Spectrasonics Distorted Reality - a classic sample CD from 1995

[@Thefallofbabylon]

These were used in the silent hill ost’s as well. Such phenomenal sound design. Still holds up today.

[@mnwa_mnwa]

a lot of these samples are actually still inside omnisphere.

[@JustaArmada99]

@@mnwa_mnwa It's because the founder of spectrasonics is none other than the original producer himself, Eric Persing. He did distorted reality 1 and 2 and any of his work got transferred into omnisphere. I just found this out and we owe a lot to this guy!

[@ryelandallison8035]

Thank you so much for this moving tribute Paolo! Eric and I had a blast making both discs and I am still surprised by their lasting and quite far reaching appeal.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thank you very much, Ryeland!!! You and Eric did a fantastic job on the library, as time (and all the comments on the thread!) have attested! If I may ask... any plans for volume 3 in the series?? :-)

[@ryelandallison8035]

@@SynthManiaDotCom As a few have noted in the comments, many of these sounds were folded into the Omnisphere platform, however the 30th anniversary isn't too far away, who knows what the future may hold? ;-)

[@theaudioeng]

@@ryelandallison8035 ..... 😉👍🍻

[@DanielHolter]

@@ryelandallison8035 HOW. HAS. IT. BEEN. ALMOST. THIRTY. YEARS. WUT. 😱

[@simplemindedspacetrash7499]

You are a legend, thanks for putting this out into the world!

[@sonjaadamson1714]

Hearing alot of Nintendo 64 stuff in here. Iceland 1 was used in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, White Trash sounds like the beat to Bower's theme from Super Mario 64, Trip-Hoppin' was used on Jabu-Jabu's Belly dungeon theme from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Ring-Hopper sounds familiar but I can't remember what it was used on. Thanks for showing us these great sounds!

[@8bitbubsy]

And they used samples from the "Gigapack" sample CD too for Zelda Ocarina of Time. Stuff like the "angel" choir, the pads in Forest Temple etc. And some sounds from Korg Wavestation!

[@rebmcr]

I think Ring-Hopper was used on "Bad Up" at 45:12 on this album: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3WZnnV7etuKaNU That's where I'm getting familiarity from at least!

[@Thelostrune]

I personally know Ring-Hopper from Talesweaver's "Just climbing" Kondo loves DR in general, Iceland being reused in Wind Waker for the blue warp sound effect, "Space Dock" used as the whoosh camera adjustment sound effect in OoT/MM, to using 4 or so more loops from DR in MM alone. He has some good taste in samples.

[@Devo_gx]

This was definitely one of the CDs Koji Kondo discovered during his many trips to a secluded store that had a lot of discs from around the world. He'd take a walk and visit the store whenever he needed inspiration

[@Allupertti]

White Trash wasn't actually used in mario 64. Instead Bowser's theme uses sounds from a library called "A Poke in the Ear With a Sharp Stick" by Rarefaction

[@HelicopterDown]

Iceland 1 (3:10) was famously used in the Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask song, 'Last End!' I knew it sounded familiar!

[@TheScottStephenson]

It's my favourite I fucking LOVE this sound

[@metaridley77]

Also in Wind Waker!! Teleporting light sound.

[@Vingul]

"Final Hours", not "Last End".

[@SynaMax]

This is used a LOT in the score for "The Fifth Element". Absolutely phenomenal library!

[@MidwichCreepypasta]

Yeah, I definitely recognized the Beat from "Korben's Theme"! My all time favorite! ^^

[@alexyacovelli7192]

Wow! Love that score.

[@mnwa_mnwa]

akira yamaoka used this cd for the silent hill games as well, like most of those songs are based solely around these samples. it's immediately recognizable.

[@darrenhirst9900]

@@MidwichCreepypastaMultipass

[@votkiskoc]

Yes, just wanted to say the same as i Heard the Ice effects

[@Gin-toki]

So many recognizable sounds from these CD's. Incredible how much they have been used in everything from movies, to games and music.

[@this_connor_guy]

I've got both Distorted Reality 1 + 2 and Bizarre Guitar sitting on my bookshelf here. I almost always using something from those libraries when I work on music. I just love those sounds so much. This video, agh, it fills me with joy!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Very cool!

[@савен_щит]

16:47 - Channel One Rus clock theme

[@wyll154]

Trip-hoppin was used for "Inside Lord Jabu Jabu's belly" from Zelda Ocarina Of Time... great stuff as usual Paolo big thanks!!

[@DiskSystems]

That Lost Horizon sound at 5:50 is out of this world.

[@Doctormix]

Ethereal has been my go-to pad for at least a decade

[@karmaindustrie]

And it's not in Omnisphere? I just didn't find it.

[@karmaindustrie]

I thought I have it all... I feel so incomplete again...

[@DJAutism1]

@@karmaindustrie I’m pretty sure it’s a omnisphere sample. You can find those if you have clicked the sample button on a osc in omnisphere

[@karmaindustrie]

@@DJAutism1 Do you have Omnisphere? I challenge you to find it.

[@SuperBustyEva]

Megapad sounds purely harmonious. Like it’s from heaven itself. It seems to exude pure emotion and it’s only job is to be pleasant to the ear and make us feel relaxed and filled with joy. Ethereal sounds much the same tbh. They both go hand in hand. Absolutely beautiful sounds. Pure joy and bliss incarnate.

[@nekow1785]

Eric Persing is an amazing sound designer, and person

[@Doctormix]

woahhhhh!!!! Trip down mwmory lane!!! I have both 1 and 2!!! Listening to you playing it today gives me goosebumps!!!!!!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Nice one, Claudio, thank you!!! I don't have 2, but I'll get it!!

[@itsenzo3000]

Oh yeah doctor mix!

[@DynamicRockers]

Those pads are legendary. It was all over TV shows and video games in the early 2000s. Excellent video. Exploring old, I mean, vintage CD sampler is a very good idea! Thanks

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@WinUpgrade]

The 1st Russia channel used Ethereal pad for many IDs and clock. Probably, this sample was used in the "Magic mirror of the reality" series of IDS with real copy of logo of channel 1 Russia

[@844box]

​@@WinUpgradeEthereal was only in the clock. The one you're thinking about is from Zero-G - Malice in Wonderlard

[@WinUpgrade]

@@844box By the way, I’ve known about this for a long time. Because when I decided to look for samples in this pack, I found sounds from screensavers with a real copy of the ORT/JSC "Russia First Channel" logo.

[@844box]

@@WinUpgrade From where are these screensavers? (Or maybe you just used wrong English word for "заставка")

[@fermiLiquidDrinker]

Idk if anyone's mentioned this yet, but this CD was heavily used for the Silent Hill games-it basically was the soundtrack for it, tbh.

[@theimaginator8634]

Michael Cretu used the "Iceland 1" and the "Cricket Choir" sounds at the very beginning of ENIGMA's third album "Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!" Also, the "Insomniac" sound was used by Cretu in the composition "Almost Full Moon" from the same album.

[@sauermusicDE]

The third Enigma album is beyond genius! :-)

[@lavaita9709]

I always thought that sample was taken from Peter Gabriel's song Washing of the Water - which came out 3 years before this sample CD. Maybe they were inspired by it.

[@844box]

This was used almost heavily in Channel One Russia in early 2000s

[@ClaudioTV2005]

Exactly.

[@EDMZONE-z7j]

Ha ha that’s true😂😂😂😂

[@alexmug.6155]

It's shame

[@utr2-h6u]

16:52-Used in TV-clock of Channel One Russia.(2000-nowadays).

[@alexmug.6155]

And what?

[@WinUpgrade]

@@alexmug.6155 just fyi

[@WinUpgrade]

from the second part of this library ORT used the sample hip-nolofi, indigenous, transforme, squelchy.

[@ntma]

stopped 1/4 in because this made me want to write a song. Thanks, Paolo! \o

[@SlyHikari03]

Same. I wonder if that was meant to happen. Eric probably put subliminal tones into the audio.

[@sirwinston02]

Wow that Ethereal pad!!! so amazing! Another great upload brother keep them coming

[@KattKirsch]

Everyone's mentioning recognizing stuff, but the moment you triggered "Distressed" I was sent through a tour of every industrail / noise indie show I went through on the 90s. Omg. Wonderful stuff!

[@morphoice]

Absolute Fifth Element vibes there. Eric's work is timeless and outstanding.

[@Korgi_Polymer]

4:58 I swear I've heard this in the original Spyro 2 soundtrack.

[@NordiusOfficial]

Yes, Distorted Reality was used a lot in the Spyro 1 - 4 soundtrack. Presets like Lumanize are the homeworld music for Winter Tundra from Spyro 2.

[@Nyxael5845]

The Solia sample is also used in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as part of the soundtrack that plays when you are exploring the Twilight.

[@KarimLeMec]

This video is a little gem. Grazie!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Many thanks!

[@Pagroove]

These are still absolutely great sounds.

[@transmutationdotse]

Heart of Africa! Used it back in the day and still love it

[@lardosian]

Wow I think that Taj Mahal patch might be used on the first track of Sigur Ros first official album, and bonham burn on the Aphex Twin track used by Nike or Adidas for a commercial, these sounds are amazing!

[@marvinjones4415]

These sample CD libraries are fascinating! They were so expensive back in the day so I was only able to buy very few, and none of the stellar, top-notch ones. Please do more of these explorations! Thanks!

[@justdamon25]

Just discovered a sample of Lost Horizon being used in the tv show Primeval in season 3 episode 8.

[@xela12345]

Man, this stuff really does get the imagination flowing, incredible after all these years

[@patkelly8309]

I'm sorry if I'm repeating what you've already said Paolo, I just breezed through the vid in a hurry. I wanted to mention that Spectrasonics are the team behind the marvellous Omnisphere plug-in synth which has long been hailed as a classic. Deservedly so. I believe it started life as Atmosphere. Grazie, Ciao.

[@EduardoRohdeEras]

"creepy" was used in the song "Disappear" by Dream Theater... Many others are also strangely familiar 😮😊

[@DesertWitch666]

This is amazing!! Thanks for sharing this! As someone just getting into synths and hearing a lot of this growing up in the 90s, I’m surprised that so many sounds I’ve heard come from the same CD library!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Alexander_Khalmaktanov]

04:15 This Sound used in russian Channel 1 before night broadcast! 16:54 used in russian Channel 1 News intro and in background of evening clock How to get this library? Thanks so much for answer!

[@utr2-h6u]

LOL.I have similar sounds in GarageBand

[@TommyVarekai]

love this collection, can be found in Omnisphere!

[@antoniog2854]

I couldn't find alot of these patches in Omni..

[@PantaFlux]

@@antoniog2854 There are 420+ samples of Distorted Reality included. Go to Omnisphere’s Patch Browser and type “Distorted Reality” into the search field in the upper right corner. Voilà!

[@antoniog2854]

@@PantaFlux Thanks! I'll try that! : )

[@steveintentionallyleftblan3398]

I love this sample CD. It was one of my first forays into making music after I got it second hand in 2008. God, I was fifteen back then. Super nostalgic.

[@Cubik303]

A classic, wonderful sample library. And let’s show a little love for the Roland S-760....

[@theultimabass]

Iceland 1 otherwise known as Last End (AKA Last Day) from Majora's Mask.

[@EoghanFallon]

I came here for Civ 2 music and the first one I click onto is Iceland 1. Took me straight back to Majora's. Wild.

[@fabien28290]

Finally a video of this classic, i was waiting for that so thank you to share this. :) I found that we did not talk enough about these CDs at the moment! yet many sounds that have been recognized in movies, games or music. EPIC!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@XPJV]

Please demo all spectrasonics CDs! Especially Asia! 💗💗💗

[@Gavael]

3:23 I cannot tell you how long I've been searching for this sound!!! I finally know it's name! Iceland 1 has been used in so many of the soundtracks from my childhood! Amazing! So hauntingly beautiful.

[@karmaindustrie]

It's included in Omnisphere 99,9%

[@HAZARDOUS88]

Iconic. I heard a lot of these sounds as a kid!

[@marafolse8347]

I'm slowly learning that these sample CDs were the sound of the '90s and 2000s

[@AHmediaDesigns]

These are beautiful sounds for an almost 30 year old sample CD. Some of the ambient sounds are pretty much what you get from modern granular synths

[@bayleybaybey]

Love this, Paolo. Thank you.

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks for listening!

[@AnalogFlava]

What a coincidence, I was looking or researching some old songs and it led me to this sample CD yesterday and here you are playing the sounds off th s760 and the first sound I instantly recognize from my all time fav album from 97 which was made by my fav producer, who was using the s760 and 750 as well...I gotta have this CD now...thankss!!

[@gourmetjoe1103]

The "Ethereal" one reminds me of the Wii Forecast Channel nighttime music.

[@The_Mister_E]

Ah, Distorted Reality... Ya see this one a lot on VGM instrument sources spreadsheet!

[@agwi]

Channel One Russia Clock Theme

[@luisbarrera5740]

Its a shame that Spectrasonics doesn't sell this and v2 as a downloadable sample pack.

[@darrenhirst9900]

You can get them online if you know where to look

[@luisbarrera5740]

@@darrenhirst9900 I found it. Along with a lot of other great classic sample packs.

[@Jason75913]

I recognize Iceland1 from the video game _Majora's Mask_

[@fabianrr]

04:56 Silent Hill 2 - Pianissimo epilogue

[@EduardoRohdeEras]

Wooow! I want this "megapad"! This is a dream sound! Wooow...

[@astrodome1994]

3:18 "Final Hours" from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

[@GlazeonthewickeR]

Stunning stuff, the holy grail

[@mudsh4rk]

I use that SR-jv80 expansion all the time, had no idea it was related to this (or any) library. Cricket Choir is one of two or three that get blended into my patches at near-inaudible levels for a little extra texture pretty regularly (if I think I'm done but there's a free partial left, I'm always going to at least try it).

[@albertrynkowski3599]

İ just bought an e5000 ultra with this sample pack. Was auditioning it whole evening with a drink. What a masterpiece!

[@angelsartandgaming]

"this one is called Iceland 1" Me: F E A R!! You know a game is iconic when you don't even play the same note but I can recognize it. Who knew that sample could give me absolute nightmares of a gigantic falling moon with an eerie face.

[@Jacopo.M]

Ciao Paolo, thanks for the demo. Inspiring as always

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you like it

[@mulanmiller5000]

I instantly got shivers when you started playing. Such an intense atmosphere… takes me back.

[@sami77725]

"Solia" was used in the Twilight-theme in Zelda Twilight Princess. Nintendo loved to use this CD in the N64 and GameCube Era

[@vadlasletta]

I remember listenibg to this library, distorted reality 1 and 2 and the bizarre guitar. Those sounds were plastered all over late 90s music, tv series, film and computer/video games. Eivind aarset’ electronique noir was a favourite

[@MAZZI100]

I remember all Those CDs ads in magazines.... luscious!!!!..... really inspiring and superb sounds. Still looking for all the SRJV80. Thanks for giving us such good content. My best regards!.

[@scantyer]

Solia is literally the Twilight Realm

[@fromaggio7654]

to think all childhood memories can be triggered by one sample pack, a great one at that

[@maximillionboi]

vangelis always comes to mind with those soft sounds

[@YouTubeSupportTeams]

spectrasonics top of their game. especially in the 90s!

[@TachyBunker]

With all the 90's sample CDs, this one kept my attention with Method of Mayhem 2, for some reason. It's got a character i love, classy and badass in a scifi way.

[@WinampVEVO]

Thank you for this!

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

My pleasure!

[@intheblink]

Does anyone know if these are included as sources in Omnisphere? I love the Liquid Grooves library by Spectrasonics. It was everywhere for a while and I still love some of those sounds. Very organic textures!

[@Magnus_Loov]

Some of them are! I tried a few of the sounds in this video and, yes, they were there! You just have to add reverb and maybe EQ and Chorus for some of the sounds to make them sound like here. Iceland 1 (And 2 and 3 also) and creepy were there at least (not looked for all). But some sounds weren't there as soundsources, unfortunately! As soundssources they are totally dry. Maybe these are also the basic samples that then got edited into patches for the Roland 760 and that is what we hear here?

[@drampz_]

Look up distorted reality and all those sounds pop up

[@ThePalaeontologist]

I believe some of these were sampled in the soundtrack of Walking With Dinosaurs and the Sea Monsters special spin-off, and probably in other Walking With...soundtrack productions, by the brilliant Benjamin Bartlett. I've definitely heard some of the effects used in Dinosaur documentaries like 'When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth' (e.g. 'Creepy') narrated (usually) by none other than Jeff Goldblum. There are a lot of bit-parts of ethereal ambience in old classics like Walking With Dinosaurs (1999) where I have never been able to put my finger on where the sound effect came from or where they sampled things from. I even know what literal computers/computer models and musical equipment they (primarily Bartlett) were using, but I have an incomplete understanding of where all the sources were. I've only just found out about this one, for instance. Being a Palaeontologist, whom became one _because_ of Walking With Dinosaurs, I am an anorak on every little thing I can learn about them. I was too young when it released to know anything so in-depth of this back in 1999 or the early 2000's, though I've taken it upon myself to find them all. If you watch the Walking With Dinosaurs series you'll hear the motifs Bartlett uses. He had the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at his disposal for a few days back in 1998 (amid their busy, strictly budgeted and limited schedule, and I'm sure Bartlett would have done a _lot_ more if he had just a bit more time with them) The very studio in London he recorded it in isn't even a recording studio anymore. There is so much lore behind it all and hidden knowledge I'm constantly looking for. Even as I'm typing, hearing the first few seconds of Wild Ways is definitely used with the score for the Cruel Sea episode (Episode 3 out of 6) where the Cryptoclidus is sifting the seabed for pebbles to swallow as ballast. It shows up a few times. Bartlett was clearly integrating samples from common and more obscure sources at the disposal of the BBC Natural History unit in 1998-1999.

[@ianpreece6391]

This was one of my favourite sample CD's back in the 90's! Particularly Iceland 1

[@Jenavee26]

Omg the yt recommended vids hit me with this. 💞 this is definitely not helping with my insomnia lol

[@Projacked1]

The Solia sound is heavily used in (Steven Soderbergh's)) Solaris too.

[@SlyHikari03]

Cricket Choir has to to be a reference to the infamous "discovery" by Jim Wilson where he slowed down a cricket noise and made a Choir out of it.

[@FalconSSProducer]

Great video dude i like. please make more videos showing those cd of spectrasonic

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Thanks! Will do!

[@analogsystem8015]

Thank you Synthmania for this job, i've just bought an Emulator IV with 23 cd rom like Heart of Asia, Distorted Reality and EIII factory sound, .... So for me this video is very interesting !

[@SynthManiaDotCom]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@aleatoriac7356]

Love these I only bought Distorted Reality 2 on cd-rom But almost all these classic Spectrasonics libraries are in Omnisphere also

[@vampiremaffia]

Cool and generous showcase as always! I remember being blown away when I first listened to the Distorted Reality ambient (and pad) sounds, they evoke rich soundscapes some almost otherworldly. I have no recollection of the fairly terrible drum sounds you just demonstrated! After putting my lightly used E-MU EOS sampler in storage I had no problems importing the CD's into NI Kontakt, not everybody knows Kontakt is a pretty powerful sample cd ripper! Big Fish - Alien Guitars was another one of my favorites clearly inspired by Distorted Reality unless I got the timeline wrong.

[@pkaulf]

9:00 as heard on Leftfield - El Cid

[@asdifasi]

Very nice Paolo.Erick persing equals quality.still have it on wav and akai format

[@SeverityOne]

You can still purchase these, new, from Spectrasonics, for around $200, "special order". There don't seem to be too many (legitimate) second-hand copies out there.

[@mulanmiller5000]

5:56 got used in the Serenity movie multiple times

[@otherreality]

I used to rip the hell out of these cd's into soft samplers. As it happens i just have a cd3000 to play around, i'm definitely going to play them properly now, it just sounds so much cooler than an audio interface LOL Lovely machines

[@rocca717]

3:25 The legend of Zelda Majoras Mask ❤

[@EmptyZoo393]

I'm pretty sure that Lost Horizon was used in the Civ II Test of Time soundtrack. There were enough creepy sounding tracks on that CD that I typically had to just turn off the sound on that game as a twelve year old.

[@mantlehood32]

I'm sure the Cricket Choir was used in the Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee soundtrack!

[@utr2-h6u]

And also in Channel One Russia technical difficulties ident(2007-…)

[@WasKammer]

This is soooo coooool! I’m such a junkie of these 90’s sounds... Thanks for sharing it with us. U R the best. I’m pretty sure that the “Insomniac” drums were used by Moby in one of his track...

[@ClaudioTV2005]

16:52 This sounds like the Channel One Russia clock night theme since 2000

[@homelessballoon]

TurboSynth by Digidesign was one of the instruments used on this CD-R. That was a fantastic software instrument. I miss it so much! Never understand why Digidesign stopped supporting it.....

[@pong808]

Was also heavily used on the Score for the first "cube"

[@bengalinsky4300]

Awesome! More like this please!!!

[@gundamgames6092]

Lost Horizon sounds like the sample used in the Silent Hill 4 intro cinematic

[@thebreakfastmenu]

I'm kinda new to using sample discs. I was always under the impression you'd load the samples into a DAW and then manipulate them there, but playing them with a MIDI controller is much more appealing to someone a bit more old school. How does loading them up to play them work? I've got a Roland JV1080, I'm curious if there's a way to connect a disc drive to it similar to what you're doing, but frankly I'm not sure what you're doing ha...

[@ViRiXDreamcore]

Spyro the dragon! I feel like Stewart used most if not all of these throughout the Spyro series.

[@dburgess287]

Ethereal has a touch of the Brian Eno about it (an ending)

[@GoScratch-Official]

04:13 Channel One Russia (Night) Sound

[@StephanS]

I am currentyl working on a Sample CD/library as an hommage to Distorted Reality. The hardest part is, finding a company to release it on....