New Spitfire Symphony Orchestra user demos

[rlundv]

Here is a quick snippet I made to test SSO. I wrote it for the old version but just swapped out the relevant patches to their new version. There is only TREE mic on everything, everything to default, with no EQ or additional reverb.

I like the room.
View attachment SSO Test Shorts 1.mp3

 

[jbuhler]

Here is a quick snippet I made to test SSO. I wrote it for the old version but just swapped out the relevant patches to their new version. There is only TREE mic on everything, everything to default, with no EQ or additional reverb.

I like the room.

Nice! As noted above you can embed the mp3 into your post by using the “insert” button.

 

[Sipi Ovaska]

2) The demos on Spitfire's homepage are likely to have been mixed by a professional.

Regular users may have the ability to make a mix sound good, but a professional is just so much better.

I distinctly remember reading (in multiple places!) that Andy's SSO demos are just CTAO mic mixes.

 

[rlundv]

Nice! As noted above you can embed the mp3 into your post by using the “insert” button.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Hanu_H]

Here is a quick snippet I made to test SSO. I wrote it for the old version but just swapped out the relevant patches to their new version. There is only TREE mic on everything, everything to default, with no EQ or additional reverb.

I like the room.
View attachment SSO Test Shorts 1.mp3

Sounds really good! Did you balance the instruments at all or is that out of the box as well?

 

[Paul Thomson]

I distinctly remember reading (in multiple places!) that Andy's SSO demos are just CTAO mic mixes.

That’s correct - Andy only uses the natural RT tail of the samples and he mixes his demos himself.

Oh - and there’s no secret patches! We’re just using the same release patches and always have been.

 

[ALittleNightMusic]

That’s correct - Andy only uses the natural RT tail of the samples and he mixes his demos himself.

Oh - and there’s no secret patches! We’re just using the same release patches and always have been.

Paul - any thoughts towards perhaps releasing example MIDI files at some point? If nothing else than to help us get the most out of these libraries in terms of programming approaches?

 

[rlundv]

Sounds really good! Did you balance the instruments at all or is that out of the box as well?

Thanks! Did not touch a single fader, just started programming.

 

[ridgero]

I found this and really fell in love with it!

 

[Niv Schrieber]

I have posted it on other threads that dealt with the new SSO but will post it here as well as this is a dedicated thread:

For those interested, I imported the new SSO into an old unfinished project that used the old SSO. All of the symphonic instruments are the new SSO except for the strings ornaments part of the piece, and the singers voice. I just adjusted a few things here and there,nothing major, also eq is applied to the instruments. I found it was the easiest way for me to test how it sounds. I personally love what I am hearing, and the performance legatos have been improved in my opinion. Further tests are needed but generally I have a positive impression of this new version. Waiting for the update that was talked about to be released in the coming weeks to explore it further.

View attachment Arabian Sahara Demo - - Output - Stereo Out-4.mp3

 

[Tremendouz]

Hey, I posted this snippet on the top of the page here

Yeah I just saw, tried to delete my message quickly to hide my shame haha

 

[Henrik B. Jensen]

If it's not too much trouble - and if you folks don't mind sharing - then it would be much appreciated if the MIDI could be made available for any examples posted here for learning purposes.

No pressure though

 

[rlundv]

Small tests I did previous to the snippet I posted earlier today. It's still the same approach; tree-mic, nothing tweaked.

One was to check for short consistency in terms of sample-onset when programming to the grid.
(The export seems to have been amplified quite a bit)
View attachment sso demo 1.mp3

The other one was just to check blends with a piano, and general noodle-ment.
View attachment sso demo 2.mp3

As you hear, they sound more flat. Different orchestrations and more emphasis on dynamic range both in terms of CC-works and velocity tweaking can give different room impressions even though the mics stay the same.

I think that's mainly why the first example from the other post sounds better overall. The lower dynamics in SSO sound really nice. I need to remind myself to have a loud enough mix output so I don't start all phrases from mf and upwards.

 

[Hanu_H]

Small tests I did previous to the snippet I posted earlier today. It's still the same approach; tree-mic, nothing tweaked.

One was to check for short consistency in terms of sample-onset when programming to the grid.
(The export seems to have been amplified quite a bit)
View attachment sso demo 1.mp3

The other one was just to check blends with a piano, and general noodle-ment.
View attachment sso demo 2.mp3

As you hear, they sound more flat. Different orchestrations and more emphasis on dynamic range both in terms of CC-works and velocity tweaking can give different room impressions even though the mics stay the same.

I think that's mainly why the first example from the other post sounds better overall. The lower dynamics in SSO sound really nice. I need to remind myself to have a loud enough mix output so I don't start all phrases from mf and upwards.

These are super helpful. Can you tell me what you think about it? What are your favorite things in the library and what you don't like in it?

 

[Alex Fraser]

SSO Newbie here. Breaking the habit of a lifetime, I've forgone the usual templating and procrastination and dived right in to get my feet wet with the library.

Here's a short ditty, a bit a rough and ready.
It's mainly performance strings, oboe and harp. No external mixing. Just tree mics and spot of outriggers.

 

[PancakesBear]

But I would like to hear how the libraries sound with sub-par writing and midi programming, so that I'll have a better idea how they'll sound in my hands... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This guy.

 

[ModalRealist]

I think that's mainly why the first example from the other post sounds better overall. The lower dynamics in SSO sound really nice. I need to remind myself to have a loud enough mix output so I don't start all phrases from mf and upwards.

Couldn’t agree more: leveraging the dynamic range in SSO’s recordings seems to be the trick. I notice all of the best pieces I’ve heard with it leverage this quality. For stuff that’s slammed to hell and back with a limiter or lack of dynamics employment, there are definitely better alternatives. But for that “full range” orchestra sensation, it had a real magic.

 

[BlueGlassBottles]

Couldn’t agree more: leveraging the dynamic range in SSO’s recordings seems to be the trick. I notice all of the best pieces I’ve heard with it leverage this quality. For stuff that’s slammed to hell and back with a limiter or lack of dynamics employment, there are definitely better alternatives. But for that “full range” orchestra sensation, it had a real magic.

That's a really interesting and useful take, thanks. Out of interest, which libraries do you think perform best for "lack of dynamics" situations?

 

[The Gost]

That's a really interesting and useful take, thanks. Out of interest, which libraries do you think perform best for "lack of dynamics" situations?

PerformanceSamples.

 

[rlundv]

These are super helpful. Can you tell me what you think about it? What are your favorite things in the library and what you don't like in it?

Thanks!

I went from trying to make the CS-series sound bigger than it is, to SSO.

It was surprising to hear how sections blend differently when the room sound is in the samples themselves, compared to a fake-room-via-reverb trying to emulate the same.

Because of this, I could now program and orchestrate my snippets and test a little bit differently compared to how I worked in my last template. So I think it was a little bit of a snowball-effect. I'm used to doing close- and reverb-automation to shape that room response, but so far that has not been needed.

The performance-patches are very, very useful, they can do almost everything (also including short stuff I previously had to use time machine-patches to be able to pull off). Exceptions are perhaps exposed soaring legato lines, where I find legacy-patches with speed-setting turned way down to work better - but even better when getting a little help from layering.

My favorite section is the woodwinds.

I wish there could be some more consistency in some of the shorts, it can be annoying when you're used to CS-series consistency.

I had a bit of a rough time with legato and slower stuff in brass before the update. New crossfades and cuivre layer makes it much easier now. I will probably look for alternatives for solo horn and solo trombone (lack of legato). Infinite Brass blends easily.

I was surprised about the piano. My previous piano was positioned roughly in the same place in the room. But for short staccato sections, these new samples give a different and better impression of the blend compared to my old setup.

It's not so easy to describe, but if you have access to the update, try to use f.ex horns a2 shorts and listen to the various mics - and compare that to another brass library where you normally would go with additional reverb to fake the size/depth, and you get an impression of what I mean.