Violence | Recording Magazine

Vir2's Violence is touted as "a multidimensional and innovative virtual instrument that harnesses extremely unusual textures, manglings, distortions, and perspectives on the solo violin". As a violin player, I expected some really interesting things, and Vir2 delivered.

Violence comes as a 761 MB archive download from Big Fish Audio, with separate files for MAC/Win. The install is fairly standard-extract the executable, run it, and install the library to your plug-in directory. Authorization, relatively painless as usual, is provided by Native Instruments' Service Center (since Violence is based on the NI Kontakt 4 Player).

Patches are organized into four categories: Drum Kits, Melodic, Pads and SFX, and Tempo Synced. Each patch comes with a variety of custom-scripted virtual knobs such as attack, stereo spread, reverb, filters, and more, to further mangle and adjust parameters depending on what patch you select. While a solo violin may have been the sound source, you really wouldn't know it from the majority of the 80+ patches that are included in the library.

Violence is definitely not an orchestral sample pack in the usual sense. Vir2 offers up a surprising mix of sonic brushes for your musical canvas, sometimes dark and brooding, sometimes light and airy, and still other times throbbing and grating. Mix, match and mangle as you see fit, or use one of the included 15 multis.

Violence is full of quirky sonic goodness, and unusual timbres that are perfect for scoring or sound design in that action film. Furthermore, for the price you really can't go wrong with this library even if you just want to have some fun.