The Orchestral Sample Library Thread

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

8 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Does anyone of you good people know any good Fender Rhodes sample library?

I understand there are some free too?

 

EastWest Goliath I know has one, I've used it a few times in the past. Not sure of any free samples personally.

[michael_grig 466]

9 hours ago, TheAvengerButton said:

Seeing as Spitfire just released their Originals orchestra, I thought I'd sit down and play with the patches that I'd already purchased (the Epic Strings, Brass and Woods) and do a short little ditty. I surprised myself--this library says epic but (IMO) it pulled off this more whimiscal sound with gusto. It's a great option for beginner composers to pick up.

 

 

I did cheat a little and I used a glockenspiel from Nucleus and a timpani from Abbey Road One Foundations, because I tried to use the free BBCSO Discover glock and timpani but for some reason the samples wont sound no matter what I do.

 

Nice little demo! Indeed, the short patches of these Originals are even in my template, they are really easy to work with, especially sketching, but I often also let them in for layering.

Maybe you can put the Glockenspiel  a bit more in the room (within Nucleus's mic capabilities?), it sounds a bit to present.   

 

[Faleel 5,340]

 

 

[filmmusic 1,823]

Is there any particular sample library that you use to write funk/jazz/soul music?

[Faleel 5,340]

15 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Is there any particular sample library that you use to write funk/jazz/soul music?

For funk/soul:

 

Bass:

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/ezbass/

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/gospel-ebx/

 

Or

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/session-player-ebx/

 

Drums:

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/ezdrummer-3/

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/funkmasters-ezx/

 

Keys:

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/ezkeys-2/

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/classic-electrics-ekx/

 

Vocals:

 

https://www.soundsonline.com/vocals/voices-of-soul

 

Possibly, https://www.soundsonline.com/vocals/hollywood-backup-singers

 

Brass:

 

https://www.soundsonline.com/brass-and-woodwinds/hollywood-pop-brass

 

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/st4/#sounds

[filmmusic 1,823]

3 minutes ago, A Farewell to Kings said:

For funk/soul:

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/ezbass/

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/gospel-ebx/

 

Or

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/session-player-ebx/

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/ezdrummer-3/

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/funkmasters-ezx/

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/ezkeys-2/

 

https://www.toontrack.com/product/classic-electrics-ekx/

Thank you.

Ah, I thought that maybe there was a library that contained all: drums, pianos, brass, bass etc.

[Faleel 5,340]

8 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Thank you.

Ah, I thought that maybe there was a library that contained all: drums, pianos, brass, bass etc.

There are, I just linked to the Toontrack stuff, because it's very much designed to help out those who are only skilled with one instrument/area/style/genre write for another

 

I added some more to my post:

 

For example this one

 

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/st4/

[LSH 968]

This might contain at least some of what you need?

 

https://www.orchestraltools.com/store/collections/la-sessions

 

Pricey though.

[Laserschwert 474]

58 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

Is there any particular sample library that you use to write funk/jazz/soul music?

For Jazz stuff I've used Swing! and Swing! More by Project Sam.

 

I've used them extensively on this:

 

[TolkienSS 405]

Is VSL MIR 3D worth having for someone who is struggling to get a grasp on proper mixing?

[Faleel 5,340]

 

[TolkienSS 405]

That's what the world needs, another piano library.

[LSH 968]

4 hours ago, TolkienSS said:

That's what the world needs, another piano library.

 

Yeah, but you do have 417 microphone positions to choose from! 

 

I can barely afford the disc space, let alone the libraries themselves.

[Giftheck 916]

 

It's got a pretty cool Taiko ensemble, and I prefer the Gran Cassas here over the Bass Drums included in Hollywood Symphony Orchestra.

[TolkienSS 405]

The Fantasy Brass sounds cool, but I worry it's just for Triple f writing.

[Giftheck 916]

I haven't used the Fantasy Brass or Strings myself yet, I haven't done anything that needs it. However, I have used Fantasy Woodwinds (the Ocarinas are pretty neat) and I'm certain I can make use for the Percussion. Already I did a demo mockup of the Big Japanese Drum from Revenge of the Sith Boys Into Battle as a demonstration. The 'epic' setting is more They're Coming Around though.

[Faleel 5,340]

https://www.spitfireaudio.com/jupiter-by-trevor-horn#walkthrough

[A24 4,326]

Trevor Horn? Love to hear that!

[Faleel 5,340]

 

[Giftheck 916]

Another entry into the Hollywood Fantasy Orchestra series.

 

 

I quite like these, actually.

[Faleel 5,340]

Apparently the solo singer is in singing in Tolkien's elvish language, I wonder if it's Quenya or Sindarin (or maybe a mix of both?)

[filmmusic 1,823]

I wanted to ask, do you know of any good sample library that can be used in religious kind of music? 

That contains eg. duduk, ethnic flute and other such instruments?

[Faleel 5,340]

22 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

I wanted to ask, do you know of any good sample library that can be used in religious kind of music? 

That contains eg. duduk, ethnic flute and other such instruments?

Maybe EastWest RA?

[Giftheck 916]

EastWest Ra does have duduks, but 'ethnic flute' is kind of vague. Ra has a Shakuhachi as well. Hollywood Fantasy Winds has Renaissance Flutes and Ocarinas.

[Faleel 5,340]

46 minutes ago, Giftheck said:

EastWest Ra does have duduks, but 'ethnic flute' is kind of vague. Ra has a Shakuhachi as well. Hollywood Fantasy Winds has Renaissance Flutes and Ocarinas.

To be fair, he did have the prerequisite of "can be used in religious music"

[Giftheck 916]

I guess it depends on what 'religious music' means, because each religion likely has a different style 😅

[Faleel 5,340]

 

[filmmusic 1,823]

I have accepted the fact that whatever the technology, strings will never sound like the real thing. 

 

[Faleel 5,340]

1 minute ago, filmmusic said:

I have accepted the fact that whatever the technology, strings will never sound like the real thing. 

 

Which is a good thing right? It means orchestras won't be completely out of a job anytime soon.

[filmmusic 1,823]

47 minutes ago, Signals said:

Which is a good thing right? It means orchestras won't be completely out of a job anytime soon.

Well, yes, if you take it that way, it's a good thing.

On the other hand it's a bad thing for those of us that can't afford a real orchestra to play our music.

[Faleel 5,340]

 

[Faleel 5,340]

 

[A24 4,326]

Your avatar is confusing, Presto. 

[Faleel 5,340]

8 minutes ago, A24 said:

Your avatar is confusing, Presto. 

Better? I think I have found a decent compromise.

[filmmusic 1,823]

Does anyone know any synth specifically from Omnisphere that resembles the opening synth here?

 

[Faleel 5,340]

Don't know too much about Omnisphere yet, but I would look somewhere between a Whistle sound, and a choir/vocal sound.

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

2 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Does anyone know any synth specifically from Omnisphere that resembles the opening synth here?

 

 

For the most part you could probably just use "Boys Choir Oos" and/or "Choir Women Oos" and add a bunch of reverb. Maybe pair it with "Whistling Choir", but I'm not entirely sure how that would sound.

[filmmusic 1,823]

1 hour ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

 

For the most part you could probably just use "Boys Choir Oos" and/or "Choir Women Oos" and add a bunch of reverb. Maybe pair it with "Whistling Choir", but I'm not entirely sure how that would sound.

I used eventually "Heaven's Shores" with the modwheel at 0.

It sounded to me closer...

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

13 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

I used eventually "Heaven's Shores" with the modwheel at 0.

It sounded to me closer...

 

I wasn't able to listen with headphone before, but now that I hear it more clearly, yeah that's a good match. I think I'll favorite this one 

[filmmusic 1,823]

I have Eduardo Tarilonte's Ancient Era Persia.

Does anyone know how you handle the release of a sample?

I mean there is a knob for the release on the sample itself, but how do you control this? 

[LSH 968]

On 18/09/2023 at 7:50 PM, filmmusic said:

I have accepted the fact that whatever the technology, strings will never sound like the real thing. 

 

 

Of course it never will. And that applies to every instrument or section. But it's fun to try! 

 

I don't use virtual instruments to impress. But I do love to get as close as possible. It's hard but when you get everything else right... the instrumentation, orchestration, and the 'sound'* right.. it's awfully satisfying.

 

Oftentimes, individual instruments, and even sections, sound awful by themselves. But in a mix, they can sound fantastic.

 

 

 

 

 

*just a bit of cleverly placed EQ and reverb.

[filmmusic 1,823]

Does anyone have the Sample Modeling libraries? eg. Horn etc.?

DO you have to have that thing you blow to make it sound good?

Or it can be done without it too?

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

On 06/10/2023 at 7:51 AM, filmmusic said:

Does anyone have the Sample Modeling libraries? eg. Horn etc.?

DO you have to have that thing you blow to make it sound good?

Or it can be done without it too?

 

Yes I have all of the Sample Modeling brass libraries, and I don't have the breath control device. You can absolutely make it sound good without it; it just takes a bit more finessing than just playing straight in. I play all of my MIDI into my DAW, and for those patches I only control expression live (which corresponds to dynamics), and will then tweak things like vibrato and attack velocity afterwards. I imagine if you're a wind or horn player the breath controller would make all of that much easier, but it's not a necessity. There's really no end to the possibilities with modelled instruments; you have access to virtually all of the possibilities of the instrument, from glissando/portamento, to fluttertongue, and a variety of mutes. I've barely scratched the surface even after 7-8 years of use.

 

For what it's worth, I find the Sample Modelling and SWAM libraries are best for expressive passages of music, or parts that have complicated/dynamic articulations, playing styles, and rhythms. But I struggle to get a really good simple staccato sound from them and will still use my CineBrass patches for that. I also haven't quite figured out the best way to master them so you hear the subtle colours of the low dynamics as well as the bright, brassy louds.

[filmmusic 1,823]

Sorry, I ask a lot of questions..

Is that a recorder that starts at 2.28'' and on?

 

and is there something similar in a sample library?

I've found this list here. Has anyone tried anything from here?

https://vi-control.net/community/threads/creating-a-comprehensive-list-of-recorder-sample-libraries.132702/

[Faleel 5,340]

Era Medieval Legends has one.

[filmmusic 1,823]

2 minutes ago, Presto said:

Era Medieval Legends has one.

I can't find an audio demo though...

[Faleel 5,340]

8 minutes ago, filmmusic said:

I can't find an audio demo though...

I can make one if you want.

[filmmusic 1,823]

11 minutes ago, Presto said:

I can make one if you want.

That's OK, thank you. No need to..

I found here eventually:

 

[filmmusic 1,823]

Does anyone know of any sample library that includes harmonic arpeggios of the low strings (Basses, Cellos), you know, that go up and down..

I'm sure I had those, but I can't find any...

[Faleel 5,340]

3 hours ago, filmmusic said:

Does anyone know of any sample library that includes harmonic arpeggios of the low strings (Basses, Cellos), you know, that go up and down..

I'm sure I had those, but I can't find any...

Like the creepy "reaaarowwreaarow" sound?

 

Kind of like is in here sometimes?