Drew

I generally don't think it sounds all that real, but I like it better than NotePerformer in terms of modeled libraries.

And I'm the kind of person who would get PAL DVDs for the higher resolution for movies that never made it to HD. I bet there is a way to layer an NTSC audio track with a PAL video. I didn't know about PAL's pitch shift issues until a few years ago. I always thought being in NTSC made us unlucky for having to deal with a lower resolution. Audio issues sound more annoying.

The good thing is that buying patches separately over time is barely more expensive than the normal price of the whole library.

Orchestral Tools just released a brass library recorded in AIR Lyndhurst! They even sampled the principal trumpet player of the London Symphony Orchestra. They claim that this library is aimed at John Williams-style brass writing.

My thought process for collecting movies is this: * If $10 or more is being spent per movie, I will always try to get a 4K release if it is available. * Standard Blu-Ray releases are still "good enough" for most movies and I will get those if they are cheap at stores, regardless if a 4K is available in most cases. * DVDs are okay if they are dirt cheap but I try to at least collect Blu-Rays if possible and definitely will not pay anything more than a couple bucks for a DVD. I've grown used to DVDs again because I've been going through my collection. DVDs have a fascinating range of visual quality. Some look excellent and some look terrible. There ways to make them look better on modern displays. Just recently, I've been experimenting with a CRT emulation filter that helps DVDs look sharper on flat screens. Too bad it's not something that can be used on TVs. Meanwhile, the worst thing I can say about shoddy Blu-Ray transfers is that they just look like good DVD transfers!

Spitfire Abbey Road Soaring High Strings is on sale over the next couple days. I picked this thing up and no joke, I'm thinking about throwing away my string libraries and using this little patch for 90 percent of my high string stuff. It sounds authentic, the legatos are decent, and the spiccatos perform better than many of my string libraries. It sounds so good that honestly, can anyone really tell or care if the violas are missing? If you pick up the Legendary Low Strings too, you can simplify your string writing to just two tracks. https://www.spitfireaudio.com/abbey-road-one-soaring-high-strings

Here is a potentially interesting update to this situation: Muse Group has acquired Hal Leonard. Muse Group owns a self-publishing service and notation software called Musescore. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231204141638/en/Francisco-Partners-Backs-the-Combination-of-Muse-Group-and-Hal-Leonard-Creating-a-Leading-Global-Music-Platform

This is the custom mix I use. Don't take it as being perfect but I like it so far. Spot 1 mic: -10 Spot 2 mic: -5 (This is a vintage mic, so it's very important for it to outshine the other close mics to get that LOTR sound) Leader mic: -10 Tree mic: 0 Outrigger mic: 0 AB mic: 3 Surround mic: 0

I'm leaning more toward Berlin Woodwinds now as the second purchase. I think I can make do with BBCSO and True Strike percussion for now. Cinematic Studio Woodwinds is getting buried in the mix with my Berlin libraries.

I've created a custom mix for Berlin Symphonic Strings that's reminding me of the LOTR scores' string mixes. Good stuff! Custom mixes can sound much better than the demos.

Orchestral Tools' Berlin Series is 50 percent off! First time in two years. I picked up Berlin Symphonic Strings, which I've wanted since it came out three years ago. This is the cheapest it's ever been (around $300 at the exchange rate) It may have some programming quirks, but tonally, it's the best-sounding strings I've ever heard. They sound a bit thin in some of the demos but that's because the demos are not mixed well. The mics provided can give a fabulous wide sound. I think layering this with something like Cinematic Studio Strings would be magic. I also may pick up Berlin Percussion and skip Musio this year. Since my brass sound is rooted in Berlin Brass, it makes sense to have as much as my orchestra as possible be based in the Teldex studio. Anyway, I had projects where I was using wet Berlin Brass (a fabulous sound) and it just drowned out the dry strings like CSS and they were hard to hear. I will no longer have that problem. Some people complain about the SINE Player, but I personally like it. The mic merge feature is amazing. It lets you download as many (or as little) mics as you want. Then when you mix them to your content, it lets you bounce a mix to use as one signal. As in, you can have a fully mixed instrument with the RAM usage of one mic! This is huge for me and it's a shame Spitfire didn't put any of that stuff into their player.

I think they generally have a nice tone, which is why I use them as layering. They have an entire orchestral lineup recorded in the studio that John Williams most often uses.

Apparently you can buy Cinesamples' whole catalog for $300 with their Musio player until December 31. This deal is unbelievable. https://musio.com/

For all of you complaining about the movie, honestly, I've always just been happy to get a new Indiana Jones film from 80-year old Harrison Ford and 90-year-old John Williams. It felt good to genuinely be excited for a movie after whatever Hollywood has been doing to us lately. And the one movie I looked forward to gets an isolated score track? !!!!!

There's not much I can do about this. The foundation of the trumpet sound is Berlin Brass Trumpet 3 mixed with the CineBrass trumpet section (hint hint, that is THE secret to getting JW-like sampled trumpets!). CineBrass is extremely limited with articulations and the half-note articulation doesn't play out for very long. The sustain articulation has a slightly different timbre than the other ones, so it's hard to use it in phrases. I also added a staccatissimo overlay using Spitfire Studio Brass Pro Trumpet 2 to give it some punch. Combine that with Berlin Brass Trumpet 3 and CineBrass trumpet section and it's magic.