# Best Harp Library



## Peter Stallo (Jun 19, 2019)

What's your opinion on the best harp library? Thoughts?


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## Gaffable (Jun 19, 2019)

Peter Stallo said:


> What's your opinion on the best harp library? Thoughts?



Check out @Mark Schmieder's recommendations here. Some other suggestions can be found in a discussion thread about Spitfire's harp.


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## Henu (Jun 19, 2019)

For what purpose?


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## constaneum (Jun 19, 2019)

for new libraries, i'll personally say Cineharps and Berlin Harps. For old but still good sounding, I'll say ProjectSAM's Concert Harp.


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## Carson (Jun 19, 2019)

Kontakt factory library harp is actually pretty good with some tweaking.


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## Peter Stallo (Jun 19, 2019)

Henu said:


> For what purpose?


Definitely orchestral use (think John Williams except that he's a legend and I suck--otherwise pretty much the same use).


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## Vardaro (Jun 19, 2019)

XSamples.


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## Henu (Jun 19, 2019)

For Williams, I'd go with either Cineharps or Spitfire for sure!


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## hawpri (Jun 19, 2019)

constaneum said:


> for new libraries, i'll personally say Cineharps and Berlin Harps. For old but still good sounding, I'll say ProjectSAM's Concert Harp.


That's what I'm still using. I think I have 5 harp libraries and have stuck with ProjectSAM's. If I get another (one of the new ones) it'll probably be Cineharps.


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## Bluemount Score (Jun 20, 2019)

Carson said:


> Kontakt factory library harp is actually pretty good with some tweaking.


I agree, what is the stuff you are tweaking?


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## Zee (Jun 20, 2019)

Performance Samples' has a free harp with a decent wet sound


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## constaneum (Jun 20, 2019)

Zee said:


> Performance Samples' has a free harp with a decent wet sound



i thought that library only has gliss ?


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## hypnotize (Jun 20, 2019)

It all depends on the desired goal and the style of music. I saw harps with bright high frequencies that cuts through the mix. And there is with quite soft and deep sound, as my favorite - Concert Harp - ProjectSAM.


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## leon chevalier (Jun 20, 2019)

Peter Stallo said:


> Definitely orchestral use (think John Williams except that he's a legend and I suck--otherwise pretty much the same use).


I know that feeling too mate !


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## ricoderks (Jun 20, 2019)

I really like the Orchestral Tools Sphere Harp. It comes with a gliss patch and playable patch. 3 mics and sound almost identical to the E.T./Williams Harp sound if you mix the mics right. Great stuff...


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## Zee (Jun 20, 2019)

constaneum said:


> i thought that library only has gliss


It also includes playable texture patches, Yes it doesn't include the core articulations but i thought more people should know about it to augment other libraries


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## Peter Stallo (Jun 20, 2019)

I'm trying ProjectSAM. If I can get it downloaded and installed today, I'll put some feedback on this post


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## Gerbil (Jun 20, 2019)

ricoderks said:


> I really like the Orchestral Tools Sphere Harp. It comes with a gliss patch and playable patch. 3 mics and sound almost identical to the E.T./Williams Harp sound if you mix the mics right. Great stuff...



I'm a fan as well. I find both the Sphere harp and the Skalia harp from Spitfire have that extra quality that makes me happy to sit and listen to them for an extended period of time. When listening to sampled instruments in isolation I often get a sort of dull ear fatigue after a while.


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## re-peat (Jun 20, 2019)

Here are a few examples of various harps:

- *http://users.telenet.be/deridderpiet.be/SB_Harps_XSample.mp3 (XSample)*
- *http://users.telenet.be/deridderpiet.be/SB_Harps_Vienna1.mp3 (VSL Harp 1)*
- *http://users.telenet.be/deridderpiet.be/SB_Harps_Vienna2.mp3 (VSL Harp 2)*
- *http://users.telenet.be/deridderpiet.be/ProjectSAM_Harp.mp3 (ProjectSAM)*
- *http://users.telenet.be/deridderpiet.be/SB_Harps_OrangeTreeAngelic.mp3 (OrangeTree Angelic)*
- *http://users.telenet.be/deridderpiet.be/SB_Harps_Spitfire.mp3 (Spitfire)*
- *http://users.telenet.be/deridderpiet.be/SB_Harps_OT-Sphere.mp3 (Orchestral Tools Sphere)*
- *http://users.telenet.be/deridderpiet.be/SB_DoIHearAHarp.mp3 (Pianoteq) *_("Do I Hear A Harp?")_

Since making these examples, I've bought the Chocolate Audio Harps too, and I find them among the best, but I haven't made any demo files for them yet. If there is interest however, I will.

_


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## Hanu_H (Jun 20, 2019)

re-peat said:


> Here are a few examples of various harps:
> 
> - *http://users.telenet.be/deridderpiet.be/SB_Harps_XSample.mp3 (XSample)*
> - *http://users.telenet.be/deridderpiet.be/SB_Harps_Vienna1.mp3 (VSL Harp 1)*
> ...


Amazing examples. What is you favorite one? To me, Spitfire, Orchestral Tools and VSL sound the best for orchestral use.


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## Noiseguild (Jun 21, 2019)

Orchestral Tools is quite good, they are to my knowledge the only ones who sampled all pedal options, which translates into double amount of samples.
But:
I had an orchestra session coming up recently and writing out the harp pedalling is always quite a task when doing the scoring.
I thought it to be a good idea to invest in a good harp library and skip some of the real harp parts in the session. 
I already had the Kontakt/Vsl harp and Sonokinetics' which both sound decent. 
Started with 8dio century harps, not good. Then Spitfire harp, quite good and last week i bought the Orchestral Tools harp which is the best of the three.
But then again i did record _some_ of the orchestral harp parts with the real harp anyhow and it's surprising that, even when doing dead simple and slow 3 note arpeggios the real harp sounds miles better than all the libraries. You can instantly hear a real musician playing. Surprising since i would say this is a relatively easy instrument to sample. Not so. Lesson learned.


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 21, 2019)

If you've written well and simply for the harp, the player will I'm sure cope. If the music is overly chromatic, then why not use notation software to indicate some pedalling?, which will save time in a session. If you've written unwisely for the harp, notation software will highlight it if I'm not mistaken.
It's surprising that you thought it surprising that a real player sounded better.......of course they do....

Don't waste money on samples when you can have the real thing......


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## Noiseguild (Jun 21, 2019)

mikeh-375 said:


> It's surprising that you thought it surprising that a real player sounded better.......of course they do....



Of course i was not surprised the real thing sounded better, that would be surprising indeed. 
It's a bit puzzling though that the difference is much bigger than for instance with some woodwinds, and even brass. A harp should be much easier to expressively play from a keyboard than these instruments. But it is the other way around.

And the Sibelius Harp pedalling plugin is not really that smart. At least not in V6. When there's enough time i even think doing the harp pedalling is a stimulating exercise.. But in this case there wasn't.


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## Mike Fox (Jun 21, 2019)

ProjectSAM's harp for warmth. 

Cinesamples new Cineharps for realism.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jun 21, 2019)

I still use the good ol' harp from EW Symphonic Orchestra. It's actually really good.


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## HardyP (Jun 21, 2019)

Wolfie2112 said:


> I still use the good ol' harp from EW Symphonic Orchestra. It's actually really good.


I can second that...

Occasionally, I also use OrangeTrees Angelic Harp; this one seems to be more "cutting through", but can sometimes also be too much. Hope you get what I mean...


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 21, 2019)

Noiseguild said:


> Of course i was not surprised the real thing sounded better, that would be surprising indeed.
> It's a bit puzzling though that the difference is much bigger than for instance with some woodwinds, and even brass. A harp should be much easier to expressively play from a keyboard than these instruments. But it is the other way around.
> 
> And the Sibelius Harp pedalling plugin is not really that smart. At least not in V6. When there's enough time i even think doing the harp pedalling is a stimulating exercise.. But in this case there wasn't.



Aahh, I thought there was a _correction_ plug-in, fair enough. It _is _fun working out pedals and enharmonic phonemes right? I always try to keep track of changes as I go along, but sometimes I loose track and then have to create the most odd spellings for a chord, but harpists are used to that. 

The harp is beautifully resonant and that is what's missing from samples - the notes are not aware of each other acoustically, sampled strings suffer very much from the same problem imv.
It's great you are being recorded live, hope it went well with clients etc.


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## ProfoundSilence (Jun 21, 2019)

basically this : simplicity + sound = cineharp. unlimited resources + realism and sound = berlin harps. 

how exposed is your harp writing, and are you actually writing for harp or just using the harp as an orchestral embellishment? if you're just doing glissandos - im not sure it matters too much, but if you're actually writing idiomatically for harp - nothing feels quite as satisfying as berlin, due to the pedals being sampled completely. G# and Ab are two different samples - because one is a string flat and one is a string sharp.


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## mikeh-375 (Jun 22, 2019)

+1 for Berlin too.


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## Noiseguild (Jun 22, 2019)

Yes, berlin makes the difference because of the all the pedal position samples. I would say this also pays of hugely when doing glissandos since you get a lot of different versions of the same notes which is one of the defining elements from the harp gliss.

Edit: but they only have 4 rr's per note/vel, which maybe isn't quite enough...


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## Ryan Fultz (Jun 22, 2019)

Wolfie2112 said:


> I still use the good ol' harp from EW Symphonic Orchestra. It's actually really good.



The sound is so damn good on that one, I've got a couple libraries of harps and it still consistently has a tone that mixes in better than others. If only it had some scripting to more easily play some of the more typical harp techniques it would be a powerhouse sample they could sell on its own. That and the wind chimes are two of the samples in that library I still use over most of my versions in other libraries.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Jun 22, 2019)

Ryan Fultz said:


> The sound is so damn good on that one, I've got a couple libraries of harps and it still consistently has a tone that mixes in better than others. If only it had some scripting to more easily play some of the more typical harp techniques it would be a powerhouse sample they could sell on its own. That and the wind chimes are two of the samples in that library I still use over most of my versions in other libraries.



Agreed! Actually, I prefer it over Hollywood Harp as well.


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## WindcryMusic (Jun 24, 2019)

With OT's Symphonic Harps being 30% off for the next couple of days, I am forced to seriously consider adding it to my library (as my current harp is Soundiron's Elysium, which lacks for mic positions as well as articulations in comparison). But one concern is how well it would mix with the rest of my main orchestral libraries, which are Spitfire libraries (Symphonic and Chamber series, not Studio). Is anyone able to speak on their experiences with melding these libraries?


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## ProfoundSilence (Jun 24, 2019)

WindcryMusic said:


> With OT's Symphonic Harps being 30% off for the next couple of days, I am forced to seriously consider adding it to my library (as my current harp is Soundiron's Elysium, which lacks for mic positions as well as articulations in comparison). But one concern is how well it would mix with the rest of my main orchestral libraries, which are Spitfire libraries (Symphonic and Chamber series, not Studio). Is anyone able to speak on their experiences with melding these libraries?


its extremely easy. 

1. you have literally 6(SIX) microphones. 3 different "close" mics. 

2. if I had to guess, I'd say use more ambient - and use something like waves NLS with a neve profile - using enough drive to make it sound saturated. Then if you have a more ambient spitfire mix, just sent it to a church reverb. 

I'll literally spend the next few minutes matching the two as an example(I have spitfire harp)


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## ProfoundSilence (Jun 24, 2019)

sorry, literally crashed my session and just opened a blank one to whip this up. 

which one is the SF and which one is the OT?

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/harpsfot-mp3.20822/][/AUDIOPLUS]


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## WindcryMusic (Jun 24, 2019)

ProfoundSilence said:


> sorry, literally crashed my session and just opened a blank one to whip this up.
> 
> which one is the SF and which one is the OT?
> 
> [AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/harpsfot-mp3.20822/][/AUDIOPLUS]



I can't even begin to guess which is which, so that certainly suggests that the OT harp can sit in an Air Lyndhurst context. Thanks very much for your efforts! (OT should thank you too, since it looks like they are in line to make a little money as a result.)


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## ProfoundSilence (Jun 24, 2019)




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## ProfoundSilence (Jun 24, 2019)

I can tell which one, because the OT one has depth.  also easier to tell at low dynamics, as the SF one seems to fade out a bit early, without as quiet a dynamic recorded.

and that was extremely low effort on my part, as you can see - I was extreeemely lazy about it.

picked the AB mic(one that's going to sound more thick and ambient) then added just enough close mic to give it a similar presence/body as the tree on the SF. Then I simply used auto gain and a tilt filter(the laziest EQing ive ever done) and blended the drive in on the neve a little until it sounded as saturated as SF.

I think SF just has a sound, just like OT has a sound. I just think OT is just recorded absolutely pristinely - and in the case of the berlin series, extremely top to bottom sampling.


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## axb312 (Jun 24, 2019)

No love for the Soundiron Elysium harp?


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## jamwerks (Jun 24, 2019)

I generally don't like the A/B mic in OT libraries. Iinm they are figure 8's so there's quite a bit of 'room'. The Tree mic's have less 'room', just right to my ears!


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## ProfoundSilence (Jun 25, 2019)

jamwerks said:


> I generally don't like the A/B mic in OT libraries. Iinm they are figure 8's so there's quite a bit of 'room'. The Tree mic's have less 'room', just right to my ears!




I generally don't either as a main mic, I used it in the SF example to fit it into the soupy air lyndhurst sound, but generally I work mic mixes in a certain way. 

I'll start with a "main" mic, like the tree. Then if I want to add distance I blend it with the AB or surround. the key difference being AB if I want narrow stereo image, surround if I want wider stereo image. 

a great example is using a bit of AB to add distance and lushness to strings while using a surround heavy mic mix on brass to give the brass width. similarly one might want to use more AB on woodwinds and percussion then a more even amount of SURR and AB with strings


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## juliansader (Jun 25, 2019)

Peter Stallo said:


> What's your opinion on the best harp library? Thoughts?



All the usual suspects have beautiful pre-recorded glissandos and single notes, and fit easily in a mix.

The problem comes when you try to use them in solo, exposed contexts: As crucial as legato transitions are to realistic string and wind VIs, "pre-pluck buzz" noise is to the harp -- but to the best of my knowledge, no harp library includes these.

When a harpist plucks a string that is already vibrating from a previous note, there will inevitably be a momentary muting sound before the string is plucked, as the string briefly vibrate against the finger before it is stopped and re-plucked.

In a live harp performance with many repeated notes, the pre-pluck noises can be heard clearly. All current harp libraries sound unrealistic and sterile in comparison:



In another thread, Chocolate Audio claimed that their harp can in fact perform such pre-pluck buzz noises, but unfortunately I haven't heard any demo that demonstrates these settings:


Simone Coen said:


> that is part of our library for sure as far as I remember. Part of the release samples that are triggered when releasing a key (we chose to have a piano-like sustain experience, so the opposite of an harp) so if you retrigger that key you will hear before it the buzz of the string. This depends on user settings of course, but it's thought like that.


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## ProfoundSilence (Jun 25, 2019)

plot twist, berlin samples true dampening. meaning when you release the note, they've sampled the manual muting of the instrument.

Similar to how they did it with percussion(like timpani and triangle ect). so if you release the note right before playing it again - you'll actually get this muting sound.

"_Release Damping_ 
For both harps, different note lengths and damping sounds are recorded and triggered within the sustain patches depending on the timing of the key releases. 
If you play very short notes you get the immediate damping of the string. If you however use the sustain pedal, the string rings out as long as you hold it."


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## WindcryMusic (Jun 25, 2019)

axb312 said:


> No love for the Soundiron Elysium harp?



I do like the Elysium harp for certain things. But it doesn't really sound orchestral to me ... the few mic positions are all too close. I also don't love the fact that it is only sustains with no muting (there is a length setting but it basically applies a decay ramp to the sample, rather than actual muted strings). And the lack of a glissandi articulation means that the individual notes of performed glissandi have too much of an attack. And no samples of pedaled strings, no recorded tremolo, etc. ... most of Elysium's articulations are more sound effects than anything else.

For non-orchestral or sound design purposes I will very likely still turn to Elysium, but for orchestral settings I am ready to try something different.


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## TR-TX (Jun 25, 2019)

jamwerks said:


> I generally don't like the A/B mic in OT libraries. Iinm they are figure 8's so there's quite a bit of 'room'. The Tree mic's have less 'room', just right to my ears!



Never realized the DPA 4006 is figure 8


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## constaneum (Jun 25, 2019)

I'm so tempted with Berlin harps at 30% but ended up not getting it. Why ?? 40GB size for 2 harps. That's insane even though I really love the sound. I dont really do solo harp music so having the need for such library in decorative context might be a bit redundant I guess. I might consider cinesample's harp for equivalent quality with smaller library size. Wait for sales.


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## Manuel Stumpf (Jun 25, 2019)

constaneum said:


> Wait for sales.


Cinesamples right now also have a 30% sale live.


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## constaneum (Jun 25, 2019)

Manuel Stumpf said:


> Cinesamples right now also have a 30% sale live.



Ah....sweet. right time.


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## Lee Blaske (Jun 25, 2019)

I have a LOT of harp libraries, and it sure is hard to identify a "best" one. They're all so different. Interestingly, if I'm in a hurry, I still often turn to the VSL Harp library. It reliably gets the job done, and it sits really well in a larger orchestral context. Some of the other multi-sampled libraries out there are too responsive to velocity. They can be very nice, beautiful libraries, but you can get a loud bright sound, or a soft, mellow sound, but nothing in-between and the inconsistency makes it difficult to play a convincing part.


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## ProfoundSilence (Jun 25, 2019)

I usually reccomend cineharp if you're not interested in spending the resources on such an in depth harp. It's my 2nd favorite harp library, and quite the opposite of berlin - it's extremely easy on resources.


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## axb312 (Jun 25, 2019)

WindcryMusic said:


> I do like the Elysium harp for certain things. But it doesn't really sound orchestral to me ... the few mic positions are all too close. I also don't love the fact that it is only sustains with no muting (there is a length setting but it basically applies a decay ramp to the sample, rather than actual muted strings). And the lack of a glissandi articulation means that the individual notes of performed glissandi have too much of an attack. And no samples of pedaled strings, no recorded tremolo, etc. ... most of Elysium's articulations are more sound effects than anything else.
> 
> For non-orchestral or sound design purposes I will very likely still turn to Elysium, but for orchestral settings I am ready to try something different.



I agree with you, that the Elysium harp does not sound "orchestral" out of the box, but somehow cannot see the justification in putting up so much money for the Berlin Harp or the Cineharp, when the harp is rarely (if ever) at the forefront of a piece.

For roughly half the price of the Berlin Harp or Cineharp (when on sale), you get a finely detailed harp in Elysium, perfectly usable, great sounding and mold-able into any context using the close mic.


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## WindcryMusic (Jun 25, 2019)

axb312 said:


> I agree with you, that the Elysium harp does not sound "orchestral" out of the box, but somehow cannot see the justification in putting up so much money for the Berlin Harp or the Cineharp, when the harp is rarely (if ever) at the forefront of a piece.
> 
> For roughly half the price of the Berlin Harp or Cineharp (when on sale), you get a finely detailed harp in Elysium, perfectly usable, great sounding and mold-able into any context using the close mic.



Harp is seldom at the forefront for most of my music as well, but I did use harp quite a bit in the last several episodes of “DarkenSpace”, and it was pretty important to the overall effect even when mixed to be part of the backdrop. I listen back to those cues now and wish that the harp had “blended” a little more … the sound of Elysium stuck out too much IMO. Maybe with a lot of audio massaging I could have forced it to blend better, but I didn’t have the time to spend on such nuances … there were too many minutes of score to generate in too short an amount of time, and with a day job mixed in there, too. So it seems worth it to me to have an orchestral harp that will give me the sound I want next time around, and without a lot of work.


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## sarobin (Jul 1, 2019)

ProfoundSilence said:


> sorry, literally crashed my session and just opened a blank one to whip this up.
> 
> which one is the SF and which one is the OT?
> 
> [AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/harpsfot-mp3.20822/][/AUDIOPLUS]


First is SF


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## ProfoundSilence (Jul 1, 2019)

sarobin said:


> First is SF


I'm actually pretty sure you're wrong. 

I would have to listen later on my monitors, but I'm pretty sure the first one is OT


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## GingerMaestro (Jul 1, 2019)

I have Spitfire Audio Harp, I bought in in a sale and it was a mistake, I really don’t like the sound. At moderate to high velocities it had a very hard attack to it which is not so great for me. Does anyone have chocolate audio Glissaindi Harp, I’m now intrigued about cinesamples offering, especially as they have a sale on at the moment.


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## ProfoundSilence (Jul 1, 2019)

sarobin said:


> First is SF


yeah listening back, the first one is definitely OT. 

the dynamic layers and spatialization give it away.


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## constaneum (Jul 1, 2019)

GingerMaestro said:


> I have Spitfire Audio Harp, I bought in in a sale and it was a mistake, I really don’t like the sound. At moderate to high velocities it had a very hard attack to it which is not so great for me. Does anyone have chocolate audio Glissaindi Harp, I’m now intrigued about cinesamples offering, especially as they have a sale on at the moment.



Having both choc audio and cinesamples, I'll say cinesamples has better offer and sound wise. Choc audio doesn't offer recorded glissando and I found it a bit hard to use when I wanna do gliss. Sound wise I'll rate it 7/10. Cinesamples ill rate 8.5/10. Berlin I'll rate 9/10 but the size of that library...man, that's huge.


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## Casiquire (Jul 2, 2019)

juliansader said:


> All the usual suspects have beautiful pre-recorded glissandos and single notes, and fit easily in a mix.
> 
> The problem comes when you try to use them in solo, exposed contexts: As crucial as legato transitions are to realistic string and wind VIs, "pre-pluck buzz" noise is to the harp -- but to the best of my knowledge, no harp library includes these.
> 
> ...




Pianoteq does have a bit of this buzz. I'd love it to be a little stronger or more controllable but it's better than zero!


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## NeonMediaKJT (Jul 2, 2019)

If you guys had a choice between Orange Tree Samples Angelic Harp and Project Sam Concert Harp, which would you go with, personally?


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## constaneum (Jul 2, 2019)

NeonMediaKJT said:


> If you guys had a choice between Orange Tree Samples Angelic Harp and Project Sam Concert Harp, which would you go with, personally?



I own both. I'll say project Sam.


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## NeonMediaKJT (Jul 2, 2019)

constaneum said:


> I own both. I'll say project Sam.


Any reasons? From my point of view just from listening to the demos, Concert Harp sounds warmer and I prefer the sound. But Angelic Harp's Glissandi feature looks useful.


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## constaneum (Jul 2, 2019)

NeonMediaKJT said:


> Any reasons? From my point of view just from listening to the demos, Concert Harp sounds warmer and I prefer the sound. But Angelic Harp's Glissandi feature looks useful.



For a dated and yet good sounding harp, Concert Harp has lots of articulations and offers recorded gliss.


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## brett (Jul 3, 2019)

GingerMaestro said:


> I have Spitfire Audio Harp, I bought in in a sale and it was a mistake, I really don’t like the sound. At moderate to high velocities it had a very hard attack to it which is not so great for me. Does anyone have chocolate audio Glissaindi Harp, I’m now intrigued about cinesamples offering, especially as they have a sale on at the moment.



If you scale the velocity lower (midi transform in real-time) it helps the SF harp enormously


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## GingerMaestro (Jul 3, 2019)

Thanks @brett Do you do the midi transform in Kontakt ? Or in your DAW ? Thank You


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## brett (Jul 3, 2019)

GingerMaestro said:


> Thanks @brett Do you do the midi transform in Kontakt ? Or in your DAW ? Thank You



I do it in Cubase. I use the Midi insert called 'Midi Modifiers' with the Vel. Comp. (Velocity Compression) to 3/4. Play around with what works best for you. This helps to limit the higher velocity 'attacky' notes and enables you to tweak your playing style to suit your controller keyboard. 

I also occasionally use the 'Scale' and 'Scale Note' modifiers to assist with glissandos. While not every chord is listed this works well.

You have to click the 'record output to track' button (top right of panel) on. Retrospective record doesn't record using the modifiers - you have to actually record 'officially'


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## GingerMaestro (Jul 3, 2019)

@brett OMG ! This is going to be a game changer for me. I use Logic and have just found their Velocity Processor Midi Plug In. It works perfectly and takes off that hard attack on the loudest sample, so is much more playable. I think you have just saved me $200 buying a new Harp Sample Library !
I also use a lot of Project Sam Stuff, notably swing, in which a lot of the different articulations are triggered by velocity. It's not the easiest to use and has been really annoying, but using this plug in, I can set the velocity and get out exactly the articulation I need. Perfect. Thanks again


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## brett (Jul 3, 2019)

GingerMaestro said:


> @brett OMG ! This is going to be a game changer for me. I use Logic and have just found their Velocity Processor Midi Plug In. It works perfectly and takes off that hard attack on the loudest sample, so is much more playable. I think you have just saved me $200 buying a new Harp Sample Library !
> I also use a lot of Project Sam Stuff, notably swing, in which a lot of the different articulations are triggered by velocity. It's not the easiest to use and has been really annoying, but using this plug in, I can set the velocity and get out exactly the articulation I need. Perfect. Thanks again



No worries. Glad to have helped.


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## Mark Schmieder (Jul 10, 2019)

A challenge for those who have the inclination and time, as most harp demos are glissando-heavy:

Dvorak's Rusalka (opera) has some amazing, gorgeous harp solos that are quite up-front and almost devoid of glissandos, which make that music a fairly good example of how such playing styles might fit into other music and whether a sample library can well handle such a role (for those who care).

I don't have any sheet music for this; I simply heard an astounding performance of the opera a couple of weeks ago and marked it as my favourite symphonic harp music so far (perhaps beyond that of the Impressionists). I don't know the background of how Dvorak came to use the instrument in such a novel way that set it apart from its more typical orchestral usage. It doesn't sound Celtic either.


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## Gaffable (Jul 10, 2019)

Mark Schmieder said:


> Dvorak's Rusalka (opera)...I don't have any sheet music for this



The score is available for download at ISMLP.


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## Mark Schmieder (Jul 10, 2019)

Thanks; when I'm more caught up from my annual vacation (which was all about a wedding), I'll see if I can do a reasonable rendering of that piece with various libraries, and make available for others to review.


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## Ashermusic (Jul 10, 2019)

GingerMaestro said:


> @brett OMG ! This is going to be a game changer for me. I use Logic and have just found their Velocity Processor Midi Plug In. It works perfectly and takes off that hard attack on the loudest sample, so is much more playable. I think you have just saved me $200 buying a new Harp Sample Library !
> I also use a lot of Project Sam Stuff, notably swing, in which a lot of the different articulations are triggered by velocity. It's not the easiest to use and has been really annoying, but using this plug in, I can set the velocity and get out exactly the articulation I need. Perfect. Thanks again



Sonofagun, I am considered by many to be a Logic guru but I have never used that MIDI plugin and there are tons of times when it would have been helpful. So thanks from me as well.


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## Silence-is-Golden (Jul 10, 2019)

Got frustrated with what I had ( vsl se, ot sphere and ots harp) and now purchased ot’s symphonic harps...... hopefully it will be as good as presented


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## jaketanner (Jul 11, 2019)

So seems from the many replies, that Cineharps or Spitfire Harp is the way to go? SF is much less expensive, but with my EDU discount, they average about the same. The main use I would have for the harp is within a film score context, and fantasy type music. I don't think it will ever get used as any exposed concerto or even a solo for that matter, as I don't know enough to pull that off convincingly. Knowing that, would you all say that Cineharps is the better choice then?


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## ProfoundSilence (Jul 11, 2019)

cineharps>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>spitfire.

unless you're literally using like a 100% sso template or something, there's no reason to debate the two. Just check out the screen casts. Cineharps actually has multiple harps as well, and a generally much better layout in terms of features.


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## jaketanner (Jul 11, 2019)

ProfoundSilence said:


> cineharps>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>spitfire.
> 
> unless you're literally using like a 100% sso template or something, there's no reason to debate the two.



My preference would be Cineharps...I like the simplicity and I also have a few of their other libraries...but I also have SF libraries.. LOL


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## ProfoundSilence (Jul 11, 2019)

jaketanner said:


> My preference would be Cineharps...I like the simplicity and I also have a few of their other libraries...but I also have SF libraries.. LOL



its pretty easy to make one of the cineharps sound like the SF harp, but SF harp isn't as sonically flexible, and will just sound like the SF harp without a mountain of EQ.


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## jaketanner (Jul 11, 2019)

ProfoundSilence said:


> its pretty easy to make one of the cineharps sound like the SF harp, but SF harp isn't as sonically flexible, and will just sound like the SF harp without a mountain of EQ.



Perfect then, thanks!


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## Silence-is-Golden (Jul 15, 2019)

Silence-is-Golden said:


> Got frustrated with what I had ( vsl se, ot sphere and ots harp) and now purchased ot’s symphonic harps...... hopefully it will be as good as presented


(a first time to reply to myself )

......but for those who want more recomendations: OT's harps are beatiful. This is much closer to the real thing as I know t to be, is playable, has many arts , and allows for more diverse playing and is via capsule reasonably ok to adjust to ones personal prefs in playing style.


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## fiction (Jan 18, 2022)

Reviving this thread looking for an opinion! 

I've been using the Spitfire Harp but I'm looking for a better close mic sound. The close mic in the spitfire one doesn't really do it for me anymore and the tone is a bit thin for more exposed work. 

I'm looking into the OT and Cinesamples harps and I'm wondering what are the opinions on the close microphones for those who have both?


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## Noeticus (Jan 18, 2022)

The new VSL Synchron Harp is now my favorite!






HARP - Vienna Symphonic Library


A Lyon & Healy Style 30 Concert Grand harp placed in the large hall of Synchron Stage Vienna with a dedicated player software. In Chromatic Mode the harp is played like any other keyed instrument. In Pedal Mode the software recreates the pedaling mechanism and the scale possibilities of a real harp.




www.vsl.co.at


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## jaketanner (Jan 18, 2022)

fiction said:


> Reviving this thread looking for an opinion!
> 
> I've been using the Spitfire Harp but I'm looking for a better close mic sound. The close mic in the spitfire one doesn't really do it for me anymore and the tone is a bit thin for more exposed work.
> 
> I'm looking into the OT and Cinesamples harps and I'm wondering what are the opinions on the close microphones for those who have both?


I use Cineharps...the close mics are not thin and have a nice tone to them. There are 3 to choose from, although the close mic in Harp 2, seems to have a bit of distortion...but i don't use that one much anyway. The Concert and harp 3 sound really nice. Although, the close mic on a harp is usually used to add some definition, not really anything that should be use by itself for exposed harp...you would want some room sound to get the full tone.


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## fiction (Jan 18, 2022)

Noeticus said:


> The new VSL Synchron Harp is now my favorite!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It definitely sounds great but from the walkthrough I think the close mic is still not close enough compared to the ot and cs ones. I also don't have anything from VSL so would need to get the licenser aswell...


jaketanner said:


> I use Cineharps...the close mics are not thin and have a nice tone to them. There are 3 to choose from, although the close mic in Harp 2, seems to have a bit of distortion...but i don't use that one much anyway. The Concert and harp 3 sound really nice. Although, the close mic on a harp is usually used to add some definition, not really anything that should be use by itself for exposed harp...you would want some room sound to get the full tone.


Thanks! I guess I can't go wrong with either because they both seem to sound really good but that just makes my choice harder.


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## jaketanner (Jan 18, 2022)

fiction said:


> Thanks! I guess I can't go wrong with either because they both seem to sound really good but that just makes my choice harder.


I think they're both going to be a good choice. Synchron seems to be better for exposed solo work, and maybe more classical applications. Cineharp, as with anything from Cinesamples...they aim for more cinematic, film score style. I think Synchron harp might be a bit more advanced as well...but they both have pedaling and runs...really depends on what sound you're going for. Ultimately, you would want a couple of harp libraries...like with your other instruments...not one is going to fit all scenarios.


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## axb312 (Jan 18, 2022)

For a close sound, I think the Elysium harp is tough to beat...


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## gregjazz (Jan 18, 2022)

juliansader said:


> The problem comes when you try to use them in solo, exposed contexts: As crucial as legato transitions are to realistic string and wind VIs, "pre-pluck buzz" noise is to the harp -- but to the best of my knowledge, no harp library includes these.


This was one of our primary goals when developing our Angelic Harp sample library. Not just to capture the pre-pluck sound that happens before the sample's main transient, but also the noise that happens when plucking a string that's already ringing. Like you described, that's because when the finger comes into contact with the string, it ends up muting it first before plucking it again. Because this adds a small amount of delay to the notes, the length of these samples can be controlled with the "preroll amount" knob in Angelic Harp.

It's as if the harp, although polyphonic, consists of individual monophonic strings. Otherwise the buildup that occurs when the same notes layer up on each other is a dead giveaway that it's a sampled instrument.

One of the other details we captured in Angelic Harp is the way harpists mute multiple notes with the palm of their hand, which also has its own unique sound compared to the typical note releases. Details like these all add up, contributing to the realism of the instrument, which is crucial for a sampled harp that sounds believable in an upfront/solo situation.


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## Mike Fox (Jan 18, 2022)

Gave the new Synchron Harp a test drive. Nice sound overall, and well programmed. The variety of articulations were impressive as well. Not completely sold on it though.

I think the EWQLSO harp is still my favorite, though i do need to try the OT harp. The sound of that one is just heavenly.


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## Jrides (Jan 18, 2022)

gregjazz said:


> This was one of our primary goals when developing our Angelic Harp sample library. Not just to capture the pre-pluck sound that happens before the sample's main transient, but also the noise that happens when plucking a string that's already ringing. Like you described, that's because when the finger comes into contact with the string, it ends up muting it first before plucking it again. Because this adds a small amount of delay to the notes, the length of these samples can be controlled with the "preroll amount" knob in Angelic Harp.
> 
> It's as if the harp, although polyphonic, consists of individual monophonic strings. Otherwise the buildup that occurs when the same notes layer up on each other is a dead giveaway that it's a sampled instrument.
> 
> One of the other details we captured in Angelic Harp is the way harpists mute multiple notes with the palm of their hand, which also has its own unique sound compared to the typical note releases. Details like these all add up, contributing to the realism of the instrument, which is crucial for a sampled harp that sounds believable in an upfront/solo situation.


Recently got this one. Can’t wait to give it a try.


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## Casiquire (Jan 18, 2022)

gregjazz said:


> This was one of our primary goals when developing our Angelic Harp sample library. Not just to capture the pre-pluck sound that happens before the sample's main transient, but also the noise that happens when plucking a string that's already ringing. Like you described, that's because when the finger comes into contact with the string, it ends up muting it first before plucking it again. Because this adds a small amount of delay to the notes, the length of these samples can be controlled with the "preroll amount" knob in Angelic Harp.
> 
> It's as if the harp, although polyphonic, consists of individual monophonic strings. Otherwise the buildup that occurs when the same notes layer up on each other is a dead giveaway that it's a sampled instrument.
> 
> One of the other details we captured in Angelic Harp is the way harpists mute multiple notes with the palm of their hand, which also has its own unique sound compared to the typical note releases. Details like these all add up, contributing to the realism of the instrument, which is crucial for a sampled harp that sounds believable in an upfront/solo situation.


Well that gets my attention


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## ed buller (Jan 18, 2022)

VSL Synchron. Far above the rest

best

e


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## Scalms (Jan 18, 2022)

axb312 said:


> For a close sound, I think the Elysium harp is tough to beat...


I second this


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## Bighill (Jan 19, 2022)

axb312 said:


> For a close sound, I think the Elysium harp is tough to beat...


To me, Elysium was a big disappointment. It has none of the full sound and silvery shimmer we need from a harp. I have a lot of harp libraries, until now, I have used Orange Tools Angelic Harp almost exclusively, but I expect to use the Synchron Harp a lot from now on.


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## dunamisstudio (Jan 19, 2022)

VSL Synchron


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## fiction (Jan 19, 2022)

After listening to some walkthroughs/reviews I might go for the VSL indeed.. got a couple more days to decide.


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## Baronvonheadless (Jan 19, 2022)

I’m not an expert with harp libraries but I have the bbc pro harp, ark 2 harp and OT andea harp and I’m very content.


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## fiction (Jan 28, 2022)

I eventually went for the VSL one and I'm very happy with the purchase, it's miles better than the spitfire one for more exposed work. Thanks for all the suggestions!


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## Windbag (Jan 31, 2022)

Glad you got sorted....I'm late to the party as usual, but since the earlier mention was brief, I'll throw in a plug for Modartt's Harps for Pianoteq simply because of how much they're teaching me about the instrument (ok.. _and_ because I've become a huge sucker for modeled instruments)

Things I like (some similar to other libraries mentioned):

• can be played chromatic or diatonic with black keys functional as pedals (this was the eye-opener for me even with a good friend that's a harpist..I feel much more confident writing for her now)

• One of the presets uses piano-like sustain model (sustain pedal holds notes open) and employs finger blocking that is note-off-velocity-sensitive (listen to the re-plucks below)

• the other mode inverts the sustain pedal so notes ring until muted by the sustain pedal, like setting your arm across the strings

• both modes respond to continuous damper input

• una corda pedal softens the pluck to approximate glissando finger position (again below)

• there are in-depth controls over timbre: brightness at various dynamics, pluck noise, many physical model parameters, and timbral shaping

• light on resources (no samples, pretty minimal processor)

Modartt's own demos are a little sterile for my taste (having recorded a harp, it is a HUGELY room-dependent instrument) so here's a super quick example of the Celtic model (even more overlooked than the concert one) with some finger blocking, and gliss via diatonic mode just letting me rake my hands across the white keys for that two-handed wiping technique:


View attachment ModarttCelticHarp_FingerBlocking.mp3


...if I had a nitpick, I'd wish for finger noises as good as those in Orange Tree's above... those really sound great


[EDIT: almost forgot humanization. With control over (and random variation of) the pluck position, repetition is never a problem. This is a big reason I like Modartt's chromatic percussion as well.]


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