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Are you guys really buying all these libraries?

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lastmessiah

Member
I don’t mean this to be confrontational at all, I’m really just confused as to why you would need so many different orchestral libraries. I see threads that are like “I have X, Y, and Z, should I get YY or ZZ next?” and I’m left scratching my head. As a Composer Cloud X subscriber I find that there are so many variations in timbre and dynamics I can achieve through programming, expression, effects, etc that I can’t imagine I will need much else in the way of orchestral samples for the foreseeable future.

Is it just a fun addiction for most of you or am I missing something by not collecting all the new releases?
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lastmessiah said:
I don’t mean this to be confrontational at all, I’m really just confused as to why you would need so many different orchestral libraries. I see threads that are like “I have X, Y, and Z, should I get YY or ZZ next?” and I’m left scratching my head. As a Composer Cloud X subscriber I find that there are so many variations in timbre and dynamics I can achieve through programming, expression, effects, etc that I can’t imagine I will need much else in the way of orchestral samples for the foreseeable future.

Is it just a fun addiction for most of you or am I missing something by not collecting all the new releases?
Click to expand...

I work exclusively with the VSL (and only standard libraries, no dimension or appasionata either), and I have the J.B. violin and Pianoteq Steinway. That's it. Sometimes when I read how much money people have put in to their library collection, I assume it's actually because the appeal for them is more about collecting/shopping for instruments than actually composing. For those hobbyists with lots of disposable income, it's easy to buy, less so to learn to use the tools well. I'm still learning how to use my one collection of instruments and constantly struggle to get the most out of what I have. Never do I consider throwing down thousands for new, until I reach the point where I feel I can't do what I want with what I have. Since I work primarily in classical music, and am not concerned with "larger than life/epic" sounds, or keeping up with the latest and greatest trending sounds, it saves me tons of money and lets me spend my time writing, not researching. I always laugh when people say 10 year old violin samples sound old...um, a newly sampled violin is still sampling a 200 year old instrument in some cases, so it's a new sample of an old instrument.

Anyway, the take away message is to find what works for you, and hopefully, don't buy because someone else recommends it; buy because you feel it will improve your work.

All the best,
Dave
p.s. it's probably still cheaper buying libraries than the grand piano collecting dust in so many homes.
 
lastmessiah said:
I don’t mean this to be confrontational at all, I’m really just confused as to why you would need so many different orchestral libraries. I see threads that are like “I have X, Y, and Z, should I get YY or ZZ next?” and I’m left scratching my head. As a Composer Cloud X subscriber I find that there are so many variations in timbre and dynamics I can achieve through programming, expression, effects, etc that I can’t imagine I will need much else in the way of orchestral samples for the foreseeable future.

Is it just a fun addiction for most of you or am I missing something by not collecting all the new releases?
Click to expand...

New purchases can make a lot of sense - after many years, it can be inspiring to update your palette and swap things out. It's just samples after all, and one can really get tired of listening to the same sounds for years. And as we all know, there is no one-stop-shop library that covers all bases equally well and it's very very helpful to have different tools in the box and different colors to work with. But it can become an ugly trap and it's pretty obvious to me that many people end up walking into it without noticing.

I'm 100% sure that impulsive/compulsive buying plays a very big part in the whole sample library business. It's not all that different from what many "regular" people do with pointless electronics, clothes or expensive niché hobbies (scale modelling, hunting, car stuff, etc. etc.). Surely it gets amplified due to the fact that the customer base is artistic and creative. You're always looking for that tiny little bit that helps you get one step closer to what you're truly envisioning in your head.

Ultimately, it's like any other industry that deals with luxury goods - selling dreams.
 
lastmessiah said:
I don’t mean this to be confrontational at all, I’m really just confused as to why you would need so many different orchestral libraries. I see threads that are like “I have X, Y, and Z, should I get YY or ZZ next?” and I’m left scratching my head. As a Composer Cloud X subscriber I find that there are so many variations in timbre and dynamics I can achieve through programming, expression, effects, etc that I can’t imagine I will need much else in the way of orchestral samples for the foreseeable future.

Is it just a fun addiction for most of you or am I missing something by not collecting all the new releases?
Click to expand...

It stops being fun when you look at your credit card debt. I think the mindset is different when you are getting paid for your work.
 
lastmessiah said:
I’m really just confused as to why you would need so many different orchestral libraries.
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I have a friend who owns 17 accordions -- all are the same brand and similar model. To the average person, they all look and sound the same, but to him, he is aware of the slightest differences among them all. One is tuned to 442, one is tuned to 442 1/2, one has keyboard action that's 1 mm deeper that another, one has an extra fold in the bellows, etc. He is so passionate about his craft, that his passion warrants owning those 17 accordions.

Most orchestral libraries probably sound the same to the average person, but to a composer, each one is unique in its own ways. One library uses different decca mics, one was recorded on a warmer sound stage, one uses a slighter larger cello section, one blends better with another library, etc. While G.A.S. does affect many people, I believe there are plenty of composers whose passion warrants the purchase of every new library they buy.
 
Realistically studio musicians might need several guitars & some might be collectors.

On forums I see it more of an egotistical, narcissistic thing.
There are those who constantly brag that they bought the latest library, plugin or they'll list all their gear in their signature.
Usually it's a big clue.
 
lastmessiah said:
I don’t mean this to be confrontational at all, I’m really just confused as to why you would need so many different orchestral libraries. I see threads that are like “I have X, Y, and Z, should I get YY or ZZ next?” and I’m left scratching my head. As a Composer Cloud X subscriber I find that there are so many variations in timbre and dynamics I can achieve through programming, expression, effects, etc that I can’t imagine I will need much else in the way of orchestral samples for the foreseeable future.

Is it just a fun addiction for most of you or am I missing something by not collecting all the new releases?
Click to expand...
It’s a good question. Over the past year, my income has been inconsistent to say the least so I got into the habit of using what I have which is admittedly a lot. I really wanted to get OT String Runs for a RPG score I was working on but because the money was yet to come, I ended up using EW Hollywood String Gold stacc slur and CineString Runs because I own those. Worked just fine.
 
I think, like darned near everything else, it depends.

I have a very modest collection of sample libraries, and yes, if I were earning more with them I'd get more of them. But I try to make sure income is greater than expenses<G>!

Some of the purchases were made out of curiosity, I have Albion One, OE 1&2, Swing and Swing More, and Metropolis Ark 1. It has been a bit of a struggle learning to use these libraries, and common sense would suggest that I should have given up after the first one<G>. I'm glad I didn't! It isn't that one of them suddenly made sense to me (oh that it were that easy), but rather my continued experiments with all of them finally paid off. And you know what? They really are remarkably different, in spite the common thread.

Same goes for straight multi-sampled libraries, for example I use VSL SE, Chris Hein and Cinesamples for orchestral brass and winds - they are very different sounds, and very different workflows. To me they compliment each other, and I am able to do far more with the combination than I could with only one of them. Same approach for strings, I use 8Dio Adagio/Aggitato, Cinematic Studio Strings, and VSL SE.

Sometimes it is as simple as trying to accomplish something with one, getting no where, trying a different library and it works - probably not entirely because of the library, I think sometimes it is just the change.

I would guess that folks with more extensive collections find the same things to be true, just on a bigger scale. I'm sure there are collectors out there too. The more the merrier, just as with guitars the collectors make some of these things more affordable for the rest of us.

And for the record, I do own several guitars, and I think they are all different, no, I know they are. Some are work horses that get used on most of my projects. Some are specialty items that get used a couple times a year (maybe even less in the case of my Mosrite Ventures - but when I need that sound the Mosrite is the only guitar that gets it.)

Now I did learn a valuable lesson about buying on credit. Many of the earlier guitars were purchased on terms, and it caught up with me. Fortunately I survived, and learned my lesson. Nothing really wrong with that either - some of us just have to learn things the hard way<G>!
 
You have to find a balance.

Some people really get caught up with all the marketing and think they need to buy everything. Some people have a lot of libraries because they are involved in very distinct and different projects that require drastically different musical styles and need a large palette of sonic colors.

Every library is different, they have been recorded differently and have different performance capabilities. But one of the shortcomings of working samples is that, well, they are samples. No matter how many variations each library has, after a while they will start to sound the same (although that's fine for some composers). Occasionally there are those libraries that stick in composers templates for years to come, but essentially I agree with Charlie Clouser when he says that sample libraries are consumables.

It really comes down to what your music needs.

Also sometimes limiting yourself to lesser tools can yield more creative results and getting the most out of what you have. Sometimes newer tools can give a new direction to your music and get you out of old routine habits.
 
What really bugs me is seeing people throw away significant money on VI's bought impulsively which they then promptly get disenchanted with and wipe from their hard drives, almost with pride, rather than trying to squeeze even the tiniest bit of use out of them.

Meanwhile I'd give a limb or two to have just a small portion of the arsenals often touted around here, if it meant better tools, less endless tinkering with subpar ones, and overall, more music.
 
miket said:
What really bugs me is seeing people throw away significant money on VI's bought impulsively which they then promptly get disenchanted with and wipe from their hard drives, almost with pride, rather than trying to squeeze even the tiniest bit of use out of them.

Meanwhile I'd give a limb or two to have just a small portion of the arsenals often touted around here, if it meant better tools, less endless tinkering with subpar ones, and overall, more music.
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+1 ..thats a big thing I see here too. I mean each to their own. But imo the majority of people here tend to be consumers but not using their Vi´s to most effect which takes time and there is the point: They buy, try it out but can´t achieve the results they probably expect and hope in order to buy something new that this will give them the sound. Truth for me is: Thats not gonna happen, dude.
 
Well I try to spend only for VI's which are going to translate my ideas in a convincing way without much editing.

May sound lazy but I don't think that composing should mainly be a battle with CC curves and other things like that.
Take Symphobia or the Metropolis Ark series as well as Organic Samples' solo vocals, they just sound great out-of-the-box and directly put you in the mood. I think that if you get hundreds of controllers to control before getting a decent sound, ... you probably lose a lot of time and that often isn't worth the instrument, even if it's free.
 
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midi-et-quart said:
Well I try to spend only for VI's which are going to translate my ideas in a convincing way without much editing.

May sound lazy but I don't think that composing should mainly be a battle with CC curve and other things like that.
Take Symphobia or the Metropolis Ark series as well as Organic Samples' solo vocals, they just sound great out-of-the-box and directly put you in the mood. I think that if you get hundreds of controllers to control before getting a decent sound, ... you probably lose a lot of time and that often isn't worth the instrument, even if it's free.
Click to expand...

This is one point that I strongly disagree with. Learning MIDI and CC is essential to developing your own sound, and injecting your own psychology into your compositions. I’m sure Symphobia sounds great but if you’re just arranging the samples as they are then you’re in danger of ending up with a canned and generic sound.
 
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