Hey,
I am looking for a good all round sound library. I am mostly writing/producing funk, neo-soul and some electronic jazz type stuff. I am also looking to work my way towards scoring for film and games. Most of my music these days will be played by musicians but is evaluated upon the sample based demos. I work with studio one and used the stock sounds up until now, but they are not satisfying at all and I want to upgrade. That's why I am looking for a good starting place to expand from. Budget is tight, so a good "bang for buck" ratio is important.
Good all round (starting point) sound library
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- KVRAF
- 2912 posts since 13 Apr, 2008 from Charleston, SC
No matter what direction you go, I don't think you can go wrong with Native Instruments Komplete. If you can afford it, get Komplete Ultimate. This will cover your bases for a long time. I would wait for a sale. They go on sale at least once or twice per year.
The biggest reason I like it and suggest it, is because it is a fantastic foundation. Kontakt is reason enough to own it, but the libraries, especially in Ultimate, really will give you much to chew on for a LONG time. And it is highly supported as well as expandable. Kontakt libraries are infinite these days...and many of them are just incredible at what they do. They range in price from $2 to well over $1000. But you have options.
A lessor option, but one with good flexibility vs. cost out the door is Sampletank 3. Good sounds and lots of variety. Nowhere near what Komplete is, but also not as expensive.
But I would recommend strongly to save for Komplete Ultimate, get it on sale, and call it a day.
The biggest reason I like it and suggest it, is because it is a fantastic foundation. Kontakt is reason enough to own it, but the libraries, especially in Ultimate, really will give you much to chew on for a LONG time. And it is highly supported as well as expandable. Kontakt libraries are infinite these days...and many of them are just incredible at what they do. They range in price from $2 to well over $1000. But you have options.
A lessor option, but one with good flexibility vs. cost out the door is Sampletank 3. Good sounds and lots of variety. Nowhere near what Komplete is, but also not as expensive.
But I would recommend strongly to save for Komplete Ultimate, get it on sale, and call it a day.
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- KVRer
- 10 posts since 5 Nov, 2017
Komplete Ultimate is great, as thejonsolo said. You could also consider EastWest Composer Cloud, with a library like Goliath, which covers general Rompler territory. It's $30 per month if you go with the subscription on a month-to-month basis, but that also gets you access to a bunch of their other libraries (like Hollywood Orchestra, RA/Silk/Gypsy for world sounds, etc). While the quality of some stuff might not be as good as Komplete Ultimate, it is a way to get access to lots of sounds without having to drop $1000 up front. And if you don't like it, you can opt out. A deal breaker for some folks, however, is the need to install iLok license manager, and I feel like their Play engine is not quite as refined as Kontakt (in addition to not being a fully capable sampler in its own right).
Kontakt is probably the way to go if you plan on expanding your sound library down the line with some super high quality stuff from 3rd party developers. But this will get very expensive! If you do go the Native Instruments route, I'd wait til the holidays/black-friday sale, since you'll be able to grab it at a sizeable discount.
Kontakt is probably the way to go if you plan on expanding your sound library down the line with some super high quality stuff from 3rd party developers. But this will get very expensive! If you do go the Native Instruments route, I'd wait til the holidays/black-friday sale, since you'll be able to grab it at a sizeable discount.
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- KVRAF
- 1819 posts since 10 Mar, 2004
Totally agree with all above, Native Instruments Komplete or Komplete Ultimate but...
If budget is your thing, you could look at Air music instrument expansion packs. You will need a previous Air plugin to upgrade but Xpand!2 qualifies and I do believe it's still free at don't crack
http://store.dontcrack.com/product_info ... ts_id=2954
If budget is your thing, you could look at Air music instrument expansion packs. You will need a previous Air plugin to upgrade but Xpand!2 qualifies and I do believe it's still free at don't crack
http://store.dontcrack.com/product_info ... ts_id=2954
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- KVRAF
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
ComposerCloud includes a whole bunch of stuff, so it's probably the cheapest way to get where you need, if you can deal with the cloud thing and iLok.
Also consider Omnisphere. It does a decent job of covering a whole bunch of sounds, and I think combined with a jazzy horn library (ISW Straight Ahead Horns are good here, probably as good as you can get without investing thousands into the full SampleModeling lineup), a couple of drum kits and a virtual guitar or two it might be the cheapest way to get to "good enough" for funk etc. Some freebies like SM Drums, Estate Grand LE, the free lite versions of Ample's P-bass and acoustic guitar, Wave Alchemy's free drum machine samples etc. are also good at filling in the gaps.
Then you can slowly upgrade other things one library at a time, and probably pick up the full version of Kontakt along the way. For film scoring you'll need a decent orchestra as well.
Also consider Omnisphere. It does a decent job of covering a whole bunch of sounds, and I think combined with a jazzy horn library (ISW Straight Ahead Horns are good here, probably as good as you can get without investing thousands into the full SampleModeling lineup), a couple of drum kits and a virtual guitar or two it might be the cheapest way to get to "good enough" for funk etc. Some freebies like SM Drums, Estate Grand LE, the free lite versions of Ample's P-bass and acoustic guitar, Wave Alchemy's free drum machine samples etc. are also good at filling in the gaps.
Then you can slowly upgrade other things one library at a time, and probably pick up the full version of Kontakt along the way. For film scoring you'll need a decent orchestra as well.
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 9 posts since 5 Nov, 2017
Thanks!
I think I will wait for the Kontakt sale and then get the normal version of kontakt. I think I don't need Ultimate right away, so I can upgrade later on. The orchestral stuff is not that pressing, so I will look into a dedicated library for that when I need it.
I think I will wait for the Kontakt sale and then get the normal version of kontakt. I think I don't need Ultimate right away, so I can upgrade later on. The orchestral stuff is not that pressing, so I will look into a dedicated library for that when I need it.
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- KVRian
- 1367 posts since 30 Jul, 2013
The included Kontakt library orchestra is old but still better than some stand alone starter orchestras imo. Also there are some nice world instruments.
If you will forgive the mention click on my sig to see if the free sketching Orchestra might be useful. It is limited but based on the fairly new CC0/PD samples and the best scripting I know how to do using convo reverb and stuff along with borrowed scripts for fake legato, modwheel cross fade and ensemble. Also there are bits and pieces on the GM order page that might be useful.
Also google up free Kontakt instruments are there are some nice things out there.
If you will forgive the mention click on my sig to see if the free sketching Orchestra might be useful. It is limited but based on the fairly new CC0/PD samples and the best scripting I know how to do using convo reverb and stuff along with borrowed scripts for fake legato, modwheel cross fade and ensemble. Also there are bits and pieces on the GM order page that might be useful.
Also google up free Kontakt instruments are there are some nice things out there.
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- KVRist
- 194 posts since 12 Nov, 2011
No need throwing money for Komplete, there is so much free stuff nowadays, some exemples:
- Air Xpand 2
http://www.dontcrack.com/news/2017/10/g ... clusive-2/
- Sampletank Custom Shop
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/sa ... s-versions
- Kontakt player + free sound library
https://www.native-instruments.com/fr/p ... -download/
- Uvi Workstation + free sound library
https://www.uvi.net/uvi-workstation.html
- Some drums that are "ok" for jazzy/funky music
http://www.powerdrumkit.com/
- Xln Audio (drums and piano)
https://www.xlnaudio.com/demos
- Super Quartet, an older rompler from Edirol that is not commercialised anymore but you can
still find it "second hand", good especially for rhodes pianos.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 5k1SV8f2u-
- Amplesound (Ebass, Ac guitar)
http://www.amplesound.net/en/pro-pd.asp?id=19
http://www.amplesound.net/en/pro-pd.asp?id=7
As for the electro synths, there are hundreds of them for free as well, google and youtube are your friends!
- Air Xpand 2
http://www.dontcrack.com/news/2017/10/g ... clusive-2/
- Sampletank Custom Shop
http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/sa ... s-versions
- Kontakt player + free sound library
https://www.native-instruments.com/fr/p ... -download/
- Uvi Workstation + free sound library
https://www.uvi.net/uvi-workstation.html
- Some drums that are "ok" for jazzy/funky music
http://www.powerdrumkit.com/
- Xln Audio (drums and piano)
https://www.xlnaudio.com/demos
- Super Quartet, an older rompler from Edirol that is not commercialised anymore but you can
still find it "second hand", good especially for rhodes pianos.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 5k1SV8f2u-
- Amplesound (Ebass, Ac guitar)
http://www.amplesound.net/en/pro-pd.asp?id=19
http://www.amplesound.net/en/pro-pd.asp?id=7
As for the electro synths, there are hundreds of them for free as well, google and youtube are your friends!
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 9 posts since 5 Nov, 2017
Thanks for the Replies. I tried Xpand 2. For some reason I don't like it. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the sounds feel "limited". Maybe it's because I don't like the interface or because I am not processing the sounds correctly.
East west Goliath was my first thought, but read a lot of criticism about it.
The Upgrade to Komplete 11 (not Ultimate) would run me 199.- right now because of NI's thanksgiving sale. I am just not sure wether this or the route through Omnisphere is the better option for me. Which one would you say is "easier" to use? I don't want to spend a lot of time on tinkering around with sounds and processing but just want to have the sounds I need for any given project easily accessible and ready to go.
East west Goliath was my first thought, but read a lot of criticism about it.
The Upgrade to Komplete 11 (not Ultimate) would run me 199.- right now because of NI's thanksgiving sale. I am just not sure wether this or the route through Omnisphere is the better option for me. Which one would you say is "easier" to use? I don't want to spend a lot of time on tinkering around with sounds and processing but just want to have the sounds I need for any given project easily accessible and ready to go.
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- KVRAF
- 2267 posts since 9 Mar, 2009 from Copenhagen, Denmark
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- KVRAF
- 2586 posts since 15 Jun, 2006
For the Music you are doing. sampla tank 3 would be great.Jtronic wrote:Hey,
I am looking for a good all round sound library. I am mostly writing/producing funk, neo-soul and some electronic jazz type stuff. I am also looking to work my way towards scoring for film and games. Most of my music these days will be played by musicians but is evaluated upon the sample based demos. I work with studio one and used the stock sounds up until now, but they are not satisfying at all and I want to upgrade. That's why I am looking for a good starting place to expand from. Budget is tight, so a good "bang for buck" ratio is important.
The komplete upgrade would be good.You could get into mor detailed kontakt libraries later.
Roland integra 7 also.
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- Boss Lovin' DR
- 12620 posts since 15 Mar, 2002 from the grimness of yorkshire
Another vote for Komplete - superb sounds and value for money. The only thing it really hasn't got covered is guitars. The ones in the factory library, are to be honest, shite, so if you're looking to do any guitar stuff then you probably need to look at other things as well.
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- KVRAF
- 25053 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
Right, where the Kontakt Factory Library will fall short is guitars, bass guitars, drums and synth. YMMV but these are none of them stellar. For orchestra, the VSL Demo folders are mostly pretty good in their limited articulations sort of way. But say you want a basic timpani part, you're there. Sustained strings, basic tremolo strings. Super realism maybe not. Although I recall some joy with the solo viola, pretty expressive given the limitations. In fact it more or less compares with VSL SE.
But you want synth, Komplete is rather complete I think.
A single product for all kinds of music, I'd be skeptical. Bang for the buck, Komplete.
But you want synth, Komplete is rather complete I think.
A single product for all kinds of music, I'd be skeptical. Bang for the buck, Komplete.
