🆓🎁New FREE SYNTH from Majetone and It Sounds Beautiful

[LinkedMusicians]

I’ve been a customer and fan of this developer for several years. I’ve also had some conversations with him about his libraries and he seems like a really nice guy. He had a recent review in Sound on Sound where the reviewer referred to his latest plugin as genius. He represents the kind of indie, one-man developer shops that I want to shine a spotlight on. These guys aren’t getting rich. They’re the risk takers and really creative people. People like Orange Tree Samples (Greg Schlaepfer, whose become a good friend over the past 15 or so years), Pendle at Sound Dust, John at Wrongtools, Waverunner, Xperimenta Project… Developers, I believe, who are independent creative people creating inspiring tools for musicians and music producers that march to the beat of their own drum. They’re not the copycats. We’ll eventually get James here. We’ve discussed it. He knows that I really love his work. And he’s a fellow drummer!

I haven’t figured out how to embed the Wavekit app into a post, but if you click on this you will hear an audio demo and understand why I wrote that it sounds beautiful — those are my words (Peter) not the developer’s.  This developer has a real gift. And no, I’ve never received or asked for an NFR, he doesn’t have an affiliate program. and I have never asked any developers for money for posting here. I want this to be a palce where a spotlight is shone upon the very talented indie developers like this one. This site will be funded by me, contributors and affiliate commissions from retailers and the big developers.  But the small ones like Majetone — I want them to be here. If any of them wanted to make a voluntary contribution, they could, but none of them has ever been asked to do so. I just want the best ones here to be very candid.

You need to sign up for Majetone’s email list to get the link / code for the free library. I realize that’s a hoop that not everyone wants to jump through, but click on the below link and listen to the demo from this plugin — NO KONTAKT required. I usually don’t like it when small devs do Kontakt libraries. And I originally gave this dev feedback to stick with Kontakt. But he is so talented, I think it’s worthwhile, especially for the freebie.

https://play.wavekit.app/embed/playlist/G7TULTAxq2?type=wave&border=false&theme=light&accentLight=black&accentDark=white

https://majetone.com/products/pantomime-4

• This topic was modified 3 months ago by LinkedMusicians.
• This topic was modified 2 months, 4 weeks ago by LinkedMusicians.

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21

[Satya]

It says 4 pounds

[LinkedMusicians]

On Satya said

It says 4 pounds

Oops, it reads “for email subscribers.”  I’ll update my original post. Sorry about that.

It automatically embeds a coupon code in the URL for email subscribers,  so he clearly wants to require people to subscribe to his email to get this. I don’t want to disrespect his wishes, even though I can plainly see the code.  All I can say is listen to the demo, and if you think it’s worth the effort, subscribe to his email and you’ll get it for free. I think it’s well worth it, and you can always unsubscribe. But I think this guy is really talented and I’m excited about this one, and I have that feeling I had when I was young and turning my friends on to a new band that I loved.

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1

[atu]

Damn, majetone requires phone number to sign in.

I don’t want Spam call anymore..

2

[LinkedMusicians]

On atu said

Damn, majetone requires phone number to sign in.

I don’t want Spam call anymore..

I think that’s just a stock form. I wouldn’t worry about spam calls from that. This is a one-man developer shop out of the UK, The form, no doubt has that because that’s a stock form and what credit card issuers want. If you’re super worried about giving up your phone number, you could always put in a fake one. I’m not saying I would do that — I wouldn’t. But technically, you can easily do that. The system isn’t going to verify phone numbers against any kind of database. I will admit that I loathe the calls from Sweetwater. But rest assured, this developer isn’t going to be calling anyone. He’s an engineer trying to make a living off of sample development, and my experience is that this guy is talented and I would like to see him succeed.

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[LinkedMusicians]

I just found the developer released a video where you can here him play around with this free synth and get a good idea of what it sounds like and why I am so fond of his work. The guy is an artist. There are lots of developers who are technicians. This guy is a true artist and a technician. Okay, I sound like a total fanboy, but I find his work really inspiring and yes, I get excited about sharing stuff like this.

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2

[LinkedMusicians]

This video of someone playing the various patches from Pantomime 4 just popped into my feed. I find these videos of people playing all or a lot of a synth’s patches super helpful in deciding whether or not to buy, so I thought that it would also be useful for this freebie, plus you guys can get a better handle on the kind of work this developer does. If Majetone wasn’t giving this away free, I absolutely would have happily paid for it after hearing these patches.

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2

[LinkedMusicians]

Majetone / James (it’s a one-person business, like many small Kontakt sample developer businesses) just sent out an email to his subscribers that he is pausing downloads for this freebie. The kind of vitiol he’s facing are familiar to anyone who has managed social media and having been managed digital a long time, I’ve witness an incredible amount of cruelty online and know what it’s like to be the target of it. How we treat one another matters. James is a very talented musician and sample developer and it’s heartbreaking to see how the toxicity of forum members (not here, but other places) impact him. I actually haven’t had time to download the synth yet. I’m a Windows user, so I’m hoping that he leaves that up. But I’m going to send him a letter (email) of encouragement to let him know that he’s appreciated. I’m going to link to this thread so he can see what I wrote about him and have a reminder that his work is valued and appreciated.

The amount of downloads has somewhat caught me off guard, it’s been way bigger than anything I’ve done. I routinely seem to underestimate that, but it’s genuine surprise – I often feel like I’ve been creating in a vacuum and for myself for so long it surprises me when it isn’t that! So thank you for the support. But.

 

Over the past couple of days there’s been a large amount of vitriol. I’ve been called a lot of things. I know the internet can be a cold dark place, but christ. Bit much to be honest. I’m just a person who’s made a synth and wanted to share that on the internet in the hope of drawing attention to his plugin company. Thats it. I love doing this stuff and I want it to be good. Not everyone who’s had an issue has been aggressive and I’m grateful for that but there’s been a large enough amount of it, I get it – you don’t know me, something doesn’t work and that’s frustrating, I sort of get it, but also… it’s hard to deal with and also try and troubleshoot problems.

 

I didn’t and wouldn’t release a plugin that didn’t work in to the world, I tested it and it threw up none of the issues that users are having on Mac and I can’t replicate those to fix it, I thought I had it with the update, but without being able to replicate it I’m sort of limited to ‘hit and hope’ which is stressful and ultimately leads me to some sort of impasse.

 

I’m not trying to con anyone or engage in any nefarious practices – because frankly, life is too short and that isn’t where my interests lie and I’d hope that my work up until this point would demonstrate that. I want to make stuff, I don’t want to be shouted at by strangers from a doom portal.

 

Releasing plugins is stressful enough as is and I’ve decided that frankly it isn’t worth the aggravation and to stop Pantomime 4 from distribution immediately, if you’ve downloaded it and it works – it will continue to work. It will be back I’m sure, but I’m going to solve these issues first without it being distributed.

 

I’m sure this whole thing has done me/majetone some damage, which I’m disappointed and sad about and I’m not sure how to move forwards from. If you’re angry, I’m sorry about that. I’m sure that people will think this whole thing has been a cynical move, it hasn’t, it’s been my idea of a nightmare.

 

It’s made me question whether or not to continue doing this at all – which I think is an emotive knee jerk on my part and I need some time and space to figure this out. It’s not every interaction but a large amount of them have been just awful, and if that’s what growing a company is – do I want that? I want to make stuff, but I’ve noticed that seems to come with an open invitation for rudeness, entitlement and aggression and I just don’t want that nor do I want to support it.

 

I’m not quite sure how to conclude this or how I’ll feel in a couple of days but I think for now, the best thing is just putting the brakes on and try and figure out why this link issue is happening in Mac, without adding more fuel to the fire with continued downloads. I’m sure it will return, sorry if you’d intended on downloading and missed it I hope you can understand my reasons for this.

Best wishes,

James

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31

[jude77]

James’ response to the attacks he received is pretty sad.  The internet can be a particularly brutal place, but it’s always distressing to see the brutality unleashed on a guy who’s trying to do something GOOD.  My personal thanks to Peter for reaching out to James with a kind word.  I feel confident he’ll appreciate it.

12

[LinkedMusicians]

On jude77 said

James’ response to the attacks he received is pretty sad.  The internet can be a particularly brutal place, but it’s always distressing to see the brutality unleashed on a guy who’s trying to do something GOOD.  My personal thanks to Peter for reaching out to James with a kind word.  I feel confident he’ll appreciate it.

I’ve had emails with him a couple of years back. He’s a really nice guy and he’s very talented. And he’s a drummer, besides being an engineer. And, I realize I’ve written this earlier, but he’s really super talented and his prices are very well low during sales like these. I have that feeling like when I was a young musician, and constantly going to clubs and seeing new bands, when you turn your friends on to a new band — that’s how I feel about indie developers like James or Greg Schlaepfer — who I got to know when he was just starting out and I was a super fan (and still am, but now I count Greg as a valued friend). I loathe how uncivil social media — and forums have become.  I hate that my kids live in a world where cruelty is the norm online. Where people are more apt to attack others than be kind.

That was the foundation of why I created this place. To have an environment where we can talk about the thing that we love so much and share in common: music. Music is our common ground. We have an environment here where we can discuss it, where we can learn, we can share, where we don’t want our ability to share and express ourselves ruined by people treating each other with cruelty, insults, and attacks.  I loathe seeing what James is dealing with. He’s so talented and he is generous, and his creations are very inspiring. I hope that I — and I would love if others join in — can provide him with encouragement that his talent and work are valued. When he and I emailed, I told him about things I wish were changed with his Truck Drums — that I wish the cymbals were mapped differently. He listened and gave a thoughtful reply. He handles criticism well and is a really decent and kind person. I hope that he sees more of that kindness back and when he’s sees the worst in people, that he can keep in mind, that he is valued by many others.

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2

[LinkedMusicians]

On the topic of Kindness. This song has moved me deeply since I first heard it. One of my friends is a psychologist at a group home for people with developmental disabilities. She’s around 15 years younger than me. She told me one day that the home had a visit from a musician and his band who donated a bunch of instruments for the residents. He spent the day there and had dinner with the staff and residents. She said, she really wasn’t very familiar with his music, it was before her time. The musician was, of course (because of the video below), Todd Rundgren. My friend, Angie, sat next to Todd and thought he was the nicest guy. Of course, as a fan, I was totally envious!

Now, I’m someone who has been in marketing management and been responsible for PR. When musicians and celebrities do charitable things like this, it’s usually with a PR effort with a video crew. There was none for this. Just a musician who really cared about those less fortunate who wanted to help out of the kindness of his heart.  Now here’s the song of his that moves me so much. Todd wrote it for a musical.

The one that showed me kindness
Was the one that taught me kindness

Though I did not recognize it
Still I might have died without it

 

And when I awakened
It was too late to thank her

 

If I live someday I’ll make repayment
And show someone the kindness she showed me

 

When my voice grows strident
When I feel important
I’m reminded of that kindness
And where I’d be without it
I’m learning my lessons
It may take me a lifetime
Give me strength to justify my being
And show someone the kindness shown to me

 

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Todd Rundgren
Kindness lyrics © Warner-tamerlane Publishing Corp., Humanoid Music

 

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1

[atu]

@LinkedMusicians

Yea I use fake phone number when I sign up, but Majetone requires SMS verification when sign in or purchase.

It’s not that I don’t trust him personally, but I don’t want to register my phone number online in general.

 

• This reply was modified 2 months, 4 weeks ago by atu.
• This reply was modified 2 months, 4 weeks ago by atu.

[doug]

I really feel for James too. I might reach out to him as well and offer to help him debug the Mac issues with Pantomine.

This would be a clever signature if I could think of one.

2

[joegyork]

This is really sad. There is so much trolling of people just trying to do a good job – as you know only too well @peter

2

[LinkedMusicians]

On joegyork said

This is really sad. There is so much trolling of people just trying to do a good job – as you know only too well @peter

Yeah, that’s why it hit hard. I’ve been the target of cyberbullying and harassment far more than once in the three decades since I made digital my career, including this week. People who haven’t experienced it have no idea what it can do to you, especially when your reputation is so critical to your business or, in this case of LM, your passion project. You realize that malicious individuals can easily destroy everything that you’ve worked so hard to build, pretty easily by spreading lies and defaming you. And the sad part, as you know (for those who don’t know, Joe is a moderator here and a large Facebook group for Creative Sauce). It doesn’t matter if you’ve done things the right way. It doesn’t matter what your heart is. People with all sorts of twisted motivations can go online and spread lies and hate for whatever bizarre, twisted motivations they have. In the case of James, he’s a super talented guy and when his stuff is on sale, it’s all no-brainer priced. It’s a ridiculously great value. And I know the man is not getting rich. People might see my posts and think — oh, Peter is friends with this guy ((‘m not, I’m just a fan of his work and in our interactions, when I told him that I love his work and tried to persuade him to do an additional mapping of Truck Drums, he was personal, he was polite, he was kind and really down to earth — he seemed very genuine). His work brings me joy. I am grateful for that. He’s far more talented than the average developer. I suppose he’s like the drummer version of Ben Osterhouse. A very talented musician and sample developer who constantly thinks up new, creative ways of approaching sample libraries. These guys aren’t doing the typical, the obvious.

If someone has a technical issue with something this developer has made and the developer commits to fixing it, that is the best any small developer — or even a larger developer — can do. The problem is with an individual who attacks that developer (and largely the bullies are annoymous people who are tough guys behind a computer keyboard), not the developer. I created LinkedMusicians to prioritize music creators, but never to be unjust towards developers or anyone else. State the facts, it’s okay to share that something caused you frustration, but, especially when it’s a small developer, never forget someone’s humanity. Never forget that there is a human being who made that sample library or plugin when you’re dealing with a one-person operation. That same person has to wear a lot of hats, and if you’re ridiculing their work publicly, that can be an emotional thing for that person. It can be an attack on their business, their skills, their performance, their integrity.  I’m an empath by nature. I loathe seeing people unleashing cruelty on others and seeing how this has gotten to James really is heartbreaking. This is absolutely a community that is well-suited for empaths. It’s also a place to hold up and shine a light on great small indie developers like Majetone in a way that is unlikely to happen on the big forums in this space or by influencers when they can make good money money by making videos for larger developers (I’ve been working on an article — more like the articles I used to write in my marketing strategy publication, but not written for business professionals, but musicians and music producers; I’m going to keep all of the names of the people I’m interviewing confidential, so that they will share everything, including what they’ve paid influencers, so that sharing that info won’t have negative repercussions for them in the industry and by influencers) that sheds light how influencer marketing works in this industry.  It’s kind of like exposing that pro wrestling isn’t real, it’s staged performances and influencer videos are equally as genuine as pro wrestling matches).

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21

[doug]

The really sad part about this whole affair is that this library was given away. The people responding with didn’t pay a cent for this. I could see people reacting if they had invested a huge sum of money in a product and it didn’t work for them but reacting this way for something they received for free is just not called for.

This would be a clever signature if I could think of one.

31

[LinkedMusicians]

When James gets the new bug fix done and the new version released, I hope everyone here will check it out and then I think they’ll see for themselves why I’m so enthusiastic about this developer. I am too busy with this site to see the posts that happened at other forums (I do use an app that scrapes deals off of numerous developers, retailers, subreddits, forums, and social media deal group’s pages, but I only look at the original posts, I’m not actually looking at these sites. I’m just looking at the interface, looking at my emails and pruning / curating the deals that I think are most appropriate for our members (for example, I tend to not spend much time posting loops or one shots, and focus more on plugins and sample libraries). So, except for the recent stuff at CF, which our members have told me a lot about initially, leading me to start following it directly, I don’t really follow what’s happening at other forums anymore. i simply don’t have the time.

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2

[LinkedMusicians]

On doug said

I really feel for James too. I might reach out to him as well and offer to help him debug the Mac issues with Pantomine.

This would be a clever signature if I could think of one.

I think your doing that could have a positive effect far beyond helping him with coding advice. Seeing an act of kindness after you’ve just seen cruelty can mean a lot to someone.

I’ll share a story of my reaching out to someone during a tough time. I am a huge fan of Billy Joel’s music. When he started firing his old band members, basically to replace them with new musicians he could pay less, I saw that Liberty DeVito was devastated in an interview that I read. I forgot how I got his email (I have a friend who died earlier this year who was a HS band director and university jazz professor who was friends with Billy Joel’s percussionist, so it might have been through him) , but I shot him an email letting him know how meaningful the music he was a part of has been in my life and how I thought his drumming was like Ringo’s or Bonham’s — he was just the perfect fit for each song and you could not imagine any other drummer playing it. It was pure magic and he was a drummer who gave everything for the song. He wasn’t a show off. He was there to do whatever the song needed. And I shared what my mother told me when I was a young working musician. She told me that when you talk to a musician that has really moved your soul, to tell them that. Don’t hold back. Because it may mean the world to them to hear that.

Liberty told me that my mom’s advice was spot on and thanked me in a very heartfelt response. He seemed like a really kind and genuine person.

A couple of years later, Liberty sent me a LinkedIn connection request and, of course, I accepted. But I really don’t know him. Although I jokingly call Liberty my best friend to my wife and kids sometimes when we hear a Billy Joel song.

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2

[LinkedMusicians]

Dead serious, after weeks of being trolled, lied about and cyberbullied at Cakewalk Forum and a lie that I tell LinkedMuscians members that they’re banned if they post at Cakewalk Forum, when James gets the issue fixed with the Mac version, I hope one of our members that is still active at Cakewalk Forum will spread the word over there and any other communities you post in. James is talented and he’s a one man shop. He just got a fantastic review in Sound on Sound. I do feel a bit like when you find a really great band first and tell your friends about them (basically, like when I told my friends, including the friend who later became my wife, about Jeff Buckley back in the day when he was still alive)! I have been posting about him for years at CF before I started LM. Here’s an excerpt:

“Dream Kit: Zenith has its origins in the world of drums and percussion… the vast majority (of sounds) have been manipulated and morphed into something unique, inspiring, and worlds away from what you might expect.

They say there’s a fine line between madness and genius. Dream Kit: Zenith sits very comfortably on the genius side.”

Mark Gordon, Sound on Sound October 2025

So yes, much like Greg (Orange Tree Samples), Pendle (Sound Dust), SonicCoture, Steven Slate and a few others that I spread the word about long before they were well known developers (I’d claim a little bit for Camel Audio, but I think the world already knew how talented Ben is by the time we met), I feel like I got this right and that Sound on Sound review supports what I’ve been saying all along.

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2

[Author]

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