So many sample libraries, so little time.
Which one is it?
If you had to choose just one Orchestra Sample Library, Which one is it?
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 31 posts since 15 Aug, 2017
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- KVRAF
- 25053 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
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- KVRAF
- 11093 posts since 16 Mar, 2003 from Porto - Portugal
It goes way beyond an orchestral library, but it suitsjancivil wrote:https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Instruments/Scoring_Bundle
It's a pity because they just ended a discount of 50% in the entire Special Edition Bundle.
Fernando (FMR)
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- KVRAF
- 1684 posts since 29 Sep, 2013
May be this one?
http://www.orchestraltools.com/librarie ... nspire.php
http://www.orchestraltools.com/librarie ... nspire.php
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- KVRAF
- 25053 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
Well, yes, the Synchron Stage Percussion does something unique, and in advance of the rest of the orchestra they've done some multiple impulse responses for the other sections. Hence the MIR Pro 24 and Room Packs.fmr wrote:It goes way beyond an orchestral library, but it suitsjancivil wrote:https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Instruments/Scoring_Bundle
It's a pity because they just ended a discount of 50% in the entire Special Edition Bundle.
It's not an absolutely exhaustive orchestra but for me this would be it, particularly for the money; I would put that amount into this with no question versus anything else at or around this price point. You're set to get the extended from this standard set; and they'll have a break on that upgrade at some point.
For the entire shebang, wait for Synchron Stage Full, but that could be a while down the road.
I took advantage of a few things on sale recently. I have other requirements first and no budget for this.
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- KVRian
- 1091 posts since 13 Mar, 2008 from Arnhem, Netherlands
That really depends on what you are looking for...
Individual instruments? (Hollywood Orchestra, Spitfire, Orchestral Tools Berlin series)
Patches per section/emsembles? (Spitfire Albions, Metropolis Ark I, Berlin Inspire)
Full orchestra patches? (Symphobia, Sonuscore The Orchestra)
Phrases? (Sonokinetic's libraries)
Individual instruments? (Hollywood Orchestra, Spitfire, Orchestral Tools Berlin series)
Patches per section/emsembles? (Spitfire Albions, Metropolis Ark I, Berlin Inspire)
Full orchestra patches? (Symphobia, Sonuscore The Orchestra)
Phrases? (Sonokinetic's libraries)
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- KVRAF
- 11093 posts since 16 Mar, 2003 from Porto - Portugal
I would say that no orchestral library will do it on their own, probably. There are things they you will miss on all of them (at least that's what happened to me). That said, Hollywood, Albion, etc. are too oriented for the "epic sound" to suit all tasks. Berlin series are good, and those are more "classic", which means they will suit a more diversified number of styles (for the "epic" part they have the "Metropolis" series).
Things like Symphobia, etc. may be handy as a complement to real orchestral libraries, never as a main orchestral library. That said, VSL libraries are the classiest, thne ones that will suit the broader number of styles, and a good departure point to something else.
That said, the OP still didn't say what exactly is his aim. "Classical" orchestrations? Modern composition? Soundtracks? Orchestral complements for "rocky" arrangements? Something else? All of it?
Things like Symphobia, etc. may be handy as a complement to real orchestral libraries, never as a main orchestral library. That said, VSL libraries are the classiest, thne ones that will suit the broader number of styles, and a good departure point to something else.
That said, the OP still didn't say what exactly is his aim. "Classical" orchestrations? Modern composition? Soundtracks? Orchestral complements for "rocky" arrangements? Something else? All of it?
Fernando (FMR)
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 31 posts since 15 Aug, 2017
Does they usually have a promo on Black Friday?fmr wrote:It goes way beyond an orchestral library, but it suitsjancivil wrote:https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Instruments/Scoring_Bundle
It's a pity because they just ended a discount of 50% in the entire Special Edition Bundle.
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 31 posts since 15 Aug, 2017
This is useful for me where to look for for each purpose.evilantal wrote:That really depends on what you are looking for...
Individual instruments? (Hollywood Orchestra, Spitfire, Orchestral Tools Berlin series)
Patches per section/emsembles? (Spitfire Albions, Metropolis Ark I, Berlin Inspire)
Full orchestra patches? (Symphobia, Sonuscore The Orchestra)
Phrases? (Sonokinetic's libraries)
Thank you..
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 31 posts since 15 Aug, 2017
I was looking for suggestion for a good all rounder. It seems there are none, but all your reply here help me to narrowed down the choice.fmr wrote:I would say that no orchestral library will do it on their own, probably. There are things they you will miss on all of them (at least that's what happened to me). That said, Hollywood, Albion, etc. are too oriented for the "epic sound" to suit all tasks. Berlin series are good, and those are more "classic", which means they will suit a more diversified number of styles (for the "epic" part they have the "Metropolis" series).
Things like Symphobia, etc. may be handy as a complement to real orchestral libraries, never as a main orchestral library. That said, VSL libraries are the classiest, thne ones that will suit the broader number of styles, and a good departure point to something else.
That said, the OP still didn't say what exactly is his aim. "Classical" orchestrations? Modern composition? Soundtracks? Orchestral complements for "rocky" arrangements? Something else? All of it?
Thank you and thank you also for everyone for taking your time to answers..
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- KVRAF
- 1530 posts since 17 Sep, 2002
I'll add to the choir and say that no one library is going to do it all, though some do try.
Half the fun (and most of the headache, unfortunately, due to matching the various hall sounds and whatnot) comes from mixing and matching the libraries you acquire over time, ultimately building a sound that is customized to your needs, and is therefore unique. Some CineBrass here, some Berlin Woodwinds there, some Cinematic Studio Strings on top, and one of the Albions to bring it all together, for example.
Be careful of this rabbit hole; you may end up spending a thousand or two more than you intended. Try to space it out and get what you need as you need it.
Also, if you don't need true legato or dozens of esoteric articulations, look into the Native Instruments Symphony Essentials stuff. AudioBro (of LA Scoring Strings fame) did the strings, and Soundiron did the winds and brass. It's a decent-enough basic library, though it does lack percussion.
Also, if you want to go the free route, look into Virtual Playing Orchestra, which is a curated collection of various freebies (like Sonatina, VSCO, and others) put together in SFZ format. The quality doesn't really compare to the big-name Kontakt libraries or VSL, but you truly cannot beat the price.
Also for free, BigCat has done some Kontakt patches and Maize plugins of various free sounds floating around. Notably, the Jasper Blunk ones are pretty great, for being free. But if you go this route, you're going to have to dig, and cherry pick the good stuff to cobble your own template together.
I don't have any experience with it, but Sonokinetic has a library called Da Capo, which is (unlike most of their other stuff) multi-sampled, rather than phrase-based.
In the end, provided the samples are at least halfway decent, your level of dedication to learning a particular library is going to be the main determining factor regarding the end result. Whatever you get, you'll have to spend plenty of time learning its quirks and limitations. But your composition/orchestration chops are arguably much more important than which library you get.
Listen to the audio demos for each product, and listen carefully. They will put their best foot forward. If you like the vibe of the demo tracks, then it might be the product for you. Each library is unique. Also, read the manuals (usually they are available as a free download on the product page). Some libraries are really slick to work with (CineSamples comes to mind; not a lot of articulations, but super easy to write with out of the box), whereas some libraries can require a bit of work getting them to fit your particular workflow.
Half the fun (and most of the headache, unfortunately, due to matching the various hall sounds and whatnot) comes from mixing and matching the libraries you acquire over time, ultimately building a sound that is customized to your needs, and is therefore unique. Some CineBrass here, some Berlin Woodwinds there, some Cinematic Studio Strings on top, and one of the Albions to bring it all together, for example.
Be careful of this rabbit hole; you may end up spending a thousand or two more than you intended. Try to space it out and get what you need as you need it.
Also, if you don't need true legato or dozens of esoteric articulations, look into the Native Instruments Symphony Essentials stuff. AudioBro (of LA Scoring Strings fame) did the strings, and Soundiron did the winds and brass. It's a decent-enough basic library, though it does lack percussion.
Also, if you want to go the free route, look into Virtual Playing Orchestra, which is a curated collection of various freebies (like Sonatina, VSCO, and others) put together in SFZ format. The quality doesn't really compare to the big-name Kontakt libraries or VSL, but you truly cannot beat the price.
Also for free, BigCat has done some Kontakt patches and Maize plugins of various free sounds floating around. Notably, the Jasper Blunk ones are pretty great, for being free. But if you go this route, you're going to have to dig, and cherry pick the good stuff to cobble your own template together.
I don't have any experience with it, but Sonokinetic has a library called Da Capo, which is (unlike most of their other stuff) multi-sampled, rather than phrase-based.
In the end, provided the samples are at least halfway decent, your level of dedication to learning a particular library is going to be the main determining factor regarding the end result. Whatever you get, you'll have to spend plenty of time learning its quirks and limitations. But your composition/orchestration chops are arguably much more important than which library you get.
Listen to the audio demos for each product, and listen carefully. They will put their best foot forward. If you like the vibe of the demo tracks, then it might be the product for you. Each library is unique. Also, read the manuals (usually they are available as a free download on the product page). Some libraries are really slick to work with (CineSamples comes to mind; not a lot of articulations, but super easy to write with out of the box), whereas some libraries can require a bit of work getting them to fit your particular workflow.
Last edited by funky lime on Sat Sep 09, 2017 11:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- 25053 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
The Spitfire room sound, the Cinesamples room sound, the Berlin room sound are three quite different-sounding ambiences. I don't recommend going very wet with mixing these things, big problems await you.
If you're really wowed by the ambience, I would more recommend sticking with one approach.
Until recently VSL recorded in the driest possible manner. Now they have created the Synchron Stage workflow for their future sampling and the retrofit is to supply impulses from that stage for everything else.
But if the idea is to overlay sweetening over a rock track or like that, the illusion of reality in spaciality may be less important if at all.
If you're really wowed by the ambience, I would more recommend sticking with one approach.
Until recently VSL recorded in the driest possible manner. Now they have created the Synchron Stage workflow for their future sampling and the retrofit is to supply impulses from that stage for everything else.
But if the idea is to overlay sweetening over a rock track or like that, the illusion of reality in spaciality may be less important if at all.
Last edited by jancivil on Sat Sep 09, 2017 11:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- 1530 posts since 17 Sep, 2002
jancivil wrote:The Spitfire room sound, the Cinesamples room sound, the Berlin room sound are three quite different-sounding ambiences. I don't recommend going very wet with mixing these things, big problems await you.
True, if absolute realism is your goal. But if you're scoring or doing video game stuff, who's really looking for hyper-realism anyway? Also, you can put some transient controller on the Spitfire close-mic sounds and get rid of some of those early reflections.
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- KVRAF
- 25053 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
Yes, and you can choose a close-mic'ing situation for Cine. Berlin I'm vague on at this moment.
The other two I've used in the same track but as dry as possible. It is something to be aware of.
Spitfire loves their room which is kind of 'brown'...
note: I don't do strictly orchestral and an entirely convincing classical hall ambience is not usually a concern in the strict sense, but mixing Spitfire and Cine's rooms, well they don't blend well, really.
The other two I've used in the same track but as dry as possible. It is something to be aware of.
Spitfire loves their room which is kind of 'brown'...
note: I don't do strictly orchestral and an entirely convincing classical hall ambience is not usually a concern in the strict sense, but mixing Spitfire and Cine's rooms, well they don't blend well, really.
Last edited by jancivil on Sat Sep 09, 2017 11:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRAF
- 1530 posts since 17 Sep, 2002
Yep, somehow it is simultaneously the best and worst thing about their products...jancivil wrote:Spitfire loves their room which is kind of 'brown'...
