Philharmonik - Patches orchestral or creative?

[Rellik]

I've got a Philharmonik question as well - not too sure if this is the right place to ask it, but I figure it's the best place out of them all.

If anybody has any info, here's the question:

Does Philharmonik include a boatload of orchestral patches? As in, all the different instruments Miroslav has to offer, in all the different articulations that the library has been programmed and recorded in previously, as well as more?

Or is Philharmonik more about taking the original recordings/samples and doing "cool stuff" with them (as in making pads or STRETCH instruments and such)? If Philharmonik is to orchestral sounds what Sonik Synth 2 is to synth sounds, it sounds like it's more about being creative with the sounds and using them in interesting ways, rather than trying to accurately reproduce the instrumentation and playing-style of an actual orchestra.

Of course I don't mind if there are cool extra pads 'n sound effects 'n sounds in general included with Philharmonik - in fact, I think it's cool that they are cool. But my real interest remains in the realistic, top-notch orchestral core. I'm starting to get into composing for actual "real people", which I've never done before, and I think the transition will be easier if I can work with samples that are "violin", "viola", "trumpet" (and of course their various articulations, accessible via key-switching perhaps? but separate patches would be fine), instead of "Big Orchestral Hit", "Slinky Violin Lead", "Delicate String Ensemble", "Funky Distorted Cello Pad" - so I wouldn't have to rewrite all these compilation and effect patches as individual parts.

So that's why I ask I remain very interested in Philharmonik - the demos of Miroslav that I've heard online sound extremely competent, and my only really major concern is if Philharmonik will contain the same breed of realistic orchestral patches that Miroslav does.

[Mr. Tunes]

from my limited time with the plugin at namm i think it will fulfill both sides of your concern. i was definitely not playing a finished version of the thing, but i found a great mix between the different articulations and also great controls. with the sampletank 2 engine you can adjust sounds so that they do interesting things when you say, hit the note harder, by layering two or three cool patches.

the combi section was not really done at all when it was shown at namm and a lot of the bang will be in this section i am predicting.

in general it looks great. i saw a great response to it from pros that got to play it at the show. from film to hiphop they all loved it.

[Squids]

The answer is yes. It contains the COMPLETE $3,000+ Miroslav Orchestral library material and choirs as well. That's about 2 gigs of it giving you what the original library offered. Then the other 3+ gigs is dedicated to the following:

Previously unreleased material from a massive archive of samples we've aquired from Miroslav that he wasn't able to finish because he's too busy making music.

Alternate versions of the existing material with more samples across the keyboard (can do that now since the limitations of Akai and other samplers are not a concern like they were when Miroslav did his library) and also more dynamics and articulations.

Experimental tricks using the ST2 engine to achieve both enhanced realism as well as creative affected patches (like string and voice pads etc.). The same thing with the Combis. There will be some that are orchestral ensemble performance combinations and others that are moody evolving pads and effects.

When I say that it is like Sonik Synth 2 but for Orchestral sounds I don't mean that it is like a synth. It's main focus is being a high end orchestral library/module but at a very reasonable and affordable price. However, you get a lot of patch programming along with it which is great for doing soundtracks and stuff like that. At least the value is worth it alone just to have the whole Miroslav library bundled together for 1/6 the price WITH the sample playback engine.

[Caleb]

I am SOOOO looking forward to this Squids.

Do you think you've hit on a product here that not even I can have a bitch about?

Caleb

[harmony gardens]

I'm looking forward to this one, too. I was getting curious about it when I saw the orchestral samples showing up on esoundz. I was thinking about GPO for a long time, but I think this will be better. Will this set have orchestral percussion sounds too? BTW, the new T Shirts look great! I'm gonna get one when I place my next order.

[Caleb]

Yes - it will have orchestra percussion too.

Caleb

[Squids]

I am SOOOO looking forward to this Squids.

Do you think you've hit on a product here that not even I can have a bitch about?

Caleb

No product is free from people bitching. But, that's okay. It's the overall value that speaks for itself. With these "workstations" it is not expected that people like every sound. But, the fact that there's more variety for people to choose from in different writing style contexts is where it becomes worth it for a lot of people to get it. That and a good relative price for what you're getting.

It depends on each person's personality sometimes if they want to still complain when they've been given tremendous value in a product. But, ultimately, even with complaints here and there if the product is still useful and worth the money to that person then this is what matters.

[Caleb]

Squids - are there any short demos of this that happen to be lying around? Little mp3s or something?

No biggie - just curious.

You know what it's like. Once a future product is unveiled - the hunger starts.

Caleb

[Squids]

Squids - are there any short demos of this that happen to be lying around? Little mp3s or something?

No biggie - just curious.

You know what it's like. Once a future product is unveiled - the hunger starts.

Caleb

Only Miroslav's own demos which you can hear on www.ilio.com (and should be on www.esoundz.com too but I have to check).

[Caleb]

Listened to a few at Ilio.
If that's the worst it's going to be we're in for a real treat!

Caleb

[Rellik]

Listened to a few at Ilio.
If that's the worst it's going to be we're in for a real treat!

Caleb

Yeah it sounds great! Not a whole lot of variety, though - mostly classicaly-styled/ligh-hollywood style.

Thanks for the official info, Tunes and Squids. It really does sound like an ok deal, considering how good the demos sound .

Would you say that Philharmonik is in the same league as, for example, QLSO Gold/Platinum? I haven't heard any bombastic brassy demos from Miroslav, so I don't really know how it measures up in that category. I'm going to believe in whatever hype you guys throw out, because I want Philharmonik to be THE orchestral library that can finally give me peace enough to elicit a purchase so tell me it's better than VSL MagnetoHuge edition if you want, I'm all ears. QLSO Gold during the group buy was the closest any orchestral library has come to getting me to make that kind of expenditure, so if Philharmonik has a substantially greater ValueForMoney index, then you might have yourself at least one customer

[Sequent]

'Both' is what I wanted to hear, Squids. So very cool.

On the one hand, I'm looking at Philharmonik as an adjunct to EWQLSO so I'm looking to round out my library of available choices and for it to blend well in a realistic setting.

On the other hand, it would be a shame not to take advantage of all the fun things that the sampletank engine allows you to do with the source material. So, I'm ALSO looking to Philharmonik as a more flexible instrument that will be able to provide some creative sounds that will play well with synths and in a non-classical environment where sometimes "ultra-realistic" is not always the best fit.

The fact that it will be adept at both, plus knowing that it includes the choir set, makes it sound like an appealing choice.

Another thing, that I'm not sure whether it was answered... will the Philharmonik soundset be available within Sampletank the way Soniksynth sounds are? I think it would be cool to be able to create combis using elements from all three, for example.

[Squids]

Yes, you'll be able to read the Miroslav Philharmonik sounds within SampleTank 2 as well as Studiophonik and Sonik Synth 2 will also be readable from ST2. That's where owning SampleTank 2 XL really becomes a "system" for putting it ALL together. Luckily there is a crossgrade so those that don't have it yet should consider getting it for less while it is being offered.

Remember that we're not going for trying to beat or match any other orchestral collection. If some other library has bombastic brass then that's great! This might have more majestic brass. Different flavors. But, we're getting much more out of the archives than what was released. So, there is a wide range and as an orchestral workstation I think Miroslav Philharmonik is definitely one item that some people can use as their ONLY high end orchestra and others who have either QLSO or GPO or Vienna etc as an additional source of creative composition and arranging material that has a real emotional and musical sound.

[sghoughton]

Is there anything about this new library that will be readable in Reason? Or is this strictly going to be available for SR samplers?

steve

[Bassballjg]

Is there anything about this new library that will be readable in Reason? Or is this strictly going to be available for SR samplers?

steve

Philharmonik is to be based on the SampleTank2 engine, and is readable as a library by ST2 as well as being an instrument plug-in in its own right. It would be nice to see the Miroslav stuff done for NNXT, though.