Violins, bagpipes and flutes for Celtic music?

[nachenko]

Hi everyone.

I was wondering what's out there if I need to produce Celtic music, specifically for melodies.

I just did such a track, this weekend, by the way, for the global game jam (a contest where teams have to make a videogame in 48 hours). For most of it, I was totally covered with Native instruments Drumlab, Strummed Accoustic guitar and Session Strings in the background.

But for the main melody, I had nothing I could use. I had to "save the day" with Spitfire Labs Dulcimer, by the way.

So, if I had to do it again, I am curious, is there something with OUTSTANDING quality for solo violins, flute and bagpipes? Any recommendations?

[nix808]

Xpand!2
is cheap and cool imo
I guess it's not the ultimate in fidelity,
but the ethnic instruments are quite full featured

maybe u can get it for USD$15

[nachenko]

Xpand!2
is cheap and cool imo
I guess it's not the ultimate in fidelity,
but the ethnic instruments are quite full featured

maybe u can get it for USD$15

Wow, 15$? That's very cheap! Checking, thanks!

[Spitfire31]

Red Room Audio has an advanced Kontakt (full version, not Player!) Celtic Fiddle for $89:

https://redroomaudio.com/product/travel ... ic-fiddle/

[nix808]

no worries, hope your production bent bears fruit for you 8D

[AngelCityOutlaw]

Forget everything else

You need this

https://www.bestservice.com/celtic_era.html

[Spitfire31]

Forget everything else

You need this

https://www.bestservice.com/celtic_era.html

And Bestservice needs 260 bucks.

[Obsolete236871]

Check the Pianobook.co.uk community based sampling repository. You will find mostly pianos, but also some strings (there is a great cello and a viola library) and other instruments there. They come in different formats, mostly Kontakt, some in EXS (can be used with free TX16wx sampler), some in SFZ (free Sforzando).

https://www.pianobook.co.uk/pianobook-library
https://www.pianobook.co.uk/library/cat ... nstruments

Also check these by composer and sample developer David Hilowitz:

https://www.decentsamples.com/product/l ... -sfz-free/
https://www.decentsamples.com/product/b ... -sfz-free/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCRKTK- ... =emb_title

Another gem I can highly recommend (I was quite impressed by the quality of some of the included instruments):

https://vis.versilstudios.com/vcsl.html

They also have a free orchestral library, which is quite decent for being free!

[raidmarji]

Check HR STRINGS
hrsounds.com

[nachenko]

Thanks everyone for their suggestions. I've listened to the demos of the products you suggested. It's nice to see there are a few options for different budgets, although of all suggestions, the one by AngelCityOutlaw seems to be at the top by far. If the demo songs really come from that library, the quality is mindblowing. Expensive, yes, but there seems to offer a lot in both quality and cuantity.

To put a bit of context: all of a sudden, this subject got more serious to me, because the soundtrack I mentioned in my first message, the one I wrote for that videogame contest, won Best Soundtrack. That means a couple of possible opportunities ahead of me, but also means that if I go this route, whatever I do next, I can't compromise on quality. At this point I need to give my best shot on every opportunity, even if that means going for the expensive option.

Forget everything else

You need this

https://www.bestservice.com/celtic_era.html

Do you have it? Do you mind sharing your opinion about it?

[NAD]

I think you might be able to get good results with SWAM Violin if you're not averse to intensive midi tweaking.

[mgw38]

Forget everything else

You need this

https://www.bestservice.com/celtic_era.html

Do you have it? Do you mind sharing your opinion about it?

The libraries of Eduardo Tarilonte are considered some of the best in the business. It does not get much more pro than this.

[nachenko]

The libraries of Eduardo Tarilonte are considered some of the best in the business. It does not get much more pro than this.

Indeed. I listened to his demo songs a few hours ago. I don't know his work regarding libraries, but his demo songs are AMAZING.

[Benergy]

I have a licence for ERA II Medieval Legends, which I purchased for medieval/fantasy music. The quality of the samples is really good, there are a lot of different articulations for many instruments (especially the flutes), but there are some considerations, especially for bagpipes and violins:

1) Some instruments (e.g. bagpipes) are naturally tuned to a certain key (for the bagpipes: their drone is tuned).
2) I wanted to create some nice viola solos, but for such an versatile instruments there are simply not enough articulations available, so other libraries that focus on violin/solo string instruments are better for the job. So when you want to create nice violin solos, too, you should check this particular feature. Perhaps this wasn't a limitation of the library, but of the traditional instruments themselves.
3) Some instruments on the list are not "freely" playable (or only with very simple articulations) because there were whole phrases recorded. Typical example would be the Hurdy Gurdy.

When I remember it correctly, Celtic ERA was released some months after ERA II Medieval Legends and perhaps there were also some samples reused. This is why I would assume that some of what I've written also applies to Celtic ERA.

[quantum7]

It's amazing what we can do with sample libs these days. I did this Celtic piece for an album 10 years ago using all samples with a real bagpipe ensemble....although I really could have used sampled bagpipes and no one would have been the wiser.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLqLabo7eyk