# Best bang for your buck: fresh start Orchestral libraries?



## Smiling-Mo (Jun 13, 2019)

If you were to choose only one Orchestral library to work in for the next few years, which one would it be?

A bit of background on why I ask:
I play my own music, so don't need to have a ton of options, and try to focus on one or two. This helps me in many respects, and since I'm no expert with regards to mixing and mastering, once I know an instrument/setup well I can focus purely on my music.

I have countless Piano libraries, and now use just one. I have countless Synths (including hardware), and now just use two. We're at a point where there is likely that "one" Library that fits perfectly (mostly) for much of our needs -- and others rarely, if ever, get used - at least for people like myself.

And now that I want to get into Orchestration , I don't want to go the same route of buying something, then something else, then something else. Don't get me wrong, I likely will buy stuff I don't need because I, like many of you, enjoy exploring soundscapes and music. 

However since I'm at a 'fresh start' and haven't plunked down any serious cash on Orchestral libraries - I'd love to know what you guys consider the "If I could only have one, it would be..."


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## purple (Jun 13, 2019)

Smiling-Mo said:


> If you were to choose only one Orchestral library to work in for the next few years, which one would it be?
> 
> A bit of background on why I ask:
> I play my own music, so don't need to have a ton of options, and try to focus on one or two. This helps me in many respects, and since I'm no expert with regards to mixing and mastering, once I know an instrument/setup well I can focus purely on my music.
> ...


Depends on your budget, but everyone will probably say the EW composer cloud is a great start, because it is. It sounds pretty good, and has enough of a learning curve that you will learn the tricks to make really good MIDI mockups in the process which will make your work with other libraries even easier. It's low-commitment as well. If you decide in a few months that this just isn't for you, you can simply cancel the subscription. It's only $20 a month if I remember, depending on your specific plan, and with it you get only their most recent "hollywood orchestra" but also the hollywood choir and harps, and their older symphonic orchestra (which I still dig into sometimes) and dozens of other smaller libraries for ethnic instruments, percussion, synths, vocals, guitars, and more! It's really a great deal.

If I could choose one single full orchestra "collection", I'd get the berlin series from orchestral tools. There simply isn't anything out there that sounds as good tone-wise, _especially_ trombones, which are honestly pretty crappy and/or inconsistent everywhere else I'm aware of. That's more of a subjective thing, though. That collection is quite pricey though, with each main pack being 800 euros I believe. If you're into more hybrid stuff, I'd look at the metropolis ark stuff from the same company. I don't have it myself, as I don't really do hybrid, but the demos and stuff I've seen people do with it are quite good! For a cheaper taste of the orchestral tools sound and experience, you could get the inspire collection from them, which is less detailed, but similar in tone and programming, and a lot lot cheaper as it's designed to be a cheap starter library. 

My next go to would be the cinematic studio series, which are my workhorse for strings and some brass stuff, especially the horns. They come it a lot cheaper, at about half the price per library, but so far they only have brass, strings, piano, and solo strings. They offer a huge loyalty discount of 30% once you have one of their libraries and the same discount if you're a student. They have unparalleled legato scripting and sampling and are absurdly consistent, playable, and easy as hell to work with.

After that, I guess I'd go towards spitfire. I'm not the biggest fan of their stuff but they're popular for a reason. They have great production value and great customer support. I'll let other speak on them because I haven't had the experience to say good or bad.


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## Jdiggity1 (Jun 13, 2019)

As a complete orchestral package, East West's Hollywood Orchestra is best bang for buck. And I'd be confident it could do what I need it to do.


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## Saxer (Jun 14, 2019)

I don't think there is "a" library that you buy and you are done. Using orchestral libraries has a lot to do with workflow. Keyboard players have different preferences than wind or string players. I use breath controller throughout but rarely play in polyphonic parts for monophonic instruments. Others prefer ensemble libraries (full keyboard of polyphonic "strings") and have different articulations on different tracks, others like key switching etc.
I'd recommend VSL's Special Editon and Vienna Instrument Pro. It's one of the most flexible sample player for virtual orchestral instruments when you have time and are patient enought to edit things to your liking. Ok, if you are not into editing, forget it. But it's a process like finding the right guitar for guitar players. They probably have their main instrument they use most. But it wasn't their first guitar and not an instrument someone else recommended. It's simply that one that resonates most with the player over the years.


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## Cocen (Jun 14, 2019)

The new Vsl Synchronized Special Editon is on introduction sale (220 + 24 € approx. 275$) until the end of the month, there is a thread about it: https://vi-control.net/community/threads/synchron-ized-special-edition.82751
Does require the vienna key (dongle) 24€.
I think would get it as starting library, but i got Red Room Audio Symphonic Sketchpad (might be also an option), 2 months ago so i had already one.
otherwise are there: Berlin Inspire, Albion One and Metropolis Ark 1 (for loud stuff), which i think all should do the job.
And maybe Amadeus Symphonc Orchestra.
I'm pretty new, so i can't really help you in terms of realism, but you can check out the stuff above,
which as far as i read, all should be good, except for Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra not that it's, i just haven't read so much about it.


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## Shredoverdrive (Jun 14, 2019)

You got very accurate answers already but the question is : what's your budget for that?


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## ScoreFace (Jun 14, 2019)

East West's Hollywood Orchestra, solid sounds for little money.


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## Smiling-Mo (Jun 14, 2019)

Really appreciate the replies, extremely helpful -- what a great forum! I'll be checking some of those items today.

Budget-wise I can afford what I want within reason, however am a careful planner. I like the idea of the composer cloud at least from the standpoint of auditioning items and having limitless access to their libraries, however I know the way I am I just prefer to 'own' something outright. But definitely will be my first thing to look at, at least to check things out.

Workflow-wise I'm looking mainly for background Orchestrations to a piano/vocal/lead. I don't need solo instruments, or any keyboard instruments. I'd need play-ability and believable longer legato and swells more than anything. So if a library you know of does that the best, that's likely the one for me.


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## Shredoverdrive (Jun 14, 2019)

Smiling-Mo said:


> Workflow-wise I'm looking far more for background Orchestrations to a piano/vocal/lead more than anything. I don't need solo instruments, or any keyboard instruments. Looking more for playability and believable longer legato and swells - which is probably more important than anything. So if a library you know of does that the best, that's likely the one for me.


Trying the composer cloud sure won't hurt. It's a cheap bag of amazing tricks. But considering what you say just above (no solo instruments, using the library as a background to vox / guitar / piano...) I suppose you could have a look to the Symphobias or the Orchestral Tools Arks, then. You can't try any of them before buying, however.
In light of your answer, contrary to what Saxer said (no disrespect meant) and as much as I love VSL SE, I don't think it's what you need (too expensive (unless you only settle on the first volume, which is fine) and too extensive for your use, I think). However, you can make your own mind and try them through Best service's try sound : https://www.bestservice.com/try-sound.html. Huuuuuuuge lag when you play the instruments, sure, but helpful nevertheless (and remember the VSL samples sound terrible without any reverb so be sure to pack one).


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## Lee Blaske (Jun 14, 2019)

Also, if you're new to this, it's always best to wait for the sales, because the savings can be dramatic. Black Friday is a major event, but there are other sales from various developers around the calendar.


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## Ben (Jun 14, 2019)

Shredoverdrive said:


> and remember the VSL samples sound terrible without any reverb so be sure to pack one


Not true with the Synchronized libraries as they come with some reverb engines build-in. I would go for the Synchronized SE version.


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## Shredoverdrive (Jun 14, 2019)

Ben said:


> Not true with the Synchronized libraries as they come with some reverb engines build-in. I would go for the Synchronized SE version.


Ah you're probably right but I don't own them yet. And you can't try them through trysound either I think. Hence, my commentary.


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## ism (Jun 14, 2019)

If I had to go to a dessert island with just two libraries, they would be 

Spitfire symphonic woodwinds
Olafur Arnalds Chamber evolution.

Not precisely the question you asked, I realize. But if I had to really focus, I wouldn't go for an all purpose library. I'd focus on some really best in class samples. And I'd need the some kind of solo instruments for a foreground layer, and something textural to paint the larger sound canvas. 


That said, does buying ever more and more sample libraries really make one's life better? (Well yes, actually. Yes it does. Ever time I open up Kontakt I feel a sense of joy at the palette before me. It's the closest thing to the feeling I got from that really, really big box of crayons on my 7th birthday. )

And if I could have two more libraries on this dessert Island, they'de probably be

SCS (and/or maybe the new Fluffy Venice Strings, though SStS makes for a good 'SCS lite') and
Spitfire solo strings 

Of course it goes without saying, that I would never actually consent to being shipwrecked on this proverbial desert island without also bringing:

Tunda. 
Time Macro
Joshua Bell Violin
Orchestral Swarm 
...


... and at this point I'm starting to think I may have missed the entire point of the OP.

But my broader point is that I wouldn't start with an all it one. That may have made sense 5 or 10 years ago, but currently, best in class libraries are perfectly affordable at the moment (with a good sale). So its just as reasonable to start with one or two of those, learn to work with them in a reasonable amount to detail, and expand from there.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jun 14, 2019)

Smiling-Mo said:


> I like the idea of the composer cloud at least from the standpoint of auditioning items and having limitless access to their libraries, however I know the way I am I just prefer to 'own' something outright.



That's the beauty of it, once you discover the libraries you really like, you can by them outright. EW often has sales, I recall Hollywood Strings Gold selling for $130 recently. You really can't go wrong with buying Hollywood and Symphonic Orchestra.


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## Bluemount Score (Jun 14, 2019)

Metropolis Ark 1 or 2. Probably 1. Not sure if I could stand the loud epicness for too long if it would be my only library, neither I like that only the Horns a9 patch has legato (in the brass section).
Still, this would be my choice


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## Cocen (Jun 14, 2019)

Probably for background rather Metropolis Ark 2, because it's made for quiet stuff (and all Ark 2 brass instruments have legato).


Smiling-Mo said:


> I'd need play-ability and believable longer legato


 did you mean portamento?
If so, i'm not sure wether Ark and Albion does have it.
Vsl Special Edition has it (only for strings, because it's string specifically).
Also if need legato, Symphonic Sketchpad itself don't have any legato patches, but the Melodics expansion has some, which i think also doesn't have portamento.


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## StillLife (Jun 14, 2019)

I think you could also check out the Bernard Hermann Composer Toolkit, from Spitfire. High quality, and lots of content. Useful combination patches and heavenly chord patches (that swell). And: it's a dry library, which makes it particulary usefull in a pop/rock context. I often find use for it in my songs. Oh, and it also contains percussion, an Ondes Martinot and vintage synth patches.


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## Land of Missing Parts (Jun 14, 2019)

Smiling-Mo said:


> If you were to choose only one Orchestral library to work in for the next few years, which one would it be?


Cinematic Studio Series. Currently there's strings and brass, it seems likely that there will be winds soon. People often talk about tone, but to me the main advantage of the Cinematic Studio Series is the ability to shape and dial in the performance through midi editing. And it's well-balanced and reliable. Solid workhorses.

Make sure to spend a little time in the member's composition section, see how the instruments hold up to real world use. You can search by library within that section. A lot of times I feel like discussions in Sample Talk are a bit too theoretical.

EDIT: Now that I see the OP is looking for something to back up vocals and piano, I think people's suggestions of ensemble libraries is more appropriate than what I wrote above. Cinematic Studio line might be overkill.


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## SoNowWhat? (Jun 14, 2019)

I’d ask another question back to @Smiling-Mo : you mentioned you are interested to explore orchestration. Consider if you want to have dedicated instruments (Vl1, Vl2, Vla, Vc, CB, trumpets, horns, bones, bass bone, tuba, flute, clarinet, oboe, cor anglais etc etc) or are you happy with larger sections (sketch type library). Have a think about the level of granularity you’d like to have at your disposal. Not all libraries break things up fully. You may not want or need that but it’s worth considering.


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## Fleer (Jun 14, 2019)

For starters, I would go for East West Composer Cloud and Spitfire Albion One as well as Tundra. Next, I’d close in on what I really dig and get some more. But once you’re going down that road, there’s no way back, just so you know.


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## Smiling-Mo (Jun 14, 2019)

Again thanks for the thoughtful replies, I'll get some time this weekend to explore those options and more.

@SoNowWhat? I'm definitely for the larger sections being played more in the background to the piano/vocal/lead, and can cheat a bit with some creative toning on sections, but for the most part will take the backseat and not need to be completely believable, just sounding great with little effort on my part.

I have many live instruments at my disposal to play for more prominent individual solo parts, and can begin to build other libraries to complement individually if/when the need arises. But for now, ya definitely more of a 'coverall', strings being most important, lush evolving background strings specifically that might make you swoon just by holding down a chord, then Brass, almost epic but not quite. I just don't want to be so specific -- even though I have a plan, it can change, and I always appreciate raw opinions -- they allow me to do a bit of research too!

Edit: @ism I just quickly looked up Olafur Arnalds Chamber Evolution before heading to bed, that's the kind of stuff I'm after mainly - something you can hit some chords on and it sounds incredible on its own, and more than incredible as a background support. If there's a complete orchestral library that does that, or mostly does that well, that would be what I'd love - at least to start with.


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## bigcat1969 (Jun 14, 2019)

Spitfire and OT have the best sound. I would trade everything orchestral I own for all of OT's Berlin.


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## dzilizzi (Jun 14, 2019)

Normally I recommend libraries with individual instruments, but for you, I would recommend something like Albion One or The Orchestra. Albion's patches make it easy to put down a background pad of orchestral sound. Plus it comes with percussion and some great synthy stuff. Kind of the basis for a lot of the Evo libraries. 

The Orchestra can do the background pad plus it has this wonderful engine that will sound great behind other music. 

If you want to go with individual instruments, I would be a +1 on HWO Gold. It is on sale often, sometimes at a really great price. Although I love my Spitfire Orchestra, it doesn't come with percussion and it is about 5 times the price unless you get it on sale. Then it is only 2.5 times the price.


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## purple (Jun 14, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> Normally I recommend libraries with individual instruments, but for you, I would recommend something like Albion One or The Orchestra. Albion's patches make it easy to put down a background pad of orchestral sound. Plus it comes with percussion and some great synthy stuff. Kind of the basis for a lot of the Evo libraries.
> 
> The Orchestra can do the background pad plus it has this wonderful engine that will sound great behind other music.
> 
> If you want to go with individual instruments, I would be a +1 on HWO Gold. It is on sale often, sometimes at a really great price. Although I love my Spitfire Orchestra, it doesn't come with percussion and it is about 5 times the price unless you get it on sale. Then it is only 2.5 times the price.


But isn't it probably better to get a library with solo instruments so as to properly learn part writing along the way?


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## Saxer (Jun 14, 2019)

Smiling-Mo said:


> I'm definitely for the larger sections being played more in the background to the piano/vocal/lead, and can cheat a bit with some creative toning on sections, but for the most part will take the backseat and not need to be completely believable, just sounding great with little effort on my part.


Ok, that's a different approach I thought it was. 
I often produce additional string/brass tracks for songs. In my experience all this big orchestral libraries doesn't work if they are recorded in big rooms. Behind tight drums and a pop rhythm section everything recorded in halls (like Albion) sound like a big backing pad. If an intimate acoustic picking guitar gets lost in a mix the orchestral stuff gets lost twice. There are some exceptions like brass stabs or horn countermelodies. But for song compatible orchestration dry and less epic libraries work best. And definitely single instruments/sections work better than ensemble libraries. Otherwise an Omnisphere string pad will do it as well.


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## Akarin (Jun 14, 2019)

I'd go with Iconica Sections and Players.


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## SoNowWhat? (Jun 15, 2019)

Smiling-Mo said:


> Again thanks for the thoughtful replies, I'll get some time this weekend to explore those options and more.
> 
> @SoNowWhat? I'm definitely for the larger sections being played more in the background to the piano/vocal/lead, and can cheat a bit with some creative toning on sections, but for the most part will take the backseat and not need to be completely believable, just sounding great with little effort on my part.
> 
> ...


I think that gives us more to work with in terms of what you are looking for. And I’d definitely suggest looking at SF Albion’s and the OA Evos (Chamber or Full section).


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## dzilizzi (Jun 15, 2019)

purple said:


> But isn't it probably better to get a library with solo instruments so as to properly learn part writing along the way?


But that's not what he wants to use it for. I find it funny that Albion One is the first thing recommended for film scoring, yet that is when you should rec individual instruments because it is close to classical writing. Yet it isn't being recommended here.


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## StillLife (Jun 15, 2019)

Maybe British Drama Toolkit? Strings + woodwinds. A bit like really playable evo's.


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## Ashermusic (Jun 15, 2019)

A sleeper, _especially_ for pop music, is Kirk Hunter's Virtuoso Ensembles. I have been performing a set of songs by Burt Bacharach-Hal David here in LA and when I created the backing tracks in Logic Pro, they somehow worked better than HS, CSS, and the others I own, including Kirk's Concert Strings.

I dialed out the cell and basses in one instance to create a "High Strings" and the violins and violas in another to create "Low Strings" and it just worked great.


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## ism (Jun 15, 2019)

Smiling-Mo said:


> Again thanks for the thoughtful replies, I'll get some time this weekend to explore those options and more.
> 
> @SoNowWhat? I'm definitely for the larger sections being played more in the background to the piano/vocal/lead, and can cheat a bit with some creative toning on sections, but for the most part will take the backseat and not need to be completely believable, just sounding great with little effort on my part.
> 
> ...




So definitely check out Orchestral Swarm and Time Macro. Which have textural articulations across the orchestral choirs.


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## purple (Jun 15, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> But that's not what he wants to use it for. I find it funny that Albion One is the first thing recommended for film scoring, yet that is when you should rec individual instruments because it is close to classical writing. Yet it isn't being recommended here.


OP said they wanted to get into orchestration so why wouldn't they want to learn how to properly orchestrate?


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## dzilizzi (Jun 15, 2019)

Ashermusic said:


> A sleeper, _especially_ for pop music, is Kirk Hunter's Virtuoso Ensembles. I have been performing a set of songs by Burt Bacharach-Hal David here in LA and when I created the backing tracks in Logic Pro, they somehow worked better than HS, CSS, and the others I own, including Kirk's Concert Strings.
> 
> I dialed out the cell and basses in one instance to create a "High Strings" and the violins and violas in another to create "Low Strings" and it just worked great.


+1 on this 

I always forget about them, but this was the kind of thing I was thinking of when I recommended Albion. I used to use Solid State Symphony for this type of sound, but it is a little synth sounding. Kirk Hunter's is much better.


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## Sopranos (Jun 15, 2019)

Albion One.


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## dzilizzi (Jun 15, 2019)

purple said:


> OP said they wanted to get into orchestration so why wouldn't they want to learn how to properly orchestrate?


You're right. He did originally say that. But then he said he wanted stuff for the background for other types of music for which ensemble patches would work better. 

I agree though, for a long term solution, something like EWHWO would be a reasonable price option and would last for a long time. I sometimes regret wasting a lot of money on ensemble orchestras. But they do serve a purpose. And they are much more fun to sit an play than a bunch of individual articulations.


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## RogiervG (Jun 15, 2019)

Since i would advise you to not use combined sections libraries like Albion, Arks and such, but rather giving you most flexibilities and learning the real deal of orchestration sequencing. (i see those combined section libs are handy as quick scribbling down ideas not useful for the end composition, because of limitations.. OR as additional layers to your compositions)

here are some orchestra libs with separate sections (e.g. violins one, two, violas etc etc) with good quality (not the "my first sony/casio/kawai" type of sound that is):


attractive in terms of pricing (allmost/full orchestra bundles):
- Eastwest Hollywood orchestra is quite good (although i personally dislike the play engine and the long loading times). Either cloud (gold) or purchase during sales (diamond)
- VSL Special editions (old or synchronized versions). (very dry though) (vol1 might be enough)
- Spitfire Audio Studio orchestra. (this (standard version) is dry-ish library, in a studio setting, not stage setting) The bundle contains woods, strings, brass, no prercussion. Bring in the percussion lib and you have a full orchestra.

Less attractive in terms of pricing, yet personally i like more in sound
- Spitfire audio Symphonic orchestra (with or without the complete variant) or the Chamber Orchestra if you want smaller sections in the strings. Bring in the percussion lib and you have a full orchestra.
- Berlin series from orchestral tools (Woodwinds, brass, strings, percussion) sold separately.
(be sure to look out for their expansions too if you need special sounds, e.g. solo woods, or muted brass)
- Cinesamples cinesymphony complete bundle (only when on sale!)


Now more on their own libraries, for mixing and matching (they don't have either a complete orchestra yet, or are specialized into some sections of the orchestra).

- Cinematic Sampling: Cinematic studio line (currently only Piano, strings, solo strings and brass. Woods and percussion will follow later this year).
sounds very lush and realistic. much love from all kinds of composers for the sound and ease of use. I love the strings library for the romantic almost soaring sound
- AudioBro products (strings brass and childrens choir) Very realistic, very flexible. In the right hands (read: it requires tweaking) can yield very good results.
- Embertone Joshua Bell Violin, very good sampled stradivarius violin. Pleasantly playable, yet sounding quite realistic out of the box.

note1: Ofcourse you can mix and match libs all you want. We all do eventually. (because each lib has it strong and weakpoints) E.g. you could go for brass from the Cinematic sampling Cinematic studio Brass and the strings from AudioBro's LA scoring strings and the woods from spitfire audio symphonic woodwinds etc etc and make your orchestra that way. However i would advise against doing so, when you are beginning. Reason is each library developer uses different controls, differen gui's etc. So it's way steeper to get knowing the libraries in a mix and match approach. Also some libraries need work, to fit a library (in sound) from a different developer (think room ambience, EQ etc).

Note2: these are just some examples to get you going into you discovery of libraries and such... do the research, listing carefully to demos from users, even walktroughs etc..

Virtual orchestration is an expensive endavour.. be prepaired! (the "i want more" is likely to sneak up on you sooner or later)


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## Mike Fox (Jun 15, 2019)

HO, no doubt.

Possibly even Orchestral Essentials 1 and 2 though.


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## paularthur (Jun 15, 2019)

Just one library? Albion One... I know that the sections are blended together but* they're blended in a way an orchestrator may double parts anyway.


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## MichaelVakili (Jun 15, 2019)

if I had to choose, just one orchestral library - I would go for either Albion V tundra, Jaeger or Metropolis Ark 1 /depends heavily on the genre of music/ . At the same time they compliment each other incredibly well.


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## Victor N. (Jun 15, 2019)

hey there, long time score fan just getting started here.

i am in the same position and i am leaning towards NI Orchestra Essentials which is 50% off the whole summer. i have many other orchestra VST tabs opened right now but i believe in the end i will get NI Orchestra Essentials.

here's why:

1. when i got my midi keyboard and needed a good piano VST to go along with it, i found The Grandeur through a survey here on vi-control -- BTW we need more of those instruments surveys, they are the best, maybe a dedicated sub-forum? idk

2. for my modest PC, SSD space is scarce resource, i have no intention of getting hundred of GB of EastWest or whatever. most NI libraries i have surveyed are space efficient. as a programmer, that is the kind of details that really resonates with me.

3. i got used to the (free) kontakt interface

4. my second library was NI Percussions Essentials which was on sale on christmas

5. and now the whole Essentials is on sale for the summer (if only i had waited a few months lol)

my goal is to not get overwhelmed because i am still learning. so i have a hard time understanding why people recommend sounds.com or EastWest. that's the best way to overwhelm someone who is barely starting...

but anyways, that's my story as of now


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## WhiteNoiz (Jun 15, 2019)

Hello, dear mortal, you're in luck. You can pick my wisdom. If you wanna practise orchestration I'd say ensembles instantly go out of the window. You can follow the simple approach posted above, but depends how dirty you want your hands to get and how experienced you already are. You can still keep it as simple as you want though.

General orchestration or packs: EWHO (Leaning more into lush filmic stuff, but good range from soft to loud) or KH Diamond (separate sections, more suitable for more epic-y/action-y/lush stuff too, NOT good for soft moving textures or very detailed exposed stuff, basically velocity based, good variety, great for layering - get on sale!) or SF Studio Orchestra (some extra articulations, seems a bit inconsistent, but should be good for orchestrating at least, expandable)
Evolving background: Spitfire Evos
Separate brass: CSB / Bravura / Cinebrass / Hein Brass (You'll need to check what seems to fit your general style)
Perc: Rhapsody (maybe add Randy's celeste) or SF Burgess <> Non-traditional/chromatic/addons - https://www.evolutionseries.com/ Stromdrums / Cineperc / https://soundiron.com/products/apocalypse-percussion / Action Strikes / https://vi-control.net/community/threads/trailer-perc.67340/ / Look around (_Look around is not a library_)
Woodwinds: ? (Not really comfortable recommending something specifically, except maybe Berlin or VSL*)

Examples of the style would help to sort it out... Potential combos:
- EWHO + Evos
- SF Studio + Evos + SF Percussion or Rhapsody
- KH Diamond (old) + Rhapsody or Burgess + Evos
- CSS + CSB or Bravura + Rhapsody or Burgess + http://www.chrishein.net/web/CH-Winds_Overview.html or http://www.chrishein.net/web/CH-Winds_Compact.html (Maybe)
String solos, maybe best service emo / embertone / virharmonic / SF / https://fluffyaudio.com/shop/trio-broz-solo-strings-bundle/ / Macabre
- For wood solos, also check westgate (old) or 8dio or https://www.auddict.com/master-solo-woodwinds-bundle or https://fluffyaudio.com/shop/solo-woodwinds-bundle/ (maybe OT store will be around by winter with separate patches for sale)
- Wait for Sonivox to be on sale for $5 or $1 (old, velocity based, but decent sounding)
- Get Composer Cloud and test Hollywood and start learning along with solos + choirs + symphonic + perc... Meanwhile, research the rest more. Then you can decide to stick with these or start customising when the sales hit in winter (KH Diamond is not that consistent, goes on sale like every 1,5-2 years or some group sales mostly on spring-summer, EW/SF will probably have ~40% off sales, rest don't know).

Keep an eye out for full Kontakt requirement. *Licensing

Leaving some out or forgetting some obviously, but trying to keep it somewhat grouped and consistent. Be strong and shift through.


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## ptram (Jun 16, 2019)

Victor N. said:


> i am leaning towards NI Orchestra Essentials


This could be a good choice, if it wasn't for the fact that strings lack any type of legato, and there isn't a set of chamber/divisi and solo strings. In particular for writing backgrounds to solo piano, I would find the big, rough full orchestral strings a bit overwhelming. I would reallly love NI to fix this issue.

Otherwise, I like the collection. And one can create his own ensembles with multis in Kontakt.

However, I would also consider VSL's Special Edition Vol.1. Maybe adding Vol.2 Strings for Chamber Strings. The included Vienna Ensemble will let you create ensembles as in a Kontakt multi. Better yet would be also purchasing Vienna Intruments Pro, if you want to create your own ensembles with volume crossfades between instrument ranges.

Paolo


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## purple (Jun 17, 2019)

Victor N. said:


> hey there, long time score fan just getting started here.
> 
> i am in the same position and i am leaning towards NI Orchestra Essentials which is 50% off the whole summer. i have many other orchestra VST tabs opened right now but i believe in the end i will get NI Orchestra Essentials.
> 
> ...


East West because you can eventually learn to get a pretty professional quality sound out of it without shelling out thousands of $, which is what a lot of new users should be careful of. Those NI libraries are honestly nowhere near as good-sounding as the EW stuff. I haven't seen much of people talking about/using it unless they got KOMPLETE and don't have much else to work with.


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## Smiling-Mo (Jun 24, 2019)

Chiming in to say thanks again, I've been checking out stuff you guys recommended, listening to examples etc - currently am trying out the EWCC and as much as there is lots of content I'm going to drop it next month and focus on a few specific libraries.

I already picked up Olafur Arnalds Chamber Evolution due to their music day discount, and mainly just to get started with something I figured I'd enjoy regardless of other libraries.

I can't figure out why the bases are so damn low volume though (in OACE), its super annoying and I hope there's a setting somewhere I'm missing. Turning up the volume of the instrument to +12 db in Kontakt and I'm barely getting -10db (after having to set the dynamics up each time too). Anyone have the library able to relate?

Also the attack is way too slow even when I turn it all the way down. I'm sure to find a lot of other stuff but right now at least it sounds nice, not sure how usable it is overall though there's lots of repeating phrases I didn't hear in any of the demos, and makes it far less 'realistic' than I anticipated.


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## Heizenhaus (Jun 25, 2019)

Smiling-Mo said:


> I can't figure out why the bases are so damn low volume though (in OACE), its super annoying and I hope there's a setting somewhere I'm missing. Turning up the volume of the instrument to +12 db in Kontakt and I'm barely getting -10db (after having to set the dynamics up each time too). Anyone have the library able to relate?
> 
> Also the attack is way too slow even when I turn it all the way down. I'm sure to find a lot of other stuff but right now at least it sounds nice, not sure how usable it is overall though there's lots of repeating phrases I didn't hear in any of the demos, and makes it far less 'realistic' than I anticipated.


The EVOs aren't exactly self-explanatory. Better look for some tutorial video on how to use them properly. Haven't messes around with them too much either, although I bought OACE during the wishlist sale, if I remember correctly.


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## GtrString (Jun 25, 2019)

The Symphobias.


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