# Big Bang Orchestra: Black Eye | Now with Free Con Sordino Expansion



## Ben (Jan 14, 2020)

A universe of new sounds at the touch of a single key!

Ready-to-use orchestral textures for super-quick orchestrations
Unique orchestral elements and effects played by a large 70-piece orchestra
Wide variety of clusters, arpeggios, hits, runs and accents
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Update March 2021:
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We have done it again - FREE sounds for all BBO: Black Eye users!
Download your free con sordino runs and clusters at MyVSL!
If you don’t have the BBO: Black Eye yet, now is the time to get it at a reduced price (85 EUR instead of 130 EUR)!
Check out the new and original content with our videos and the great music of our demo composers!


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## Ben (Jan 14, 2020)

Guy Bacos shares a few pretty useful tips and tricks that make the Big Bang Orchestra: Black Eye (Phrases & FX) even more flexible when you're using this powerhouse in your productions!


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## Ben (Jan 15, 2020)

The walkthrough is available! If you want to know whats inside BBO: Black Eye, you should see this:


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## Olfirf (Jan 15, 2020)

The first Big Bang is really nice and I suppose, so will this be, assuming it is recorded with the same ensemble. Not sure, if I well get this one as well ... it is priced reasonably, for sure, but I am not so sure those articulations are what I really need ...

What I really wait for is a Synchron Brass library with true divisi (4 individual horns, 3-4 trumpets, etc). This could become a better version of Berlin Brass minus the flaws! The sound is certainly there in Synchron - that is clearly audible in Big Bang.
OT also has made it possible for such a product to fill a niche, as they have clearly gone a different route with JXL Brass. If VSL could just analyze what went wrong with their Synchron Strings, they could have a winner with a new Brass library. Here is hoping ...


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Jan 15, 2020)

Is there still so much "wrong" with Synchron Strings though? I feel since the latest update it shaped up into a pretty formidable product, with even some qualities you can't find in other string libraries. Especially the depth, clarity and richness of the basses is something no other library has. And dynamics wise we are truly talking "deeply sampled" for a change.


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## Salorom (Jan 15, 2020)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> Is there still so much "wrong" with Synchron Strings though? I feel since the latest update it shaped up into a pretty formidable product, with even some qualities you can't find in other string libraries. Especially the depth, clarity and richness of the basses is something no other library has. And dynamics wise we are truly talking "deeply sampled" for a change.



The cantabile update is a welcomed one but Synchron Strings I is still not where it should be in my opinion. I’m waiting for these updates:

Proper sforzato
Proper portamento
Proper crescendo/diminuendo
Agile “cantabile” legato
Loose pizzicato, staccato, spiccato (not holding my breath)

In short, new recordings that bring Synchron Strings I closer to the organic tone and feel of their Synchron FX Strings counterparts, which really sound lovely.


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Jan 15, 2020)

Salorom said:


> The cantabile update is a welcomed one but Synchron Strings I is still not where it should be in my opinion. I’m waiting for these updates:
> 
> Proper sforzato
> Proper portamento
> ...



Yes, I'd welcome all of those additions. Add detache to the list.

It's not the most comprehensive library, not something like Dimension Strings or anything, and there are flaws, just like with any other library. But still, there's actually a lot to like about the stuff that's already in there, and I feel that the library got battered so much initially (I did my fair share of criticising too) that this seems to be totally overlooked, and the (flawed) consensus sometimes seems to be that it's this total dud of a library where everything went completely wrong. Doesn't do the actual product justice IMO.

Not holding my breath either, but I really do hope they keep at it and continue to improve this thing. It's a diamond in the rough.


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## sostenuto (Jan 15, 2020)

User of many Orchestral libs ..... *apart from VSL. *The recent Series of Synchron Player releases has been a most positive Intro.
Now have Epic Orch, BB Orch + Andromeda, Smart Orch, Smart Spheres, VSO Expansion Pk.

BB_ Black Eye seems a no-brainer and looking forward to ongoing new releases. 

ALL intro + ongoing Videos are much appreciated !


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## Tfis (Jan 15, 2020)

Olfirf said:


> What I really wait for is a Synchron Brass library with true divisi (4 individual horns, 3-4 trumpets, etc). This could become a better version of Berlin Brass minus the flaws!


You mean Dimension Brass?


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## Olfirf (Jan 15, 2020)

Tfis said:


> You mean Dimension Brass?


You are so right! Well, almost ...  I think I would prefer the approach of recording those instruments individually vs the DS approach of recording them in a group with individual microphones.


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Jan 15, 2020)

Olfirf said:


> You are so right! Well, almost ...  I think I would prefer the approach of recording those instruments individually vs the DS approach of recording them in a group with individual microphones.



However, that's exactly what makes them sound like an ensemble, instead of stacking solo instruments on top of each other. This is why you can't take 8 solo violins and stack them to a string section, but in Dimension Strings, you do have a string section where you can control every player individually.


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## Olfirf (Jan 15, 2020)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> Is there still so much "wrong" with Synchron Strings though? I feel since the latest update it shaped up into a pretty formidable product, with even some qualities you can't find in other string libraries. Especially the depth, clarity and richness of the basses is something no other library has. And dynamics wise we are truly talking "deeply sampled" for a change.


You speak about the update with those new legatos? That was a step ahead, but not in every aspect. I still have a problem with the library of think it could be better with a different approach and some of these are not fixable without re-recording larger portions of the library, which is unlikely, they will do. I think the sustains are a bit liveless and while the shorts are one of the best aspects of the library, I’d prefer dedicated patches for certain techniques like spiccato, staccato, etc rather then one generic short notes patch. Real spiccato wouldn’t need 8 dynamic layers as it isn’t gonna get fff anyway. And so on ...
I don't want to start another discussion about wether Synchron Strings are good or bad. It is just my opinion that release demonstrated a need for reconfiguring the whole strategy VSL had followed. Also, there might be some aspects that are particular to what I would want from a Synchron Brass library. Like, the division approach.


Jimmy Hellfire said:


> However, that's exactly what makes them sound like an ensemble, instead of stacking solo instruments on top of each other. This is why you can't take 8 solo violins and stack them to a string section, but in Dimension Strings, you do have a string section where you can control every player individually.


Yes, but it is also what makes those dimension patches not usable as solo instruments. I guess that is a matter of personal preference and individual workflow. All I can say is, I really like the way Berlin Brass works and sounds minus the its flaws (the individual instruments are not consistent, which takes a lot of time working with them and they miss a top dynamic layer on the sustains and legatos).


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## Mark Schmieder (Jan 15, 2020)

Looking forward to checking out these demos, as I need some of these runs in work I am finishing up, where I otherwise would have been stuck using stuff that wouldn't necessarily mix all that well with my primarily VSL-based templates, due to radically different acoustical spaces.

I didn't have time last night, but notice the sale is on for Synchron-ized updates as well, so I'm going to try to combine this purchase with a decision on whether I finally do more of that, as so far I have only bought into the combined Elements/Percussion (the rump of what wasn't re-recorded for Synchron Percussion).


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## Michael Antrum (Jan 15, 2020)

I'm a recent VSL customer, and jumped on board when the Synchronized Special Editions Bundle was released. Since then I've constantly expanded what I've got in their sales, and I'm rapidly becoming a bit of a fan. (The Concert D274 and Bosendorfer Upright pianos in particular have really impressed me). 

I did purchase Synchron Strings standard a while ago whilst it was on offer. I was really in two minds about it bearing in mind the controversy on launch, but I had some comfort in the fact there is a 30 day return policy. Well I have to say that (IMO) whilst some of the criticism is well founded, for what i paid for it the flexibility and tone has left me more than content with it. The Synchron Strings FX library is wicked.

I bought a couple of sets of vouchers last month which I'm going to use towards the Dimension Brass that's on offer this month. (Who needs food anyway ?)

What I find when using the Synchron player is that I am spending far less time fiddling around with the technical aspects of the sound, and much more on actually writing music. In fact I find that I can write music on paper and get very close to what's in my head when I put it into the DAW. And that's what I want to do - write music. I don't want to be a sound engineer - in fact it would be impossible as I am totally deaf in one ear. (Which is why I think my music is twice as good, or half as bad as everyone else !)

Just imagine if you had to 'estimate' the stereo sound field by physically turning you head from left to right !

I've just purchased the Black Eye library, and I like that it's as much a construction kit as a library - so it's far more likely you won't be getting picked up on 'Signature Sounds' or patches that you sometimes get with older libraries like Symphobia (which I still adore). I've only had it a very short time, but I think it will add a lot of colours and textures that would be impossible to believably pull off with standard libraries.

It's going to be a bastard to try and notate from it though....


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## Mark Schmieder (Jan 16, 2020)

Bought it last night, but won't have time to work with it until maybe the upcoming holiday (MLK Day). I did play with it a bit in a loose sense vs. project-oriented work, and it has a really nice sound to it, plus a good and intuitive workflow.


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## Symfoniq (Jan 16, 2020)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> Is there still so much "wrong" with Synchron Strings though? I feel since the latest update it shaped up into a pretty formidable product, with even some qualities you can't find in other string libraries. Especially the depth, clarity and richness of the basses is something no other library has. And dynamics wise we are truly talking "deeply sampled" for a change.



Can you elaborate on which update you are referring to? I'd completely given up on Synchron Strings, and in fact haven't even installed them on my new workstation.


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## Mark Schmieder (Jan 16, 2020)

There was a large 11 GB or bigger, update to Synchron Strings, from the past week or so, which I spotted when I bought and downloaded/installed Synchron-ized Woodwinds and Black Eye last night. I forget whether it is correctional or additive in nature, as I didn't have a chance to use it yet.


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## Ben (Jan 16, 2020)

The Cantabile update includes new cantabile legato articulations for all sections except basses, and improves the transitions of all other legato articulations. You can download it for free in the MyVSL download section - > Synchron Library Updates


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## Symfoniq (Jan 16, 2020)

Ben said:


> The Cantabile update includes new cantabile legato articulations for all sections except basses, and improves the transitions of all other legato articulations. You can download it for free in the MyVSL download section - > Synchron Library Updates



Thanks! I'll give them a look.


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## Mark Schmieder (Jan 16, 2020)

But there was a newer update as well, that showed up in my account last night, seemingly unrelated to the somewhat earlier Cantabile update. Probably only the Cantabile update is of interest to people who may have expressed some initial disappointments with the original release though.


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## Michael Antrum (Jan 18, 2020)

OOH ! Just seen it. A new Cantabile update time-stamped 7th of January this year ! I'm off to download this now....

I know it would probably be a ton of work, but it would be great if you either got an email when an update was released, or possibly the Synchron player would tell you when it launched....

I just purchased the Synchronized Dimension Brass Bundle which is on sale with some vouchers (thanks VSL), but because I downloaded the libraries from the email link they sent me, I didn't get to see the Cantabile update...

Edit: This is an 11.5Gb update - so it looks like quite a bit must have been changed.....


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## holywilly (Jan 19, 2020)

Ben said:


> The Cantabile update includes new cantabile legato articulations for all sections except basses, and improves the transitions of all other legato articulations. You can download it for free in the MyVSL download section - > Synchron Library Updates



Are you addressing the latest V5 update of synchron strings? I thought the Cantabile is from the V4 update.


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## Mark Schmieder (Jan 19, 2020)

What hollywilly said above; that was my understanding as well.


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## Michael Antrum (Jan 19, 2020)

It seems that the Cantabile update has itself, been updated.....


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## Ben (Mar 2, 2021)

We have done it again - FREE sounds for all BBO: Black Eye users!

Download your free con sordino runs and clusters at MyVSL!
If you don’t have the BBO: Black Eye yet, now is the time to get it at a reduced price (85 EUR instead of 130 EUR)!

Check out the new and original content with our videos and the great music of our demo composers!


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## Frederick (Mar 2, 2021)

Ben said:


> We have done it again - FREE sounds for all BBO: Black Eye users!
> 
> Download your free con sordino runs and clusters at MyVSL!
> If you don’t have the BBO: Black Eye yet, now is the time to get it at a reduced price (85 EUR instead of 130 EUR)!
> ...


Just like the Andromeda Sordino expansion this sounds absolutely awesome. And free to boot. Thank you VSL! ❤️


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## Mark Schmieder (Mar 2, 2021)

Along with a couple dozen or more additional updates to other libraries, when I checked my account just now! It's going to be a busy morning!


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## Guy Bacos (Mar 2, 2021)

I avoid making judgments on libraries I prefer, but am particularly impressed with this one, how easy it is to create such massive sounds, especially for anyone scoring films! And now con sordino.


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## ptram (Mar 2, 2021)

Guy Bacos said:


> And now con sordino.


And, Guy, you returned to the forum with a soft step, as if using a sordina! Hope you are well and kicking again!

Paolo


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## Guy Bacos (Mar 2, 2021)

ptram said:


> Hope you are well and kicking again!
> 
> Paolo


If you're referring to the surgery that's only in a few weeks.


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