...

Visit my Kurzweil K2000/K2500 Launch Pad [*** NEW URL ***]
http://www.k2users.org/k_main.htm