|
What is Big Fish Audio's License Agreement?
You can use our loops to create, produce and release your own productions without paying Big Fish Audio any royalties. Our products are "license free" because you buy the license to use our products when you buy that specific product. The only thing you are not able to make with our products is a sample library like the ones we sell, and you're not able to create a music library with any of the construction kit products we sell. You can't resell, loan, or rent any of the Big Fish products you have purchased. Below is a copy of our general license agreement:
The samples contained on our products are licensed, not sold to you, the individual end user, by Big Fish Audio. This non-exclusive, non-transferable license is granted only to the individual end user who has purchased an unopened, new and lawfully made copy of this product from a dealer or distributor authorized by Big Fish Audio. All samples remain the property of Big Fish Audio and are licensed only for use in the creation of a recorded or live performance that includes the licensed samples as part of a derivative musical work created by the licensed end user. This license expressly forbids resale, rental, loan, gift or transfer of these samples in any format or via any medium, except as part of a derivative musical work. The samples may not be included, whether unmodified or as part of a derivative work, in any music library or sample library product. Any unlicensed usage will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under the law.
What if I didn't get exactly what I was looking for?
No problem, we have an exchange policy because your satisfaction is important to us. For products purchased from Big Fish Audio, you can not return a product for a refund, but you can exchange a product one time only, within one week of your receipt of the product. Any software requiring registration (i.e.: Kontakt Player instruments, etc.) can not be exchanged if the product has been registered.
In order to exchange, you must call our Customer Service Department to obtain a Return Authorization number (products that arrive to us without a Return Authorization number will be refused). Then send your original product back to us, and as soon as we get it, we'll get your new product right out to you. All you are responsible to pay for is shipping, or the difference, if your new product is more expensive than the original.
What is a Loop, Sample or Sound library?
A "loop" is a piece of audio data that is used as part of a larger musical production. In the early days of sampling, the most common type of audio used was that of a 'drum loop', which consisted of a short, one or two-bar recording that was then "looped" to play from beginning to end, and repeated as often as necessary to fill up the length of a song. This term has come to describe any section of audio that is used as an element to a song or a production, regardless of whether it is repeated or not. A "loop" can be anything from a one beat long guitar riff, to a five minute drum performance, to a non-rhythmic synthesizer sweep, and anything in between. A "loop" is different from an "instrument" or "one shot" in that it is intended to be placed sequentially in an audio track, rather than played or triggered polyphonically in a sample-playback engine.
A "sample" is a generic term used to describe any audio that has been recorded digitally, and then is used in conjunction with other sounds in a musical production. It can be used to describe "loops" or relatively static and/or repeating audio fragments, and it also is used to describe melodic or percussive sounds that are played or triggered from a hardware or software interface. Some of the many examples of a "sample" are: snare and kick drum sounds triggered from an Akai MPC2000, a one-bar guitar recording that is copied and pasted into a track of ProTools for the length of the song, or a collection of audio recordings of a solo violin, which are then played chromatically by responding to MIDI note information in a sample playback plugin.
A "sound library" is a collection of samples, usually with a unifying theme, sold as a product. The 'sound library' is most often sold as a collection of samples on a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM. A 'sound library' can consist of loops, multisamples, one shots, or all three.
What is a Sampler?
A sampler is a device for recording ( or "sampling") and playing back audio. Audio is digitized and stored in RAM. A sampler is able to play back these samples at different speeds, which is the same as playing it back at a different pitch. So a sampler may be used to sample different notes of an instrument (say a piano), and you can then play a MIDI keyboard and have a full range of piano notes to play. Some samplers are designed primarily to trigger drum sounds, although they can be used for other things as well. Other samplers have more features and are intended for instrument simulations, sound fx, drums, etc. Most offer looping as well, which can make a sample seem longer so that it plays for as long as you hold the key down.
How do I use instruments?
Sample library instruments come in a variety of formats, and depending on the format, they may be used in different ways.
If a product is listed as a "Plug-in" then it is ready to use within any major recording program on both Macs and PC's, such as Logic, Pro Tools, Digital Performer, Cubase, Nuendo, Ableton Live, GarageBand, Sonar, and more. Plug-in products typically contain a sample library and a sampler engine so that you can install the library and begin working immediately without purchasing anything else. Specific instructions are included within each instrument package.
Some instruments ship in various sampler formats, such as Giga, EXS, Kontakt, HALion, MachFive, Akai, Emu, and more. In order to use these instruments, you must own a copy of the respective sampler you wish to use.
If you own a different sampler that is not listed for the particular instrument you are interested in, it may still be possible to convert another sampler format to your desired destination sampler format. While Big Fish Audio cannot guarantee their accuracy with any specific library, many users have had success with Chicken Systems Translator or CDXtract.
What is a construction kit?
A construction kit is loop which usually contains multiple instruments (i.e.: drums, bass, keys, guitar, horns, etc). It sounds like a fully produced, song. However, all the elements that made that loop are broken out after the loop for you to use.
What is the difference between 16 and 24 bit?
16 and 24-bit refers to the sample resolution of the included samples. 16-bit is the standard resolution of audio CD's, while 24-bit is an enhanced resolution supported by many samplers. Some Big Fish Audio libraries are produced in 24-bit, while others are in 16-bit.
If you wish to purchase a library that is 24-bit but your sampler only supports 16-bit, it is possible to convert the library using a number of audio utilities. Big Fish Audio recommends Audiofile Engineering's Sample Manager for Mac users, or Awave's Audio for PC users.
It is not necessary to convert from 16-bit to 24-bit. All samplers that read 24-bit files can also read 16-bit files, and while it is technically possible to convert 16-bit files to 24-bit files, there is no increase in fidelity and therefore no advantage gained by converting in this direction.
|
