Mark Isham

Connected via ethernet are two Mac Pro’s running Vienna Ensemble Pro 5 software, and the largest sample library known to man (unverified…but we’re pretty sure).

"The Little Labs VOG is the ultimate kick drum shaper. I find whatever is the 'time keeper' in my sequence, and once I’ve written the bulk of the track, I slap the VOG on it and begin tweaking. In about 30 seconds I can find a sweet spot that really provides the right level of punch for any given low-end percussive sample. But it’s not a 'one trick pony' in that regard, as recent experiments have led to great results reshaping thick, bass-heavy synth patches as well. The VOG can take organic sounding Omnisphere and Trillian patches and slide them right into place amongst string ensembles and other orchestral elements — a truly beautiful shaping tool."

"On action-oriented film sequences where drums play a major role, I don’t know what I’d do without the 1176 Plug-In Collection. The new AE version is so spectacular. The 2:1 ratio gives me options I didn’t have before, and when you want a bit more distortion and rock, the A Bluestripe version is perfect — an incredible emulation. As a side note, I have two hardware LA-2A’s, and an original 1176, and I could not be happier with the sound from this plug-in collection."

"At my studio have a lot of great sounding outboard reverbs and plug-ins — with some nice sounding impulse response libraries— but the Aux 1 in my Logic template will forever have the Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb plug-in cued up."

"The UAD Precision Mastering plug-ins give me a quick and effective means to get demos to punch the way they need to in rough listening environments, while allowing me to keep my session dynamics intact. In other words, I can leave a healthy amount of peaks and valleys on the composition side of things, and rely on the Precision Mastering plug-ins on my printed stereo demo to help 'sell' the piece. Invaluable."

Mark Isham praises Spectrasonics' Symphony of Voices, highlighting the exceptional quality of the Women and Boys Choir samples. He expresses satisfaction with how this collection has enhanced his work, as noted on the Spectrasonics Legacy Products page.

"Right now I use the Stylus RMX for a lot of drums, but also any “cut up” type samples – guitars, anything to be cut up and sequenced in that fabulous format that he’s designed. Omnisphere is a big part of my sound as well as Trilian. Those three give a very solid background, a very flexible group of instruments."

"Right now I use the Stylus RMX for a lot of drums, but also any “cut up” type samples – guitars, anything to be cut up and sequenced in that fabulous format that he’s designed. Omnisphere is a big part of my sound as well as Trilian. Those three give a very solid background, a very flexible group of instruments."

"Right now I use the Stylus RMX for a lot of drums, but also any “cut up” type samples – guitars, anything to be cut up and sequenced in that fabulous format that he’s designed. Omnisphere is a big part of my sound as well as Trilian. Those three give a very solid background, a very flexible group of instruments."

"Pianos are always a big question. There seem to be new ones coming out all of the time, but the Synthogy Ivory is something we’ve used for quite awhile and has always done a good job. I believe the piano on The Secret Life of Bees demo was done on that. It certainly is a brilliant demo piano, it’s used all the time here!!! "

"I really like Rob Papen’s synthesisers. I used Predator in Mechanic, which is coming out next year. There’s a new record that I’m working on called Cover Art that has a bunch of Rob’s instruments on it. I used the Sample Logic Morphestra a lot on The Crazies as well as ProjectSAM’s Symphobia."

"I really like Rob Papen’s synthesisers. I used Predator in Mechanic, which is coming out next year. There’s a new record that I’m working on called Cover Art that has a bunch of Rob’s instruments on it. I used the Sample Logic Morphestra a lot on The Crazies as well as ProjectSAM’s Symphobia."

"I really like Rob Papen’s synthesisers. I used Predator in Mechanic, which is coming out next year. There’s a new record that I’m working on called Cover Art that has a bunch of Rob’s instruments on it. I used the Sample Logic Morphestra a lot on The Crazies as well as ProjectSAM’s Symphobia."

"I use the Toontrack EZdrummer quite a bit. I believe it was used quite extensively on The Women."

"Vir 2 – I like their stuff a lot, Electri6ity is a great one. That shows up on The Mechanic quite a bit. I really love the guitar samples from them. We have a ton of Zero-G synthesisers – all of those little menus of sounds and there’s always something to throw in [laughs] and make things interesting. "

Synthogy Ivory II Grand Pianos is included in list of products used by Mark Isham.

Isham has a long‑standing working relationship with orchestrator/conductor Ken Kugler. Mark supplies Kugler with MIDI files of his compositions, and Kugler transforms these into a score. For Isham, having a sampled 'virtual' MIDI orchestra at his fingertips is a godsend — and Opcode's Studio Vision Pro, his compositional/sequencing software of choice, aids him by not permitting him to play outside the various orchestral instruments' real‑world ranges: "I'm sort of aware already," he jests, "but it's nice to have that built in — just to remind you that the bass clarinet doesn't have that note!"