KVR Audio

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 1:03 am

Thanks jancivil, regardless of whether I purchase percussion, vsl se vol 1 strings is a top contender. The best price I've found is 120 + the vsl key (30), totaling 150. I like the dry sample quality and versatility of the vsl matrix and the combination of good sounding ensemble + solo patches.

Regarding eastwest, the symphonic orchestra silver is 150. very minimal articulations and different sound, however still good quality, is a full orchestra + harp/harpsichord/choir/organ and similar opportunity to upgrade. only legato solo articulations, library's main focus is broad ensemble arrangements.

Another option is spitfire's alternative strings for 210. they have a nice expressive, natural dry sound. no legato bass/viola, however some really interesting unique articulations and the "intimate" sound reviewers so often mention. no ensembles.

I'm no expert, however this is my perspective...

alternative strings + expressive, dry, unique, real - no ensembles
eastwest symphonic orchestra + epic, full orchestra - only ensembles, room sound
vsl se vol 1 strings + solo/ensembles, dry, real, versatile - less rr/vel layers than other vsl libs

keep in mind these observations are basically assumptions from listening to demos. Plus conveying my thoughts about sounds into language is quite challenging.

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 1:56 am

DSmolken · Post by **DSmolken** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:58 am

royosho wrote:alternative strings + expressive, dry, unique, real - no ensembles
eastwest symphonic orchestra + epic, full orchestra - only ensembles, room sound
vsl se vol 1 strings + solo/ensembles, dry, real, versatile - less rr/vel layers than other vsl libs

Maybe think about it this way - like jancivil wrote, what music do you really want to do this for? For example, with just the Alternative Strings, you won't be able to do things for orchestra, just small string ensembles and strings + piano (and maybe indie sounding hybrid stuff). There's only one violin, and the sound isn't really classical, so you wouldn't be able to do conventional string quartets, either. Are there things you really want to do which would couldn't do with those?

Make a similar analysis for each of the options. Which option would leave you with the smallest amount of music you'd really, REALLY like to be able to do, but couldn't? To paraphrase the Spice Girls, tell us what you want - what you really, REALLY want.

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 1:06 pm

I spent yesterday listening to recordings of live string quartets and have decided recreating such glorious beauty is a fool's errand with the budget I have. To quote the rolling stones, "You can't...always get...what you waaant". I think I was sort of shell shocked when I first discovered the possibilities of sample use, and now I'm gonna scale it back and incorporate samples into the music I'm more familiar with producing. Instead of going for realism, I think I'll embrace the synthetic nature of EWQL SO (150), combine it with a sampled Prophet V synth (Syntronik - 50), record some guitar and add 80s drum machines/drum mic'a. Definitely more sonic textures than I'd ever need at once, not quite orchestral, yet an interesting combination of synthetic, sampled and live music. At least that's the plan.

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 4:22 pm

royosho wrote:I spent yesterday listening to recordings of live string quartets and have decided recreating such glorious beauty is a fool's errand with the budget I have. To quote the rolling stones, "You can't...always get...what you waaant". I think I was sort of shell shocked when I first discovered the possibilities of sample use, and now I'm gonna scale it back and incorporate samples into the music I'm more familiar with producing. Instead of going for realism, I think I'll embrace the synthetic nature of EWQL SO (150), combine it with a sampled Prophet V synth (Syntronik - 50), record some guitar and add 80s drum machines/drum mic'a. Definitely more sonic textures than I'd ever need at once, not quite orchestral, yet an interesting combination of synthetic, sampled and live music. At least that's the plan.

Well, for someone who started asking for symphonic libraries, and later string quartet + piano, this is quite a twist

Anyway, it's good that you decided what you "really" want to do, instead of spending the money and later regret that you didn't buy something else instead. Good luck

Harry_HH · Post by **Harry_HH** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 4:24 pm

fmr wrote:
royosho wrote:I spent yesterday listening to recordings of live string quartets and have decided recreating such glorious beauty is a fool's errand with the budget I have. To quote the rolling stones, "You can't...always get...what you waaant". I think I was sort of shell shocked when I first discovered the possibilities of sample use, and now I'm gonna scale it back and incorporate samples into the music I'm more familiar with producing. Instead of going for realism, I think I'll embrace the synthetic nature of EWQL SO (150), combine it with a sampled Prophet V synth (Syntronik - 50), record some guitar and add 80s drum machines/drum mic'a. Definitely more sonic textures than I'd ever need at once, not quite orchestral, yet an interesting combination of synthetic, sampled and live music. At least that's the plan.
Well, for someone who started asking for symphonic libraries, and later string quartet + piano, this is quite a twist

Anyway, it's good that you decided what you "really" want to do, instead of spending the money and later regret that you didn't buy something else instead. Good luck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyTpu6BmE88

vintagevibe · Post by **vintagevibe** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 9:42 pm

Another thing I just thought of. Steinberg HALion Symphonic Orchestra. I own it although it doesn’t get a ton of use since I own several high end libraries. BUT it’s a great bang for buck which I like a lot better than products like Garritan. And it’s l$100.00. It sounds realistic, not synthy, although it doesn’t have the realism of higher end libraries. (Keep in mind that realism has a lot to do with how parts are played in and programmed.). It has the fairly deep editing and ability of keyswithed or articulations per track. Lots of automation possibilities, nice GUI and main articulations covered. I would check it out befor purchase. Did I mention it’s $100.00?

https://www.steinberg.net/en/products/v ... u_get.html

jancivil · Post by **jancivil** » Sun Apr 22, 2018 10:14 pm

a couple more words:

EWQL Silver is not synthetic in any aspect I can recall; in fact the strings are rather 'woody' if not 'gritty', the winds are pretty much replication of acoustic instruments, and even the cymbal swells are going to pretty much give the effect 'cymbals'. And 150 if I paid 100 in 2003 is what we call 'a ripoff'.

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Tue Apr 24, 2018 2:00 am

Thanks everyone! The deed is done

The money is spent... I decided to purchase a combination of instruments with deals/sales... they are...

50 (150) - impact juggernaut (drums/bass/fx) - from watching demos i noticed something about this library that inspired me to purchase it - the bass engine is actually a fully functional wavetable synth. Meaning, though the initial sounds are overused epic trailer basses, the filters/envelopes/lfo/fx allow me to change the sound into something totally different. For example, I created an 80s analogue bass patch from what originally sounded like an epic electric burp lol. The drums, on the other hand, have no customization options so they are only capable of hybrid trailer sounds, however I have tons of my own drum sounds and it's cool to have another texture I could use in production tracks.

50 (100) - cinesamples 12 horn ensemble - its literally all the french horn patches from their cinebrass pro library. all articulations, epic, quiet, whatever. Enough said.

100 (125) - embertone fischer viola - with the remaining amount i wanted some type of rythmnic/sustained ensemble + solo instruments. The viola was my choice because the range isn't too high, nor too low, it has lots of articulations and is very versatile dynamically, plus it has ensemble mode. The samples are recorded dry with full vibrato control. The dynamic control crossfades between totally different sounding samples. For example, the staccato goes from staccato to more of a spiccato, etc. Most importantly, it will work to create rhythms, beds, pads, solos, leads.

Thanks to everyone for the advice and suggestions, I appreciate the help very much! I usually produce my tracks to the extent of my ability, however if anyone is interested to hear these three instruments right out of the box, I'll make a demo song and post it. Thanks again, this was an awesome experience!

DSmolken · Post by **DSmolken** » Tue Apr 24, 2018 10:59 am

Wow, 12-horn ensemble and viola, that's a very unusual combination, because one viola is physically so much quieter. But if you're going hybrid and also using synths anyway, that's fine.

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Tue Apr 24, 2018 9:21 pm

DSmolken wrote:Wow, 12-horn ensemble and viola, that's a very unusual combination, because one viola is physically so much quieter.

So true! When I was working yesterday I realized the horns are best used sparingly to create dynamic contrast alternatively to the viola, rather than simultaneously

I'm really enjoying the viola. Though with every note I must draw pitch, velocity, vibrato depth, vibrato speed, vibrato type, primary articulation and secondary articulation, the level of control is great. Every note is unique, it's like playing the guitar. Actually the reason I enjoy working with trackers to create chiptunes is because effects like vibrato, bends, velocity changes etc are specific to each note and it resembles playing the guitar. Now I have the same level of control in a DAW with an acoustic instrument, it's exciting!

royosho · Post by **royosho** » Thu Apr 26, 2018 5:29 am

Not sure whether anyone still reads this thread, however I found a couple nice sounding free pianos to work with the viola - the aforementioned Salamander (originally i couldn't extract the tarball file from the linked website, this time I tried the Bigcat vst - works great, warm tone) and the Grand Piano from Sampletank 3 free (bright tone will lots of sampling options + effects like piano lid/acoustic enhancer/rooms etc). Another cool free instrument I tried and really like the sound of is the Versilian Fretless Zither... with tape flutter, sounds seriously cool. Thought I'd share these because there definitely are some good free options too.

[Edit] Since the Salamander is warm and the Sampletank Grand is bright I thought I'd try them together real quick and wow, they sort of work perfectly together. The low end of the Salamander fills out the thin sound of the Sampletank Grand, and the crisp high end of the Sampletank Grand adds definition to the Salamander. I'd recommend the same combo to anyone looking for a good free piano sound. With some eq, it's my new go to for sure.

Harry_HH · Post by **Harry_HH** » Tue May 01, 2018 3:18 pm

There is now one for you for $ 75, if you haven´t purchased some other library, yet.
Great quality for this price!

https://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/produ ... 20373cdaf9

dandezebra · Post by **dandezebra** » Tue May 01, 2018 3:19 pm

That is a huge library for that price - +50 Gb if I remember correctly.

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Tue May 01, 2018 6:30 pm

Harry_HH wrote:There is now one for you for $ 75, if you haven´t purchased some other library, yet.
Great quality for this price!

https://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/produ ... 20373cdaf9

It's quite old (although good) and, if I remember well, demands full version of Kontakt.

EDIT: Confirmed that it requires Kontakt FULL.

Best First Orchestral Library Under 200 Dollars?