Spectrasonics - Products - Trilian

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Trilian® is the total solution for Bass from Spectrasonics

With its comprehensive design, Trilian brings many different types of Bass together into one extraordinary-sounding virtual instrument.

Trilian is designed from the ground up to be the most versatile bass virtual instrument available today with a new level of expressive, real-time performance for acoustic and electric basses – plus cutting-edge synth bass tones with powerful editing and extraordinary sound quality. Trilian is the successor to Spectrasonics’ award-winning Trilogy bass instrument, offering deeper control of musical expression and much greater flexibility of sound shaping. Trilian’s 34GB library is 10-times the size of Trilogy and features all new acoustic, electric and synth basses.

Powered by next generation STEAM Engine technology, Trilian is the first instrument to feature core library integration with Spectrasonics flagship Omnisphere® synth – allowing Trilian’s sounds to be used within the Omnisphere environment for further sound design and keyboard/bass splits.

At Spectrasonics, we’ve always loved Bass sounds.” notes Eric Persing, Founder and Creative Director. “When we started 15 years ago, our very first product was the best-selling Bass Legends sample library. Then in 2002, we introduced Trilogy – the world’s first Bass Virtual Instrument. Now we are very pleased to release Trilian, which represents a whole new generation of our Bass development. Trilian is built on the STEAM Engine that powers Omnisphere, which has allowed us to create the most expressive and flexible Bass module we’ve ever made.”

PERFORMANCE
The new acoustic and electric basses in Trilian are sampled at an extremely high level of detail. The combination of the software’s intuitive, automatic selection of legato and release articulations as the user plays - and the extensive ‘Round-Robin’ variations introduced for natural sounding bass lines with repeated notes - create a more dynamic and subtle playing experience. Newly developed multisampled dynamic slides let notes realistically slide from one to another. Each of the new basses feature multi-channel mixing between phase-locked microphone/amplifier and direct outputs of each bass.

BASS INSTRUMENTS
Over sixty different 4, 5, 6 and 8 string Electric basses are presented in fingered, picked, fretless, slapped, tapped, and muted technique variations – providing a huge variety of sounds for any musical genre. Highlights of the new Electric Basses include a Music Man™ 5-string Studio Bass, Chapman Stick®, Lakland™ Rock P-Bass, Clean Fender® Jazz Bass, a Hardcore Rock Bass, a Retro 1960’s Epiphone® Viola Bass and much more.

Trilian’s stunning new Acoustic Bass is the most detailed instrument Spectrasonics has ever released, with 4 audio channels and over 21,000 samples to create this single instrument! All this combined with Trilian’s high-resolution streaming of the sounds puts a depth of realism into performances that is truly inspiring.

SOUND CREATION
For Synth sounds, Trilian features newly-developed 4-Pole “Juicy” and “Power” Filter algorithms with oscillating resonance that are ideal for electronic bass. Hundreds of synth soundsources were created using over 30 of the most exotic and coveted hardware synthesizers – from the original Moog® Taurus Pedals to the latest boutique analog modular synthesizers. A multitude of extremely powerful editing controls are available for sound design – including the “FlexMod” modulation system, Dual Filters with more than 19 filter types, 6 multistage looping envelopes, 6 full-featured LFOs, dual morphing modulation, modulatable FX racks and much more.

Trilian’s FX racks include all of the renowned FX processors from Omnisphere and Stylus RMX – including a wide variety of amp and speaker models, distortions, dynamics processors, equalizers, chorus, phasers, flangers, delays, reverbs, unique specialty FX and more.

LEGACY
As Spectrasonics' next-generation bass instrument, Trilian includes enhanced, remastered versions of Trilogy’s core library – taking it to a new level of sound and expression. As a special bonus, Spectrasonics’ original “Bass Legends” multisamples have also been remastered and included in the Trilian library, featuring Abraham Laboriel, John Patitucci & Marcus Miller (bass sounds which some hardware synth users may remember from popular Roland Xpansion boards and the classic MBD-1 rack bass module).

INTEGRATION
Trilian is the first virtual instrument to feature core library integration with Spectrasonics award-winning, flagship Omnisphere synthesizer. Trilian’s complete sound library can be opened within Omnisphere for further synthesis and expanded performance possibilities.

Trilian’s Arpeggiator features the “Groove Lock” technology Spectrasonics pioneered in Omnisphere and Stylus RMX’s Time Designer – which means that with a simple drag and drop action, the feel of bass patterns created with Trilian’s Arpeggiator can be perfectly synchronized between all three of Spectrasonics instruments.

INTERFACE
The new Custom Controls interface on the Main page of each patch brings out the most useful and interesting sound modification controls for that specific patch, and a single control can even modify numerous parameters to create unique FX. The Custom Controls are all MIDI Learnable, Automatable and users can create their own configurations of Custom Controls.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL USERS

2.0 GHz or higher processor
4GB RAM or more recommended
Dual Layer compatible DVD-ROM drive
35GB of free hard drive space

Mac Users:

OSX 10.5 Leopard or higher
Intel dual core processor or higher
AU, VST 2.4 or higher, RTAS capable host software
Audio Unit plugin requires host with support for "Cocoa" based plugins
Native 64-bit and 32-bit on OSX
6GB of RAM or more if using the Sample File Server

Windows Users:

VST 2.4 or higher, RTAS capable host software
Microsoft Windows 8/7/Vista
Native 64-bit and 32-bit on Windows

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Trilian?
Trilian is an amazingly versatile new software instrument plug-in designed for world-class Acoustic, Electric and Synth Basses. Trilian is based on the same in-house "STEAM engine" technology that Spectrasonics uses for the flagship Omnisphere synthesizer. Trilian features a massive 34 GB core library (ten times the size of Trilogy!), extensive sound creation and performance capabilities, a fully featured arpeggiator with a unique Groove-Lock system for syncing with Stylus RMX grooves, over thirty built-in effects and much, much more!

What is the STEAM engine?
STEAM™ is a new, in-house core technology that is the foundation of Trilian as well as a whole new generation of Spectrasonics instruments.

What's the difference between Trilogy and Trilian?
Virtually everything!

Trilian is a completely new bass instrument. It's the second instrument to use our state-of-the-art STEAM Engine, with a completely different interface and many new and innovative features for Bass. In addition to the sample-based sounds found in Trilogy, and a greatly expanded selection of new basses, many additional sampling techniques have been added, such as Round Robin, Dynamic Legato, Release noises, Multichannel Soundsources and a whole range of new articulations like multisampled slides. The core library in Trilian is over 34Gb in size – 10 times the size of Trilogy!

So does Trilian replace Trilogy?
Yes, Trilian is Trilogy's successor.

How large is the core library?
The Trilian core library is ten times the size of Trilogy - over 34 Gigabytes! There are many hundreds of different Soundsources and Patches, some containing many thousands of samples each, and with more new patches and sounds being added over time.

Does it contain all the samples from the original Trilogy?
Yes! All the original core library samples and enhanced versions of all the classic Trilogy sounds are included.

Does Trilian include "classic samples" from libraries such as Bass Legends?
Yes! Bass Legends was Spectrasonics' very first product, and was released in 1994. It features Abraham Laboriel, Marcus Miller and John Patittucci. The Bass Legends sounds have also been remastered, enhanced and added to Trilian as a special bonus.

There are a wide variety of basses included, and because they are smaller files, they will load quickly. If you are composing and need a quick bass sound, these provide a great starting point.

All the Bass Legends sounds have been enhanced using the STEAM engine FX, and we even added release noises and other improvements, so they sound even better than ever!

How much of the Core Library is from the original sample libraries?
A very small percentage. The vast majority of the 34 Gigabytes is brand new. And of course, all the new Patches have never been presented before.

How fast of a computer will I need to run Trilian?
As with all virtual instruments - the faster the better. Trilian is designed to run optimally on modern computers. See the System Recommendations for more information.

Does Trilian need as much CPU power as Omnisphere?
No. Bass sounds require far less polyphony than most of the sounds in Omnisphere, and as a result typically require significantly less CPU power to run. However, Trilian's largest sounds contain upwards of 10,000+ samples, so it can take much more memory resources and we recommend having a 4gb system.

Is there an upgrade for Trilogy users?
Yes! All registered Trilogy customers can upgrade to Trilian through the Spectrasonics Techshop. If you purchased Trilogy anytime in 2009, you will receive a free upgrade to Trilian. Our Intel Mac users will also receive a free upgrade to Trilian.

Is Trilogy currently still available?
No. Trilian has now replaced Trilogy.

Is Trilian expandable?
Yes! We have many plans to extend Trilian in lots of different ways in the future.

Is Trilian native Universal Binary for Intel Macs?
Absolutely. The STEAM Engine™ is Universal Binary, just like with Omnisphere and Stylus RMX.

Is Trilian 64 bit?
Yes! All our instruments are 64-bit native on both Mac and Windows. They are fully-operational in 32 bit hosts as well.

Does Trilian use disc-streaming?
Yes! Trilian streams from the disc for quick previewing of the sounds. Disc streaming is configurable as well.

Is there a DEMO version of Trilian I can try?
Because of the size of our instruments, we don't offer Demo versions. However, you can contact one of our local dealers in your area in order to arrange a live demo of Trilian. To find a local dealer in your area, please contact your local Spectrasonics Distributor

Will there be Trilian video tutorials like there are for Omnisphere?
Yes. We are in the process of producing several Trilian-specific video tutorials right now. These will be available for all registered Spectrasonics users to view and download in the Support Knowlegebase.

NOTE:
Because Trilian is also based on the STEAM Engine, many of our Omnisphere tutorial videos are still applicable. You will find reference to those throughout this reference guide. In those cases, although they use Omnisphere as reference, the same terms and workflow will often apply.

Can I download the upgrade?
No. Since the library is over 30 Gigabytes in size, it's not available as a download.

Does Trilian have the same FX as Omnisphere?
Yes, it contains all the same Effects as Omnisphere and RMX.

What are the multi-point envelopes like in Trilian compared to other synths?
Multipoint envelopes have always been extraordinarily useful for creating sounds. However, they've traditionally been rather tedious to program. Our goal with the envelopes in Trilian was to offer the expressive power of multipoint envelopes while making them easy, and even fun, to work with!

You even can do cool things with them without getting into the details of patch programming. There are many simple and flexible ways to get sophisticated envelope shapes in Trilian!

Does Trilian include a written manual or pdf?
Like Omnisphere, the Trilian Reference Guide is accessible directly through the plug-in. The comprehensive, integrated Reference Guide, has many benefits:

1. Saves paper and trees. 2. It's searchable 3. We can keep it up to date with the software releases.

And of course, hours of free Trilian and Omnisphere video tutorials are provided for registered users on our site.

Can I use Trilian on my G5? What kind of performance can I expect? Could I at least run Trilian in a minimal mode and bounce to audio?
Yes. Although we recommend using Trilian on more up to date computers.

Can I selectively install parts of the Trilian library since it is so large?
Because of patch compatibility, Trilian must always be installed with the complete library. However, you can install the almost 35 Gigabyte library to a secondary or external drive if you wish.

Will Trilian's streaming benefit from a faster hard drive?
Fast drives are a smart way to go of course. There's a chapter in the Reference Guide devoted to optimizing Performance with Trilian.

Can I run Trilian side by side with Trilogy?
Trilian and Trilogy can be run side by side, since they are separate instruments. Keep in mind that Trilian is a completely new instrument that also includes the Trilogy library. Trilogy is no longer supported on the newest operating systems and hardware, so may not perform as expected.

Do I need to uninstall Trilogy before installing Trilian?
No, this isn't necessary unless you are no longer going to use Trilogy. All of Trilogy is included in Trilian, so you can uninstall if you like. However, it's useful to keep Trilogy installed to recall older projects.

Will I still be able to open my old sessions using Trilian? Does Trilian load Trilogy patches? Does it replace Trilogy on those sessions with all of their settings automatically?
Trilian will not automatically replace Trilogy in older sessions. You can reselect the same Trilogy patches in Trilian, since it includes the original Trilogy library and patches.

Will I be able to open custom patches that I made in Trilogy?
No. Since Trilian is a completely new instrument, it's not possible to open custom saved Trilogy patches in Trilian.
However, you will be able to recreate your custom patches with much more choice and flexibility, and also trade and share patches with other users! This is possible because Trilian is based on our own technology, and will allow for song compatibility with future updates, just like all the updates with Omnisphere and RMX have been song compatible since their introduction.

Will I still be able to upgrade to Trilian if I purchase Trilogy after October 26nd, 2009?
Yes, as long as you are a Trilogy customer, you will be able to upgrade. To qualify for the special upgrade pricing or terms, you must have purchased the products from an authorized dealer and registered them prior to upgrading to Trilian.

Where do I order the upgrade from? Can I get the upgrade through my local dealer?
Upgrades are available exclusively through the Spectrasonics Techshop.

Do I need to have Trilogy installed before purchasing the upgrade to Trilian?
No, but you will need to have authorized and registered Trilogy.

Can I install Trilian on a different drive?
Yes, you can definitely install the library to a secondary or exernal drive.

Can I order Trilian directly from Spectrasonics?
No. Unless you are upgrading from Trilogy, you will need to purchase Trilian through an authorized Spectrasonics dealer. To find a dealer in your area, please contact one of our distributors.

Can I upgrade if I bought a used copy of Trilogy?
Only if that copy of Trilogy has been properly license transferred through Spectrasonics.

Will Trilian run on the Muse Receptor?
This hasn't been tested yet, but the MUSE team are big Spectrasonics users themselves.
We are confident that Muse will be working on getting the Receptor ready for Trilian soon.

Is there a student discount price for Trilian?
Spectrasonics doesn't offer student discounts, however qualifying school's and institutions can participate in our EDU program.

Does Trilian use Copy Protection?
Yes, please see the Licensing FAQs area of the Knowledgebase for more information on our system.

Does Spectrasonics allow for used sales/license transfers of Trilian?
Please see the Licensing FAQs area of the Knowledgebase for more info on our License Transfer Policy.

*All other manufacturers' product names used in this instrument are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Spectrasonics. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely to identify the products of those manufacturers whose tones and sounds were studied during Spectrasonics sound development.