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Audiobro Modern Scoring Brass (MSB)

I could be wrong - so often am - but I'd advise against it for you, Suntower. Not because it isn't excellent - it absolutely is - and not because you can't work super-quickly with it - you can. And not because the UI isn't much better than LASS - it is. But because you never found the time to make LASS work for you, and MSB, in that sense, is perhaps similar, I fear the worst in your case.

LASS is a library that requires some heavy lifting to get it set up working for you. It might be the hardest around in that regard, the ARC has some really tricky concepts to get your head around. But if you spent the time with it, getting it set up (I have a video on this somewhere) then it will pay you back massively. It will be superquick to work with in practice, because you put in the hours upfront to tailor it just to how you need it. And because their programming, editing and recording is so slick, you'll be spending a lot less time in the end working around various deficiencies.

MSB IS much simpler, and sounds gorgeous right out of the box, its totally playable and even magical on a first play. But it shares that Audiobro DNA. Some of the more advanced concepts eluded me initially, took me a while to grapple with it, they definitely have an idiosyncratic way of doing things. But there is always reason in their apparent madness. The flexibility, scope and depth is ridiculous, and the attention to detail and QC superb.

So it took me a few days to get MSB into my template. Not a few continuous days I hasten to add, but all in it was probably something like 8 hours I'd guess. The library is vast, and that's one of the reasons why it took so long, and I wanted a very specific configuration that took some time to get organised. Now its exactly how I want it at the push of a button in Cubase / VE Pro, and I adore it.

FWIW, my own head could never really get round VSL's player. The grid system still baffles me to this day, and goodness knows I've tried to get it. Eventually I can make it do what I want, but its a lot of trial and a lot of error. What is intuitive to one person is arcane to another I guess. So you absolutely have my sympathies with not getting concepts. But it sounds like the AudioBro way might not be your way.

Thank you for your very informative posts, Guy. Do you think that MSB's sound and playability can also enthusiasm a more indie-pop/singer-songwriter? Or is it strictly focused at the big screen brass (the only two demo's I could find are). Having a hard time deciding what could be my brass library. Spitfire Studio or Symphonic even? CSB? MSB? Or stick with the NI brass solo anf ensembles essentials that came with komplete? Any advice highly appreciated.
 
Thank you for your very informative posts, Guy. Do you think that MSB's sound and playability can also enthusiasm a more indie-pop/singer-songwriter? Or is it strictly focused at the big screen brass (the only two demo's I could find are). Having a hard time deciding what could be my brass library. Spitfire Studio or Symphonic even? CSB? MSB? Or stick with the NI brass solo anf ensembles essentials that came with komplete? Any advice highly appreciated.

it can do it to a certain degree but might take more doing than its worth for indie pop. I've found that it doesnt really fit pop as much in what I've tried to do lately, unless it was aimed at more classical style. Recently I've found 8Dio's Intimate Brass and Samplemodeling's brass to be better fits.
 
Thank you for your very informative posts, Guy. Do you think that MSB's sound and playability can also enthusiasm a more indie-pop/singer-songwriter? Or is it strictly focused at the big screen brass (the only two demo's I could find are). Having a hard time deciding what could be my brass library. Spitfire Studio or Symphonic even? CSB? MSB? Or stick with the NI brass solo anf ensembles essentials that came with komplete? Any advice highly appreciated.

Tonally I think it will work fine for those, as long as you mean not big band type stuff (which i think you don't - Big Band Indie isn't really a thing, is it? Maybe it should be...). If you want more intimate brass arrangements, MSB would be really good there I think. Because it was recorded in a fairly dry hall, it doesn't have that baked in cinematic ambience, and it has some lovely instruments in the mp/mf range which could work well.
 
Just in case its of any use to anyone still considering the library, here's a half an hour whizz through of it in my template:



Thanks for doing this. Really good to hear most of the library played.

Really impressed by the agility of the trumpet legato at the start!

Love the growl of the cimbassi(os) :P too.
 
@Guy Rowland

Thanks for the video, very appreciated.

Out of curiosity: I see that the NKIs are locked. Is this correct? In the Audiobro videos they aren't. But I think this shouldn't be a problem.

Ah, just shut it down for the day... you mean locked from editing under the hood? I'll check tomorrow, someone else may well have chimed in by then. (You can tell how I often I want to dive under the hood by the fact I haven't noticed, or even really know what to notice - I figure anything under there on a library like MSB is going to be so massively complicated I may as well not bother...)
 
Ah, just shut it down for the day... you mean locked from editing under the hood? I'll check tomorrow, someone else may well have chimed in by then. (You can tell how I often I want to dive under the hood by the fact I haven't noticed, or even really know what to notice - I figure anything under there on a library like MSB is going to be so massively complicated I may as well not bother...)

No problem! Yes, I meant the editability.
 
LOL. You may be right. I broke down and -forced- myself to learn VSL. I got LASS at a point in my life where I had reached a breaking point about learning non-musical DAW shit. The number of technical vocabularies one has to deal with is like, OH GREAT YET ANOTHER SAMPLE LIB DEVELOPER HAS DEVELOPED YET ANOTHER BESPOKE SYSTEM! The arrogance just blows my mind sometimes.

Anyhoo... The problem for me, as I said is that the thing just sounds wonderful. I used to play with an opera orchestra and the sound of cimbassos makes for a brass choir that is to die for.

The only real question is: IS THE THING PLAYABLE if one puts in the work.

IOW: If one -is- diligent, can one make real music? I hate to sound so cynical, but I've bought one too many 500-600 libs that are only suitable for video game scoring due to crap articulations/transitions.

Hopefully, AudioBro will post more fully realised demos before the sale ends.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply to my ranting.

---JC



I could be wrong - so often am - but I'd advise against it for you, Suntower. Not because it isn't excellent - it absolutely is - and not because you can't work super-quickly with it - you can. And not because the UI isn't much better than LASS - it is. But because you never found the time to make LASS work for you, and MSB, in that sense, is perhaps similar, I fear the worst in your case.

LASS is a library that requires some heavy lifting to get it set up working for you. It might be the hardest around in that regard, the ARC has some really tricky concepts to get your head around. But if you spent the time with it, getting it set up (I have a video on this somewhere) then it will pay you back massively. It will be superquick to work with in practice, because you put in the hours upfront to tailor it just to how you need it. And because their programming, editing and recording is so slick, you'll be spending a lot less time in the end working around various deficiencies.

MSB IS much simpler, and sounds gorgeous right out of the box, its totally playable and even magical on a first play. But it shares that Audiobro DNA. Some of the more advanced concepts eluded me initially, took me a while to grapple with it, they definitely have an idiosyncratic way of doing things. But there is always reason in their apparent madness. The flexibility, scope and depth is ridiculous, and the attention to detail and QC superb.

So it took me a few days to get MSB into my template. Not a few continuous days I hasten to add, but all in it was probably something like 8 hours I'd guess. The library is vast, and that's one of the reasons why it took so long, and I wanted a very specific configuration that took some time to get organised. Now its exactly how I want it at the push of a button in Cubase / VE Pro, and I adore it.

FWIW, my own head could never really get round VSL's player. The grid system still baffles me to this day, and goodness knows I've tried to get it. Eventually I can make it do what I want, but its a lot of trial and a lot of error. What is intuitive to one person is arcane to another I guess. So you absolutely have my sympathies with not getting concepts. But it sounds like the AudioBro way might not be your way.
 
@Pixelpoet1985 - yes, locked patches it looks like to me.

@Suntower - I think most of us (certainly I) reach a brick wall when working with multiple libraries, and actually its a good anti-GAS defense. "Do I REALLY need this when I know I have to put in hours / days / weeks to get the most out of it? Or make more out of what I already have?"

I posted a video further up the page this is playing randomly as I have things set up, may hopefully get a feel for how it is under the fingers. My own fingers are so clumsy, I've always thought it must be nice for people to listen to it and think "Well I can make it sound better than THAT"...
 
IOW: If one -is- diligent, can one make real music? I hate to sound so cynical, but I've bought one too many 500-600 libs that are only suitable for video game scoring due to crap articulations/transitions.

Why do you think "video game scoring" isn't "real music"?
 
Why do you think "video game scoring" isn't "real music"?
oh my!
so some of us dont listen to music?
okay call it what you want then but does not
make some of us enjoy it any less and infact i enjoy the hell out of videogame music.

ive been into all geners of music
and been an avid fan of lots of great artist and also crapy artist that i admire and lesser known "still great from my perspective"
ive played on the big stages for over 100k people
ive toured like a maniac with sold out gigs over the world
and for over a year now i come home and turn on my 65" smart tv and put on youtupe "Jeremy Soule" morrowind game ambience for hours and hours.
I love videogame music!!
id be quite ignorant if i were to say that something isnt music when it does not apply to my point of view.

anyway it was not neccecary for me to put this out but i wanted to say for all the game people that i enjoy alot of their music and just as much as radio big names in past and present.

score your games people! 3>
 
IOW: If one -is- diligent, can one make real music? I hate to sound so cynical, but I've bought one too many 500-600 libs that are only suitable for video game scoring due to crap articulations/transitions.
Why do you think "video game scoring" isn't "real music"?

video game music isn't real music?! well thats a first....


id be quite ignorant if i were to say that something isnt music when it does not apply to my point of view.
+1
 
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I love videogame music!!
video game music isn't real music?! well thats a first....

Not sure why you guys are quoting me instead of @Suntower, but I'm 100% with you on this. Most orchestral music I listen to is from games, a lot of it by Jeremy Soule too.

I'm genuinely curious why @Suntower thinks these "lesser" libraries are only good enough for video game scoring and not for "real music" (whatever that's supposed to mean).
 
Still only two pretty similar demos so far and its been out almost a month...

Seems odd for such a big expensive flagship library.

I really want to hear some "naked" demos of a whole large section playing various genres.
 
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