Best Service Engine has been the last major holdout from Apple Silicon, with the wonderful Eduardo Tarialonte’s libraries stuck in Rosetta mode. While those libraries are not yet available, the all-new Engine Player is now released and bundled with the Organum Venezia library - https://www.bestservice.com/en/organum_venezia.html
If I understand correctly, this is now nothing to do with Magix, and the developer is listed as Engine Audio. Specs:
Mac
macOS 10.15 or newer
64 bit: Stand-alone, AU, VST3, AAX (native Apple Silicon or Intel)
RAM: 4 GB (more recommended)
Windows
Windows 10 or newer
64 bit: Stand-alone, VST3, AAX
Intel Core Processor
RAM: 4 GB (more recommended)
No word yet on when Eduardo’s libraries will be available on the new player. I was told many months ago that work translating the older libraries is ongoing, but it’s something of a standing joke how long these vague promises have been made so we wait to see.
EDIT - from Best Service's mailout:
With the release of Engine Player, you will now start to see progress on the migration of our Engine 2 libraries to the new Engine Player. Stay tuned and we will happily keep you in the loop about all the beautiful things to happen in our near future.
It works. Seemed fairly tedious to find my way around to find and activate the library, and there seems a lot of clicking just to get going when you launch. But essentially it sounds the same, instrument gui looks the same but in a slicker wrapper. FWIW my single accordian Player library takes up 1.4gb on disk, the old Engine 2 version takes 2gb.
This will excite no-one, but as long as it works reliably for everyone including Mac Silicon, all good. Keep going with the ports of the good stuff!
(I worried for a while it had destroyed my PC but it turned out Win 11 was updating itself without telling me, so can't blame it for that).
The first new library is released, from Eduardo Tarlialonte - Quetzal.
Quetzal - Something between myth and reality
Fly with us on the back of the quetzal, a bird found in the cloud forests of Central America, and discover the mystical expanses of the Mesoamerican jungle. Quetzal by Eduardo Tarilonte captures the sounds of a sublime era of mystical civilizations that seemed lost in the mists of time.
Eduardo Tarilonte, creator of libraries such as NADA, Celtic ERA 2 and Dark ERA, captured the sounds of that era and transports them to the keyboards of computer-based composition studios. Discover a majestic collection of clay flutes, original recreations of the instruments of the time, and be inspired by ancestral drums and over 80 dreamlike soundscapes.
Top Features:
More than 7,000 individual samples
50+ playable instruments
A collection of ancient flutes that whisper ethereal secrets
Ancestral drums that echo the primordial heartbeat of the Earth
80 dreamlike soundscapes
Voices that resonate with the wisdom of ancient priests
More than 80 presets
Most instruments consist of extensive multisamples (24 bit/44.1 kHz) with several dynamic levels, various articulations, round-robin, real legato as well as glissando samples
Requires Engine Player Version 1.0.2
Quetzal is the perfect tool for composers and sound designers to create music and atmospheric sounds for films, documentaries, video games or music of various genres.
You will also find inspiring vocal fx and sounds to add an authentic flavor to your tracks. On top of that there are over 80 dream-like soundscapes that evoke mysterious temple, ruins, and deep jungles.
Most instruments consist of extensive multisamples (24 bit/44.1 kHz) with several dynamic levels, various articulations, round-robin, real legato as well as glissando samples.
Overview of included sounds:
Winds: A large collection of multi-sampled wind instruments and phrases: Atecoccolli: Shell horn, Incus: An instrument with a strong resemblance to a Didgeridoo
Clay Flutes: Huilacapitzli (Ocarinas), Tlapitzalli (Flutes), Double and Triple Flutes, Other Flutes
Flutes FX: Bird Whistles, Death Whistle, Ehecalt (Wind Whistles), Whistling Vessels (Water Flutes), Wild FX and Phrases
Voices: In this section, you will find a range of vocal FX to give your music that special touch: Breaths, Ghostly Breaths, Ghostly Words, Nahual Howling Screams, Nahual Moving Drones, Nahual Phrases, Nahual Screams, Nahual Shouts 01, Nahual Shouts 02, Nahual Tuned Words, Nahual Words
