The Crow Hill VAULTS HC-II Attic Grand User Manual
- June 15, 2024
- The Crow Hill
Table of Contents
The crow hill company presents:
USER MANUAL
VERSION V1.3.1 DEC 14 2023
VAULTS HC-II Attic Grand
…AND HERE
WELCOME
The Crow Hill Company thanks you for your interest in Vaults. A new concept in
sharing sounds.
We’re a small team and have worked hard to make everything as intuitive as
possible. Our hope is this user manual can offer further help to best explain
how to use our plugin.
In what is many love letters to the music making sorority, we have taken time
to make this affectionate user manual get the best out of Vaults.
However if you find yourself still stuck with anything we have a great set of
FAQs at: thecrowhillcompany.com/faqs
WHAT ARE VAULTS?
Vaults opens the lid on exclusive caches of sounds and we want to share them
all with you!
For our Vaults debut we have added some extra sparkles of magic to create your
own sound – reverse effects, gentle (or not so gentle) saturation, echo and…
of course… lots of splosh! It is provided in a dedicated plugin to load
directly into your D.A.W.
We hope Vaults will make you think differently about sound, offer a continuous
treasure trove of inspiration and make you feel like your pool of tools is
constantly being refreshed.
Vaults Beta is just a taste of what is to come, so please let us know what you
think!
INSTALLATION GUIDE
-
Getting The Installer
Each instrument has its dedicated download utility to assist in downloading each instrument installer. This download utility (e.g. Crow Hill Vaults Beta Downloader. app) is only a few megabytes in size and can be found directly from the product page or in your customer account on www.crowhillcompany.com -
Opening The Downloader
Once downloaded, navigate to your download folder to open the utility. If on macOS this will be a .zip file that needs to be opened to show the .app and on Windows a .exe file. Once you have opened the utility it will ask you to choose a desired download location.
By default, this will be your Download folder, but if you are low on system disk space you can choose to download to an external drive -
Downloading
Once opened the download utility will automatically download the instruments installer and open the installer files.
!! What if the download has been completed and the installer files have not automatically opened after several minutes?
In this rare case, you can locate them in your chosen download location and open them directly by clicking on the file. -
Installing
The installer has on-screen instructions to guide you through the process.
Let’s Agree On Something
By clicking continue you are shown the End-User License Agreement. To install and use Crow Hill products this agreement should be read and agreed to. This agreement can be saved for your records and can be found in each instrument’s user manual. Clicking Agree will take you to the next stage.
Clicking Disagree will end the installation process. -
Choosing A Sample Location
When installing your instrument, you will be presented with the option to select an install location for the audio (.blob) content and to de-select un required plug-in formats.
The default install location for the audio content is your system drive. For smaller products, this is perfectly fine. However, if you are running low on disk space you may install your instrument on an external drive. Select your desired location from the dropdown menu and proceed as instructedc -
Choosing Required Plug-In Formats
If you only require a specific format (e.g. AU) then de-selecting other formats is a great way to save on disk space.
If you are unsure what plug-in format your D.A.W (Digital Audio Workstation) requires, we suggest installing them all to ensure maximum compatibility.
By default, all formats are pre-selected. -
Confirming space
After clicking Continue the next screen confirms the amount of system disk space the installation will require. This is a great time to double-check check you are only installing the formats you require and if you want to use an external drive or not. To make changes to your previous selection simply select “Go Back”B -
Time To Install
Once you are happy to proceed click “Install”.
Your operating system will then ask you to enter login credentials.
As the installer runs you will see onscreen progress. This process should only take several minutes with an estimated time presented throughout. -
Next Steps
After a successful install your computer will ask you (macOS) whether you want to keep the installer or move it to your bin.
We suggest keeping a backup of all installers so, if needed you can use them again without having to re-download.
You are now ready to boot up your favorite audio workstation, create a new instrument track and find the Crow Hill folder to load your new Plug-In.
FRONT PANEL
00 HELP OVERLAY – Superimposes a quick guide to all controls.
01 VU METER – Indicates master volume levels.
02 Master volume – Drag left or right to adjust master volume.
03 CURRENT MODULE – Shows the currently loaded sound module.
04 BROWSER POP-UP – Brings up the module selection browser.
05 NAVIGATION CONTROLS – Page through the available modules.| 06 MACRO 1-2
CONTROLS – Controls MACRO 1-2 amounts.
07 MACRO 1-2 DISPLAys – Displays MACRO 1-2 amounts.
08 MACRO 3-6 CONTROLS – Controls MACRO 3-6 amounts.
09 MACRO 3-6 DISPLAYS – Displays MACRO 3-6 amounts.
10 MACRO ORDER FLIPPER – Swaps signal path of macros 5&6.
11 KEYBOARD SCROLLER – Scrolls to different pitch registers.
---|---
BROWSER PANEL
00 CLOSE BROWSER – Exits the browser returning to the main front panel.
01 CURRENT MODULE – Shows the currently loaded sound module.
02 MODULE SELECTION – Click to select and load a module.
03 CLOSE BROWSER – Exits the browser returning to the main front panel.
WHAT ARE MACROS?
Throughout this universal manual you will see repeated use of the term
“macro”. This refers to the 6 onboard effects chains on each vault module.
Macros are not simply an effect. They are individual effects chains that have
been selected and expertly tailored to each module. Each name loosely
represents the effect these chains create. Our aim is to recreate techniques
used by the very best producers and engineers in the business, so your
module(s) will sound like the music you hear over the airwaves, straight out
of the box.
Each macro’s uniquely identifiable names to us sound like certain children’s
TV characters that didn’t quite make it through the casting process.
We have obfuscated the names on purpose to encourage you to combine and
experiment.
#001 – AttIC Grand
-
Offset
Finely alter the start point of each note, increasing or decreasing the amount of natural pre-attack. -
Reverse
Reverse each note back onto itself as an additional, and way more fun layer. -
Smash
A parallel blend control of a bus-style compressor with a somewhat unforgiving ratio. -
Hair
Subtly pull the piano apart by running it through a modelled tube pre-amp. -
Echo
A modelled multi-tap tape delay. With just enough warmth and wobble to satisfy even the most analog of purists. -
Splosh
A Chamber-sized algorithmic reverb. Perfect for positioning a sound within your production.
#002 – R &D Strings
-
Timbre
Crossfade between uniquely captured dynamic layers. -
Glisten
A pitched shift granular delay being fed into a shimmer-based reverb. Need we say more? -
Sub
Re-synthesised bass and subharmonics, squashed together for added heft. -
Pris
Control the balance of ever shifting frequencies as they weave in and out of phase. -
Echo
A modelled multi-tap tape delay. With just enough warmth and wobble to Satisfy even the most analog of purists. -
Splosh
A Chamber-sized algorithmic reverb. Perfect for positioning a sound within your production.
#003 – CELEST-A-TONE
-
TREMOLO
A LFO-based tremolo (CCl) pushing & pulling the volume of the Celeste. -
SWARM
An additional layer of cascading reflections & delayed signals feeding back into itself. -
TONE
A carefully refined filter to help carve out any troublesome low-end. -
HAMMERS
A volume control for the additional “attack” sounds, captured from the classic Dulcitone. -
Echo
A modelled multi-tap tape delay. With just enough warmth and wobble to Satisfy even the most analog of purists. -
Splosh
A Chamber-sized algorithmic reverb. Perfect for positioning a sound within your production.
FAQ
Here’s a few frequently asked questions we suspect you may have.
For more FAQs please go to
www.thecrowhillcompany.com/faqs
How mucg does a Crow Hill Membersgip cost?
Crow Hill membership is absolutely free, and with it you get access to free tools and resources to support you on your music making journey, as well as exclusive access to the behind-the-scenes happenings in the company.
Can I use crow gill samples on commercial projects?
Yes! We have no limitations on how you use our samples. 8rovided you follow these three rules. • Please don’t make other commercial sample libraries out of them. • Please don’t give them to friends or sell them on (this is piracy. • They’re designed to be used in compositions, so distributing tracks that contain only a single note playing one of our sounds breaks the EULA.
Once I’ve used my library can I sell it on?
Regrettably not. This is not a library that you own to resell. It is a library that contains master recordings which are licensed to be used by you for the rest of your life, but only you (or someone working on your rig). Even libraries that are offered for free are individually licensed, so if someone likes your sounds let them know they should check out www.thecrowhillcompany.com to pick up their own copy.
How Can I Reset A Control?
If you find you have wandered too far down the creative path, you can always reset a value by holding down the following keys on the desired parameter. (MacOS) Option (⌥) + Left-Click or (Win) ALT + Left-Click
Can I Use MIDI To Control Tge Instrument?
Yes! As well as using a MIDI keyboard to play each instrument, each instrument also has two ways to automate the onscreen controls. You can either use your host workstation's (e.g. Logic, 8ro Tools) automation capabilities. Or you can MIDI Learn to utilise real-world controllers to automate parameters within the plugin. To MIDI learn, Right-Click the control and move your hardware controller's dial, wheel or slider. To Unlearn your assignment, or to reassign to another control, Right-Click the parameter and select the appropriate option. Not working? Ensure your controller is connected and recognised by your host software.
TROUBLESHOOTING
I Can’t Hear Anything!
As much as we all love John Cage, we are sure you want to hear your
instrument\Included in each instrument are a few utilities that can be used to
diagnose some likely causes\Each instrument has a combination of ways to
control the overall volume.
- Ensure Expression (CC11l is at its maximum value.
- If included, check that the mixer controls are not set to -Infinity or muted (m.)
- Check that your Master Output Volume is not set to its minimum value (-Infinityl.)
This can be quickly checked by looking at the Volume Meter, which should be moving while sound is passing through your instrument.
Still no luck?
If you have tried the above and still hear nothing, the onscreen MIDI keyboard
can be directly played by Left-Clicking a piano key in the user interface\If
you can now hear the instrument then the issue is likely the connection
between your MIDI keyboard and your workstation’s associated track\Ensure
there are no loose connections, triple-check your MIDI input settings, and
remember to arm your track.
Help! My Plug-In’s interface is entirely blank.
Don’t worry. Looks can be deceiving, this means the plug-in is unable to
locate the audio (.blobl files\Ensure your external drives are connected and
restart your digital audio workstation (D.A.Wl\Unable to locate your .blob
files, lost track of where you installed them, or had to misfortune of
misplacing a drive? Simply re-run the installer to be up and running in no
time.
We recommend frequent back-ups of your system, as well as archiving your instrument installer files to ensure a speedy recovery should it ever be needed.
How Do I Relocate My Instruments Audio Files?
The simplest way to relocate your instrument’s audio files (.blobl is to
delete the previous files (where you previously installed your .blob’sl and
re-run the installer, selecting the newly desired install location.
This ensures no files are accidentally removed and will automatically
overwrite any pre-existing instrument files.
CREDITS
Vaults wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the efforts of these amazing,
talented and generous individuals.
Development: ……………….Calum Minuti-Goold
Product Design: …………..Prokopi Constantinou
Marketing & Prose: …………..Gabrielle Atkinson
Operations: …………………….Marley Petropoulos
Tech Stack: …………………………Stephen Tallamy
Artistic & Prose Consultant: ………….Dot Allison
Logistics: ………………………………..Caroline Lofts
Videographer: …………………………….Jack Rosam
Production Assistant:…………………Theo Le Derf
User Manual: ……………………..Christian Henson
EULA
ANY PERSON OR ENTITY (“User” or “You”) USING OR OTHERWISE ACCESSING OUR PRODUCT OR ANY OF THE CONTENT AVAILABLE VIA THE PRODUCT SHALL BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT (“Agreement”). OUR PRODUCT IS AN INSTALLABLE SOFTWARE PACKAGE WHICH INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, AUDIO RECORDINGS, VISUAL ASSETS AND CODE, AND THE TERM (“Product”) SHALL BE CONSTRUED ACCORDINGLY.
- Contracting parties. The Product, together with all content, data and other materials (“Content”) are owned or controlled by Crow Hill Productions Limited, having its Registered Office at c/o Cc Young & Co, 3rd Floor The Bloomsbury Building, 10 Bloomsbury Way, Holborn, London, WC1A 2SL (“we”, “us”, “our” or “Crow Hill”). When you register with (or otherwise access) us, you are contracting with Crow Hill. The licence granted to you by us is effective from the date you download, install or use the Product(s) (whichever is earliest) and shall remain in force until terminated by us.
- Use of the Product. The Product and the Content is intended only for the purposes specified or implied therein, and your use of the Product and the Content is entirely at your own risk. You shall be solely responsible for all of your use of the Product. Please note, whilst we endeavour to provide accurate and up-to-date information, the Product and the Content may not be wholly accurate or up-to-date, complete or free of defects, and are subject to change at any time. The Product is provided without any representations or warranties of any kind (implied or express) to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law. We, unless otherwise stated herein, own or control all relevant intellectual property rights contained in the Product and the Content. You may not publish, distribute, extract, re-utilise, or reproduce any part of the Product or any Content in any form other than as expressly allowed herein or as otherwise provided for by us, (or under applicable laws). Save as expressly set out in this Agreement, the Product is for your personal use only . We will not be responsible if your use of the Product or of the Content does not fit your particular intended purpose.
- Licence for Download and Use of Products. By purchasing a Product (and subject to your compliance with this Agreement), we grant to you a non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, non-transferrable license to download (on not more than two devices concurrently) and use the Products you purchase from us, for personal use, PROVIDED ALWAYS that you use the purchased Sound File(s) only within your own newly-created sound recording(s) and/or performances in a manner that renders the Sound File(s) substantially different to the original sound of the Sound File in each case. The Products (and all recordings and/or compositions incorporated therein) are our property and are licensed to you only for use as part of a live or recorded musical performance. You may use these sounds for any commercial or non-commercial purpose where you have combined them with other sounds within one or more musical composition(s) and/or recording(s), in which case they are permitted to be shared with or given or transferred to any third party or uploaded to any file sharing site or offered for resale or public transmission. This license expressly forbids resale or other distribution of the Products or their derivatives, either as they exist in the library, reformatted for use in another sampler, or mixed, combined, filtered, re-synthesised or otherwise edited, for use as sounds, multisounds, samples, multi-samples, sound sets, programmes or patches in a sampler, microchip, computer or any sample playback device. You may not sell any Product(s), or give away any Product(s) for use by any other person(s). Products may not be used in or in relation to any competitive products that are sold or relicensed to any third parties. Except as expressly permitted herein, to the fullest extent of applicable law you may not copy, modify, distribute, sell or lease any Product, and you may not reverse engineer or attempt to extract the source code of any Product. Product(s) may not be used in datasets for, in the development of, or as inputs to generative AI programs. For the avoidance of doubt, your license with us is personal in nature and shall not be transferred to any other individual or corporate entity. You shall take all reasonable and practicable steps to protect the Product, together with any ancillary items that are sold with the Product, for all unauthorised copying or use. You shall ensure that in no way is the Product modified or in any way adapted to benefit use by an unlicensed third party.
- Ownership. Ownership of, and title to, the Products (and all digitally recorded sounds and/or copies therein) is held by us. Copies are provided to you solely to enable you to exercise your rights hereunder. When you purchase any Product(s), you are purchasing a limited and personal licence for use (and not ownership) of Product(s). Except as expressly authorised in this Agreement, you may not rent, lease, sell, sublicense, distribute, transfer, copy, reproduce, display, modify or time share any Product(s) (or part or element thereof).
- Intellectual Property. All rights not expressly granted to User are reserved by us. The Products are licensed, not sold, to you to be used for your own original musical compositions and productions. All copying, lending, duplicating, re-selling or trading of any Product or other Content is strictly prohibited, save as used for or incorporated into your original created works. Only you, as the original purchaser of a Sound File, has the right to embody and reproduce that Sound File within your music compositions/productions. This license is granted for you as a single user only (and is given on a worldwide basis). You agree and acknowledge that we have a proprietary interest in all sound recordings, and that any use by you that frustrates the purpose of this Agreement or seeks to prevent our payment process (including without limitation by the selling, renting, or otherwise using or distributing un-integrated Content) may cause irreparable loss to us in a way that could not be adequately compensated by damages. For the avoidance of doubt, no ownership of copyright is transferred by us to you hereunder. The brands, products and service names used by us and in the Content are trademarks or trade names of ours or our trading partners unless otherwise stated.
- Warranty and Indemnity. You warrant that you will abide by all applicable laws when using the Products and the Content. User hereby warrants and represents that User has the right and power to enter into and fully perform all of its obligations under this Agreement; User will defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless, our parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees, and agents, with respect to any claim, demand, cause of action, or debt or liability brought by or claimed by any third party, including attorneys’ fees, to the extent that any such claim is based upon or arises out of a breach of any of User’s representations, warranties, covenants, or obligations.
- No Endorsement. At no time, will we pre-screen or monitor, and therefore endorse, (and we expressly disclaim any and all liability in connection with) any third-party content or any other materials created or exhibited or otherwise exploited by our Users.
- Termination of this Agreement. We may at any time terminate this legal Agreement, in our sole discretion without prior notice to you and without reimbursement, if we have reasonable grounds to believe that you may have breached (or acted in a manner indicating that you do not intend to or are unable to comply with) any term herein or if we are legally required to do so by law. You acknowledge that we will cooperate fully with investigations of violations of systems or network security at other sites, including cooperating with law enforcement authorities in investigating suspected criminal violations.
- Liability. You agree that our liability to you hereunder shall be limited to the amount you have actually paid to us for all products or services hereunder of, if greater, GBP100. Except as set out herein, we shall not be liable for any indirect or consequential loss of any kind in contract, tort or otherwise arising out of your use of the Product or the Content or in relation to the goods and/ or services that we provide. Nothing in this Agreement shall operate to limit or exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence.
- Warranties. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW IN YOUR TERRITORY, ALL OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR THE WARRANTY OF NON-INFRINGEMENT. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, WE MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT (A) THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (B) THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, (C) THE RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE EFFECTIVE, ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, OR (D) THE QUALITY OF ANY MATERIALS OR SERVICES OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US, OR FROM ANY THIRD PARTIES’ WEBSITES TO WHICH WE ARE LINKED, WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS OR BE FREE FROM MISTAKES, ERRORS OR DEFECTS. THE USE OF THE PRODUCTS AND THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND WITH YOUR AGREEMENT THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER DEVICE OR SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM SUCH ACTIVITIES.
- Indemnity. You agree to indemnify us for any loss or damage that may be incurred by us, including without limitation reasonable legal fees, arising from any breach by you of any warranty or other term herein or your misuse of any material or information obtained through the use of the Products or the Content.
- Complaints. If you would like to notify us of Content, which you believe does not comply with this Agreement or otherwise is objectionable, please notify us via www.thecrowhillcompany.com/faqs making sure to include both the link to the infringing Content and the reasons as to why you believe there is an infringement.
- Hacking. You agree and undertake not to attempt to damage, deny service to, hack, crack, reverse-engineer, or otherwise interfere with the Products and/or the Content in any manner. If you in any way cause such damage, you agree to pay all financial damages we incur as a result. We will cooperate with the authorities in prosecuting any User who Interferes with the Products or the Content or otherwise attempts to defraud us or any other parties. We reserve the right to deny any or all access or service to any User for any reason, at any time, at our sole discretion. You agree that we may block your access, and at our sole discretion to disallow your continued use of the Products and/or the Content. We reserve the right to take any action we may deem appropriate in our sole discretion with respect to violations or enforcement of the terms of this Agreement, and we expressly reserve all rights and remedies available to us at law or in equity.
- No Partnership. Your use of the Product and/or the Content creates no partnership, client, fiduciary or other professional relationship.
- Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties on the subject matter hereof. There are no understandings, agreements, or representations, oral or written, not specified herein regarding this Agreement.
- Force Majeure. We will not be liable or responsible for any failure to perform, or delay in performance of, any of our obligations hereunder that is caused by events outside our reasonable control including but not limited to: natural disasters (fire, storms, floods), governmental or societal actions (war, invasion, civil unrest, labour strikes), infrastructure failures (transportation, energy, electricity), or any epidemic or pandemic.
- Severance. If any part, term, or provision of this Agreement shall be held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be illegal, unenforceable, or in conflict with any relevant law, the remaining portions or provisions shall still remain valid and continue in full force and effect
- No Waiver. No waiver, express or implied, by either party of any term or condition or of any breach by the other of any of the provisions of this Agreement shall operate as a waiver of any breach of the same or any other provision of this Agreement.
- Variation. This Agreement may be varied from time to time and any such amendment will be applicable from the date and time such revised terms have been made publicly available. Your continued use of the Product constitutes agreement with and acceptance of any such amendment or other changes.
- Law and Jurisdiction. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and any disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England.
- Contacting Us. If you have any questions, please contact us at www.thecrowhillcompany.com/faqs