# Library Spotlight - Westgate Woodwinds (pt.1)



## Cory Pelizzari (May 14, 2020)

Get it here: https://www.bigfishaudio.com/catalogview.html?1&24&1:::::::::::::Page=1&Bran=1378
Forum with Patches: https://vi-control.net/community/th...tgate-modular-series-crossfade-patches.19760/
Dry Examples: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5eujgixa30ffl7c/Dry Examples.wav?dl=0
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/corypelizzari
Albums: https://corypelizzari.bandcamp.com/


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## darcvision (May 14, 2020)

i really like piccolo legato, its sounds really good, and all woodwinds are very playable and sounds good without using CC. but patches are messy, maybe because its an old library. also i think prices are expensive if you buy all of them, but you can buy them separately (40$ for each instrument). if this library get sale in full packages and below 200$, i think i will buy it


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## Cory Pelizzari (May 14, 2020)

stefandy31 said:


> i really like piccolo legato, its sounds really good, and all woodwinds are very playable and sounds good without using CC. but patches are messy, maybe because its an old library. also i think prices are expensive if you buy all of them, but you can buy them separately (40$ for each instrument). if this library get sale in full packages and below 200$, i think i will buy it


Below $200 is asking a bit much considering these instruments have perfect legato and consistent deep sampling for each instrument. I think $400 (same as Studio Woodwinds Pro) would be a reasonable upper limit. Comparing the quality of sampling, consistency and legato to other woodwinds libraries puts things into perspective. For example I'd much rather pay $700 for these than $700 for Spitfire's Symphonic Woodwinds. The extra mics in that library don't make up for its weaker (and on the odd occasion, unusable) legato samples overall. Now I'm just waiting to see what CSW can offer...


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## darcvision (May 14, 2020)

Cory Pelizzari said:


> Below $200 is asking a bit much considering these instruments have perfect legato and consistent deep sampling for each instrument. I think $400 (same as Studio Woodwinds Pro) would be a reasonable upper limit. Comparing the quality of sampling, consistency and legato to other woodwinds libraries puts things into perspective. For example I'd much rather pay $700 for these than $700 for Spitfire's Symphonic Woodwinds. The extra mics in that library don't make up for its weaker (and on the odd occasion, unusable) legato samples overall. Now I'm just waiting to see what CSW can offer...



i agree, below $200 is asking too much despite their library is good. but the reason why i'm saying this because... lets say, if i'm choosing between westgate woodwind with spitfire studio woodwind pro with same prices, example $400, i would choose spitfire because they're more new and sophisticated rather than westgate unless westgate are more cheaper than spitfire, but it doesnt mean spitfire are better than westgate. i mean why someone want to buy old library, if you could buy new library with an same prices and "better". you know what i mean....


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## Jimmy Hellfire (May 14, 2020)

stefandy31 said:


> i agree, below $200 is asking too much despite their library is good. but the reason why i'm saying this because... lets say, if i'm choosing between westgate woodwind with spitfire studio woodwind pro with same prices, example $400, i would choose spitfire because they're more new and sophisticated rather than westgate unless westgate are more cheaper than spitfire, but it doesnt mean spitfire are better than westgate. i mean why someone want to buy old library, if you could buy new library with an same prices and "better". you know what i mean....



You're kind of contradicting yourself here a bit.

Just because a library was released more recently does not automatically mean that it's more sophisticated or recorded better than some older ones. Which is frequently proven by newer releases. 

The more recent SF libraries, in fact, prove this ... I'd even argue that one of their oldest libraries - the now-called Chamber Strings - is one of their highest-quality releases.


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## axb312 (May 14, 2020)

@Cory Pelizzari Would've been nice to see this in context with CSS or something similar maybe....


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## Erik (May 14, 2020)

@Cory, why didn't you use the offered patches by Andreas in your video? They offer a much better crossfade, also because they are combined with a controllable vibrato. Plus: in *one *nki are all/most articulations represented!
You can find them here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cps70tfhg5fm7s8/AABnosUqumzsZiXH_1l6eeJ9a?dl=0

They have been for a long time in my templates, the flute is marvellous imo.


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## Ruffian Price (May 14, 2020)

...they're linked in the thread, video description and shown in the video


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## bryla (May 14, 2020)

Quite disagree on the oboe. It sounds lovely to me!

I remember when these were all the rave 15 years ago and I wanted so much to buy in to this modular approach as a student. I think it was the user SvK that did some great things with these on this forum – some 3 forum iterations ago.

It seems these just slipped of my radar (as well as anyone else's) when EWHO (and CineWinds) came out especially where you could get a complete woodwind collection (with all the flaws that it had). They sort of became outdated in my mind and their website never seemed to update.

Thanks for bringing them back and with the patches I could see myself looking to them next time I want to upgrade.


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## CT (May 14, 2020)

Thanks for putting some more attention on these. I've been interested for years, but not enough to commit at ~$700. It's a shame that the developers and/or distributors don't seem interested in getting more information out and streamlining the purchasing options.


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## purple (May 14, 2020)

Cory Pelizzari said:


> Get it here: https://www.bigfishaudio.com/catalogview.html?1&24&1:::::::::::::Page=1&Bran=1378
> Forum with Patches: https://vi-control.net/community/th...tgate-modular-series-crossfade-patches.19760/
> Dry Examples: https://www.dropbox.com/s/5eujgixa30ffl7c/Dry Examples.wav?dl=0
> Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/corypelizzari
> Albums: https://corypelizzari.bandcamp.com/



Thanks, Cory. You are one of the very few reviewers who provides useful reviews of orchestral libraries IMO, and this woodwind review came at just the right time as I am currently considering this collection against others and have not seen many reviews and demos of them outside a couple forum posts (many of which contain mostly dead links from 2008) and the official demos.

This demo makes me think maybe I will prefer this over berlin woodwinds exp B for my solo woodwinds. The versatility is unparalleled in the woodwind arena to my ears. While I slightly prefer the tone quality of the berlin collection, I am more confident in the ability of westgate's woodwinds to do whatever I want whenever I want, much like how I feel about the cinematic studio series. Plus, I don't intend to use two of the instruments from the berlin collection anyways for now, and with this route I can buy whatever instrument I need on a piece by piece or project by project basis.

Very nice review! Excited for part 2!


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## Cory Pelizzari (May 14, 2020)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> You're kind of contradicting yourself here a bit.
> 
> Just because a library was released more recently does not automatically mean that it's more sophisticated or recorded better than some older ones. Which is frequently proven by newer releases.
> 
> The more recent SF libraries, in fact, prove this ... I'd even argue that one of their oldest libraries - the now-called Chamber Strings - is one of their highest-quality releases.


Yep. The idea that old is worse is a rather misguided notion. Take Omnisphere and its Bizarre Guitar or Distorted Reality samples for example - or even Cinematic Strings 2 for that matter. Companies like Spitfire take way more shortcuts now that they have massive release schedules so "new" definitely don't mean deep sampled or polished.


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## MisteR (May 14, 2020)

You might try info at or support at

.westgatestudios.com

But I assume you did that already. Even if it’s wrong it may bounce to the admin.


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## Jimmy Hellfire (May 15, 2020)

Cory Pelizzari said:


> Yep. The idea that old is worse is a rather misguided notion. Take Omnisphere and its Bizarre Guitar or Distorted Reality samples for example - or even Cinematic Strings 2 for that matter. Companies like Spitfire take way more shortcuts now that they have massive release schedules so "new" definitely don't mean deep sampled or polished.



Omnisphere and CS2 are particularly good examples! They just keep on giving.


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## tomosane (May 28, 2020)

Interesting video. It got me thinking -- are there any other vendors (besides Big Fish Audio) who are selling old Gigastudio-era stuff in Kontakt format?


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## gfd (Jul 20, 2020)

Greetings,

I have begun purchasing Westgate samples. So far the flute section. I also downloaded the Andreas patches from Dropbox. I am rather new to Kontakt manual install libraries with custom patches.

I did a file compare of the Westgate folder and the patch folder(s). There are no files in common. How do I install the patches? Let me give my take on it and please point out where I am wrong. There seem to be a number of patches referencing each instrument. Say I get the flute section instrument:

-create a Flute Section folder on my library drive
-copy all of the folders in the Westgate archive to the Flute Section folder
-locate any Andreas patch folders which contain files referencing flute
-make a copy of the folder(s)
-remove any files which do not reference flute
-copy the modified folder(s) to Flute Section folder

OK pounce 

Final question. Given a flute section is my first install, are the Andreas patches also meant for instrument sections, or only the solo instruments.

I am very impressed with the demos of these libraries. Hidden gems. Of course, the talent of the artist is the secret sauce. I look forward to learning these instruments.

Thanks,
Graham


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## Cory Pelizzari (Jul 20, 2020)

gfd said:


> Greetings,
> 
> I have begun purchasing Westgate samples. So far the flute section. I also downloaded the Andreas patches from Dropbox. I am rather new to Kontakt manual install libraries with custom patches.
> 
> ...


All you have to do is load up the custom patch and point it to the the library folder when it asks you to browse for folder. I'm pretty sure there's a patch for all the woodwinds libraries.


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## gfd (Jul 20, 2020)

Ahhh...so these are direct replacements under another name.

Thanks


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## darcvision (Mar 3, 2021)

Hi, i'm interested with westgate solo oboe and english horn because its on sale right now. Any opinion about them? I mean, its old library and there are more option such as Berlin Woodwind or Xsample woodwind.

After i watched this video many times, i think its very easy to use and great sounding without using CC, i'm sure it will be more easier and faster to create mockup using this library.

Also, i'm sorry about my dumb opinion about westgate.


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## mcalis (Mar 3, 2021)

@stefandy31 just curious but where do you see them on sale? I just went to Big Fish Audio and it is still listed as the same price (49,95 USD)


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## darcvision (Mar 3, 2021)

mcalis said:


> @stefandy31 just curious but where do you see them on sale? I just went to Big Fish Audio and it is still listed as the same price (49,95 USD)


check your email, i got a coupon code 50%


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## mcalis (Mar 3, 2021)

stefandy31 said:


> check your email, i got a coupon code 50%


Interesting, I just did and there's no coupon to be found. The last mail I got from them was "70% Off Rock Cinema + More Deals! New Weekly Specials!" which I received on February 25th, 2021.

What was the title of the e-mail you got?


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## darcvision (Mar 3, 2021)

mcalis said:


> Interesting, I just did and there's no coupon to be found. The last mail I got from them was "70% Off Rock Cinema + More Deals! New Weekly Specials!" which I received on February 25th, 2021.
> 
> What was the title of the e-mail you got?


"Get 50% Off Your Entire Shopping Cart! We've Missed You", february 24th, 2021


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## Joulupukki (Mar 5, 2021)

I have everything from Westgate except Celtic Harp and Timpani. Meanwhile the libraries only have a nostalgic value for me but they are definitely an important part of your own musical development. For the same reason I still defend Garritan, Siedlazcek, Miroslav or Xsample libs ... they have their place even though i haven't used them for a long time.


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## anjwilson (Mar 5, 2021)

Joulupukki said:


> I have everything from Westgate except Celtic Harp and Timpani. Meanwhile the libraries only have a nostalgic value for me but they are definitely an important part of your own musical development. For the same reason I still defend Garritan, Siedlazcek, Miroslav or Xsample libs ... they have their place even though i haven't used them for a long time.


What do you use now for woodwinds?


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## Joulupukki (Apr 24, 2021)

anjwilson said:


> What do you use now for woodwinds?


I mainly work in the size of a chamber orchestra and for general chamber things I use at the moment

8Dio Intimate Studio WW
8Dio Claire Bundle
Audict Master Solo WW 
complete Swam Solo WW 
Embertones Popelka Bassoon and Herring Clarinet.
*forgot to mention the Northern Scoring Tools Oboe.. I consider to be very useful*

All in all older libraries that I bought sometimes for promo prices. Not my workhorses at first but they have established themselves more and more as my first WW choice. In addition I also use some WW from the SF British Drama Toolkit, SF Orchestral Swarm and SF Evo Grid 4 for some impressionistic moods.


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