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Another quest for recommendations for orchestral percussion library.

Headlands

Senior Member
I have many orchestral libraries, but for full-on specific percussion I only have EW Hollywood and the percussion kinda sucks on it for the reasons that it's limited, doesn't sound particularly realistic because of old school round robin (or none in many cases)...it's very "meh" to me.

I'm looking for a great overall orchestral percussion library with a modern/with-the-times interface, great flexibility, and of course sounds amazing and realistic. One that makes things like timpani rolls, cymbal washes and crescendos, etc., intuitive to do.

I see that Strezov has a new library that sounds great in the demos -- I've never used their products and don't know how they are in day-to-day use.

Let the recommendations fly! Thank you.
 
Ah, never mind. Just previewed the upcoming Toontrack Orchestral Percussion SDX. Superior Drummer is my favorite drum set library (I'm a drummer) in every way, so I can only expect/hope that the orchestral percussion SDX will be just as stunning as their others. Plus it ain't in Kontakt, which makes me quite happy.

Will wait 'till May. :)
 
Rhapsody. Period.
Bryla, do you have a method for dealing with the abrupt ends in the ROP rolls? I do like the library overall, but am a bit puzzled with this particularity. I guess it's not hard to add an additional hit at the end.

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/rop-timp-rolls-mp3.19289/][/AUDIOPLUS]
 

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Bryla, do you have a method for dealing with the abrupt ends in the ROP rolls? I do like the library overall, but am a bit puzzled with this particularity. I guess it's not hard to add an additional hit at the end.

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/rop-timp-rolls-mp3.19289/][/AUDIOPLUS]
Haven't experienced that and I think there might be two reasons to that:
1: I won't have a mod wheel movement at the point of release.
2: I end with a single hit albeit soft. They have the hall release.
 
Rhapsody. Period.

I'm a huge advocate of a smaller and more "classical" sound instead of the epic-trailer-my-kidneys-are-exploding type of superprocessed distorted mush, but I have to say even though ROP is very good, it's partially so small and apologetic for even my taste that I tend to use it rather rarely. But it is indeed really good, especially for the price. But if you want a bigger sound out of it, you'll need quite some mixing.

That being said, I just bought the Strezov 3XM a couple of days ago and it is also a really good bang for your buck straight out of the box. Sounds a bit like something between EWQL and Cineperc, and the interface is really good as well. I also have Spitfire Perc, but the hall makes it quite hit or miss- the dry mics sound quite sad compared to the huge hall mics...which, of course means, that you will be married with the hall since the second you open up those mics.

If I was bathing on money, I'd prolly get Cineperc for the sound and flexibility if wanting to upgrade from EWQL. (Btw, if I remember right, those are still on sale for a couple of days.)
 
Any new insight to share on Superior Drummer's Orchestral Percussion?

I've been looking for a comprehensive orchestral library that I could run as a kit on a single VI track but still route instruments to individual audio tracks. The ability to layer pieces & create hybrid kits is also a draw. So SD3's Orchestral Percussion has my attention.

Not a lot of posts on it. Anyone here liking it?
 
a friend has it(the Orchestral Percussion SDX), one major thing is probably going to be keeping 2 versions of tracks - one light version with just a few layers per - then one fully "unlocked" to render. The tubular bells alone are almost as much ram as the default patch when you enable all the samples. They do work like a dream on V drums(I was impressed). I'm not 100% how it works though, because I don't have superior drummer(or drums)[or rhythm]{I guess that's why I wish I could write music because I certainly cant play it}
 
a friend has it(the Orchestral Percussion SDX), one major thing is probably going to be keeping 2 versions of tracks - one light version with just a few layers per - then one fully "unlocked" to render. The tubular bells alone are almost as much ram as the default patch when you enable all the samples. They do work like a dream on V drums(I was impressed). I'm not 100% how it works though, because I don't have superior drummer(or drums)[or rhythm]{I guess that's why I wish I could write music because I certainly cant play it}

Pros:
> The sounds are stunning, and the huge room tone blends quite well with orchestral libraries I have.
> IT'S NOT IN KONTAKT and instead has an intuitive, smart interface dedicated to the instrument itself. Praise the lawd!!!! The Superior Drummer interface is really great IMO. You can very easily do an entire mix inside the plug-in, with high quality plugins and a mixer that looks/runs like a smaller DAW-style mixer. Very easy and intuitive to use for the most part, and I'm still learning about how deep OP itself is.
> The amount and variety of instruments is on another level, and so far every sound is top notch with completely realistic round-robin and articulations.
> The overall flexibility is unmatched from what I've seen of others. Layering, creating hybrid kits, a variety of different mallets/hits for many instruments, etc. Some of this is definitely from not being tightly chained by the Kontakt environment.


Cons:
> It's so big that that the sounds traverse over an octave above and below an 88-key keyboard, so it can feel overwhelming. But I'm not super used to it yet so I'm sure that will change. You really need to get used to the immense layout of everything, which isn't really a con but is a bit of challenge coming from more pared-down and/or specific percussion patches/libraries. There is a good amount of transposing on your keyboard controller to get to all the drums when composing, which is a tradeoff for having huge an immense variety of sounds.
> Very RAM-heavy with the full patches loaded. This can of course be mitigated by disabling sounds you aren't using, and/or you can remove things from the cache that you aren't using, which greatly helps (Cache mode).
 
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a friend has it(the Orchestral Percussion SDX), one major thing is probably going to be keeping 2 versions of tracks - one light version with just a few layers per - then one fully "unlocked" to render. The tubular bells alone are almost as much ram as the default patch when you enable all the samples. They do work like a dream on V drums(I was impressed). I'm not 100% how it works though, because I don't have superior drummer(or drums)[or rhythm]{I guess that's why I wish I could write music because I certainly cant play it}
Yeah, the RAM/CPU drain is definitely a concern of mine working on a Macbook Pro. I've been inquiring about optimizing features, among a few other things, and am waiting to hear back on a last round of questions. So far, the Cache Mode looks promising, working similar to purging samples in Kontakt to my understanding.

What will also help is I don't compose orchestral music proper, but love using the soundscapes. A typical kit for me might be the same number of pieces as a trap kit, but timpani, boobams or taikos instead of toms, orchestral cymbals instead of "regular" crashes/splashes, etc.

But yeah, I'm concerned.
 
Pros:
> The sounds are stunning, and the huge room tone blends quite well with orchestral libraries I have.
> The Superior Drummer interface is really great IMO. You can very easily do an entire mix inside the plug-in, with high quality plugins and a mixer that looks/runs like a smaller DAW-style mixer. Very easy and intuitive to use for the most part, and I'm still learning about how deep it all is.
> The amount and variety of instruments is on another level, and so far every sound is top notch with completely realistic round-robin and articulations.
> The overall flexibility is unmatched from what I've seen of others. Layering, creating hybrid kits, a variety of different mallets/hits for many instruments, etc.

Cons:
> It's so big that that the sounds traverse an octave above and below an 88-key keyboard, so it can feel overwhelming. But I'm not super used to it yet so I'm sure that will change. You really need to get used to the immense layout of everything, which isn't really a con but is a bit of challenge coming from more pared-down and/or specific percussion patches/libraries. There is a good amount of transposing on your keyboard controller to get to all the drums when composing, which is a tradeoff for having huge an immense variety of sounds.
> The timpani aren't laid out with the full range, so you need to change the pitch (as you would with a real timpani - but we're in 2019 and shouldn't have those limitations). Not a huge deal but it definitely takes more programming in a project to get a lot of pitch varieties.
> Very RAM-heavy with the full patches loaded. This can of course be mitigated by disabling sounds you aren't using, etc.
All of your pros are definitely draws for me. The sound seems at least on par with anything else I've looked at, but the interface & flexibility fits my needs better than other options.

The cons: yeah, I'm counting on they keyboard layout being something to get used to, especially since I typically fingerdrum drums & percussion on 4x4 pads.

Good to know about the timpani. Toontrack makes it difficult to obtain manuals prior to purchases.

Thanks!
 
well you can just do what he did, and have individual instruments instead of one big track. Then you could rebind it to whatever you wanted. There was a timpani chromatic patch if I'm not mistaken - but I think it's cool to just load the ones you need - and write like you would for a real ensemble, however I don't have superior drummer 3, so it's a tough sell if you don't have(or need) superior drummer.

I'm quite happy with berlin percussion though, and cineperc is great too.
 
well you can just do what he did, and have individual instruments instead of one big track. Then you could rebind it to whatever you wanted. There was a timpani chromatic patch if I'm not mistaken - but I think it's cool to just load the ones you need - and write like you would for a real ensemble, however I don't have superior drummer 3, so it's a tough sell if you don't have(or need) superior drummer.

I'm quite happy with berlin percussion though, and cineperc is great too.

Didn't even know there was a chromatic timpani patch -- solves that problem! Thank you.

I've been using Superior Drummer strongly for years so it was an easy sell for, happily, a totally top notch and insanely flexible orchestral percussion library. I'm a happy customer. :)
 
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Good to know about the timpani. Toontrack makes it difficult to obtain manuals prior to purchases.

Thanks!

Turns out there's a chromatic timpani patch, so I use that as its own Superior Drummer instance. I should have RTFM. :-D
 
A lot of the appeal for me is the ability to play/program an orchestral percussion section like a trap kit and still get audio to separate tracks. I use orchestral instruments to make what most here would consider pop music. My needs are likely less than most regarding access to all the timpani pitches, for example, but maybe more regarding the flexibility SD3's interface & feature set provides.

Ignoring my skill level, I could do what I've been leaning on Damage & Action Strikes for, all in one instance, but with the audio routing flexibility of a kit library. Perfect for my needs. Aside from CPU/RAM hunger, it's my dream percussion instrument. And it comes with "some bonus drum kits on the side".
 
Maybe someone here can help answer this final question I have before pulling the trigger.

Cache Mode seems like it would be one of the most effective RAM optimizations features, maybe because it reminds me of purging samples in Kontakt. But the one vid on it I came across was old, looked like it could be SD1. And the user presented it as if you get only one layer of samples playing kit pieces and had to go to another page and add additional layers somewhat manually.

Please tell me this is not the case, that it works more like Kontakt, adding whatever layers you play/program.

*Edit: Never mind, answered by Toontrack support. What I saw in the vid is not the case in SD3.
 
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My research is done. I'll be pulling the trigger on this. Only 2 minor negatives pre-purchase.

The Orchestral SDX is triggering my purchase, but I'll be using the included kits to replace Addictive Drums 2 in some cases. The small issue will be how the note remapping works; MIDI is re-remapped to SD3's default when dragged & dropped to a DAW. Non issue working with SD3, but exported MIDI won't be compatible with my custom mapping set up in AD2 and other drum VIs I use on occasion.

And despite the RAM optimizing features, I'm still a bit concerned about my CPU & paultry 16GB RAM handling it.

Really looking forward to this though.
 
I'm digging SD3 more than anticipated. The Orchestral Percussion SDX was the draw, but the interface & options make the included kits much more useful than I imagined. I almost hate that I've invested in kits & pieces for my other drum library.

Any additional CPU usage has been negligible. Cached Mode works extremely well for managing RAM use with some samples not being fully available during a 1st pass being the only downside. No issues here at all.

Both orchestral kits are as good as I imagined. Alongside SD3's feature set, this is exactly what I was looking for. Another instrument or 2 would've been nice (surdo, bombo). And I do wish there were more patterns. I'm OK playing/programming drums. Percussion, especially orchestral, not so much.
 
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