Continuing the series on my favourite orchestral sample libraries, this week we turn to one of the forgotten areas of the orchestral world, the harp.
If you’ve followed the series you’ve probably seen the regular disclaimer I’ve made about what i look for from a sample library but just in case you’re newly tuning in:
I look for usability, great sounding recordings, flexibility of sound and how easily my computer will cope with the strains of running the sound library in question.
I also focus on the sound of the acoustic in which the samples are recorded, as they give the sound its character.
For some context if you are new to this series take a moment to look at Episode One.
Because harp libraries focus on that instrument alone, it can often be forgotten when allocating budget for samples and consequently can be overlooked completely - with users relying on inbuilt factory sounds of their DAW, which sells the instrument short.
I have tried a number of harp libraries and just to reiterate what I’ve stated in the previous article, the following is NOT an exhaustive list of available options - it’s just what I choose to use, and an explanation of why.
Spitfire Harp
Cineharps
Kontakt library Orchestral Harp (from legacy Vienna Symphonic Orchestral sounds (VSL)
Bonus mention for Arpeggio (Sonokinetic!!)
To give you an idea of the differences between these libraries, here’s a recording of a few bars we’ve composed to show the differences in the sound of each library.
Spitfire Harp
As with all of the original spitfire products pre 2020 (this product originated in 2015) this is a Kontakt library - which works in either the free Kontakt Player or the full Kontakt instrument.
The featured harpist is Skyla Kanga. Skyla is a legendary harpist, who has played for many movies and with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working on a number of occasions.
I do like the subtlety of the different articulations. The flageolet (harmonic), which is made by placing the ball of the hand on a string whilst plucking to produce an overtone is beautiful and haunting. The glissandos (glisses) are often the primary thing composers look for in a harp library and there are a whole heap of choices in this library. Firstly they’ve been recorded in every key. Then you’ve got both whole tone, pentatonic, diminished, major, minor harmonic and minor melodic options. And all of these at two speeds.
In addition to all of this you can set the harp pedals. Without giving you a harp pedalling tutorial (I had mine from a legend of the virtual instrument world Gary Garritan - himself a harpist and who taught me how to properly write pedalling for a harp), suffice it to say that by setting the pedals in the right position you can write bespoke glissandos to fit any key or run. So you set pedals by changing things within the pedal graphic.
In other news there is also a “harposphere” patch, which gives you a beautiful ethereal harp patch with lush and airy pads. I’m sure it’ll be useful for some but I’ve never used it.
All in all it’s a great library. My only gripes are that the harp was recorded from it’s traditional position in an orchestral set up - meaning that if i want to do something more experimental, I have to avoid phase issues by messing with extra processing to collapse the stereo and move it (even though you are given options to collapse the stereo field). Additionally i do find that it’s missing some really loud plucky samples, but this really is nit picking!
PROS:
Fits into the rest of the Spitfire family because they’re all recorded in the same space
Choice of slow and fast glissando (one of the staples of the harp sound)
Lots of articulation detail (flageolet, harmonics, including great soft samples)
Multiple mic options as with all the other Spitfire Instruments
CONS:
Personally I’d prefer orchestral instruments not placed in their regular instrumental place (from a planning perspective). It makes it difficult to experiment with other placements.
No really “plucky” FF sample- it’s all pretty subtle
It can be a bit of a memory hog
CineHarps
Unlike the Spitfire harp which is less soloistic and immediately blends into a mix, the CineHarp feels tailor made for featuring prominent harp lines. The pluck on the basic patch is mightily plucked and so it really stands out - maybe almost too much, but i do like it’s bold approach. Thankfully they’ve given multiple mix options, including a surround mix option so you can move the untreated sound further back and set a delay, to allow the sample to sit closer in time to the reverb. Also included is a close delay button - so that the close perspective is delayed by approx 15ms, which aligns the close, room and surround perspectives a little more, giving a tighter sound. If the sound is a little “plucky” then altering the velocity curve to “Bias Piano” allows textural playing more easily.
The cineharp approach to the Glissandi is slightly different from Spitfire. The top of the keyboard sets the root note of the gliss, with scale choices being made by pressing different keys lower down the keyboard.
In addition to the regular main harp, the 2nd harp is slightly smaller so has a less resonant texture. This harp is not placed in a traditional harp seating, so it’s perfect for stereo textures where harp isn’t to be in its traditional placement.
In addition to the main harps there are a whole host of other patches. The bisbligliandi patch is a very useful collection of trills and dynamics changes and textures.
There is also a superb approach to traditional Glissandi. Using “gliss mode” you can choose to use any diatonic scale of your choosing, a host of other scale options, or simply drag up or down arrows next to each note to custom-set a scale. The harp pedalling diagram is shown also - great for aficionados and those looking to understand which notes correspond to which pedal.
There is also a nice approach to note ends, with a release mode knob, allowing you to change note ends from muted to “let ring” for ages!
This is the harp library i go to when my lines are likely to be featured rather than just part of an underscore. Overall the library is superb to use, gives plenty of sound options and sits easily within my cinesamples orchestral library.
PROS:
Recorded at the MGM scoring stage - Sony Pictures, so it sounds beautiful!
Plenty of Mic position options - that fit into the world of Cinesample Orchestral series.
Three different harps of different sizes available
CONS:
It’s really full in sound (almost too weighty) and doesn’t sit in a mix without a little work - which they’ve now taken steps to mitigate.
Kontakt Factory Library Harp
Part of my mission in this series is to make sure I shine a spotlight on sounds that composers on a budget can access. Native Instruments Komplete is one of those things that many composers choose as a one-stop-shop solution to get started, giving access to tens of Gb of samples, synths, FX and loops across almost every conceivable genre. Within this absolutely MASSIVE collection of instruments (admittedly of varying quality) are some real pearls. One of these in my opinion, is the orchestral harp (which is part of a small legacy collection ported in from Vienna Symphonic (VSL).
If you are looking to add a flavour of harp rather than feature the instrument then it may give you what you are looking for. It’s got 3 layered velocity samples, so a gentle pluck really does have a different feel from a louder one, and also gives you a nice flageolet for really intimate or atmospheric pieces.
It would be nice to have more control over the acoustic (different mic positions) but maybe that’s asking too much. It gives me a quick starting point and i have often used it in the past - and never had any complaints!
PROS:
If you buy Kontakt full (with Komplete), this comes with.. it just does!
Very easy to understand
Sounds very well recorded - clean and accurate
3 velocity layers for all samples and also includes harmonics (flageolet)
CONS:
This is something i consider to be a quick sketching tool - it doesn’t have the nuance of some of the others
Not as much glissandi variation as some of the others
The acoustic is quite pronounced, so difficult to get a dry sound
Arpeggio (Sonokinetic)
OK, so I wasn’t going to feature this library primarily because (don’t tell anyone) I don’t own it. I’ve made a rule to review all the things I have played and own.
This library - I don’t own but have used and have heard, and it deserves a mention (although this fact escaped me when setting up the series).
It’s about the £50 mark and gives you much deeper access to the harp as a featured instrument than something like the Kontakt Factory library one.
You get multiple articulation choices including some harp sounds you’ll be familiar with even if you haven’t heard of them (including Bisbigliando - a sort of feathery tremolo) and Pres de la Table - “near the soundboard”, which gives a brighter more immediate kind of sound).
The GUI is sensibly laid out and the overall sound is lovely, and did I mention it’s only £50?
PROS:
Full featured large concert harp
Lots of articulation choice
Variety of Harp FX, glissandos
Reverb / Acoustic choice
I haven’t included any “Cons” as I haven’t played with it enough to find out the gripes, but for the price it’s an obvious option for composers on a budget!
My Orchestral Harp Desert Island Choice
And so to my Desert Island choice…
Before upgrading Cineharps to the current version I often used either of the other options. But since upgrading this, it’s got everything i need and it’s where i’ll head when i want harp from now on!
Up Next Week
Hold onto your hats, get your cigarillos out and your kitsch language - next week it’s Jazz and Big Band libraries!