I just saw a sample library on the sister side. It is only 100gb big. I mean at some point it just gets ridiculous. The amount of time that it would take me downloading something like that would be enough to build all the used instruments myself and even learn to play them.
It is like in the old days when Omnisphere was released and no one ever finished downloading it because it was 6 dvds and it just took weeks, so at some point you just went out and bought it because you were tired of waiting for the download. SO the question would be is library size still a way of copy protection or is it reasonable to have them grow bigger and bigger still.

 

Download/Install size/time isn't a big issue these days for many people nowadays; but if it is, just use whatever expansions you have from Nexus or some physically modelled VSTs like PianoTeq, the sound quality won't even make for a difference when you apply all sorts of fancy effects and add more layers in a mix.

 

Quality samples come at a price, if you need a sampled instrument in your mix that is almost devoid of effects then you are going to want it to sound like the real thing. If you end up wrapping the whole sound in a boat load of effects, then using a 100gb sample set is insane.

 

I guess i could download it if i really wanted to but more often than not i realize that i don't

 

If you’re referring to the Strezov Ethnic Orchestra, it’s actually 220gb once it’s unpacked

 

It's the natural order of things.
In 10 years 100 GB is nothing.

 

Yeah, that's the one.. I mean i am sure it is an awesome library and it sure sounds amazing, so i am not doubting that. I rather wonder if you could achieve a similar result for what you are doing with a library that was maybe only 10gb in size. I guess it depends on the use case.. If you are doing film scoring for a movie that will be seen by 20mio people it sure is acceptable without even starting a debate about it.

 

Yes, I do get that.. but at some point sound doesn't get any more complex. If you have captured every nuance of a sound there is nothing more you can capture really, so there is an end to it at some point or at least there should be.

I also do understand that much what is done is first creating a desire and then providing the means to fulfill it so most probably it will depend on whether the marketing guys can present it in a way that is appealing enough for everyone to have to have it

 

Last edited: Jul 10, 2020

I mean it gets even more ridiculous, just look at the largest pianos out there, Hans Zimmer Piano for example, or Production Voices Concert Grand Full edition

 

Yeah, it just depends on use case, how critical you are and how much of a spotlight is on that particular instrument. You tend to be more aware of all the nuances of instruments that you’re the most familiar with, in which case you’re more likely to want the most accurate reproduction possible. For me it’s a compromise with some instruments where size and fast workflow are a consideration but with others I just want what sounds the best to me.

 

I guess it is a two edged sword.. I mean the more accurate it can be the more skill you will need to actually reproduce exactly what you were after in the first place. The best and most complex library won't yield a perfect result for most people i guess because they will not be able to use it to it's full potential, not even close.
If it takes years and years of practice to master for example a violin, it is not very plausible that you can create a sample library that will reproduce that same performance in just a few minutes.
Maybe if you have a complex AI playing one day, it could get there but then you won't need music producers anymore anyways. You will be able to create your own music by thought and instead of listening to it in your head you can blast it out on your speakers.

 

Last edited: Jul 10, 2020

I can assure you that it can get a LOT more complex.
Sampling engineers always have to compromise something. You can't sample every single sound Inflection possible.
There isn't any sample library available that represent 100% the real thing. Even the top stuff, like Spitfire or OT or VSL, none of them, sounds like the real thing. Will they ever? I doubt it. Only when there is another component, like AI software that can morph the samples or something like that

 

My guess would be that at some point the sound will be created by an AI and it is not sampled anymore in a way that we think of sampling today. It will be generated on the fly with every possible nuance.. I mean if you think about it, it already is, cause we are existing in some sort of simulation already most probably anyways

 

Well, AI will most definitely will have a say in sampling in the future. Like most things in most life. You can discuss if it will ever surpasse the human brain and emotion, but it will surely try.
Now, if we live in a simulation is a completely different discussion.

 

Many libraries could easily be a fraction of their size with a little optimization. You don't always have to have multiple gigs of uncompressed samples to have a realistic and usable instrument. Plenty of older hardware made use of small waveforms to create very usable sounds and incredible music has been made this way. But from a developer standpoint, in today's market library size is frequently used as a selling point (with almost no real benefit to the user).

 

True.. I guess that AI most certainly will surpass the human brain and that it will happen soon enough.. The human brain is limited to the number of neurons that exist between your ears basically and that distance is somehow limited at least for most people. AI can just grow more or less infinitely if you provide the right environment, so it will be a matter of years until it happens i would suspect.

 

One day modelling will take into consideration external factors such as

• Ambient temperature
• Humidity
• Type materials
• Age of materials
• Players mental state
• Position of the moon in the sky adjacent to the nearest black hole

 

You forgot the mood the players wife/husband/whatever/f*ckdoll was in that very morning.. I tried to make it as gender neutral as possible

 

Last edited: Jul 10, 2020

It's exactly the same trend going on with some video games: Look at Red Dead Redemption 2 for example.

 

One day, someone is going to use ray tracing on GPU's to enhance their VST capabilities