00:00
00:00
Newgrounds Background Image Theme

FylypFimpossible just joined the crew!

We need you on the team, too.

Support Newgrounds and get tons of perks for just $2.99!

Create a Free Account and then..

Become a Supporter!

Favorite Orchestral VST's

2,588 Views | 20 Replies
New Topic Respond to this Topic

Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 10:26:33


So what are your favorite orchestral VST's? I have been using a lot of synths lately, but I think it is time to invest in something more organic. What do you guys think?


Immersed in the experience.

BBS Signature

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 10:35:50


At 9/26/15 10:26 AM, Schematist wrote: So what are your favorite orchestral VST's? I have been using a lot of synths lately, but I think it is time to invest in something more organic. What do you guys think?

You can make some pretty cool stuff using 3xOSC.


p.s. ur gay

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 11:25:08


I keep hearing about EQQL samples, but I am slightly resistant. I think it is mostly because I don't really want a Hollywood sound if that makes sense. I think I am aiming for the sound ofShoji Meguro the composer for the persona series. It is orchestral, but it is not super wide or spacious sounding.


Immersed in the experience.

BBS Signature

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 11:50:20


At 9/26/15 10:26 AM, Schematist wrote: So what are your favorite orchestral VST's? I have been using a lot of synths lately, but I think it is time to invest in something more organic. What do you guys think?

People around here will generally recommend the stuff by East West / Quantum Leap (Symphonic Orchestra or Hollywood series), but I personally detest the amount of reverb that's baked into the samples.

I went with VSL: Special Edition, as it offers a lot more flexibility in terms of mixing, and allows you to create many different types of orchestral music.

There's also the stuff by CineSamples, but again, there's quite a bit of reverb baked into the samples and they're not really efficient in terms of RAM usage.

Of course, there are plenty of products that focus on just one aspect of the orchestra (e.g. Cinematic Strings, LA Scoring Strings), as well as products that focus on full section patches (e.g. Symphobia, Albion). Are you looking for anything specific?

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 11:51:46


At 9/26/15 11:15 AM, TheDukeofJuke wrote: You actually can. I don't think of been able to make a convincing Cello yet. It sounds too much like Jello.

Yeah, and my brass usually sounds like ass.


p.s. ur gay

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 12:09:57


At 9/26/15 11:50 AM, EagleGuard wrote:
At 9/26/15 10:26 AM, Schematist wrote: So what are your favorite orchestral VST's? I have been using a lot of synths lately, but I think it is time to invest in something more organic. What do you guys think?
People around here will generally recommend the stuff by East West / Quantum Leap (Symphonic Orchestra or Hollywood series), but I personally detest the amount of reverb that's baked into the samples.

This is what I am afraid of. I have heard pretty nice things about VSL actually. What do you think about it? Albion is a little mystery to me, but when someone uses it, they tend to have nice things to say as well. I think I am looking for brass, and more realistic strings. Pizzicato strings more specifically. Brass and woodwinds is definitely my main concern.


Immersed in the experience.

BBS Signature

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 12:18:52


At 9/26/15 12:09 PM, Schematist wrote: This is what I am afraid of. I have heard pretty nice things about VSL actually. What do you think about it? Albion is a little mystery to me, but when someone uses it, they tend to have nice things to say as well. I think I am looking for brass, and more realistic strings. Pizzicato strings more specifically. Brass and woodwinds is definitely my main concern.

I personally think VSL is amazing, but it does require some more mixing effort to produce the wanted results, although this process can be simplified by purchasing a MIRx extension (which can do a lot of the mixing for you). I think VSL offers the most flexibility out of all the products listed.

Albion is easier to use, but it's a lot less flexible.


Edit: Meh, time and place for everything, this was too OT.


BBS Signature

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 13:07:30


There really aren't any affordable but quality complete orchestral libraries "below" EWQL SO, and that's why it's so popular, over a decade after it came out. VSL has always been too expensive for most people, and Spitfire is even more so. In terms of dry libraries, VSL is the only one I know, aside from like, WIVI Band (I THINK it is dry) and Garritan.


My Music - Virtual Instruments - About Me

Orchestral Composer, VI Developer

BBS Signature

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 13:57:49


At 9/26/15 12:46 PM, TheDukeofJuke wrote:
I grow tired of my piano sounding like peeano.

Fortunately my kick drums sound like gungs.


p.s. ur gay

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 14:54:58


At 9/26/15 11:25 AM, Schematist wrote: I keep hearing about EQQL samples, but I am slightly resistant. I think it is mostly because I don't really want a Hollywood sound if that makes sense. I think I am aiming for the sound ofShoji Meguro the composer for the persona series. It is orchestral, but it is not super wide or spacious sounding.

That's all in the processing mate, also mixing midi with library samplers and soundfonts. I suggest getting Kontakt 5 and LASS(strings), EWQLSO(Various), Berlin Woodwinds(woodwinds), Damage(percussion), True strike 1 and 2(percussion), and Just don't use any brass, tbh almost every library out there for brass sounds like ass to the point of being un-usable, unless you're gutting it and burying it in the background. That might just be me though, brass doesn't make the prettiest colors.

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 17:33:49


That's all in the processing mate, also mixing midi with library samplers and soundfonts. I suggest getting Kontakt 5 and LASS(strings), EWQLSO(Various), Berlin Woodwinds(woodwinds), Damage(percussion), True strike 1 and 2(percussion), and Just don't use any brass, tbh almost every library out there for brass sounds like ass to the point of being un-usable, unless you're gutting it and burying it in the background. That might just be me though, brass doesn't make the prettiest colors.

Much appreciated for the insight here! Much appreciated! :) I think I have a little bit of researching to do!


Immersed in the experience.

BBS Signature

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-26 17:37:06


At 9/26/15 12:45 PM, TheDukeofJuke wrote: They are actually some pretty decent soundfonts that can produce this persona sound.

Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra
Titanic soundfont http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/ea30b11cc5735be8e69024db8bb761bf
3.5 Gb Of Hq Ochestral Sf2! http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/topic/1200140

Looking into these!! ASAP!!


Immersed in the experience.

BBS Signature

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-27 10:54:50


At 9/27/15 05:49 AM, KillaMaaki wrote: That last one is what I'm using because I'm cheap/broke. They seem to be pretty decent, actually. There's a violin in there that is absolutely godly. But overall doesn't stray too far into "Hollywood" territory, it's easy to stay within the sort of "video-gamey" quality with them.
Although I couldn't find a good church organ sound in there, I may have to try and find that one separately. Or maybe I'm just being dumb and just haven't found it in there.

G-town church organ is pretty nice, I think I got it from the 3gigabutts pack. If it's too soundfonty for you, it's sampled from this: G-Town Church Sampling Project


BBS Signature

At 9/27/15 12:18 PM, dem0lecule wrote:
At 9/26/15 01:07 PM, samulis wrote: There really aren't any affordable but quality complete orchestral libraries "below" EWQL SO, and that's why it's so popular, over a decade after it came out. VSL has always been too expensive for most people, and Spitfire is even more so. In terms of dry libraries, VSL is the only one I know, aside from like, WIVI Band (I THINK it is dry) and Garritan.
Garritan Orchestra has improved a lot and they're getting better. Reasonable pricing and pretty ok sample quality. But nothing beat EWQL SO in term of quality and price so far.

GPO has one dynamic layer... occasionally two, zero RR, sampled in minor thirds, and was mostly recorded half a decade before EWQL SO was recorded. It has the BROADEST range of instruments of any library, some fairly smart script work, and lately has incorporated some stuff from other sample libraries to make up for its own shortcomings, but it really only shines if you want your music to sound like the late 1990s. As someone who used GPO (the latest version) for several years prior to getting EWQL SO, I honestly wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It's painfully outdated, and the only work they have done is adding more to it, not fixing the bad old stuff.


My Music - Virtual Instruments - About Me

Orchestral Composer, VI Developer

BBS Signature

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-09-27 12:29:35


Get EWQLSO for entry level orchestral "swiss army knife" package, then build on top of that with other libs.

My new personal favorite for strings is Cornucopia Strings, just simply due to the way they sound.


At 9/26/15 10:26 AM, Schematist wrote: So what are your favorite orchestral VST's? I have been using a lot of synths lately, but I think it is time to invest in something more organic. What do you guys think?

I'm a few days late, but for Brass I recommend Sample Modeling. They have woodwinds as well (I haven't used those yet) and I believe they plan on adding strings to their catalog (I'm not 100% sure about that).

Brass
=====
*Trumpets (B♭ Trumpets, a Cornet, a Flugelhorn, a German Trumpet, and a Piccolo Trumpet)
*Horns & Tuba (four different French Horns and a Tuba)
*Trombones (Tenor, Valve and Bass)
*Saxaphones (Baritone, Tenor, Alto & Soprano)

Woodwinds
=========
*Flutes (Flute, Piccolo, Alto & Bass Flutes)
*Double Reeds (Oboe, English Horn, Bassoon, Contrabassoon)
*Clarinets (Clarinet and Bass Clarinet)

Since these instruments use sample modeling to produce sound, they are quite CPU heavy. That's where freezing/bouncing tracks come in handy! They sound amazing though. Of course, you'll have to put them in a space since they're dry. Another great thing is the size. It's quite small but that doesn't mean the sound isn't great! Check out some of the demos on the site. ;)

People seem to love EWQL but I don't really like it. Mostly because they have so much reverb baked into them. I like Cinematic Strings 2 and LASS. The string libs from Spitfire are very nice but most of their stuff is very expensive.

For woodwinds... hmmm... well, there's Sample Modeling's winds, but again, I've not used them as of yet, so I can't really vouch for 'em. Berlin Woodwinds is pretty good. I'm not really a fan of CineSample's stuff, to be honest. I've never used anything from VSL, but they do have some nice sounding instruments. Very expensive though.


"You are free to sever the chains of fate that bind you..."

~ The Legend of Dragoon

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-10-02 14:21:34


At 10/2/15 02:01 PM, dem0lecule wrote:
At 10/2/15 02:00 AM, LloydeSorrow wrote: People seem to love EWQL but I don't really like it. Mostly because they have so much reverb baked into them. I like Cinematic Strings 2 and LASS. The string libs from Spitfire are very nice but most of their stuff is very expensive.
How could you dislike EWQL wet samples when you are using CS 2 with double wetness than Symphonic Orchestra? CS 2 is virtually can't mix with any other strings except Albion because of its super wet room. Also, LASS is very expensive. Hollywood Strings is much better in term of control, price and sample quality.

I don't think CS2 is that wet when you use the Close mic'd samples.

You're correct about LASS being very expensive. However, I think it's more-- what's the word I'm looking for-- flexible. Since it's so dry, it's easier to put it into a space and blend it with another library. You can use it for more than just one style of music, too. Of course, it can also be a bit challenging for some for that very same reason. I guess that depends on the individual.


"You are free to sever the chains of fate that bind you..."

~ The Legend of Dragoon

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-10-02 15:33:25


LASS is definitely one of the more flexible libraries out there, and has a nice aggressive playing style, but I could never fix that metallic tone, even after experimenting endlessly with EQ, tape saturation, reverb, etc.

CS2 is very easy to work with and excels at lush romantic and epic scores, but is very limited in more intimate and detailed styles. Also, there's not enough flexibility in the sounds for more complex performances; for example, I like to simulate loure bowing in a lot of my music, and CS2 just can't do it without the help of marcato overlays from other libraries (the built-in staccato overlay feature sounds like garbage).

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-10-04 02:43:10


Total Composure Orchestra is FREE and on par with many modern expensive orchestral VSTs. I would def recommend especially if you are going for a vintage sound since they modeled the samples after orchestra sounds in the public domain from many moons ago.


Never stop creating.

Discord

Links

BBS Signature

Response to Favorite Orchestral VST's 2015-10-05 11:14:03


I still use Edirol Orchestral!! Love it to the next dimension, sure, its vibrato and sustain sucks but its pizzicato and spicatto samples are top notch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13wVdURMjFM&feature=youtu.be