First Look: The Orchestra by Sonuscore

[dbodin]

With it's new approach to realistic orchestral playback through an easy to use interface and engine, there is a lot to like about Sonuscore's The Orchestra.

In this 50-minute first look video, we play through some of the samples, investigate the Ensemble Engine and get a feel for what the library has to offer.
Thoughts demos and more: http://bit.ly/2u1ay5e

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn5D9l1w9mM

Sonuscore’s The Orchestra can be purchased for $399 from Best Service: http://bit.ly/2t9SXfh

[goldenhelix]

Wow, looks pretty awesome. The instant playability if you need to crank out a quick score looks amazingly well implemented. Honestly wishing I had got this instead of Albion One, because I appreciate the fact that you can still use the individual instruments rather than relying completely on the ensemble patches. The range of dynamics (especially on the horns, for instance) sounds much greater as well. The recordings sound really nice.

I'm curious about a couple of things. Is there any portamento on the legato patches? It looks like probably not. Also looks like a lack of trill articulations. Did you try playing trills manually with the legato and if so how does it sound?

[Vortifex]

..

[SirkusPi]

Not sure what to think about this. It's £350 for 6.38 GB of orchestra and choir, which means 1 mic position, limited round robins/velocity layers, and limited range on some instruments - violin is G2 to G5. Some of the solo patches leave a lot to be desired - oboe and clarinet in particular were awful on that walkthrough. You can't switch arpeggios via keyswitch, which means if you want to chain patterns together you're going to need a lot of Kontakt instances open.

The arpeggiator will probably give a lot of instant gratification and I can imagine it's fun to fool around with for a while. But when the shine wears off that you're left with quite a bare bones library with a sound quality that's bettered by other libraries.

I agree with all of the above, especially the point about key switches. I can understand the "depth" issues (lack of round robins, mics, etc) on the understanding that this is a "sketch" library, but, that being the case, one would think it would do whatever possible -- such as allowing chaining of multiple arp patterns -- to make the sketching as quick, easy and lightweight as possible.

[goldenhelix]

Very true. I do wonder if the arpeggiators are at least automatable within your DAW, which would be a step in the right direction. I personally don't really like relying too much on this type of composition because if you ever had to render it as an actual score, you'd have your work cut out for you turning all those single held notes into the patterns played by the arpeggiators. As a sketch tool it looks quite good to me, but as you say the lack of key switches on the arpeggiators does seem like it could cause problems.

A little surprising considering the other libraries they make like Action Strikes have key switches to select between the different rhythms. Not sure why they abandoned that for this library.

The price is a little hefty, but not totally outrageous. I have personally bought more overpriced libraries. $299 would seem a bit more reasonable for this one.

[jancivil]

Not sure what to think about this. It's £350 for [...]
violin is G2 to G5.

No way in hell I'd pay anything like that for that. I saw some other library recently that acted kind of high-end with that same range for violin and a like 3-octave-only cello to boot.

[Armadillo]

I do think $399 is a bit expensive but the ensemble patches are a step up from anything else on the market. I'd be interested in how it compares to Novo, which is the obvious competitor. Considering that one only has strings as is even more expensive, I don't think it's too bad a price though.
It certainly beats Symphobia and the Sonokinetic libraries in terms of flexibility.

I could care less about the oboe and clarinet etc. in The Orchestra. That's bonus patches IMO. The meat and potatoes is the ensemble patches. If you want solo instruments there's plenty of better libraries out there.

[goldenhelix]

I have Novo and if anything I think it's probably the more overpriced library, if I'm to judge by the demo videos of Orchestra.

As you say, Novo is only strings. It also doesn't have any of the arpeggiation that Orchestra has. It does have the Loop Designer, but the function of that is somewhat different. As far as being a performance tool for creating playable parts on several instruments at once, Orchestra looks like it's miles ahead of Novo. Also, as single instruments, I find Novo's strings to not be that interesting. They're fairly cold and characterless, without really enough vibrato to give the sustains life and not enough "snap" in the legato transitions.

Where Novo really excels, in my opinion, is for creating textured parts and non-traditional scapes that still maintain an organic feel (because the building blocks life as real instruments). It is a good library but, as I see it, it has a very different use than something like Orchestra. I got it during the initial sale for $400 which I still feel is a bit overpriced ($300 is probably closer to the mark), so at $549, it's definitely something I would only recommend to those who feel like they already have their workhorse libraries and are looking for one that does something a little different. I can't see anyone relying on Novo either as a primary sketch pad or a main string library.

To me Albion One looks to be a closer comparison to Orchestra in terms of breadth and function. They both appear to be designed as an "out of the box" solution to creating what I would non-judgmentally call typical modern film scores. Neither one is really designed for nuance, and both seem to have obvious limitations for anyone who knows what real instruments are capable of, but both look like they will satisfy the needs of a lot of mock-up projects.

[Cinebient]

It is very heavy on CPU. Much more than NOVO.
I like both and they are totally different.

[jancivil]

the ensemble patches are a step up from anything else on the market.

seriously. VSL Strings Bundle, standard lib is 347 euro. let's be real here.

[bigcat1969]

For a starter library you can get Inspiration from Berlin...

[Armadillo]

the ensemble patches are a step up from anything else on the market.

seriously. VSL Strings Bundle, standard lib is 347 euro. let's be real here.

OK, I don't know VSL strings but does it have anything like the 'animated Orchestra' multis that enables you to play dynamic layered strings /brass/ woodwind sections with ostinatos, legato strings and brass stabs at the same time?
If not, it's simply not an equivalent library to The Orchestra in that respect.

[bigcat1969]

True this is all about the arps and envelopes and very clever programming. When I listened to the demo I was impressed by the programmer and underwhelmed by the musicians.
On the other hand the new Berlin Inspire has none of these things and only minimal articulations and when I listened to the 25 minute walkthrough I thought 'So this is what heaven sounds like'.
Completely different strokes.

[jancivil]

the ensemble patches are a step up from anything else on the market.

seriously. VSL Strings Bundle, standard lib is 347 euro. let's be real here.

OK, I don't know VSL strings but does it have anything like the 'animated Orchestra' multis that enables you to play dynamic layered strings /brass/ woodwind sections with ostinatos, legato strings and brass stabs at the same time?
If not, it's simply not an equivalent library to The Orchestra in that respect.

Yeah, no, your overarching superlative is merely what you know, which isn't per se the best information available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwP4GKekvtc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB9zrHahmAk

and from here there will be plenty of links.

[koolkeys]

the ensemble patches are a step up from anything else on the market.

seriously. VSL Strings Bundle, standard lib is 347 euro. let's be real here.

OK, I don't know VSL strings but does it have anything like the 'animated Orchestra' multis that enables you to play dynamic layered strings /brass/ woodwind sections with ostinatos, legato strings and brass stabs at the same time?
If not, it's simply not an equivalent library to The Orchestra in that respect.

Yeah, no, your overarching superlative is merely what you know, which isn't per se the best information available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwP4GKekvtc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB9zrHahmAk

and from here there will be plenty of links.

Now, I think you might be conflating his argument a bit.

As an owner of the full VSL Special Edition line and multiple other VSL products (including VI-Pro, VE and their standard plugin effects bundle), let me say that I think Vienna Instruments Pro 2 is by far and away the BEST sample player on the market. It is unrivaled in numerous ways, and once you learn it, powerful beyond what other options provide.

But there is merit in what he said about The Orchestra. I don't think he is saying that no other plugin or library can DO more than The Orchestra when it comes to putting together ensembles. However, I do think that when you compare ENSEMBLE patches between libraries, The Orchestra is pretty unique and far more intuitive.

VI-Pro, as great as it is, requires much more work to put together ensembles, and technically, it is an extra product you have to buy if you want all the features. The Orchestra is a self-contained system, while the VSL libraries themselves don't offer the ensemble functionality that The Orchestra does.

The two really aren't competitors in any way, nor will either likely replace the other for what they are designed for. The Orchestra does bring a lot of new ideas to the table in terms of organization and efficiency. The jury is still out on it in many respects, but the overall concept and engine is really quite nice.

Just keeping some perspective.

Brent