There was a time when I had 4 or 5 Orchestra libraries in Kontakt and I knew the sound of each and which I preferred for any job. Same with Winds or Brass. New libraries keep appearing and I assume (perhaps mistakenly) that improved, deeper sampling techniques and more articulations will result in a more usable product. On one level it seems obvious that a newly recorded 40GB library from Abbey Road is going to better than something from nearly a decade ago that is 2GB in size. I now find that I really can't give an opinion on which are good or not. I have a short film job approaching and with around 50 Strings libraries alone I'm seeking some kind of opinions as to which are your "go to" libraries and which are "disposable"

 

It depends on your taste? Or rather the music you make. e.g. I still like some of Kurzweil, Akai, Roland, and E-mu orchestral libraries. But that's just my case.

For film music, I suppose hyper realistic and kinda dry orchestral libraries would be the most contemporary and wise choice, if you want to follow the trends. Regarding that, I would also like to know what libraries in your, and other's opinion qualify? - clean, raw, dry, and playable - meaning lots of real time control of modulation, style of playing etc.

 

I agree with SineWave, however I wanted to add it also depends on the film genre itself. As an example, with a sci-fi flick, a hybrid combination of synthetics sound great in the mix with organics. A documentary concerning the cosmos sounds awesome using synthetics, (Vangelis proved that), but a documentary about nature in a redwood forest might do best with organic strings etc... I'm sure you get the point.

I guess I would add a "well rounded" selection of both synthetic and organic libraries are a good idea. I initially started collecting libraries that were initially synthetic only, way back when, because I couldn't afford instruments like a Mini Moog or Prophet 5, so I settled for samples from the aforementioned instruments until I could afford them.

I also think that the libraries worth keeping are the libraries that inspire you the most. I understand that sampling techniques have improved, and the scripting that goes with them has created the ability to bring out the best both in articulation and performance, but if it doesn't inspire you, it's dead in the water, so to speak.

As for a list of Orchestral string "go to's": -Symphobia series, -Albion Tundra and ONE -Emotional Cello, -Tina Guo Acoustic Cello -Emotive Strings, and Action Strings. My Synthetic string "go to's": -UVI String Machines 2, -Hideaway Studios String Collections, -Hollow Suns Crumar Performer and String Synths II. But this is all personal... EDIT, Oh and I actually still use E-MUs Proteus Modules for strings as well.

 

I guess I'm looking for some guidance with a broad approach to which companies have the best product overall as opposed to specific libraries. ie. Orchestral Tools vs 8Dio vs Cinesamples vs Spitfire vs Chris Hein and so on and so forth. Soundwise, I prefer a more, lets say "pastoral" type of sound. Small budget shorts rarely have epic space battle scenes, so I'm agreeing with the above that Symphobia has often been a mainstay of my string work alongside Embertone's solo instruments.

 

The ones I always found myself coming back to is the Project Sam stuff. Also the Samplemodeling stuff, their French Horns, Tuba, Trombones, Trumpet are still unsurpassed as far as realism goes. Orange Tree samples is great too.

 

Thanks. I'll give my Project Sam stuff a review. With all that's on offer it's hard to keep track of the sonic qualities of your library collection. What made me stop and think before starting a new project was how similar a lot of Spitfire sounds were. 8dio get a bad rap.... is it justified? (and ancient... Mu Mu) there's one for us old ravers.

 

Just dawned on me that was nearly 30 years ago. I'm biased, but they were the best years. No rules or restrictions. All underground without profits as the motivation and restricted to those who made the effort to find out where events were happening. No promotion, no flyers or posters and the best people.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jan 7, 2019