I would like some advice: with a budget of about 500 euros, I would like to purchase a high-quality brass library. I already own: Cinebrass core and pro (it doesn't blow me away, especially the trumpets), EWQLSO (some samples are still valid but overall it is now a bit outdated), Vienna Opus 1, Sample Modeling (which has great potential but I can't yet use it properly to create credible ensembles, especially for the trombones).
Some experts I have consulted have strongly advised me against the East West Hollywood series, probably due to technical issues, loading problems, crashes, and things like that, not because the sounds aren't good.
Currently, I am undecided between Vienna Dimension Brass and the Spitfire BML series; in particular, it is the trumpets that are causing me the most trouble. I like both but I am not 100% convinced: Vienna's auto-division system is awesome, but it is a bit difficult to program.
I am also considering the possibility of getting individual instruments from different libraries, for example, the horns from Orchestral Tools, the trombones from BML, and so on....
For the moment (since I don't remember listening to demos, I will try to do so, of the Spitfire Bml library, even if this name doesn't sound new to me) I "would play it safe" by opting for Dimension Brass (even though I understand you when you talk about programming and management not being very simple), almost without thinking twice.
However (prefacing that I don't think the budget would be enough) having different libraries of the same instrument or multiple instruments would be the "best" choice to achieve that variation in "timbre" that gives a piece a sense of greater realism.
I have heard very good things about the Orchestral Brass library, it seems to be one of the best dedicated to brass (very realistic textures and good dynamic control); however, I have never tinkered with it and I am not sure it is cheap
Ah Project Sam, yes I know it, it's a bit old, it's the same line as Symphobia, it's not what I'm looking for. I look for realism very much, not necessarily an epic sound or disproportionate sections. Currently, I am leaning towards Vienna Dimension brass; I expect good things from Orchestral Tools, whose woodwinds I already use, even though they are limited to just horns regarding the brass.
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Videoclip
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geppino12575 wrote:
Currently I am leaning towards the Vienna Dimension brass,
You should be able to afford it with your budget, even though they always use VSL's silent stage; they have improved their sampling practice. Compared to the past, when brass sections were sampled in stereo sections, now Dimension Brass samples each section, composed of four elements; however, the sampling is mono, isolating each individual musician and miking them individually (this allows for free management of various instrument combinations).
However, VSL has chosen to sample only Bb trumpets, trombones, French horns, and a macro-ensemble composed of two trombones, one bass trombone, and a tuba.
Tall samplings can be managed, at your choice, within the Vienna Instrument players: Vienna Instrument, Vienna Instrument 2, and Vienna Instrument Pro.
In any case, Dimension Brass is not an ordinary library, and if paired with the player in the Pro version, it can become a highly refined tool for creating credible brass parts. The intrinsic quality of the samples, as per VSL tradition, is top-notch, and the integration with the player is perfectly successful.
This does not, however, exempt one from application and dedication to achieve good results; quite the contrary.
I was telling you to take Orchestral Tools into consideration, but be careful because they have great sounds but the libraries are a disaster in terms of code. I bought The Orchestral Grands and it saturates the CPU even on an 8-core MacPro. Completely unusable. I wouldn't want the other instruments to suffer from the same problems, especially since support is totally non-existent! I sent an email and attached some video examples to show them the problem. They mimicked a few things, then when they realized that the problem was indeed with the library, they disappeared. I also tried writing on their forum and they even deleted my message. I will never buy one of their products again unless they get serious and take responsibility.
Effectively, Orchestral Tools libraries do have some bugs to fix: I also have Orchestral Grands and the Steinway B is missing some dynamic layers in a note of the high register. Furthermore, sometimes in the woodwinds the sus samples sound glitches or freeze, and in Berlin Strings (version 1.0) the spiccato for the second violins is transposed by a tone and that of the cellos by a fifth. This is truly a glaring and incomprehensible error, which will surely have been corrected in subsequent versions.
What I still haven't been able to understand is why East West's Hollywood Brass was discouraged to me; the person who told me to avoid them is an EW beta-tester, so they said they couldn't say too much, they just told me to let it go.
I found a fairly objective review in which the library's flaws are also highlighted, but I didn't think they were so serious...
hi Geppino, do you use some kind of breath controller with Samplemodeling? Because that's the right way to handle them... but isn't it true that despite the impulse responses which should allow for creating ensembles without phasing issues, in reality, it's hard to create a real section sound?
I don't use the breath controller with Sample Modeling; the problem is exactly what you were pointing out, meaning, even when putting together a certain number of instruments, you always have the feeling that they are 4 soloists instead of a section. Anyway, lately I've become obsessed with Spitfire, not just the brass, the whole orchestra; their demos are truly fantastic in terms of realism, by far the best ones out there, I invite you to listen to them. The libraries cost a fortune, but with something more than 500 euros, I can get the Phalanx series brass.
Spitfire libraries are beautiful, although for me they have a bit too much ambient sound... for the use I make of them, drier sounds are better... sometimes, even the old Miroslav Philarmonik can sound surprisingly good. As an exercise, I tried to recreate Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi with the Philharmonik
ThanksTtiger, considering that it is an "old school" library, without dynamics layers, without round-robin or anything else, paid 50 euros, it's not bad... however, the sound sampling must have been done well, because from that point of view the quality is excellent. I posted this example on VI Control to demonstrate that more than the libraries, what matters is how we use them... some effects were had. There, many users rush to get the latest news without stopping to learn how to use what they already have
returning to your request, Geppino, have you already decided on Spitfire? If so, I would be curious to hear your impressions once you've worked with it a bit... I have exactly the same libraries as you, plus the Wallander instruments (wivi) and frankly for me the most beautiful sound is still that of EastWest, even if as you say it is dated. I wonder how the Sonivox products, Orchestral Companions, will be, which in theory are a repackaging of the Sonic Implants library, which was very interesting at the time...
