# Is Albion One still worth it? | Composing Tips Podcast



## Akarin (Sep 27, 2022)

With all the newer libraries out there, would Albion One still be worth using in your productions? That's what I'll try to answer in this episode using audio examples.





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## Bee_Abney (Sep 29, 2022)

This is really helpful; its practical and shows a wide perspective and good knowledge of the library.


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## Mornats (Sep 29, 2022)

This is great. I've had Albion One for a number of years and as a hobbyist, who makes no money from this, I can't afford to be tempted by all the new shiny libraries. So this has been really good to remind me that it will still enable me to make music that I'm happy with.


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## d4vec4rter (Sep 29, 2022)

Albion One was the first Spitfire Audio library I purchased. I've now got quite a collection, lol, but I still reach for it now and then, particularly as a sketchpad. It's a great library and definitely still worth getting, especially for a hobbyist.


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## Akarin (Sep 29, 2022)

Bee_Abney said:


> This is really helpful; its practical and shows a wide perspective and good knowledge of the library.


...and yet, after using it for years, I only discovered a few weeks ago that there's a toggle to tempo-sync the runs 😬 I keep finding stuff in there. 



Mornats said:


> This is great. I've had Albion One for a number of years and as a hobbyist, who makes no money from this, I can't afford to be tempted by all the new shiny libraries. So this has been really good to remind me that it will still enable me to make music that I'm happy with.


Albion One definitely covers a lot of ground in what is doable with it. You can even edit the script on the long articulations to add fake legato to it. 



d4vec4rter said:


> Albion One was the first Spitfire Audio library I purchased. I've now got quite a collection, lol, but I still reach for it now and then, particularly as a sketchpad. It's a great library and definitely still worth getting, especially for a hobbyist.


Same here! It's the first "big" library that I got when I started. It holds a special place as it is with Albion One that I realized that some people were ok to pay money for my music.


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## JohnS (Sep 29, 2022)

Which of the two (Albion One or Neo) would you suggest for sketching/fooling-around/colour-texture-harmony-learning plus supplementing BBCSO Pro + Spitfire Solo Strings, for a newbie amateur like me?
Considering current 50% discount at SA.
I'll gracefully accept if you say: none.


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## d4vec4rter (Sep 29, 2022)

JohnS said:


> Which of the two (Albion One or Neo) would you suggest for sketching/fooling-around/colour-texture-harmony-learning plus supplementing BBCSO Pro + Spitfire Solo Strings, for a newbie amateur like me?
> Considering current 50% discount at SA.
> I'll gracefully accept if you say: none.


Definitely Albion One. I've got Neo but have to confess I haven't got around to using it much. That's not because it's a bad library... just haven't got round to using it. It's a different kind of library with two discrete sections for the strings - more comparable to Tundra I would say although Tundra is my favourite Albion by quite a long way. I absolutely love that library.


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## Akarin (Sep 29, 2022)

JohnS said:


> Which of the two (Albion One or Neo) would you suggest for sketching/fooling-around/colour-texture-harmony-learning plus supplementing BBCSO Pro + Spitfire Solo Strings, for a newbie amateur like me?
> Considering current 50% discount at SA.
> I'll gracefully accept if you say: none.



To be quite honest? None of them. If your goal is learning about harmony, libraries featuring only ensemble patches will not be that helpful. You want to be able to access each individual sections. I'd say that BBCSO Core (or Pro of course) would be better suited.


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## JohnS (Sep 29, 2022)

Akarin said:


> To be quite honest? None of them. If your goal is learning about harmony, libraries featuring only ensemble patches will not be that helpful. You want to be able to access each individual sections. I'd say that BBCSO Core (or Pro of course) would be better suited.


As I mentioned (maybe not clear enough) I already have BBCSO.
I thought that having production-ready, "industry-standard", across-the keyboard patches, sounding consistently in any register (or their intended range) would be beneficial in finding the best use for them, like: which color works in chords vs single legato lines, open vs close voicing, which works better in ostinatos vs. swells, which is best for which emotions, etc.
Trying to assemble across-the-keyboard patches using BBCSO and then combining them into multiple different strings/woods/brass combinations proves to be very taxing on my 16GB DRAM. And quickly toggling between the colors won't be easy. So far, I don't find BBCSO particularly convenient for sketching.


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## Akarin (Sep 29, 2022)

JohnS said:


> As I mentioned (maybe not clear enough) I already have BBCSO.
> I thought that having production-ready, "industry-standard", across-the keyboard patches, sounding consistently in any register (or their intended range) would be beneficial in finding the best use for them, like: which color works in chords vs single legato lines, open vs close voicing, which works better in ostinatos vs. swells, which is best for which emotions, etc.
> Trying to assemble across-the-keyboard patches using BBCSO and then combining them into multiple different strings/woods/brass combinations proves to be very taxing on my 16GB DRAM. And quickly toggling between the colors won't be easy. So far, I don't find BBCSO particularly convenient for sketching.


I see. Then I'd say that Albion One is the most traditional of them both and will probably cover more ground than Neo which is kinda niche.


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## JohnS (Sep 29, 2022)

Thanks, Nico


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## Bee_Abney (Sep 29, 2022)

JohnS said:


> Which of the two (Albion One or Neo) would you suggest for sketching/fooling-around/colour-texture-harmony-learning plus supplementing BBCSO Pro + Spitfire Solo Strings, for a newbie amateur like me?
> Considering current 50% discount at SA.
> I'll gracefully accept if you say: none.


I don't have BBCSO Pro but I do have the two Albions you are interested in. While I prefer Neo a lot for my own music, going by what I've heard about BBCSO Pro, it may not be the best at the ff end. Albion One is pretty good at sounding big and loud without straying into trailer library territory. I find the percussion a bit heavy for my tastes; but it does have a decent selection to add some good boom to your orchestration.

But do check out the other features of the libraries too. Neo has very nice sound design, should you be interested in that. And, if you aren't, you might consider looking elsewhere for an ensembles library without all that stuff.

The good thing is that there are a lot of walkthrough videos. The sounds you hear in those are the sounds you'll be getting (though, as with most Spitfire libraries, you may need to boost the gain!). So if you like what you hear and know about the limitations of ensembles, I don't think you'd be disappointed with your choice.


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## Daren Audio (Sep 29, 2022)

Great stuff showcasing Albion ONE! @Akarin

I'll contribute to this thread on the versatility of this library.
It can do a lot if you take the time to learn and master it.

Horror/Tension:
View attachment Albion One - Horror Tension.mp3


Con Sordinos:
View attachment Albion One - Con Sordinos.mp3


Hybrid Brass:
View attachment Albion One - Hybrid Brass.mp3


Strings Bends:
View attachment Albion One - Strings Bends.mp3


Epic Bends:
View attachment Albion ONE - Epic Bends.mp3


Outer Space Adventure:
View attachment Albion One - Outer Space Adventure.mp3


Gentle/Soft _with_ Spitfire LABS Soft Piano:
View attachment Albion One - Gentle Soft.mp3


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## Akarin (Sep 29, 2022)

Daren Audio said:


> Great stuff showcasing Albion ONE! @Akarin
> 
> I'll contribute to this thread on the versatility of this library.
> It can do a lot if you take the time to learn and master it.
> ...



Thanks for sharing! It definitely shows many different aspects of this wonderful library.


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## JohnS (Sep 30, 2022)

Question about Albions.
If I load several Kontakt instances to have separate tracks of the same patch (like general strings) but different articulations in each of them, will it reuse the sample pools, or will it take the memory multiple times?


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## Mornats (Sep 30, 2022)

The two Albions I own (One and Tundra) let you load in each articulation separately. So rather than load in the Strings patch on each track you load in Strings Long on one and Strings Spiccato on another. I believe the other Albions will allow the same.


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## Ricgus3 (Sep 30, 2022)

JohnS said:


> Question about Albions.
> If I load several Kontakt instances to have separate tracks of the same patch (like general strings) but different articulations in each of them, will it reuse the sample pools, or will it take the memory multiple times?


You can load the same patch in different tracks and it will not stack on the ram. Kontakt is smart that way!


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## JohnS (Oct 1, 2022)

Thank you @Mornats & @Ricgus3 for your replies.
That's what I hoped for.


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## TomislavEP (Oct 3, 2022)

Thanks for the info. I still use Albion Legacy and Loegria libraries and while I prefer their orchestral content, I'm considering "updating" to One should I need a more modern-sounding all-in-one orchestral library in the future. Although the crossgrade price is IMO rather steep for those of us who paid the original GBP + VAT price of Albion, it is still more affordable than getting a comparable third-party solution or ARO. I wholeheartedly agree that the Albion series is more than relevant today, and would likely recommend Albion One as _the_ orchestral library to most composers and producers, especially those just starting to build their toolkit.


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## Ju'z Music (Oct 4, 2022)

Still a great library for lot of things ! 

Et bel accent Suisse au passage  Fribourgeois ?


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## Akarin (Oct 5, 2022)

Ju'z Music said:


> Still a great library for lot of things !
> 
> Et bel accent Suisse au passage  Fribourgeois ?


Merci ! Non, Jurassien 😉


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