Which orchestral/other instruments plugin to get for movie soundtrack

[Aryaroman]

If you need affordable percussion library, take a look at Soundiron's Apocalypse percussion, it's for Kontakt Player and 99$. It's a smaller version of their Apocalypse Orchestral Ensembles. They also have an older alternative, even cheaper Bamboo Ensemble. They're on sale right now, so you can get them for -30% off.

[simon.a.billington]

There lots of good choices out there these days. Heavyocity, Output, EastWest, 8Dio, Spitfire, the list goes on. Just about any number of synths will work too, Native Instruments, Arturia, Waves, U-He, the ones that come with your DAW... Whatever...

What really matters more is what inspires you and how you use it.

Man, you can ever go the found sounds route, even just to embellish your arrangements.

Then there is the mix you have to consider. Don't think of these libraries as a one stop shop complete solution, because no matter how good those sounds are, they will still need proper mixing at the end of the day. Ironically, the bigger and more lush the patches sound by themselves, the more you will have to do in the mix, with a few exceptions.

If you've done a good enough job arranging you may only need a few tweaks. Actually, the key to a good mix is good arrangements. If you end up struggling with your mix, chances are you need to revise your arrangements. Even then there is still quite some work to do to have the instruments all locking in nice and tight and sitting in a cohesive acoustic environment.

Yep a few good inspiring libraries are a great start, but don't neglect the rest of the process otherwise you may find yourself unhappy with your own work.

[Tonberry]

The trick to using large Kontakt libraries is to use the "Purge" function.

Purging Da Capo starts being very annyoing when writing minor parts. For example we have 3 notes of a purged instrument section on a lonely, otherwise empty track. Suddenly, after rewriting main melody, the idea strikes to write 2 more notes to complement those 3 in a new context. Reload. And then we realize two additional tracks could be longer as well to sort of interact in the background with our extended minor part. This means waiting up considerable amount of time for 3 huge patches to load and then having to keep that loaded as long as we work on those 3 elements, being hard pressed to finish it and purge before we go do something else - otherwise we might need even more ram. And when we're finished, hands shake when pressing those purge buttons praying that those 3 tracks are now really done

Experience can probably help know better when purging can be done (given that you don't see it as a disadvantage, you're probably very good with this... or maybe I'm just that bad ) but budget libraries are obviously aimed towards less advanced users and it doesn't help when beginner has to fight his lack of experience, his new environment (daw/notation software) and library that punishes him hard for things he didn't think through.

Ram memory is another issue - hobbyists and less experienced users might not even have a fraction of power that is available to experienced professionals who do this thing for a living. A lot of them will just have 8gb of ram (or even 4gb) and that means their flexibility will quickly become limited when there's only 1.5gb of memory free before system starts to choke on its own bits.

When it comes to these types of libraries you will find one insufficient and want the next. At least that's how it is for me

I wonder if anyone ever mortgaged his house to buy more VIs

Ironically, the bigger and more lush the patches sound by themselves, the more you will have to do in the mix

Super advice! Great sounding patches can be like world class footballers - they may be the best there is but when they all play for one team, with their big egos things can get very messy in locker rooms. It's extremely easy to overcook a patch that already sounds great and the lack of headroom to play around with also means it's going to be harder to learn reverb, panning etc. That's one of the reasons why VSL string library is very popular - those samples are so dry that everything can be done with them

On the other hand, if someone is looking for that extra spice in his otherwise non-classical/cinematic music, libraries that sound great from the start are probably a better choice. Music written for lesser amount of instruments also makes those libraries more viable as it's easier to place them in without conflicts. Finally, no matter how "well-designed" a string library is, if it sound great, it can pay back for itself serving beautiful extra layers for more advanced libraries bought later!

[Apostate]

All excellent suggestions. However, if you want what remains the most realistic strings and brass available, despite their consistently buggy and at times outright aggravating nature, and you got the big bucks, get East West Hollywood Strings and Brass. They're both incredible. The woodwinds of that developer are very good too (the English horn in particular is devastatingly inspiring), but even buggier (to a degree where I might actually (gasp!) try another brand).

Nexus has some patches that are quite good for strings as well, especially dark stuff.

I've tried vsl, Capriccio, pretty much all of the others. Nothing comes close in sound to the East West, at least to my ears. Very realistic, with a ton of expressive options that reveal themselves to me as more and more magnificent sounding with each persual.

But as mentioned, expensive and a continual PITA .

[dsan@mail.com]

Purging Da Capo starts being very annyoing when writing minor parts. For example we have 3 notes of a purged instrument section on a lonely, otherwise empty track. Suddenly, after rewriting main melody, the idea strikes to write 2 more notes to complement those 3 in a new context. Reload. And then we realize two additional tracks could be longer as well to sort of interact in the background with our extended minor part. This means waiting up considerable amount of time for 3 huge patches to load and then having to keep that loaded as long as we work on those 3 elements, being hard pressed to finish it and purge before we go do something else - otherwise we might need even more ram. And when we're finished, hands shake when pressing those purge buttons praying that those 3 tracks are now really done

You are correct, your scenario can become quite tedious; however, the ability to remove samples from RAM is valuable when one has limited RAM and needs to utilize resources more effectively.

As one gains experience with the nuances of managing systems resources one gains an advantage of those aspects of work flow that enhance use rather than causes angst. Hopefully

Experience can probably help know better when purging can be done (given that you don't see it as a disadvantage, you're probably very good with this... or maybe I'm just that bad ) but budget libraries are obviously aimed towards less advanced users and it doesn't help when beginner has to fight his lack of experience, his new environment (daw/notation software) and library that punishes him hard for things he didn't think through.

Ram memory is another issue - hobbyists and less experienced users might not even have a fraction of power that is available to experienced professionals who do this thing for a living. A lot of them will just have 8gb of ram (or even 4gb) and that means their flexibility will quickly become limited when there's only 1.5gb of memory free before system starts to choke on its own bits.

I do not disagree (except the part about "being that bad"). Experience helps significantly and one will learn the best time to do things or when not. Just like learning to play an instrument, one must practice to gain the proper skills. Give it time, it will come.

Been there with that 4Gb. That's why I went to 32

Even though I have 32Gb on my hobbyist system, most "pros" I'm aware of will have 64Gb or maybe more. Even at that the system is "limited".

It's about learning to work within the limitations. Tools have been made available to everyone. It's how one uses those tools to arrive at the result. The purge function is such a tool (and many are not aware of it) - not always to be used, rather there when needed. As you point out, "think through" the process before committing.

When it comes to these types of libraries you will find one insufficient and want the next. At least that's how it is for me

I wonder if anyone ever mortgaged his house to buy more VIs

Haven't had to yet but who knows what will happen next week

It definitely IS an expensive hobby. But oh so much fun

Cheers!

[Tonberry]

Even though I have 32Gb on my hobbyist system, most "pros" I'm aware of will have 64Gb or maybe more. Even at that the system is "limited".

You're well prepared for your hobby then Yeah, some people even have multiple i7 64gb of ram slave machines. At least some of that must come from comfort of use - fire and forget, everything one'd ever potentially need is there, no obstacles from then on. I personally can't even imagine what could possibly require 160gb ram in SSD era (meaning substantially reduced memory footprint by lessening DFD buffer size) but too many people go for it to believe it isn't really beneficial to them I guess.

Windows 10 must have made those people happy - it has 128gb ram limit.

It definitely IS an expensive hobby. But oh so much fun

Yes, VIs are the cocaine of a XXI century musician!

[mikek1357]

Thanks for all advice and I bought my first library...

Spitfire's Albion 1, couldn't refuse the special price it has this month. It sounds stunning.

[mrgrim3]

ableton suite has orchestral multisamples

but ive never compared with any 3rd party lbrarys

maybe thhe others arre better wih their ariculations and stuff

[Apostate]

Whenever you want a big step up in sound and articulations (despite the quasi-regular headaches), subscribe to Composer Cloud from East West. It's the best deal out there. You need an at least really good computer though, plus an SSD card 250 or more is a huge help. I'm running over a dozen of their libraries through a 500 GB Samsung T-1 SSD and they load great on my laptop.

[Tonberry]

Do you get to keep some EW instruments after prolonged subscription to that Composer Cloud?

[Apostate]

Do you get to keep some EW instruments after prolonged subscription to that Composer Cloud?

Nah, that's one of the downsides. It's not rent to own. I already owned all the Hollywood bundles (amazing stuff), but there are so many other great things besides. For under 30 US a month you get a ton of usable instruments, and the vast majority of them are fantastic.

Another downside: the excellent SSL and effects strip only comes with the more recent East West releases. It's such a handy tool, and I've requested they add it to the rest of the instruments offered in Composer Cloud.