So, you want to buy some orchestral samples - but where do you start? This is a huge topic and not one we can cover in one article. In this series of articles, composer David Tobin is going to split the orchestra up into families and look at his personal favourites. He will examine the pros and cons and what he uses those sounds for, as well as notable alternatives. He will also be looking at his favourite associated software that helps him to add realism to the sounds. Within each family, he’ll reveal his “desert island choice” as well as other recommendations.
We’ll then move on to look at “The other side of the DAW” - sounds that are usable and available for use in notation software like Sibelius and StaffPad (a new iPad/surface notation package) and wrap up with a bonus article about starter orchestral libraries - usable both by beginners and those needing a quick solution.
The best way to judge the difference between the “stock” orchestral sounds found in DAW ROMplers like Logic’s EXS24 and bespoke made instruments is to hear it. Here are some examples to help you compare:
First, as a reference here is a clip using the EXS24…
Now the same clip using a selection of the libraries that we will be featuring in this series…
And to whet your appetite further here are 3 examples from articles in the series…
Before we start, in this article we are going to look at a little bit of history, how orchestral sample libraries are made, how you choose which library to use, what to look for, ending with a list of the upcoming articles in this extended series.
A Bit Of History…..
The technical limitations of computers, RAM, DAWs and sampling processes used to mean that libraries were often little more than an airbrush of an orchestral sound - meaning you could add an orchestral flavour to a project but without drawing too much attention to it.
Nowadays, this is well and truly not the case. There are now only a handful of generalist libraries in common usage. Most composers opt for increasingly specific offerings, deeply sampled. These often take up hundreds of GB of space because of the huge numbers of individual sampled recordings it takes to produce this kind of library.
How Are Traditional Orchestral Sample Libraries Made?
Take an orchestra into a studio or soundstage.
Record every chromatic note of each instrument played at three, four or even five different velocities and with every conceivable articulation
Record different configurations of instrument families to form ensembles.
Then record legato movement for each of the above, from every note to every other note to capture the way that each instrument “transitions” from one note to the next.
Capture these recordings with multiple microphone setups (traditionally close, stage/room and Decca tree)
Make a GUI that the user can quickly understand and work with.
Craft the scripts so that “modelled” elements blend with recorded elements. More on this later.
Make sure that the workflow is similar between libraries within the same GUI
This is a very basic list, and as you can see it’s a pretty daunting prospect both for any library manufacturer as well as for the prospective user looking to choose between the libraries.
Kontakt Or Not?
Many sample libraries, not just orchestral sample libraries, have thrown their lot in with Native Instruments Kontakt - as a means to house their sounds. It comes in two flavours, “PLAYER” (free) and FULL (paid for).
Kontakt allows individual libraries to have their own GUI but in a familiar framework - which speeds up workflow.
All the libraries are accessible via the Kontakt library browser and many are even NKS compatible, meaning that if you own a Komplete Kontrol keyboard, you can see keyswitches light up like a third Heathrow runway… Serial numbers are all registered via the Native Access plugin portal, which means not getting used to multiple methods for registration too.
How Do You Choose?
Here are some of the questions to consider…
What type of sound do you want e.g. Intimate, dry, epic, wet?
How big an ensemble are you looking for?
Do you need premade ensembles, or are you prepared to make them?
What’s your budget?
Do you want or need mic choice - some libraries offer the option to mess around with mics in the GUI, as if you had recorded your piece live. This can have huge implications on the RAM footprint of a library.
Do you want exact individual samples or smearing with movement, for example? Some libraries are now offering blended options with samples of smeared phrases that are playable.
How much time do you want to spend learning it?
How will you blend libraries that are recorded more dryly compared with those recorded in a large hall? Do you stick with one product family (recorded in the same hall so they might blend) or do you mix and match?
Is it for sketching or for final output to a client or program?
What To Look For
Here are some considerations when choosing orchestral sample libraries to work with…
Usability. Above all else. If I can’t understand the GUI or the way in which I’m supposed to use it, then I tend to drift away from something. It HAS to be playable.
Great sounding recordings. A great GUI is nothing if it doesn’t sound good pretty quickly - I’m trying to be a musician, not a computer scientist!
Flexibility of sound. Sometimes I need something to sound dry and intimate. Sometimes I need it to feel like it’s in a much larger environment. I want the choice, so I need options. It’s crucial to consider both the sound of the sample and the sound of the acoustic it was recorded within.
Will my computer handle it? What is the likelihood of my computer having enough power to run the instrument! Some sample libraries are HUGE and can be memory and CPU hogs as well as taking up vast amounts of space on drives - so I need to be sure the trade-off is worth it each time.
A Disclaimer
At this stage, a disclaimer: This won’t be an exhaustive round-up of everything on the market. It’s purely an insight into what I find useful, why I chose that specific software and the pros and cons of those libraries.
it’s also worth mentioning that there is an absolutely bewildering array of orchestral choice on the market. Any composer would be hard pushed to own 10 per cent of the products, with new ones seemingly added on a weekly basis.
Coming Soon…
Here is the outline of the articles in the rest of the series that we will be publishing each week…
Orchestral Woodwinds
CineWinds Core + Pro
Spitfire Symphonic Woodwinds
Hollywood Orchestral Woodwind
Orchestral Brass
CineBrass Core/Pro/Descant Horn/Sonore
Berlin Brass Orchestral Tools
Spitfire Symphonic Brass
Sample Modelling Horns/Trumpets/Bones/Tuba/
Orchestral Strings
Spitfire Chamber Strings
Spitfire Symphonic Strings
Spitfire Albion 5 Strings (Tundra)
Cinematic Studio Strings
Cinematic Solo Strings
LA Scoring Strings
Hollywood Strings
Orchestral Percussion
Project Sam True Strike
Taiko Creator
Spitfire Hans Zimmer
Grand Marimba
Storm Drum (Composer Cloud)
Harp
Spitfire Harp
CineHarp
Kontakt Factory Library Harp
Big Band And Jazz
Fable Sounds - Broadway Big Band
Project Sam - Swing Project
Sam - Swing More
Orchestral Tools - Glory Days
Native Instruments - Vintage Drummer
Sample Modelling Trumpet
Sample Modelling Trombone
Spectrasonics - Trillian
Associated Software
Virtual Soundstage
Vienna M.I.R
Audio Ease Altiverb
LiquidSonics Seventh Heaven
iZotope Ozone 9
iZotope RX
FabFilter Pro-Q 3
Logic Remote
Avid Control App
Keymand
Audiomovers - Listento
The Other Side Of The DAW
Sounds that help the writing process outside of your DAW…
The Berlin “family” for Staffpad. A new concept…
Note Performer for Sibelius
Complete Collections
Where to start and quick on-the-road fixes…
Albion One - Spitfire
BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover
Kontakt Factory Library