Testimonials
Read what reviewers and top composers have to say about our products.
Top Reviews
Shreddage series – Josh Mobley
Shreddage changed my life. I was working on a hybrid metal trailer album for what would later be BMG production music. I’m a keyboard player, and I had never had a realistic playable metal guitar plugin because they just didn’t exist.
It… blew my mind man. Suddenly, I could play all of these riffs I had in my head. I completed the album and it did really well. I heard it in everything. Movie trailers, tv shows etc. [Shreddage] was the backbone of virtually every song on that album.
-Josh Mobley
Fredonia Grand Organ – ShadyCicada
“Fredonia Grand Organ sounds absolutely gigantic, and it’s been a perfect outlet for me to convey more intense emotions in my tracks (especially villain and boss battle themes)!”
Tokyo Scoring Strings – ShadyCicada
“I’ve been using Tokyo Scoring Strings for everything from soft emotional tracks to video game battle themes. The amount of intimacy and feeling you can get out of it is incredibly varied!”
Palette Orchestra Complete – Making Music
“Symphonic Sketchpad’s core Strings, Brass and Woodwinds are superb and evocative patches which lend themselves to ensemble score creation. The overriding feeling is that all the instrument sounds fit together extremely well – as you might expect coming from the same company and being recorded in the same hall. But it’s not just the ambience, it’s the tonal quality which has a cohesive quality so you know whatever combination of instruments and sounds you use in your composition, they will all work together with the minimum of hassle. Many media composers tend to use ensembles both for speed and ease of composition, and Symphonic Sketchpad provides the essential ensembles you need for many orchestral scenarios at a mid price range for an all-in-one orchestra.”
Ian Waugh (Making Music)
Palette Orchestra Complete – Film Score Monthly
“I am knocked out by the Palette line. Even though the main library name implies use in the formative stages of a composition, make no mistake: Symphonic Sketchpad is entirely capable of delivering finished quality results. The full series lives up to its namesake, offering a bounty of colors that can be applied with broad strokes or with a fine touch no matter the canvas, and with truly exceptional results.”
Palette Orchestra Complete – Professionalcomposers.com
“I am totally blown away with how much content there is in Palette Orchestral Series. The sketchpad alone covers pretty much all you need to compose orchestral music, and with the added brush packs you really get all the colors you need… a full palette indeed!”
Palette Orchestra Complete – Sound on Sound
“I went into this review expecting a sketch and came out feeling I’d experienced something of a masterpiece. The four libraries are supremely well organised, perfectly integrated and intelligently presented, and the playing is of an exceptionally high standard. A work of art indeed. Congratulations to the musicians and production team. Whether you need an easy-to-use writing tool or want to expand your orchestral armoury with some high quality instruments, I can heartily recommend Palette Symphonic Sketchpad and its three companion titles.”
-Dave Stewart (Sound on Sound)
Emlyn in the Mix
“Is this the only tape emulation you’ll ever need? In my mind, yes… it’s light on the CPU, it’s got a beautiful GUI with graphics going so you can see what’s happening… it helps you to understand what this tape emulation is actually doing… this is a wonderful plug-in; well-developed, well-designed, fantastic to see… all of the effects on this plug-in sound really high class.”
Emlyn in the Mix
“I can make it sound like really high-end tape, beautiful sheen – or I could make it sound like a grungy old 7-inches-per-second ruined tape, or anywhere in between, and also get some really cool effects out of it… this is, I think, possibly, the best tape emulator I’ve heard that’s useful for more than just emulating tape.”
Kevin Manthei
Angry Birds Mystery Island, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Villainous, Neverwinter, Star Trek Online
“ISW creates some of the most inspiring & realistic guitar sample libraries. I had to write a bunch of really gritty, angry heavy metal & sports action rock cues. I used Shreddage 3 Serpent for leads and was blown away by its onboard processing, programming, and amazing live-sounding leads. I also created a signature sound based on the lead guitar in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks series, originally played on baritone guitar. [Serpent] built a convincing replica of that sound just using on-board FX. It was so fun and easy to do!”
Richard Jacques
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Mass Effect, Overwatch 2, James Bond 007: Blood Stone
“I’m a huge fan of the Ventus Winds series. They feature rare instruments deep-sampled to an incredibly high level of detail. It’s so liberating to have such a wide range of articulations & phrases that perfectly capture the nuances and performance style of these instruments… from beautiful to haunting, celebratory to sorrowful. Each is expertly recorded and the sound quality is superb, sitting in the mix with ease. If you want to add authentic world winds to your palette, then look no further.”
Lena Raine
Celeste, Chicory, Minecraft, Guild Wars 2, Deltarune
Instruments from ISW are a staple of my soundtrack work for games. Vocalisa has been a mainstay vocal aesthetic of nearly every game I’ve worked on including Celeste & Chicory: A Colorful Tale. Shreddage 3 has also given me the confidence to write some really fun guitar riffs & solos despite not being able to play a real one. I’ve started incorporating Tokyo Scoring Strings into the acoustic side of my scoring work, and can’t wait to try out more from ISW in the future!
Simon Franglen
Titanic, Skyfall, Spectre, Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water
Impact Soundworks make detailed, emotive instruments. I’ve happily bought over two dozen of their libraries which should say everything. They get used every day.
