More SmartSound Music on Sale

[Bill Hunt]

Just got an e-mail from SmartSound. They are having another "sale."

http://www.smartsound.com/specials/inde ... aign=tsfp4

Unfortunately, I already own two of the discs from the 3-packs already. The bundled price is really nice.

I'd like to get all three 3-packs (because of the price), but obviously do not need duplicate discs. Before I jump for just the individual discs, if anybody would like:
Family Pack:
Richard Band 6: Family

Dramatic Pack:
Groovin/Soulful/Funk PS04*

I'd be glad to purchase and then sell those particular discs for 1/3 of the price of the 3-pack = US$26.65. I'll even pay US shipping, since I will be grouping this purchase with an existing sale shipment, for which I've already paid the postage. I can be bribed to pay international shipping too, with maybe a pint at the Running Footman pub in April... ?

I've only seen SmartSound music priced lower once - was US$25 on certain discs then.

Note: none of these is in the Strata Series, but they work fine in either the QuickTracks Premiere plug-in, or SonicFire Pro - just no Mood Mapping.

I'll hold off on my purchase until the end of the sale, just in case anybody is interested. Just PM me, if so.

Hunt

* I've accidently purchased this one more than once, because I liked the music - fortuantely, SmartSound allowed me to return it for full credit then. Give each of these a listen from the site, to see if you think you could use either in your productions.

[Gerlinde]

Hi Bill,
I usually don't post here much, but I am an avid reader of all the post on a dayli basis. I would be very interested in buying the <Groovin/Soulful/Funk PS04> cd. How would we do the particulars? I could put my email address into my profile.

Gerlinde

[Bill Hunt]

Better yet, go to the [Edit] Member's (NOT "Subscriber's) link at the top of the main page. Scroll down to me, Bill Hunt, and choose send Personal Message (PM).

I'll go ahead and place the order. Just let me know your mailing address in the PM and I'll tell you when I ship it to you. You can then just mail a check, once you get it.

I'm not sure how long SmartSound will be holding orders for this shipment, but it's usually for three cycles of their "Sales." This is #2, IIRC. If so, they will likely not ship for another week, or so. I'll let you know if mention is made of the ship date on my "held" orders.

Because of the pricing on the 3-packs, vs just buying 2 discs, I'll post again with info on the other duplicate disc, when I get it. Making the same offer. There may be a little extra time, as SmartSound will likely flag this particular disc for me, asking "are you SURE you want another copy of this one? Didn't you return a previous duplicate order for a credit?" I'll just tell them that I am aware of the duplication, and that I appreciate their pointing this out.

Hunt

[Ron]

Better yet, go to the [Edit] Member's (NOT "Subscriber's) link at the top of the main page. Scroll down to me, Bill Hunt, and choose send Personal Message (PM).

There's a PM icon under your name

[Barb O]

Hunt,

I have not used Smart Sound yet - but I have Premiere Elements 7 so I guess that I could - and therefore I am game to try one. So I could buy the Family Pack disc from you.

Sending a PM to you ....

[Bill Hunt]

BarbO,

You have a deal. I've used my copy for some background music for DVD's of two young girls growing up (along with much more from SmartSound).

If you download and install the QuickTracks for Premiere (Elements and Pro) from the SmartSound site, you will get a tiny library of music along with the plug-in: http://www.smartsound.com/premiere/

Most of the time, they also offer SonicFire Pro (their ExpressTracks version) free with the purchase of one Strata Series disc. Link: http://www.smartsound.com/sonicfire/purchase.html. It is a stand-alone program, unlike QuickTracks, which is a plug-in (will appear in your New icon list within the Project Panel, when installed). The ExpressTracks is a stirpped down version of their SonicFire Pro 5 Scoring Edition stand-alone. I just found out that the ExpressTracks version CAN work with the Mood Mapping aspect of the Strata Series discs, though in a more round-about way, than the Scoring Edition version does - still, it works.

Can't recall if this detail was in my post, or just my PM correspondence, but SmartSound now offers "held shipments," to save shipping charges. I already had one order in the hold bin with them. They *usually* ship after about 3 "sales," so I would guess that I'll get the discs in about 2 weeks - only a guess. Drop me a PM with your shipping address, and I'll ship the disc out to you. I'll also do an invoice, so you can deduct the $26.xx as a business expense. Just drop a check in the mail, when you get it, and are satisfied with it.

Since you will only have the QuickTracks plug-in (initially), loading/copying the Family disc to your system is a piece of cake. After you have downloaded and installed the plug-in, start Premiere/Elements and Open any Project. Go to the Project Panel and choose the New icon. In that list, you will now see SmartSound, near the bottom. Dbl-click on it, and QuickTracks will load. At that point, place the Family disc into your multi-drive and in a moment, you'll see the license agreement pop up. Accept, and then choose the default Copy. If you also get the Windows mini-Explorer, just click out of that, as you do not need it.

When you first install QuickTracks, it will write a SmartSound folder to your Documents & Settings folder. It will also place the "sample" SmartSound music files in a sub-folder there. In Options, you can set up where you want the two main types of SmartSound files to go. I use the Doc & Settings for all "library enablers, etc." and set up a separate folder for the music files. On the workstation, it's on my internal D:\ drive. On the laptop, it's on my external Y:\ drive. Obviously, I have to have Y:\ plugged in to use those files on the laptop.

There is just a little more work, if one has both QuickTracks AND SonicFire Pro, as many of the discs have the music in different sample-rates. It takes two installs of the music, one from QucikTracks and one from SonicFire Pro, to get both sets into the music folders. The installation is the same for both, so it's not a biggie. It just needs to be done from within each program.

One can also use Windows to copy over the files, but it's all too easy to not get the library enablers into the right sub-folder. Also, if you do set up separate locations for your music files, you end up with a bunch of Explorer windows open and are dragging all over the place - I do not recommend this method, except if something goes wrong.

Last, when you do install QuickTracks plug-in, be sure to register it and give SmartSound a valid e-mail. They will not bug you, but will send out their "sales." While I love their music libraries and own a ton, they are not cheap. However, with the "sales," they do become affordable. Also, take a look at their "Home Movie" libraries. These are lower sampling-rate still, but more than adequate for all but broadcast output. When I got SonicFire Pro 3, I bought their entire collection (it too was on "sale!"). There are fewer variations of the cuts, but still great music and they work fine in QuickTracks, or SonicFire Pro X.

One thing has recently changed: until about a month ago, the Strata Series DVD's contained both versions of all music - for QuickTracks and SonicFire Pro. Now, it is one set, and will work in SonicFire Pro ONLY. I have a strong feeling that there will be an update to QuickTracks, so it too might get Mood Mapping with the Strata Series discs. Just a feeling. As they said, "if they told me, they'd have to kill me... " All older Strata Series discs will work fine in QuickTracks, as it exists now - this is only for the very newest releases, about Vol 30 and above.

OK folks, the SmartSound duplicate discs are all gone. Thank you for playing along at home. I'll possibly be back, if they do more of these "bundles," as I have so many of their discs, that finding new ones is becoming increasingly difficult - still at the price of the "bundles," it's hard to pass up.

Hunt

[Ron]

Hunt, are you an employee of Smartsound?

[Bill Hunt]

No, but they could hire me and give me all of their BackStage library as payment...

Even with their "sales" that music is still too expensive for me, and I covet about 6 of those discs. I keep waiting for a really big "clearance sale," as they are discontinuing BackStage. So far, and I look every week, they only dropped the prices by US$50. I need them to drop the prices TO US$50!

Nah, I'm just a very satisfied user, since about Pinnacle S-6, or S-7. Now, my wife says that I should have been buying their stock, considering the $ that I've spent with them so far, but that's another story...

Hunt

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

I can be bribed to pay international shipping too, with maybe a pint at the Running Footman pub in April... ?

OT.

Bill, if I wasn't out of the UK I'd join you there anyway. You should also try The Sun in Lamb's Conduit Street. More different beers than you can shake a stick at!

[Bill Hunt]

John,

Thank you. I have not found that one yet. It seems that most pubs in/around Central London are now chains - many owned by US corporations. Now, I did love O'Neil's in Shepard's market (yeah, I know that they are a mini-chain), but this was about the best, and just through the arch from our flat. Unfortunately, it appeared to be closing, when we were last there. There's also one just E of Soho, so I should be able to find an O'Neil's, on the next trip - just not so convenient. Will try to seek out The Sun in Lamb's on Conduit St. Time to get my "walking map" of London out and plot my course. A good friend and hubby of a board member, took me to a neat one in Knightsbridge, but the name eludes me. Since it was raining heavily, I might not even be able to find my way back to it again, especially as we ducked into so many mews [plural?] along the way. Still, better than many that I have found.

Thanks,

Hunt

[Edit] Blimey! It's just up from our flat on Curzon. Easy walk. Not that far from Claridge's. Thanks a million. Will definitely drop in.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Are you sure it is just round the corner Bill? It is Lamb's Conduit Street, near Russell Square, not Conduit Street.

If you get to Lamb's Conduit Street from the Guidford Street end be sure to have a look in at The Lamb, which will be on your left about one hundred yards along. The Sun is further ahead, maybe two hundred or so yards further on from The Lamb, on the right.

Must confess haven't been in The Lamb for quite while but it always had a 'buzz' about it and the beer was top notch. A beer there will whet your appetite for the huge selection available in The Sun. Enjoy! (envy, envy - all beers here in Italy are 'larger-ish' - not at all like bitter).

PS. You mentioned Shepherd Market. Unless it has changed somewhat, Shepherd Market was well known for its, how shall we say, single, mannered ladies with very expensive tastes who rested during the day as they preferred to go out in the evenings.

[Bill Hunt]

John,

Thanks for the clarification. I had gone to Conduit Street, not Lamb's Conduit Street. Typical "yank" move. Still, it's not out of the question for a nice trek. We often go as far as Dockland's, providing that we bring the nice weather with us.

Walking there, I'll probably require MORE than a pint, but if I can get some French Chardonnay for my wife, all will be well.

Appreciated,

Hunt

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

We often go as far as Dockland's, providing that we bring the nice weather with us.

You'll know The Charles Dickens then(?).

[Bill Hunt]

We got some background on Dickens (much more than I recall from various literature courses), during our walks, and also from a boat trip down the Thames. The boat was small enough to "poke" into some of the slips and the narrator really got into his Dickensian history - just great. Though more than a century had passed, one got a better perspecitive of the times and places that Mr. Dickens was writing of. I think that is one of the things that I love about the UK, and London. I feel like I'm walking with history. Few places in the US conjure up those same feelings, with the exceptions of St. Augustine, New Orleans, and a few more. Oh, there is history, but most of it started 500 years later.

My wife has meetings in the Chauncary District, so maybe I'll head out with her, and then peel off to Lamb's Conduit Street.

Thank you for the tip,

Hunt

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

We often go as far as Dockland's, providing that we bring the nice weather with us.

You'll know The Charles Dickens then(?).

Sorry Bill, I meant "The Charles Dickens" pub in docklands.