# Anyone still using EastWest Symphonic Orchestra?



## Mike Fox (Dec 17, 2016)

This software is pretty old, but I think it still has a lot of character. Anyone here still using it? If so, what kind of use are you getting out of it, and what are your favorite patches?


----------



## JohnG (Dec 17, 2016)

Sure, Mike -- I still use some things from it. There are some nice things in the percussion (timpani, for one), some string FX and the French Horns and trumpets have some patches that still sound great. Finally substituted winds from Spitfire, but just recently. That was an incredibly forward-looking library.

[edit: I usually note that I have received free products from East West]


----------



## dariusofwest (Dec 17, 2016)

I still use the harp sustains, and the suspended cymbals.


----------



## Paul Owen (Dec 17, 2016)

The Steinway, I think, still sounds great. It's my 'go to' piano.


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Dec 17, 2016)

I still use SO for woodwinds and percussion in my templates. And if I'm writing for live players, I just use SO strings too, since they're light on my system and they'll get replaced anyway.


----------



## Christof (Dec 17, 2016)

dariusofwest said:


> I still use the harp sustains, and the suspended cymbals.


Exactly the same here, harp and cymbals, sometimes snares as well, never ever used the strings, didn't even try them, I don't know why.


----------



## Vovique (Dec 17, 2016)

I still use brass from SO. Some patches are quite up to date.


----------



## JohnG (Dec 17, 2016)

oh yeah -- and harp still sounds great in many situations. And cymbals too, now that you guys mention it.

very light CPU too.

[note: I have received free products from East West]


----------



## LamaRose (Dec 17, 2016)

The dynamic string bowings and crescendos were incredible back in 2005, and I still haven't heard anything that can replace/match them. I was a complete novice back then regarding composition, midi, keyboards, Cubase, etc... but SO was so inspiring, it only took me a few weeks to start making credible pieces. Thanks for reminding me... because I can re-download the Gold version for $99!


----------



## NoamL (Dec 17, 2016)

I still use it for woodwinds, orc perc, and harp. But gonna upgrade to BWW and SF Perc+Harp as soon as I cana afford it.

The samples are actually all pretty great. The dynamic crossfading especially is impressive for a library that's 10+ years ago. The downfall of the library comes from three things:

1. Concert hall sound with 1 mic (for Gold edition), too inflexible

2. Instantly recognizable timbre has become associated with amateur VI work due to availability+cheapness of the lib

3. Can't do legato transitions in any convincing capacity

The harp honestly is still one of the best harps out there, I think Spitfire and a few others are better, but you can't beat the price!


----------



## playz123 (Dec 17, 2016)

No, haven't used it in years. That is not meant to be a comment on its quality or usefulness; just that I've move on to other more current and versatile libraries, and really haven't felt a need to go back to it...or to Play.


----------



## NoamL (Dec 17, 2016)

BTW Junkie XL has a video tour of his studio and I could swear I spotted some EWQLSO winds when he quickly scrolled through his 700+ tracks template.


----------



## Farkle (Dec 17, 2016)

I only _just_ retired them from my last template. I had some leftover winds (Oboe and English Horn), some very expressive violins, and the aforementioned harp, and timpani.

Replaced them with Cinesamples, but EW was a _very_ impressive library for the time. And still is. I used it on the Wonderpets, and it held up just fine.

Here's the thing about EW. A well recorded sample library, where the performers played with passion and gusto, holds a lot of water in your mockup. EW Gold had beautiful recording, and the "expressive" patches were really expressive, as were many of the marcatos.

I just finally didn't want to deal with the very wet cathedral release tail. I wanted a more scoring stage sound. But, if you're okay with that sound, EW is quite nice.

Mike


----------



## gpax (Dec 17, 2016)

JohnG said:


> Sure, Mike -- I still use some things from it. There are some nice things in the percussion (timpani, for one), some string FX and the French Horns and trumpets have some patches that still sound great. Finally substituted winds from Spitfire, but just recently. That was an incredibly forward-looking library.


Yes on the percussion.

I actually created a custom Library interface for Konakt a few years back, so as to avoid PLAY, and found that I could access the older monolithic files (Kompakt) this way. And hence I have it now in Kontakt where it still lives and breathes as a Kontakt Library instrument. The three mics and/or multis load as a generic interface, but that is all I need.

EDIT: I'm talking strictly the percussion here.

To my ears, a lot of relevant and clean percussion still. I recently color-coded the hand percussion for visual access in a Komplete keyboard scenario.


----------



## Mike Fox (Dec 17, 2016)

Very cool to see that you guys are still using this software, and in creative ways no less. I would have to agree that the percussion, brass, and harp are definitely the strong points of the library. Those brass rips are still just as effective today as they were many years ago. I also love the solo violin patches. I think you can get away with a pretty realistic mockup with them. 

@gpax Love the idea of being able to use the older files in Kontakt!


----------



## trumpoz (Dec 17, 2016)

There are some stunning patches - the lyr and exp are just beautiful.


----------



## dreamnight92 (Dec 17, 2016)

I still use it...especially percs ad winds


----------



## Michael K. Bain (Dec 17, 2016)

I use it for everything I can. I find it realistic for that "live orchestra" sound, and it's easy to use.


----------



## james7275 (Dec 17, 2016)

I'm in the same boat as some of the other users here. Still use the percussion and the harp primarily. Haven't really checked out the other sections since I updated to newer libraries .


----------



## Dominik Raab (Dec 17, 2016)

I still use the Modwheel Cymbal Rolls - they're still great! Whenever I'm trying out orchestration ideas or am not in the mood for going one instrument at a time, I load up my SO template. I don't have SSDs, so I usually work with freezing instruments after I'm done with the section. Whenever I need more flexibility and more instruments at once, I write the whole thing in my SO template, export the MIDI, then "polish" using the newer libraries.

Symphonic Orchestra has the best quality/performance ratio of all my instruments. Great for using a lot of instruments without pushing my system to (or beyond) its limits.


----------



## spyder (Dec 18, 2016)

I'm still using EWSO Gold, though I have a few additional solo instruments like Chris Hein Solo Violin. It takes lots of time (and some bravery) to change to something new!


----------



## Syneast (Dec 18, 2016)

Absolutely. I have found myself using it's brass and harp lately. Especially the horns and trumpets staccatos are very nice and beefy.

I still think the whole library is very well recorded and processed. You notice it especially when you start stacking things up. In spite of being a very wet library with the Gold mic, it almost never gets muddy. It's got a very "open" quality to it that I like. Sometimes I almost want to go back and make a track with EWQLSO only, for the simple reason that it blends so well with itself.


----------



## Michael K. Bain (Dec 18, 2016)

Dominik Raab said:


> Symphonic Orchestra has the best quality/performance ratio of all my instruments. Great for using a lot of instruments without pushing my system to (or beyond) its limits.


Very true. One of the things I love most.


----------



## dpasdernick (Dec 18, 2016)

I have the older Kontakt version of Gold and Gold Pro and still use it. mostly for timpani and the marcato long string patch. I don't write "true" orchestral music and these patches, while maybe not state-of-the-art, sit nice in my compositions and take up very little ram.

I have a special place in my heart for EW Gold.

I started with the Kontakt Silver version and wrote a song called The Gutters of Berlin. I received an email from Doug saying make a few changes to it and we'll offer you the upgrade to Gold (which at tbe time was worth almost a grand if I recall) in exchange for using it as a demo on their website. A proud moment for me.

East West were and still are true pioneers in this industry. I love those guys.


----------



## Tatu (Dec 18, 2016)

Still my go to for harp. And I have it in Kontakt


----------



## benatural (Dec 18, 2016)

Percussion, string, and brass effects for me. I own the NI version too in addition to Play, and don't use it though I probably should.


----------



## Polarity (Dec 18, 2016)

I still use it, mostly percussions, brass sforzandos, french horns, trumpets and a few string fxs and sometimes winds and strings for doubling or layering.
I have the Gold for Kontakt and the Gold plus (it was a mic upgrade) for Play: this one I always use because the adding the close mics make a great different to the sound.


----------



## Polarity (Dec 18, 2016)

I have many tracks that I'm reworking that I did years ago almost with QLSO gold for Kontakt.
Sometimes I replaced its sounds with the new libraries I have, but sometimes the EW sound already good with the close mics added and I kept them...
exposed or layered with new libraries for a bigger or more variable sound.
Unfortunately string shorts have not so many round robins.
Brass sforzandos and crescendos were almost not replaceble at all in some tracks because on new libraries are too short.
Only with NI SSBE I could find replace or variants with same lenght with the time stretching option.
Anyway lyrics and DXF mod wheel dynamic patches are the best for sustain sounds of strings, winds and brass.


----------



## Syneast (Dec 18, 2016)

I just have to say: Thanks to this thread I went looking around and stumbled upon my old serials for Gold and Gold Pro XP for Kontakt. I have had them all this time and I didn't even know(!) EWQLSO just got a whole lot more useful to me now.


----------



## Replicant (Dec 18, 2016)

People still make incredible music with it.


----------



## chrisphan (Dec 18, 2016)

I'm still new to sample libraries, though I just got Cinematic Studio Strings as my first one. Would getting East West SO Gold to cover Winds and Percussion, and then potentially Cinematic Studio Brass sound like a solid plan to start with?


----------



## Mike Fox (Dec 18, 2016)

chrisphan said:


> I'm still new to sample libraries, though I just got Cinematic Studio Strings as my first one. Would getting East West SO Gold to cover Winds and Percussion, and then potentially Cinematic Studio Brass sound like a solid plan to start with?



I would probably just wait and get the entire Cinematic Studio set.


----------



## Studio E (Dec 19, 2016)

I agree with a whole lot that has already been said here. I have a "Hollywood" template which uses plenty of the EWQLSO. I use the All Cymbals and All Gongs, the harp, timpani, and don't forget about some of the FX patches for strings, brass, and ww. There are some amazing FX that work great. I have to tell you, I was recently thinking of forcing myself to just use this library for a project or two, just to simplify things a bit and because I do indeed know it better than most. The biggest downfall to me were the non-legato strings. Don't get me wrong, I love the tone of them, but I had to work SO hard to make them sound convincing with much movement. The Spiccato strings though were amazing, especially in the "11 Violins". In general, it has a sound I just really love. Gold was my first orchestral library other than GPO and it served me through many many commercial projects as my only orchestra. I wouldn't hesitate at all to use any of it that you think works for your personal needs.


----------



## Scamper (Dec 19, 2016)

chrisphan said:


> I'm still new to sample libraries, though I just got Cinematic Studio Strings as my first one. Would getting East West SO Gold to cover Winds and Percussion, and then potentially Cinematic Studio Brass sound like a solid plan to start with?


Personally, I wouldn't go for EWQL SO these days. It's somewhat outdated and the inconsistencies and playability were often a struggle for me.
If I would start out today, additionally to your strings library, I'd get a proper ensemble library. The quality would be better in general and you can still incorporate it easily even when using your dedicated libraries for brass, woodwinds and percussion or until you get them.
So, if you already got EWQL SO there may be some sounds to get back to, but I wouldn't get it all considering the alternatives.


----------



## Ashermusic (Dec 19, 2016)

Scamper said:


> After having lots of issues in the past with inconsistency and playability, I try to get
> 
> Personally, I wouldn't go for EWQL SO these days. It's somewhat outdated and the inconsistencies and playability were often a struggle for me.
> If I would start out today, additionally to your strings library, I'd get a proper ensemble library. The quality would be better in general and you can still incorporate it easily even when using your dedicated libraries for brass, woodwinds and percussion or until you get them.
> So, if you already got EWQL SO there may be some sounds to get back to, but I wouldn't get it all considering the alternatives.



My nominee for worst advice of the year


----------



## Michael K. Bain (Dec 19, 2016)

I love the sound of a live orchestra, and EWQL SO provides realism in that department. And it's so darned easy to work with.


----------



## Ashermusic (Dec 19, 2016)

Michael K. Bain said:


> I don't know about "worst advice _of the year_", but I do agree it might be a contender in the world of sample libraries,. I love the sound of a live orchestra, and EWQL SO provides realism in that department. And it's so darned easy to work with.



What makes it bad advice has nothing to do with EWQLSO's merits or lack thereof. It is the idea that one begins with an ensemble library and builds around it rather than vice versa. Start with a decent full orchestra than supplement it, with ensemble libraries if you like.

Just my opinion, of course.


----------



## Replicant (Dec 19, 2016)

Michael K. Bain said:


> I love the sound of a live orchestra, and EWQL SO provides realism in that department. And it's so darned easy to work with.



I think what it still really has going for it is its articulations that are characteristic of what makes orchestras so much fun to listen to. The slurs, the trills, the "lyrical" and "expressive" patches, the FX, etc.

To me, a lot of the current libraries seem really focused on making that true legato sound the truest of the true and getting bigger, badder spiccatos.


----------



## Michael K. Bain (Dec 19, 2016)

Ashermusic said:


> What makes it bad advice has nothing to do with EWQLSO's merits or lack thereof. It is the idea that one begins with an ensemble library and builds around it rather than vice versa. Start with a decent full orchestra than supplement it, with ensemble libraries if you like.
> 
> Just my opinion, of course.





Replicant said:


> I think what it still really has going for it is its articulations that are characteristic of what makes orchestras so much fun to listen to. The slurs, the trills, the "lyrical" and "expressive" patches, the FX, etc.
> 
> To me, a lot of the current libraries seem really focused on making that true legato sound the truest of the true and getting bigger, badder spiccatos.


Yes, yes yes. Those are my fave patches as well. It has great expression.


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Dec 20, 2016)

I feel a challenge coming along. Am now putting together a template of 100% EWQLSO; I'll report back in a few days with a new piece. I think it'll be a good way to gauge whether or not my programming skills have actually improved over the years.


----------



## Dominik Raab (Dec 21, 2016)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> I feel a challenge coming along. Am now putting together a template of 100% EWQLSO; I'll report back in a few days with a new piece. I think it'll be a good way to gauge whether or not my programming skills have actually improved over the years.



That's an awesome idea, Jacob. Looking forward to hearing your piece.


----------



## chibear (Dec 21, 2016)

I'm still using the percussion with close mics (ie as dry as I can get it). For brass, strings, and winds I've gone to other developers because of many of the problems listed above. However, if I want to do a long trumpet solo, I'll try out the SO soloist simply because the player who did the samples was a god IMO and *if* I can get the samples in SO to work on that passage it'll beat any other library I have or have heard to this date as far as character and lyricism.


----------



## Wes Antczak (Dec 21, 2016)

Just jumping in here to say that I still think it's a good library. Maybe I'm just biased by what I spent on it originally, lol. But I think it's certainly a good foundation library upon which to branch out and build further. I'm by no means an expert... but fwiw I have to say that a while ago I received a nice compliment on one of my pieces from someone who was a professor of orchestra. He seriously wanted to know where and with what orchestra had I recorded the orchestral parts?


----------



## chillbot (Dec 21, 2016)

JohnG said:


> [note: I have received free products from East West]


Nice brag.

Much like John I still use the french horns sus (bright and mellow), all the violin trills and tremolos, the timpani (soft and hard), gongs, and harp. There's some other good stuff in there but those are the ones I haven't been able to replace for a bunch of different reasons. I'm sure there are technically better-sampled instruments out there but it comes down to so many factors... playability, keyboard layout, tone, how they sit in a mix, how they respond to controllers... I'm not replacing them any time soon. Though I'm very happy that I have them in Kontakt format.


----------



## Dominik Raab (Dec 21, 2016)

chillbot said:


> Nice brag.



Not a brag, but required information. If people are to judge whether to trust a review or opinion, they need to know whether the reviewer is on a company's payroll or in their good favour. For videos and written articles, there are rules for that. In forum posts, it's good to know.


----------



## chillbot (Dec 21, 2016)

Dominik Raab said:


> Not a brag, but required information.


I understand exactly the reasons and why it should be done.

But every time I someone posting it I still can't help but think "nice brag." Would it help if I edited my post to read "Nice brag lol lolz     "?


----------



## Dominik Raab (Dec 21, 2016)

chillbot said:


> I understand exactly the reasons and why it should be done.
> 
> But every time I someone posting it I still can't help but think "nice brag." Would it help if I edited my post to read "Nice brag lol lolz     "?



The sarcasm was lost on me. Sorry!


----------



## novaburst (Dec 21, 2016)

mikefox789 said:


> Anyone here still using it? If so, what kind of use are you getting out of it, and what are your favorite patches



If your talking about East West QLSO I have the silver but side lined it for some time, had it just over a year, 

But hearing you all talking about it is getting my juices going again for it, 

I do remember a big debate about this library becuase the silver has the choir with word phrases that you can type in, but the gold does not, still think it's strange that they did that but will start playing about with it to see if I can find anything useful.


----------



## Mike Fox (Dec 21, 2016)

What was the original price on this library anyway? $1500 for Platinum?


----------



## Michael K. Bain (Dec 21, 2016)

novaburst said:


> If your talking about East West QLSO I have the silver but side lined it for some time, had it just over a year,
> 
> But hearing you all talking about it is getting my juices going again for it,
> 
> I do remember a big debate about this library becuase the silver has the choir with word phrases that you can type in, but the gold does not, still think it's strange that they did that but will start playing about with it to see if I can find anything useful.


Silver has some choir patches, but I don't remember it having Word Builder. That's their Symphonic Choir library.


----------



## lux (Dec 21, 2016)

probably the most ambitious sample library of all times. A milestone with still a tons of usable gems inside


----------



## markleake (Dec 21, 2016)

EWSO is currently my go-to percussion lib for things like timpani, cymbals, gongs, other minor percussion, etc. I really like how playable they are, including the rolls and such (although the downside is its in Play, not Kontakt). I only have the Gold version, but it works well for me when mixed with other libs still.

After reading this thread, I played around a bit with the strings (I had never looked at them before, as I bought the library for the percussion), and wow... the lyrical and arc style articulations sound fantastic! They are what I've been looking for for a while!  I was looking at buying 8dio Adagio for this type of material, as I don't have libs that do this, but it turns out I already have some quality samples that sound great, so no 8dio purchase for me. Phew.

I'm now going to put exploring the trumpet, horn, etc. patches on my to-do list over the Chritmas break. Thanks everyone for the very useful hints on what to look at in the library! 

I just bought Spitfire Percussion a few weeks ago, and it is beautiful. I expect these two libs will now compete a little in my template, especially now that I have the matching Spitfire orchestral libs. I don't think I'll get rid of EWSO stuff though... the percussion still sounds great to me.


----------



## Replicant (Dec 21, 2016)

lux said:


> probably the most ambitious sample library of all times. A milestone with still a tons of usable gems inside



Indeed. Thing is, if it's truly good, then it is timeless.

I think those who bought it — especially platinum, with all the mics — will probably always find it has a place in their music somewhere.


----------



## novaburst (Dec 21, 2016)

Michael K. Bain said:


> Silver has some choir patches, but I don't remember it having Word Builder. That's their Symphonic Choir library.



Yes silver has word builder, strange enough.


----------



## JeremyWiebe (Dec 21, 2016)

I still use some of the percussion. The Waterphone, with the backed in ambience, is a real gem. I also use the anvils when needed, since my main percussion library, CinePerc, is lacking in this department. The bass drum and timpani crescendos are useful when you need really long ones, since most newer libraries tend to the shorter side with their crescendos. It's also my go-to harp.


----------



## Michael K. Bain (Dec 21, 2016)

novaburst said:


> Yes silver has word builder, strange enough.


I wish I would've known that when I had Silver installed. I would've mesesd around with it. But it's not listed on their site. These are the choir patches listed on the site:

Angels Non-Vibrato oo_oh †

Angels Non-Vibrato oo_oh (FX) †

Men's Choir Ah-Eh mod (small) †

Men's Choir Staccato Ah †

Women's Choir Ah-Eh mod (small) †

Women's Choir Staccato Ah †


----------



## Hanu_H (Dec 22, 2016)

I am pretty sure there is no wordbuilder in Silver, only in Symphonic Choirs...

-Hannes


----------



## Øyvind Moe (Dec 22, 2016)

mikefox789 said:


> What was the original price on this library anyway? $1500 for Platinum?


IIRC, it was $3000 for Platinum, $1000 for Gold, $300 for Silver. Same prices again for the Pro expansions.


----------



## novaburst (Dec 22, 2016)

Michael K. Bain said:


> I wish I would've known that when I had Silver installed. I would've mesesd around with it. But it's not listed on their site. These are the choir patches listed on the site:
> 
> Angels Non-Vibrato oo_oh †
> 
> ...



You need to believe me, silver has word builder.


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Dec 22, 2016)

novaburst said:


> You need to believe me, silver has word builder.



Please show us where, because nowhere in my installation or UI could I find a wordbuilder. Considering that I had actually tried Symphonic Choirs from the CC and found wordbuilder there quite easily, I don't see it anywhere in SO Silver.

My UI screenshots:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8OMi9afTR1nX2NpSDBlakR3Nnc/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8OMi9afTR1nTm9mNU1NdjBBS2s/view?usp=sharing


----------



## Paul Owen (Dec 22, 2016)

I have EWQL SO silver and it doesn't have word builder. Not to say Nova is wrong, my copy just doesnt have it. Can't think why it would be on EWQL SO Silver either considering EWQL SC is a stand alone library.


----------



## maxime77 (Dec 22, 2016)

Here is a music made using only EWQLSO Gold: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B8ilaFCsy9Ptdms0czdpdDZ6eU0
Whatever library, however old it is, with a good programmer it always sounds good:


----------



## novaburst (Dec 22, 2016)

Paul Owen said:


> I have EWQL SO silver and it doesn't have word builder. Not to say Nova is wrong, my copy just doesnt have it. Can't think why it would be on EWQL SO Silver either considering EWQL SC is a stand alone library.



I will post a snap shot later today , if it helps you need to open the plugins for midi and you will find it there, I have cubase, it is not obvious at first, but you will need to wait till i get in front of my workstation


----------



## novaburst (Dec 22, 2016)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> Please show us where, because nowhere in my installation or UI could I find a wordbuilder. Considering that I had actually tried Symphonic Choirs from the CC and found wordbuilder there quite easily, I don't see it anywhere in SO Silver.
> 
> My UI screenshots:
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8OMi9afTR1nX2NpSDBlakR3Nnc/view?usp=sharing
> https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8OMi9afTR1nTm9mNU1NdjBBS2s/view?usp=sharing



Yes you will need to wait until I get in front of my workstation that will be later today, I am using cubase, if you open up the plugins menue for midi you can find it there, but it is not obvious at first I am speaking from memory as I have not used word builder for some time for silver.


----------



## Vovique (Dec 23, 2016)

Paul Owen said:


> I have EWQL SO silver and it doesn't have word builder. Not to say Nova is wrong, my copy just doesnt have it. Can't think why it would be on EWQL SO Silver either considering EWQL SC is a stand alone library.


I've been using Silver for nine years, and I'm like 99.9% sure there is no such thing. But I would be pleasantly surprised if indeed there is! Wait, could that be a word builder in earliest Kontakt version lately abandoned in Play?


----------



## Paul Owen (Dec 23, 2016)

Vovique said:


> I've been using Silver for nine years, and I'm like 99.9% sure there is no such thing. But I would be pleasantly surprised if indeed there is! Wait, could that be a word builder in earliest Kontakt version lately abandoned in Play?


I'm in the same hopeful camp. But, like you, I'm pretty certain it's not there (at least in Play).


----------



## novaburst (Dec 23, 2016)

Paul Owen said:


> I'm in the same hopeful camp. But, like you, I'm pretty certain it's not there (at least in Play).



Hay guys please wait remember this is not a debate, plus I think you should be able to get it going anyway,

First of all word builder is a separate plugin you should find it in your midi drop down menu, when I first got silver, I was not looking for word builder I am sure this would have been the case for you too I stumbled on it buy accident, in the midi plugin drop menu,

You can see if yours is there too,


----------



## Paul Owen (Dec 23, 2016)

novaburst said:


> Hay guys please wait remember this is not a debate, plus I think you should be able to get it going anyway,
> 
> First of all word builder is a separate plugin you should find it in your midi drop down menu, when I first got silver, I was not looking for word builder I am sure this would have been the case for you too I stumbled on it buy accident, in the midi plugin drop menu,
> 
> You can see if yours is there too,


Are you using kontakt or play? I haven't got silver installed at the moment, might just reinstall and see if it's there. Don't worry, it's not a witch hunt or debate, if it's there, great. If it's not, no big deal


----------



## Vovique (Dec 23, 2016)

Hmm... All I know is there are no MIDI plugins in Pro Tools). Lucky Cubase users then.


----------



## novaburst (Dec 23, 2016)

1


Paul Owen said:


> Are you using kontakt or play? I haven't got silver installed at the moment, might just reinstall and see if it's there. Don't worry, it's not a witch hunt or debate, if it's there, great. If it's not, no big deal



You need to be using you DAW open up a midi lane or 16 midi lanes if you like. then open play in your DAW not stand alone.

open your silver QLSO and the choir.

Then go to the midi drop down menu in your DAW, and the Word builder plugin should be there

I have Cubase 6, but the principle should be the same

Please note only can be used with your DAW not stand alone


----------



## angeruroth (Dec 23, 2016)

I use EWQLSO (play) as my go to orchestra, but always adding a different flavour with other libraries (I have all the strings, and some winds and perc, improved by default).
For me it is good enough if you add some frequencies here and there and you apply EQ/comp to match sounds. And it is lightweight, so if you have a sudden idea you can open a base template and try it quickly.
Said that, right now you can find orchestral libraries that sound amazing out of the box.


NoamL said:


> The downfall of the library comes from three things:
> 2. Instantly recognizable timbre has become associated with amateur VI work due to availability+cheapness of the lib


I'm affraid that's somehow true, although it is a little sad. This is the first library I bought and I still love it, but maybe I'm just a nostalgic one...


----------



## Mike Fox (Dec 23, 2016)

novaburst said:


> You need to believe me, silver has word builder.





novaburst said:


> 1
> 
> You need to be using you DAW open up a midi lane or 16 midi lanes if you like. then open play in your DAW not stand alone.
> 
> ...



I only have Platinum, so I can't very this from my machine, but this could possibly be the biggest easter egg in the history of VI's. Speaking of which, here's an EWQLSO easter egg...

..."on the quieter (low-velocity) layer of C3 in "4 trombones mute sustained" you hear the recording engineer saying "good.".


----------



## Ashermusic (Dec 23, 2016)

mikefox789 said:


> I only have Platinum, so I can't very this from my machine, but this could possibly be the biggest easter egg in the history of VI's. Speaking of which, here's an EWQLSO easter egg...
> 
> ..."on the quieter (low-velocity) layer of C3 in "4 trombones mute sustained" you hear the recording engineer saying "good.".



Well, at least he did not say" bad") :


----------



## holywilly (Dec 23, 2016)

The 6 horns power xfade patch and the harps are my favorite from the library! Still keep in my template.


----------



## Polarity (Dec 23, 2016)

The EW worldbuilder needs particular samples to work with: syllables, consonants, phonemes.
I doubt they are included in QLSO Silver choir version.
With Kontakt and at the beginning of Play version releases the Worldbuilder, given together Symphonic Choir, was a separated plugin... with later Play updates it was put inside the Play plugin, to make it work easier inside the DAWs.
So, I believe it coud be present inside Play now, but it can't work correctly without the right choir samples.

Or... by chance Novaburst, have you tried a copy Symphonic Choir in demo mode?


----------



## Illico (Dec 23, 2016)

For the past few months, I have bought Cubase8 and the EastWest Symphonic Orchestra Gold's library. I think its a good sample library to begin.


----------



## Ashermusic (Dec 23, 2016)

OK, this is more than a little embarrassing to confess. I have never really used it! Before I worked for EW, I used other orchestral libraries, Platinum was too expensive and Gold too wet. Then by the time I started working for East West, I began with the Hollywood Orchestra and never really bothered with EWQLSO.

if someone has a Logic Pro template with EWQLSO Platinum they can send me with their favorites, I would love it and would owe that person a favor.


----------



## novaburst (Dec 23, 2016)

Polarity said:


> The EW worldbuilder needs particular samples to work with: syllables, consonants, phonemes.
> I doubt they are included in QLSO Silver choir version.
> With Kontakt and at the beginning of Play version releases the Worldbuilder, given together Symphonic Choir, was a separated plugin... with later Play updates it was put inside the Play plugin, to make it work easier inside the DAWs.
> So, I believe it coud be present inside Play now, but it can't work correctly without the right choir samples.
> ...



I will be heading back to my work station soon, it is not demo it is the full version of east west QLSO I got silver for $99.00
Best in Services, got the serial and that was that,

will show you when I get back


----------



## Polarity (Dec 23, 2016)

novaburst said:


> I will be heading back to my work station soon, it is not demo it is the full version of east west QLSO I got silver for $99.00
> Best in Services, got the serial and that was that,
> 
> will show you when I get back


I wasn't asking about QLSO, no need of proof for that! 
I was asking about Symphonic Choir.
If you ever tried the trial of the complete Symphonic Choir: in the eventuality that something went nut with authorizations and things of it remained in your Play system?! Just wondering, not pointing at anything.

I have the complete Symphonic Choir (VOTA expansion included) since it got out on Play, so I can't bring my system as a test for sure.


----------



## Paul Owen (Dec 23, 2016)

Just had a play on silver, the choirs are, to put it gently...just about OK. I won't find them useful as I have other libraries. But to get back on track, with play, alas, no word builder.


----------



## benatural (Dec 23, 2016)

The thing that turned me off about qlso were the non standard patch names that I often felt were highly subjective, missleading, and arbitrary. Example, what the heck is butter legato? Adagio con butter? Molto butter??? Sounds like a recipe.

I found it hard to use because of it, so you really had to learn the library before you can get the most of it. That applies in some degree to all libs, but great libraries also have instantly recognizable patch names. I spent years studying music and little of the music terminology that was beat into my brain was used in ways one would expect.


----------



## novaburst (Dec 23, 2016)

Polarity said:


> I was asking about Symphonic Choir.
> If you ever tried the trial of the complete



As far as it is and is silver is a cut down version of gold or diamond, in articulations 
This would also apply to the choir too it is a cut down version not a demo version.


----------



## Polarity (Dec 23, 2016)

novaburst said:


> As far as it is and is silver is a cut down version of gold or diamond, in articulations
> This would also apply to the choir too it is a cut down version not a demo version.



Sorry, don't want to be rude (sorry if it could sound), but "politely":
is it me who can't explain well or is you who can't understand my question? 
You never installed Symphonic Choir in trial mode?
So your answer can be a simple "No, never installed", period. Case closed. 

Years ago with some EW libraries I purchased I received also a couple of extra dvds with trial codes to demoing for a week some libraries, Fab Four, Voices Of Passion and something else I don't remember now that I've tried and then I deleted from hard disk because I didn't bought.


----------



## Mike Fox (Dec 23, 2016)

novaburst said:


> As far as it is and is silver is a cut down version of gold or diamond, in articulations
> This would also apply to the choir too it is a cut down version not a demo version.



Just so I 100% understand, you are saying that the choir that comes with EWQLSO (not EWQLSC) Silver does in fact have a word builder?

If so, can you please show us?


----------



## NYC Composer (Dec 23, 2016)

Amazing how consistent the used patches turned out to be. Until very recently, I was still using the percussion and the harp!


----------



## Mike Fox (Dec 23, 2016)

NYC Composer said:


> Amazing how consistent the used patches turned out to be. Until very recently, I was still using the percussion and the harp!



So true. That harp is lovely, and has an excellent tone. The close mic in the Platinum versions almost make it a completely different sounding library, and adds more depth and options than one would think.


----------



## novaburst (Dec 23, 2016)

mikefox789 said:


> Just so I 100% understand, you are saying that the choir that comes with EWQLSO (not EWQLSC) Silver does in fact have a word builder?
> 
> If so, can you please show us?



Well guess the egg is in my face becuase I can not find a trace of it,

Have not opened word builder in quite some time when I had a single machine,

Since then I have built a server machine, and moved all my East West library's to the server, I also was on play 4,and moved the licenses of eastwest to the server, now using play 5, not a trace of it on my machine.

So can't show you word builder so that is rhat.


----------



## Hanu_H (Dec 24, 2016)

There has never been a working wordbuilder in Silver. You might have the plugin but it won't work with samples provided in the Silver, it needs all the syllables from Symphonic Choirs. And even in SC it only works with the wordbuilder multies, not with the basic patches.

-Hannes


----------



## novaburst (Dec 24, 2016)

Hanu_H said:


> There has never been a working wordbuilder in Silver. You might have the plugin but it won't work with samples provided in the Silver, it needs all the syllables from Symphonic Choirs. And even in SC it only works with the wordbuilder multies, not with the basic patches.
> 
> -Hannes



Well I guess you can start with all that now, I have no proof so there is no point in me trying to convince you, some how through all the changes I have made in my workstation it has disappeared and that is that.


----------



## Hanu_H (Dec 24, 2016)

novaburst said:


> Well I guess you can start with all that now, I have no proof so there is no point in me trying to convince you, some how through all the changes I have made in my workstation it has disappeared and that is that.


I just don't understand how you even think it would work with the samples provided in Silver? Silver has simple sustain patches and SC has all the syllables recorded. There is no way that wordbuilder can be used with those samples. Just compare the size of Silver and SC and you'll understand.

-Hannes


----------



## novaburst (Dec 24, 2016)

Hanu_H said:


> I just don't understand how you even think it would work with the samples provided in Silver? Silver has simple sustain patches and SC has all the syllables recorded. There is no way that wordbuilder can be used with those samples. Just compare the size of Silver and SC and you'll understand.
> 
> -Hannes



@Hanu_H have nice composing new year, or musical new year Bless

novaburst


----------



## Hanu_H (Dec 24, 2016)

novaburst said:


> @Hanu_H have nice composing new year, or musical new year Bless
> 
> novaburst


Don't take it personally. I didn't mean to be rude. Have a good one as well.

-Hannes


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Jan 3, 2017)

OK challenge completed, as promised. 100% EWQLSO. Let me know what you guys think!



EDIT: Here's my DAW screencast if anyone is interested.


----------



## novaburst (Jan 4, 2017)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> OK challenge completed, as promised. 100% EWQLSO. Let me know what you guys think!




Wow haha nice piece, so glad to hear it, I think it demonstrates that it is not the limitations of the library but it's what we can do with the library, 

I no you never ment it to be, but it is a statement, I think we to often limit our selves by allowing small issues with certain library's hold us back.

It is a very pleasing piece you created.


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Jan 4, 2017)

novaburst said:


> Wow haha nice piece, so glad to hear it, I think it demonstrates that it is not the limitations of the library but it's what we can do with the library,
> 
> I no you never ment it to be, but it is a statement, I think we to often limit our selves by allowing small issues with certain library's hold us back.
> 
> It is a very pleasing piece you created.




Hey thanks! In a way that statement was kind of my intention, but also I found it to be more liberating not having to worry about things like true legato and stuff, and to just write for the sake of emphasizing the importance of expression, rather than relying on the realism of deep sampling/scripting.


----------



## Vin (Jan 4, 2017)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> OK challenge completed, as promised. 100% EWQLSO. Let me know what you guys think!
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: Here's my DAW screencast if anyone is interested.




Great work.

This thread reminded me of this 7 year old thread I bookmarked a while ago as it's one of those it's-the-composer-not-the-library threads : http://www.soundsonline-forums.com/showthread.php?s=b8861887f990c0119e4f3527f7cc7e43&t=23234

EWQLSO, and now 9 year old Symphobia, laptop and cans.

I always get back to it when I think that my samples are not good enough to remind myself to work harder on my skills instead of thinking that buying a new library will make me a better composer/programmer instantly.


----------



## Mike Fox (Jan 4, 2017)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> OK challenge completed, as promised. 100% EWQLSO. Let me know what you guys think!
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: Here's my DAW screencast if anyone is interested.



Crazy how good that harp sounds. I still think it competes with the newer stuff.


----------



## calebfaith (Jan 4, 2017)

mikefox789 said:


> Crazy how good that harp sounds. I still think it competes with the newer stuff.


Piano too!


----------



## DocMidi657 (Jan 4, 2017)

Hi Guys,
Since many of you mentioned this older library is light on CPU...Do you need to run this Library from SSD or would a 7200 RPM drive cut it? Im on a quad core MacBook Pro with 16 gigs of Ram.


----------



## Joe_D (Jan 4, 2017)

DocMidi657 said:


> Hi Guys,
> Since many of you mentioned this older library is light on CPU...Do you need to run this Library from SSD or would a 7200 RPM drive cut it? Im on a quad core MacBook Pro with 16 gigs of Ram.


I'm fairly confident that it will run very well on your machine; no SSD required.


----------



## calebfaith (Jan 4, 2017)

DocMidi657 said:


> Hi Guys,
> Since many of you mentioned this older library is light on CPU...Do you need to run this Library from SSD or would a 7200 RPM drive cut it? Im on a quad core MacBook Pro with 16 gigs of Ram.



You don't need an SSD for sure. I don't think any were actually available for consumers back when it was released. I've run it on a cheap 10 year old PC with 3GB of RAM and I was able to use it!


----------



## Jdiggity1 (Jan 4, 2017)

DocMidi657 said:


> Hi Guys,
> Since many of you mentioned this older library is light on CPU...Do you need to run this Library from SSD or would a 7200 RPM drive cut it? Im on a quad core MacBook Pro with 16 gigs of Ram.


You can do a heck of a lot with that system and EWQLSO


----------



## DocMidi657 (Jan 4, 2017)

Thanks guys!


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Jan 4, 2017)

DocMidi657 said:


> Hi Guys,
> Since many of you mentioned this older library is light on CPU...Do you need to run this Library from SSD or would a 7200 RPM drive cut it? Im on a quad core MacBook Pro with 16 gigs of Ram.



If it's of any help, my computer has similar specs to yours. It ran my session with no problem, and I still had plenty of headroom while doing full playback (no pre-bounces) + screen capture.


----------



## Conor (Jan 4, 2017)

I'm also a fan of the harp -- usually I find myself reaching for it in a "harp forward" context (think Final Fantasy Prelude).

EWQLSO Harp lovers seem to like the cymbals too, I will have to revisit those.


----------



## markleake (Jan 4, 2017)

Conor Brace Music said:


> I'm also a fan of the harp -- usually I find myself reaching for it in a "harp forward" context (think Final Fantasy Prelude).
> 
> EWQLSO Harp lovers seem to like the cymbals too, I will have to revisit those.


There's so much material there in terms of cymbals... including some awesome modwheel controlled patches. It's all good quality stuff that sounds as good as any other percussion library I own.


----------



## markleake (Jan 4, 2017)

Vin said:


> Great work.
> 
> This thread reminded me of this 7 year old thread I bookmarked a while ago as it's one of those it's-the-composer-not-the-library threads : http://www.soundsonline-forums.com/showthread.php?s=b8861887f990c0119e4f3527f7cc7e43&t=23234
> 
> ...


I'm sure the original composer wouldn't mind... here's a direct link to their dropbox: http://www.box.net/shared/upjbiayghd
It's a fantastic piece.


----------



## markleake (Jan 4, 2017)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> OK challenge completed, as promised. 100% EWQLSO. Let me know what you guys think!
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: Here's my DAW screencast if anyone is interested.



Fantastic work, it really does sound good. I like the harp.


----------



## AVaudio (Jan 5, 2017)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> OK challenge completed, as promised. 100% EWQLSO. Let me know what you guys think!
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: Here's my DAW screencast if anyone is interested.





Great composition!

Another one, 95% EWQL


----------



## markleake (Jan 5, 2017)

AVaudio said:


> Great composition!
> 
> Another one, 95% EWQL



A technical question, if I may... I can't really hear much in terms of dynamics or stereo field in this track. Is that just a limitation of this library? Or my ears playing up maybe. I feel like I need to listen to each channel separately. :/


----------



## AVaudio (Jan 5, 2017)

markleake said:


> A technical question, if I may... I can't really hear much in terms of dynamics or stereo field in this track. Is that just a limitation of this library? Or my ears playing up maybe. I feel like I need to listen to each channel separately. :/



That was compressed quite a lot as it was done as background for a mobile game. I only used the ambient mics with the original pannings (baked in the samples) for that one, but you could move them around and also use the close mics if you get platinum.

By the way, I don't know if it has been mentioned earlier in the thread, but if you own QL Spaces, the IR for "Northwest Orchestra Hall" was created in the same hall were the library was recorded, so it's a great way of matching other libs with EWQL.


----------



## Joram (Jan 5, 2017)

markleake said:


> A technical question, if I may... I can't really hear much in terms of dynamics or stereo field in this track. Is that just a limitation of this library? Or my ears playing up maybe. I feel like I need to listen to each channel separately. :/


No, there are some phase issues as well. Nevertheless a good composition!


----------



## novaburst (Jan 5, 2017)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> OK challenge completed, as promised. 100% EWQLSO. Let me know what you guys think!
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: Here's my DAW screencast if anyone is interested.




Thanks for posting, is that reaper your using.


----------



## markleake (Jan 5, 2017)

AVaudio said:


> That was compressed quite a lot as it was done as background for a mobile game. I only used the ambient mics with the original pannings (baked in the samples) for that one, but you could move them around and also use the close mics if you get platinum.


OK, thanks for the info. That makes sense.


----------



## Syneast (Jan 5, 2017)

Vin said:


> This thread reminded me of this 7 year old thread I bookmarked a while ago as it's one of those it's-the-composer-not-the-library threads : http://www.soundsonline-forums.com/showthread.php?s=b8861887f990c0119e4f3527f7cc7e43&t=23234
> 
> EWQLSO, and now 9 year old Symphobia, laptop and cans.


Incredible. My dissatisfaction with my own libraries now seems utterly ridiculous. I am done buying samples.


----------



## StatKsn (Jan 5, 2017)

This thread reminds me that the tone is still frickin' amazing.

This thread also reminds me that there is still no Play Pro (ツ)


----------



## Ashermusic (Jan 5, 2017)

Still waiting for someone to send me a Logic Pro QLSO template.


----------



## WhiteNoiz (Jan 5, 2017)

Well, since we're sharing... 95% EWQLSO :
https://clyp.it/r40mkepa?token=80d8257425469750a32c798494da5f8e



StatKsn said:


> This thread also reminds me that there is still no Play Pro (ツ)



Maybe in the next cen... year. I remember I'd seen them mentioning they'd close the european soundsonline site and they didn't actually do it for almost two years later or something. There are also really old sections of the site they haven't deleted which you can still find through Google (like some broken CCC pages). In the past year or so, they said they now have the resources and it seems they actually have programmers working on it and they did release 5.0 in the interim which is a good step. I'd rather they fix the glitches and getting it working than introduce something new for the sake of it. So...


----------



## dgburns (Jan 5, 2017)

Ashermusic said:


> Still waiting for someone to send me a Logic Pro QLSO template.



I don't think my format would work for you, so I'll spare you the aggravation trying to decipher my template.

I would point you towards the cymbals,timp and kicks. I'd avoid the string ensembles and dive into the individual strings, the 11 and 18 strings have fx that are useful. I'd avoid the higher brass but found the lower brass has some nice things, like forte trombones, tuba and the wagner thing. I'd steer you towards the woods, but would tend to use alot of close mic. I also unload the release samples more often then not. The shorts can become a problem as "that big verb tail" is baked into the sample so you can't get rid of it. Only thing that works is to have a very fast release and program the short notes to note off before the sample gets to that verb part of the sound. If you use a glue verb to fill out your room, this method of drying up EWQLSO can offer a unique view of the lib that has alot of emotive baked into the sounds.

HW is going to do "that big sound" with more definition and authority in the brass and strings then EWQLSO, so I look to EWQLSO for the finer brush strokes in the string and woods especially (that solo violin in EWQLSO with mostly close mic is still a go to). I find the cymbals in HW have a certain harshness to them, or some kind of nasal quality in the upper midrange that is not there in the EWQLSO. 

Yes, I know, the EWQLSO was designed as a bombastic hollywood sounding larger then life library, but that's where I'm at with it given the options we have today (making it sound smaller and articulate). Haven't played around much with the new HW harp, but it sounds lovely and could find itself right there next to the EW harp. The EW harp is really good for creating your own glissandi and arpegiatted lines. The EW timp and kiks have this huge and clear sub bottom end that is missing from the HW percussion. Actually, you need to be carefull with that bottom end in those samples.


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Jan 5, 2017)

novaburst said:


> Thanks for posting, is that reaper your using.



Yep, it is indeed Reaper.


----------



## Syneast (Jan 5, 2017)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> OK challenge completed, as promised. 100% EWQLSO. Let me know what you guys think!
> 
> 
> 
> EDIT: Here's my DAW screencast if anyone is interested.


Lovely work! Well balanced, and I think you have done a good job of avoiding the trademark "ewqlso sound". I especially like the violins shorts in the beginning. What patch is that? And what are you using for legato strings? They have a very nice flow to them.

Now I'm inspired to make an all EWQLSO piece too. Could be nice to do it sometimes just to counter the sample craze.


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Jan 5, 2017)

Syneast said:


> Lovely work! Well balanced, and I think you have done a good job of avoiding the trademark "ewqlso sound". I especially like the violins shorts in the beginning. What patch is that? And what are you using for legato strings? They have a very nice flow to them.
> 
> Now I'm inspired to make an all EWQLSO piece too. Could be nice to do it sometimes just to counter the sample craze.



Thanks! The violin shorts in the intro are the 18v spiccatos. All the long strings are the sus vib modwheels with trimmed releases, stacked with marts and spiccatos for the bouncy type playing in the latter half of the piece.

Oh man, please do! I not-so-secretly wanted to stir up more entries in this little exercise, haha.


----------



## novaburst (Jan 5, 2017)

Syneast said:


> Now I'm inspired to make an all EWQLSO piece too. Could be nice to do it sometimes just to counter the sample craze



Yer go for it I just luv it



Jacob Cadmus said:


> Oh man, please do! I not-so-secretly wanted to stir up more entries in this little exercise, haha.


----------



## markleake (Jan 5, 2017)

dgburns said:


> Actually, you need to be carefull with that bottom end in those samples.


That bass drum, certainly! Much more real bass than I've heard in some other libs. Very useful, but also have to be very careful with it.


----------



## markleake (Jan 5, 2017)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> Thanks! The violin shorts in the intro are the 18v spiccatos. All the long strings are the sus vib modwheels with trimmed releases, stacked with marts and spiccatos for the bouncy type playing in the latter half of the piece.


I too like the sound of the shorts at the start. I'll have to try them out in something. The strings surprised me the most, because I'd really just assumed they wouldn't sound good, when in fact they do. Interesting.


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Jan 5, 2017)

markleake said:


> I too like the sound of the shorts at the start. I'll have to try them out in something. The strings surprised me the most, because I'd really just assumed they wouldn't sound good, when in fact they do. Interesting.



I'm glad you liked the string sounds, because they were honestly the most difficult to tweak out of all the sections. I despise how harsh and fizzy they sound out of the box, so I started with a lo-pass filter (which I put on all sections, but more so on the strings), and that's before EQ, tape saturation, etc.


----------



## markleake (Jan 5, 2017)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> I'm glad you liked the string sounds, because they were honestly the most difficult to tweak out of all the sections. I despise how harsh and fizzy they sound out of the box, so I started with a lo-pass filter (which I put on all sections, but more so on the strings), and that's before EQ, tape saturation, etc.


Hmmm... OK, now I'm disapointed. I'm not one to really do a lot of tweaking, so that really does sound like a lot of effort to get them to sound like you wanted. I'll still have a play though. I went and played with the arc strings the other day, and they sounded good, so maybe its partly about being picky which articulations you use.


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Jan 5, 2017)

markleake said:


> Hmmm... OK, now I'm disapointed. I'm not one to really do a lot of tweaking, so that really does sound like a lot of effort to get them to sound like you wanted. I'll still have a play though. I went and played with the arc strings the other day, and they sounded good, so maybe its partly about being picky which articulations you use.



Hehe well I say it more drastically than it is, because underneath all the post-processing junk done to the library is actually some beautiful sounds. One thing I like about EWSO compared to many other libs, even some modern libs, is how transparent and airy they sound, and are easy to work my reverbs into.


----------



## Lee Blaske (Jan 5, 2017)

I still like a lot of the percussion. In fact, I also have the Hollywood Percussion, but there are things in the earlier library that work better.


----------



## StatKsn (Jan 6, 2017)

QLSO's strings do sound good, so do the rest. I think it is partly because a lot of performances are baked in (because of programming limitations) which makes the sound unique compared to modern libraries. I sometimes use long patches with custom LPF+expression rather than crossfade patches. It's the same reason I can't get rid of Philharmonik!


----------



## novaburst (Jan 6, 2017)

StatKsn said:


> It's the same reason I can't get rid of Philharmonik



I think this Philharmonic is a very nice gem that some have forgotten,

I mainly use Philharmonic 2 as that came with the first Philharmonic as a add on.

It really struggled at first with some missing
Note and some glitches, but it truly is a pleasing library to have.

Slightly diverted from main topic but hay


----------



## JPQ (Jan 6, 2017)

AVaudio said:


> Great composition!
> 
> Another one, 95% EWQL




What is this 5% in this tune?


----------



## Hanu_H (Jan 6, 2017)

Did this about 10 years ago. 100% EWQLSO. It's nothing amazing and I would do many things differently now, but it shows you how EWQLSO sounds. If I remember correctly, this is the raw sound of EWQLSO. No reverb or EQ added.



Here's few others I found from the depths of my computer. Both done by ear from the original soundtrack. No reverbs or EQ used.






-Hannes


----------



## Polarity (Jan 6, 2017)

As I wrote days ago.. I like a lot QLSO for the sound of the samples and the add expansion of close mics to Gold version made really shine the details of its instruments/samples.
But... unfortunately the big issue with QLSO is the missing of adequate/enough RRs in most of the instruments/patches... and the lack of dynamic control and flexibility.
I had a play around all the sections last week while looking for sounds usable for StarWars mockups.
and really had many in a row of disappointed/disgusted faces at how much so many patches can limit you at what you want to play compared to the common modern ones.
Not surprised I just use only a few patches of QLSO nowadays (perhaps layered under the new libraries) and/or substitute almost all the ones used in old tracks I'm rearranging.
Recently I bought a new percussion library because that QLSO still most used section by me was going to be inadequate to some purposes.


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Jan 6, 2017)

Polarity said:


> As I wrote days ago.. I like a lot QLSO for the sound of the samples and the add expansion of close mics to Gold version made really shine the details of its instruments/samples.
> But... unfortunately the big issue with QLSO is the missing of adequate/enough RRs in most of the instruments/patches... and the lack of dynamic control and flexibility.
> I had a play around all the sections last week while looking for sounds usable for StarWars mockups.
> and really had many in a row of disappointed/disgusted faces at how much so many patches can limit you at what you want to play compared to the common modern ones.
> ...



I'll may have to disagree about your stance on QLSO's dynamic control and flexibility. Perhaps each patch does sound limiting at face value, but while going back to this library after what I've learned over time, I found plenty of possibilities that I didn't think of before (for example, the modwheel patches benefit the most from riding CC1 and CC11 together). For instance, having the ability to unload release samples and control the ASDR parameters helped me to tighten up the response for writing fast passages. QLSO still has so much potential that it's truly transparent in the hands of the user, and from a more personal standpoint, I think in general just this library being more basic than the modern stuff had freed up my headspace to write music more openly and honestly than I have before.

However I do agree with your frustrations on the RRs. I wish there were more variations, haha.


----------



## Polarity (Jan 6, 2017)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> I'll may have to disagree about your stance on QLSO's dynamic control and flexibility. Perhaps each patch does sound limiting at face value, but while going back to this library after what I've learned over time, I found plenty of possibilities that I didn't think of before (for example, the modwheel patches benefit the most from riding CC1 and CC11 together). For instance, having the ability to unload release samples and control the ASDR parameters helped me to tighten up the response for writing fast passages. QLSO still has so much potential that it's truly transparent in the hands of the user, and from a more personal standpoint, I think in general just this library being more basic than the modern stuff had freed up my headspace to write music more openly and honestly than I have before.
> 
> However I do agree with your frustrations on the RRs. I wish there were more variations, haha.



Well, really I was meaning about patches that can do more things at once...
Then I was not so patient to get deep with Play interface (I almost hate it) 
and don't like to having so many patches that do a thing but can't what another near one does.
There are so many interesting patches that I wish they had the XF CC1 (the best) the expressivity and control flexibility for dynamic layers.
Sorry I should have explained better, my bad.


----------



## Jacob Cadmus (Jan 6, 2017)

Polarity said:


> Well, really I was meaning about patches that can do more things at once...
> Then I was not so patient to get deep with Play interface (I almost hate it)
> and don't like to having so many patches that do a thing but can't what another near one does.
> There are so many interesting patches that I wish they had the XF CC1 (the best) the expressivity and control flexibility for dynamic layers.
> Sorry I should have explained better, my bad.



No worries, I see what you mean. In that regard I can see where limits can surface. I too wish that there were more modwheel patches available (especially the chamber ensemble sustains).


----------



## ryans (Jan 6, 2017)

100% EWQLSO (no eq or dynamics processing, I think.. can't remember)

I'm still using the EWQLSO brass/percussion regularly.. love this library.


----------



## novaburst (Jan 6, 2017)

AVaudio said:


> Great composition!
> 
> Another one, 95% EWQL




Nice work @AVaudio that was nice piece, seemed like it was bare library no eq,

Funny enough still got the message (feel) especially after 1.25 on ward to your finish movement, that was really nice with the choir and orchestra kind of zoned in.

Nice work


----------



## novaburst (Jan 6, 2017)

Hanu_H said:


> Did this about 10 years ago. 100% EWQLSO. It's nothing amazing and I would do many things differently now, but it shows you how EWQLSO sounds. If I remember correctly, this is the raw sound of EWQLSO. No reverb or EQ added.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Nice work @Hanu_H it's easy to see how these library's can still hold out there own today, no eq or nothing but all pieses sounded great.

Thanks for posting


----------



## novaburst (Jan 6, 2017)

ryans said:


> 100% EWQLSO (no eq or dynamics processing, I think.. can't remember)
> 
> I'm still using the EWQLSO brass/percussion regularly.. love this library.




Nice piece @ryans , I take it you all are using gold or above, they all sound pretty incredible.


----------



## Hanu_H (Jan 6, 2017)

novaburst said:


> Nice work @Hanu_H it's easy to see how these library's can still hold out there own today, no eq or nothing but all pieses sounded great.
> 
> Thanks for posting


I think that the only real limitation with the EWQLSO is the string sustains. They work ok in the background but I never could get them to work in legato lines. That's why I first replaced the strings with LASS. I was also limited by my computers memory. I had to freeze tracks and could not load all the samples I wanted. So maybe today, I could get more out of it. By the way, these were done with the Gold XP in Kompakt.

-Hannes


----------



## WhiteNoiz (Jan 7, 2017)

I was looking in the drives for some old stuff and I stumbled upon this quite old, EPIC practice [re]mix:
https://clyp.it/iceatrbe?token=6b15cbf84da70b97970fb48092751ae3

90% EW as far as I remember. :D I uploaded it because it's in a quite different context.


----------



## vms (Jan 7, 2017)

Ashermusic said:


> Scamper said:
> 
> 
> > Personally, I wouldn't go for EWQL SO these days. It's somewhat outdated and the inconsistencies and playability were often a struggle for me.
> ...





Ashermusic said:


> OK, this is more than a little embarrassing to confess. I have never really used it! Before I worked for EW, I used other orchestral libraries, Platinum was too expensive and Gold too wet. Then by the time I started working for East West, I began with the Hollywood Orchestra and never really bothered with EWQLSO.
> 
> if someone has a Logic Pro template with EWQLSO Platinum they can send me with their favorites, I would love it and would owe that person a favor.



not being rude..but...well...
I can't help but keep laughing...


----------



## Ashermusic (Jan 7, 2017)

vms said:


> not being rude..but...well...
> I can't help but keep laughing...



I also see the humor in it.


----------



## HardyP (Jan 8, 2017)

Check out Darryl O'Donovan's Quid Pro Quo on SoundCloud- especially 3. Valse and 4. Finale (*).


Some great classical writing, so you really can hear the Pros and Cons of ewqlso. I think the mentioned points like good WW, weaker strings (exposed melodic lines in the higher register - but the lower ones I like more), good shorts but lack of RR.

(*) looking to the play counts, most people seem to not make it unto that parts


----------



## Hanu_H (Jan 13, 2017)

I made a remake of the Stargate SG-1 theme I posted earlier, maybe you want to hear it and compare EWQLSO to new samples.



-Hannes


----------



## Illico (Jan 14, 2017)

There are really beautiful things here, please continue to post...
The question was "Anyone still using EastWest Symphonic Orchestra?", Yes for sure.
Exactly, this is the only library I have. Its quite difficult to create realistic playable melody, but I learn every days. I'm really happy with this purchase. A very cost effective purchase to start a novice's home studio. Listen to my second piece 100% EWQLSO.


----------



## novaburst (Jan 14, 2017)

Illico said:


> A very cost effective purchase to start a novice's home studio


nice piece @Illico you dont sound like novice to me...........



Hanu_H said:


> Stargate SG-1



haha that piece oh gosh ......give me appetite for more, I was glued to the TV series Star gate


----------



## JPQ (Dec 25, 2017)

i not yet used but i fall love with some sounds like solo violin and solo viola. i am only hobbymusican and reason why i so late get this becouse there is now composer cloud where what i can use safely test how well play works here. and i feel very well. even my computer is slow dual core mac mini only 8gigabytes of ram. very likely use soon these solo strings. there is some sounds what not flexible but i dont have anything else with this timbre and vsl special edition solo strings dont have such patches becouse these are not actually named playing method but exp and lyr...


----------



## germancomponist (Dec 25, 2017)

Me, the Kontakt version.


----------



## Leon Portelance (Dec 25, 2017)

I still use it except for Hollywood Woodwinds. I replaced them with a Berlin Woodwinds.


----------

