Philharmonik demo over at sonic state!!

[Pete C]

Nice playing Squids...damn.

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=2119#

[Squids]

Aha... cool!


Thanks.

[Squids]

The size of it doesn't get the sound across right though. Garble digital noises and mono. But, it sounded really huge on those Genelecs there at the show. All the playing was all made up on the spot each time. But, it was very easy and fun to play. Some moments were better than others. For this I was put on the spot a little bit. Other times I was getting into soundtrack/classical composition mode and some beautiful stuff (I wish I recorded) happened. This was just with a few combi patches so it is very promising when we'll be done with hundreds of them. A LOT of fun to play!

[DevonB]

Sounds good so far. Hope to get my mitts on it too! Still have my Mini Loop Composer Series CD sitting on the shelf and on my drive.

Devon

[Squids]

I think you'll enjoy it. It's been brought to another level. My favorite aspect of it seems to be the instant interactive orchestra thing (like what I was playing). ST2 is great for setting up quick layers. The fact that the samples were recorded in their correct stereo positioning of the orchestra and their lush quality makes for REALLY nice combis. You get quick musical results which is something that you can't put into a "spec". In fact, that's the whole thing about this library. It's BEST features are things that you can't describe in a spec. The way I feel about (owning a lot of orchestral libraries myself because as a composer I think it is worth it to have as many as you can afford) is that this one is too inspiring and too much fun not to have. If you forget about comparing features and just play it and be seduced by it then it becomes something you get ANYWAY regardless of what other stuff you have. It IS going to sound different. It's different recordings. Different players. But, Miroslav definitely captured some beautiful material. It just needed some modern approach and a little extra TLC... and a nice affordable price helps too!

[DevonB]

Well, I think out of all the libraries you've worked on, this one would please me the most. Here's hoping you're shipping early copies to the press.

Devon

[The O'Neil Twins]

Squids... you make it look so easy. So when I buy philharmonik, can I buy your skills as well?

-------------

Guy in background: "Shipping dates?"

Squids: "Coming soon.... to a theater near you!"

[Rellik]

Great demo almost kinda makes me want the reverb along with Philharmonik - that's an indication of how good the demo was!

Great sound - it seemed like the attack on the strings/brass was instant and yet natural (something I'm not used to). And all that was made up live? Wow - some really nice melody along with some solid multi-layered-harmonies .

When you say that the instruments were recorded in their stereo positions, does this mean that it would be difficult to pan them elsewhere? I'm not really clear on how stereo recordings work or stereo cancellation, but it seems like trying to pan the sound would cause some adverse effects - would it still be usable for non-orchestral if the instruments are set permanently into their orchestral positions?

Also, I'd very much like to hear a demo of Philharmonik dry, with no external reverb, if/when you/someone else gets the chance to make some demos. Not only do I want to get a feeling of the sound away from that CSR-1, but I want to hear the level to which there is reverb burned into the samples (similar to the stereo recordings, reduces the usability of the samples - probably should be fine, but I definitely need to hear that at some point).

Looking forward to the demos as they emerge I wish I was part of the press but they don't get to keep the products... do they?

I would write a monthly review column on music gear for my school newspaper if it would get me free products ... actually, I would really like to do a column like that anyway, but I would only be able to do 3-4 commercial software reviews before I would run out and have to review freeware (I think the likelihood of getting free stuff would be extremely low, after all)

[nexussynth]

This appears to sounds better than my old MV collection on Akai CDs.

Considering that was only like, 5 CDs, this is going to be many GIGs of material.

The problem is that the market is suddenly being flooded with low-cost orchestral libraries! (Garritan, what hath thou wrought!?) My credit card cannot keep up!

I would like to hear more in the way of exposed demos of various instruments before making a choice, as I am already into GPO and EWQLSO and might be looking for something to augment the QLSO Pro later this year. Philharmonik has that nice built-in ambience which (I'm sorry dry library devotees!) makes for more realistic orchestral sound, being sampled in an enviroment in which they are actually performed.

[Squids]

Thanks for the compliments. You might think it is harder than it looks but I would argue that it is even easier than it looks! The weird thing about Miroslav Philharmonik is that you just play a few notes and it sounds like an orchestra. It's hard to sound BAD if you know what I mean. There's so much musicality and emotion in the playing in the first place. Also, the acoustic space in the recordings just makes the sounds sit in the right spot and the benefit from the beautiful harmonics of the Dvorak Symphony Hall.

A lot of people asked to hear it dry without CSR. The response was always VERY good when I turned CSR off as well. It's a nice balance of getting the clarity of the instrument and not a washy hall sound yet you hear it's relative acoustic placement and some appealing natural reverberation. What I like about it is that you can add reverb like CSR to it and it doesn't lose definition either.

This was very interesting for me because the SR approach to orchestral instrument recordings has been different. We do more of the dry silent studio flexible for processing approach typically. I mean, maybe medium ambient studios used for film scoring but not symphony halls. However, after hearing Miroslav in depth I think it is a great approach especially if you get a good balance between the two. It's more expensive to do it that way because you have to have the whole orchestra set up for the entire sample sessions which can take weeks. It's more work to do it but it is worth it if you can also get the players to play with feeling. That's the hardest part and the thing you can't read in a spec. Did the players play with feeling or were they bored having to play a million scales? Trust me, it is hard for them to be inspired playing just notes. MANY libraries suffer from this.

As to the question about being able to pan them how you want. Yes! You can to a certain extent but not as much if it was center balanced. But, the ones to really have are the acoustic space position samples IMO. There's child presets with it center balanced at least for convenience.

As to Philharmonik sounding even better than the $3-4K MV library... well, that would be for several reasons. One is that we went through the original library and archives sample by sample optimizing it in various ways. But, then there is more advanced programming done with the performance macros such as adjustment of velocity to attack, a channel pressure knob parameter we call "push" which is a dual modulation of the amp and filter to simulate stronger energy appplied to a bow or mouthpiece on a brass or wind instrument and then there are other cool new features to those sounds. The best is the combi patches. Some are 200 megs in size! This is something the old Akais couldn't do. But, it is where Miroslav shines!!!

As to there being a lot of orchestral products out these days.... yes, I know! Isn't that great? I LOVE orchestral products. I am sure each one has something special to offer. I have the QLSO Gold and think it is very good. I look forward to getting the Choir one which impressed me. I have Vienna which I like for different things. I have GPO which is hit and miss for me. Good deal but I much prefer Garritan's original string library to be honest. I have several others too as well as SR material (including gigs of orchestral stuff never released.... yet anyway). None of them are like Miroslav Philhamonik in their sound. Not to say one is better than the other but they're just different! Philharmonik seems to be one of the more beautiful sounding and instantly inspirational collections though.

[Rellik]

Thanks for the informative info, Squids

Now I wish I had a controller with aftertouch oh well, so much for that. Question: the crossgrade is MSRP, correct? So far, most vendors seem to be offering Philharmonik normally for MRSP - $100.00 USD, which is basically right around the crossgrade MSRP, so I would assume they would be offering the crossgrade for lower as well.

I'm really excited to hear lots more demos and see the final instruments list . So on the patches list, just the individual instruments/sections are listed, and each articulation is accessable from inside the patch? Also, is the instruments list listed on the IK site complete? I didn't see a clarinet section or any section of violas larger than 4 - maybe they can be layered. Does "more than 1,000 orchestral and choir sounds" mean actual individual instruments/sections, individual presets (including child presets), or maybe it could even mean individual single velocity/note samples? If it's anything but that last one, then it still sounds like a lot

I'm just full of questions just answer what you feel like answering, demos speak louder than words after all, and I'm sure you're busy anyway - I'm just really excited about getting an orchestral library and want to make sure it's the right choice so I can be even more excited!

[harmony gardens]

Question: the crossgrade is MSRP, correct? So far, most vendors seem to be offering Philharmonik normally for MRSP - $100.00 USD, which is basically right around the crossgrade MSRP, so I would assume they would be offering the crossgrade for lower as well.

Relik, I haven't done an exhaustive search, but the only place that I found that was taking orders for Philharmonik was Sweetwater, and they had it for $399. I didn't see anything about crossgrades. Got any links??

I'm excited about this, too. East/West Gold is on sale now for $500 or platinum is probably going to be $1199, in the group buy. I'm sort of holding back to see about Philharmonik. It sounds too good to be true. Funny thing is, SS2 sounded to good to be true too, and I LOVE it. Squids has a way of making unbelievably good stuff.

[Rellik]

It's on the site posted at the beginning of the thread.

[Squids]

It's on the site posted at the beginning of the thread.

Yes, it is. But, the crossgrade for ST2 owners is $349. and not $100. I don't know where you got THAT from. As it is the crossgrade is an incredible deal at $349. and it isn't going to be offered forever either. It's at least there for the launch and some stores will be taking pre-orders soon! (an indication that we're getting close!!!!)

The over 1,000 sounds is refering to parent, child and combi presets. The final count we won't know until we're done. The list on line is just a partial list. There's even more than that. But, to have something to digest for now... Some of the specific names may change in the end as well.

[Squids]

Question: the crossgrade is MSRP, correct? So far, most vendors seem to be offering Philharmonik normally for MRSP - $100.00 USD, which is basically right around the crossgrade MSRP, so I would assume they would be offering the crossgrade for lower as well.

Relik, I haven't done an exhaustive search, but the only place that I found that was taking orders for Philharmonik was Sweetwater, and they had it for $399. I didn't see anything about crossgrades. Got any links??

I'm excited about this, too. East/West Gold is on sale now for $500 or platinum is probably going to be $1199, in the group buy. I'm sort of holding back to see about Philharmonik. It sounds too good to be true. Funny thing is, SS2 sounded to good to be true too, and I LOVE it. Squids has a way of making unbelievably good stuff.

Thanks. I have QLSO Gold and it is very good. The time to buy it would have been on that group buy they did though. It isn't as inspiring to look at the regular Kompakt interface as Philharmonik though. There are benefits to both products though if one can afford both. If they had to pick one then... well, you know which one I recommend!!!