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8dio English Horn (on sale) - your thoughts?

Yes but isn't that honkiness better to have in the first place as it's easily filtered out? In other words I bet the BWW can be made to sound like the 8Dio but not the other way round!
 
pinki said:
Yes but isn't that honkiness better to have in the first place as it's easily filtered out? In other words I bet the BWW can be made to sound like the 8Dio but not the other way round!
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I did try this, putting them side-by-side and EQ-ing BWW Legacy. What I found is that there's more detail with Claire, but less range when doing this. BWW might be more accurate and offer more options, Claire might just sound better but do a limited set of things. Keep in mind that the english horn was probably the weakest instrument in BWW Legacy, and the one that benefited the most from the rerecording in Revive.

All of this was playing with the instruments solo, not in full woodwind context. Most of Claire is one dynamic layer, though the x-fade articulation is two.

I have to admit that I haven't developed an ear for english horn the way I have for the more commonly used instruments, so my idea of what the correct sound is, and what is desirable, is still taking shape.
 
pinki said:
Ah if I had it I would..any chance of an example?
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Sure. Here's a phrase, first with Claire-decca tree, leg strong patch, soft art. Second BWW-room mic.

I added EAReverb to each, no other processing.

Screen Shot 2019-03-02 at 1.30.53 PM.png
[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/cor-ang-8dio-bww-mp3.18761/][/AUDIOPLUS]
 

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  • Cor Ang 8Dio - BWW.mp3
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I grabbed it in order to make a better evaluation of whether the Claire libs play well together and with other libs, as I similarly bought the Alto Flute and Clarinet on fire sale. I looked at my annotation file and found that I have VERY few English Horn sound sources, so figured, why not.

As I am working crazy hours at my day job of late, I haven't had much time for recording, but hopefully soon. This one is near the top of my list to give a fair shake, as I have some tracks where I wasn't convinced VSL would be the keeper for the english horn role.

Being that I am not a fan of legato playing styles in general (my tastes run more to other eras of music that are more focused on complex articulations and lots of "air" between notes and instruments), it does not surprise me that the legato patch might sound honky when given the full room treatment. I made it dry when I tried it, and played with several articulations but not a lot of complex switching so I don't yet know how flexible and realistic it is for solo phrasing.

The raw recordings sounded good to me though; better than most (just as with the rest of the Claire series). I live in the SF area though, and feel we have the best woodwind players in the USA. Never cared for the Philly sound, and wasn't terribly fond of NYP either, woodwind-wise. I'm from Boston though, and as far as US orchestras go when talking about woodwinds, prefer the warm dark sounds of Boston, Cleveland, San Francisco, Denver, Los Angeles, and sometimes Chicago. Nothing bugs me more than bright woodwinds. Honky comes next. I'll see if I encounter the latter trait with Claire.
 
I know this is an old thread, but I purchased the English Horn from Soundpaint. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but the legato is not good! I have been using samples libiraries for about 15 years. You can hear the starting of the samples. Maybe someone else has the same problem?
 
BillH said:
I know this is an old thread, but I purchased the English Horn from Soundpaint. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but the legato is not good! I have been using samples libiraries for about 15 years. You can hear the starting of the samples. Maybe someone else has the same problem?
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I have issues with a lot of legato patches, not just in soundpaint but in Kontakt libraries as well. As I've said countless times on this forum, a lot of legato patches—to my mind at least—seem to want to prove to potential buyers that they are indeed true legato, and they want you to hear those legato bumps clearly. The problem is, when I listen to actual players playing legato, those bumps are not so noticeable, if at all.

The Soundpaint EH is, I believe, the same as the 8Dio Claire English Horn. Because I don't like those bumps, I stripped out the sustain samples and created a new Kontakt instrument using Big Bob's WIPS legato, and to my ears it sounds much better. Unfortunately, this can only be done with Kontakt instruments unless you are willing to rerecord the Soundpaint sustains note by note.

Here's what I get with the Claire English Horn filtered through WIPS:

View attachment 8DIO ENGLISH HORN.mp3
 
robgb said:
I have issues with a lot of legato patches, not just in soundpaint but in Kontakt libraries as well. As I've said countless times on this forum, a lot of legato patches—to my mind at least—seem to want to prove to potential buyers that they are indeed true legato, and they want you to hear those legato bumps clearly. The problem is, when I listen to actual players playing legato, those bumps are not so noticeable, if at all.

The Soundpaint EH is, I believe, the same as the 8Dio Claire English Horn. Because I don't like those bumps, I stripped out the sustain samples and created a new Kontakt instrument using Big Bob's WIPS legato, and to my ears it sounds much better. Unfortunately, this can only be done with Kontakt instruments unless you are willing to rerecord the Soundpaint sustains note by note.

Here's what I get with the Claire English Horn filtered through WIPS:

View attachment 8DIO ENGLISH HORN.mp3
Click to expand...
That sounds really good!

I am hoping that when Soundpaint enables users to create legato instruments, we can tinker with these samples and make them sound even better.
I just find that the back end of Kontakt is not user friendly with making legato instruments.
 
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