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Strezov Sampling - JADE Ethnic Orchestra (Share Your Thoughts!)

ChrisSiuMusic

Senior Member
Hi everyone! Now that JADE Ethnic Orchestra has been released and many have started playing with it, it'll definitely be interesting to see how this plays out in virtual mockup land, and how many more 'Asian-inspired' cues we'll start seeing. In terms of the library itself, I have a few things to share:

- Very playable and expressive
- Legato is much smoother than some previous libraries (STU for example)
- Classic 'Strezov' sound (not overly bright, just solid recordings you can mangle on your own)
- So far, the winds and plucked strings sound incredible. Not much critique I can share on that!
- Percussion sounds solid
- Vocals are a great addition. The keyswitching between different syllables is a really cool concept, and quite flexible
- Erhu ensembles seem to have 1 player performing vib at lowest dynamic layer, all the rest come in when you ride it up. Love this!

- Some of the fades between non-vib and progressive vib can be a tad smoother (erhu soloist for example), while it works very well with zhonghu
- Trills must be done manually (1st note does not re-trigger if holding down 2 notes and letting go of 2nd)
- One main 'articulations' patch would be awesome (update coming!)

That's all I can think of so far. Strezov Sampling have really come up with something quite incredible. Thanks George and the team for your efforts! Looking forward to making some music with this now :D

Check it out here: https://www.strezov-sampling.com/products/view/jade.html
 
Definitely one of the more impressive specialty libraries out there-- been relying on a lot of older EW stuff to fill some of these niches, so a big jump in what I'm used to out of this kind of stuff. The pads are a really cool addition (although I do worry about them being becoming noticeable-- "he's definitely using Jade here"), and everything seems crafted really nicely.

I haven't had time to get too deep into it, but I've yet to load a patch that isn't just obviously useful, but noticeably great in terms of its playability. I agree that the articulations patch will make things much smoother in terms of usage.

Overall, its just nice to get these instruments given such a skilled and careful treatment, and I'm looking forward to using it more.
 
I don't want to take anything away from Strezov at all here, but no mention of Chinee Kong Audio Orchestras in these notes is really remiss.
Chinese Orchestras recorded in China using Chinese musicians playing Chinese techniques on Chinese instruments produced by some other really good Chinese musician-developers, as are Strezov, well, just hope to say something to bring attention to the old kids on the block for those not knowing what they're missing.
But, also, full creds and wishes for success to Strezov!
There's always room for two in a collection, particularly given how inexpensive that the Kong libraries are.
g.c.
I have received no free products from Chinee Kong, or anyone for that matter.
Well, got a free kiss from a horse today, but other then that-nothin--
 
I don't want to take anything away from Strezov at all here, but no mention of Chinee Kong Audio Orchestras in these notes is really remiss.
Chinese Orchestras recorded in China using Chinese musicians playing Chinese techniques on Chinese instruments produced by some other really good Chinese musician-developers, as are Strezov, well, just hope to say something to bring attention to the old kids on the block for those not knowing what they're missing.
But, also, full creds and wishes for success to Strezov!
There's always room for two in a collection, particularly given how inexpensive that the Kong libraries are.
g.c.
I have received no free products from Chinee Kong, or anyone for that matter.
Well, got a free kiss from a horse today, but other then that-nothin--

If you want to celebrate the products from ChineeKong, I think you should create a new thread just for it.

Personally, I bought their percussion library fifteen years ago, and it is the only library that I couldn't reauthorize when I changed computer. So f**k Chinee Kong. I lost my investment with them.
 
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I don't want to take anything away from Strezov at all here, but no mention of Chinee Kong Audio Orchestras in these notes is really remiss.
Chinese Orchestras recorded in China using Chinese musicians playing Chinese techniques on Chinese instruments produced by some other really good Chinese musician-developers, as are Strezov, well, just hope to say something to bring attention to the old kids on the block for those not knowing what they're missing.
But, also, full creds and wishes for success to Strezov!
There's always room for two in a collection, particularly given how inexpensive that the Kong libraries are.
g.c.
I have received no free products from Chinee Kong, or anyone for that matter.
Well, got a free kiss from a horse today, but other then that-nothin--
When promoting JEO, there is no reason for Strezov to mention a super old sample developer who hasn't released anything in a generation, with a website that looks like it was made in 1997, and using an obscure long abandoned sample player with unsupported Windows 7 listed as recommended requirements. I also noticed that Cubase SX (an 18 year old version of Cubase!) was used in their latest demo videos. I do remember them being, in my opinion, an unimpressive, slightly overpriced alternative when East West was releasing their 'world' libraries years ago. I'm surprised their website is still up... Anyway, I suppose they have earned a spot on a Wikipedia page somewhere that chronicles the history of sample libraries. :)
 
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I finally got JADE Ethnic Orchestra installed. I will be having lots of fun discovering its content in the coming days. I will post my thoughts here after having some quality time with the library.

With regards to Chinee Kong Audio, I had an interest in their libraries a while ago, but could never figure out if their QIN RV sample player was a true 64-bit VST, or if it was a 32-bit VST that worked in a 64-bit DAW via a wrapper of some sort. Which was a No No. for me. Their documentation was not clear.

I'm so glad that Strezov Sampling started the JADE Ethnic Orchestra library project early last year or maybe earlier, before the Covid-19 epidemic started in China. We are very fortunate to have this library.

Many Thanks, and Congratulations to Strezov Sampling for making this wonderful sample library.
 
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So.... This library is fabulous.
Lots of instruments, lots of ornaments...
The X3M engine : perfect.
The voices : AHHHHH !
The winds : ohhh!!!
The plucked : great !
The pads : enormous !
The ehrus : ahhhh !!
This is my largest library so far, and i absolutely LOVE IT .
I love Balkan Orchestra, but this one ....we move to ASIA instantly.
Everything is ready for composing.
The male voices are TERRIFIC. Man we are in a Mongolian desert !! And the experimental parches are top !
Some low wind patches are like drones.....Terrific.

So congratulation to Strezov Sampling for making so perfect libraries for US !

The only thing...little thing i am missing is an ehru Portamento-glissando articulation...

But we can simulate it by playing fast lines.

So.....what's next Strezov Sampling !!!:):):)
 
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