GEAR REVIEW
SUNDAY SOUNDS 2021 | Ed Kerr
KEY FEATURES
• Great palette of layered sounds , pianos and pads
• User-friendly interface allows live control of every aspect of sound
• Affordable way to expand sound library
• Tonic Pad Player makes adding a droning pad simple
A little over a year ago I had the pleasure of reviewing Sunday Keys here . A few days ago I received a copy of Sunday Keys 2021 and am delighted to share what I ’ ve discovered with you . Designed to work within either MainStage or Ableton Live , this update will delight new users as well as players who have used earlier versions of Sunday Keys .
As I installed Sunday Keys 2021 I was again impressed with how user-friendly the folks at SundaySounds . com have made the installation process . At every step along the way there are tutorial videos you can easily access if you have questions or challenges . Within a few minutes of starting the process Sunday Keys 2021 was ready to go on my laptop and I was able to start listening to the sounds . They are fantastic !
Having played a lot of different keyboards through the years and browsed lots of different sound libraries with my computer , one of the things I ’ ve come up short on is great pad sounds . That ’ s definitely not the case with Sunday Keys 2021 . As you work your way through the presets they ’ ve loaded or listen to other available sounds , you ’ ll find sound after sound that will provide whatever your song needs .
If you ’ ve spent any time with MainStage you probably understand that the software allows you to customize your screen layout to contain whatever you want . This can be a good and a bad thing . If you ’ re an experienced user of
MainStage you love the freedom this gives you . If you only work with MainStage occasionally you might find this intimidating . You ’ ll be happy to see that Sunday Keys ’ template for MainStage is customized to make all of its functionality quickly available . If you use Korg ’ s NanoKontrol2 you ’ ll find that Sunday Keys is designed to work with it as soon as you connect it .
For this review I ’ ve been using my iPad and iPhone to interact with Sunday Keys . This involves the $ 5 TouchOSC app ( available for both iOS and Android devices ). By following the very thorough tutorials provided , I was able to take control of MainStage quickly from the iPad .
Whichever way you choose to control Sunday Keys , you ’ ll find an amazing sonic palette at your fingertips . Each time I play the instrument I quickly get lost in the rich textures I ’ m able to create . The layered sounds that have been programmed are so expressive , and I find myself inspired with musical ideas each time I play . As you experiment with adding shimmer , delay and other effects within your control , you ’ ll be delighted with the movement , momentum and energy your keyboard parts can contribute to your worship songs .
Another feature of Sunday Keys 2021 , one that ’ s been around for a while , is the Tonic app . This allows you to easily add a droning pad sound to your song . As the pad plays you ’ re able to continue playing whichever sound you ’ ve loaded into MainStage . As you turn the Tonic pad on or off there ’ s a subtle fade in or out , so the addition