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Infinite Series (Aaron Venture) thread

I got into it a year ago and went a bit crazy and bought lots. I don’t mind though, it got me through lockdown. I have avoided buying Infinite Brass and Woodwind due to having quite a few libraries, but it is very tempting.

The other aspect that stops me is that I have gone back to basics and I am learning more about composition just using a piano or with Staffpad.

It is on my list, though I imagine I will wait for the strings to come out before going for it. The other option is the SWAM bundle especially when string ensembles is released, but I like the sound of this more, it is just the flexibility I like with SWAM (I use it on iOS, works great with MPE and Musikraken/LEAP controller).
My brass library is VSL, which I purchased in 2011. From there to now I have not felt the need to buy any other brass library because, even if the "tone" was improved in comparison to VSL, there were mediocre improvements to the overall usability of the libraries.

The "tone", I found, was something I could shape or even, that was lost in a full mix, but usability is something that actually damages my ability and motivation to create music.

I'm planning on buying Infinite Brass this month, to take advantage of the discount. Even if the "tone" is inferior to my VSL collection (which I don't think it is), I'm certain it will bring back the freedom and pleasure I expect of actually making music.

It makes no sense to have a library with great "tone" if I'm not motivated to use it.


Edit: was replying to @Soundbed, apologies.
 
The "tone", I found, was something I could shape or even, that was lost in a full mix, but usability is something that actually damages my ability and motivation to create music.

It makes no sense to have a library with great "tone" if I'm not motivated to use it.


Edit: was replying to @Soundbed, apologies.
I would put it similarly, but not quite the same. Usability doesn't damage my ability or desire to make music, but it does make me wanna rip my hair out when I try to power through using certain libraries.

In addition, to me it makes no sense to have a library with the best tone in the world if the "music" you make with it sounds like a bunch of recordings stitched together. The way samples interact with each other within the same patch, articulation, and instrument is infinitely (heh) more important to me than where, how, or with how many mics you recorded your library. Sure, realism can be aided by tone, but musicality is achieved through the versatility (what the library can perform convincingly) and consistency (how well the samples can form musical phrases naturally) of a library, and musicality also aids realism in my book.
 
I would put it similarly, but not quite the same. Usability doesn't damage my ability or desire to make music, but it does make me wanna rip my hair out when I try to power through using certain libraries.

In addition, to me it makes no sense to have a library with the best tone in the world if the "music" you make with it sounds like a bunch of recordings stitched together. The way samples interact with each other within the same patch, articulation, and instrument is infinitely (heh) more important to me than where, how, or with how many mics you recorded your library. Sure, realism can be aided by tone, but musicality is achieved through the versatility (what the library can perform convincingly) and consistency (how well the samples can form musical phrases naturally) of a library, and musicality also aids realism in my book.
Yep. Kind of like a blank canvas compared to a box of puzzle pieces. I am a big fanboy for Samplemodeling and AV Infinite Series.
 
I would put it similarly, but not quite the same. Usability doesn't damage my ability or desire to make music, but it does make me wanna rip my hair out when I try to power through using certain libraries.

In addition, to me it makes no sense to have a library with the best tone in the world if the "music" you make with it sounds like a bunch of recordings stitched together. The way samples interact with each other within the same patch, articulation, and instrument is infinitely (heh) more important to me than where, how, or with how many mics you recorded your library. Sure, realism can be aided by tone, but musicality is achieved through the versatility (what the library can perform convincingly) and consistency (how well the samples can form musical phrases naturally) of a library, and musicality also aids realism in my book.
Good point about transitions as pertaining to realism. I think this is very often overlooked. The tone can be perfect but if there is a sudden change from articulation to articulation, it can throw the immersion off instantly.

I also began to appreciate that realism, in relation to "sounding like a real orchestra", has very little importance to the people that will listen to my music in the end. They simply don't care, and probably wouldn't even care to understand if I was to explain that I used samples.
 
I also began to appreciate that realism, in relation to "sounding like a real orchestra", has very little importance to the people that will listen to my music in the end. They simply don't care, and probably wouldn't even care to understand if I was to explain that I used samples.
I think if more people came to this conclusion, GAS would mostly die out overnight. But of course you'll just have people spouting the usual "x sample library got me paid more for a score" or "x library got me more gigs" rhetoric that a lot of experienced composers like to push. Despite heavily preferring Infinite over others, to me, someone's libraries of choice is far less significant than the sound they manage to get out of it. We've all heard amazing demos with "bad" libraries, and amateur demos with good ones. To a certain extent, it's all a matter of skill.
 
This appears to be the result of the new, more dynamic legato from the 1.6. update. It's not the same for the woodwinds because he hasn't ported the same legato improvements to that library yet. Ive noticed the same increase in delay. Since consistency across instruments is part of the appeal of these libraries, I have no doubt that the new, longer delay will be ported to Infinite Woodwinds in the next update, for better or for worse.
I admit I don't quite see the point of the very slow transitions that don't seem to have any portamento with them (e.g. horn). The 'bones work as expected and the euphonium (yea!) has some portamento it seems. In any case, it is easy enough to dial up the Legato Minimum setting to force the quicker transitions. My personal problem is that I tend to play at low velocity when playing quiet passages (you know, the piano thing) and playing with low dynamics but high velocity is really counter intuitive for me at least. I really need to watch Aaron's 1.6 video again to get some of the fine points I guess.

That aside, the entire approach is quite refreshing without the need to futz with articulation maps. So far nothing sounds "synthy" at all. I was very close to buying VSL Synchron Brass (I have Strings Pro, BBO and Synchronized Woodwinds) but now I'm looking forward to Infinite Strings. If it is as impressive and playable as the winds, there will be a bunch of libraries getting relegated to archive drives.

A big plus is it is very M1 laptop compatible due to disk and RAM footprint. And no bullshit authorization schemes or funky proprietary players (although the Synchron player is quite nice).
 
I admit I don't quite see the point of the very slow transitions that don't seem to have any portamento with them (e.g. horn). The 'bones work as expected and the euphonium (yea!) has some portamento it seems. In any case, it is easy enough to dial up the Legato Minimum setting to force the quicker transitions. My personal problem is that I tend to play at low velocity when playing quiet passages (you know, the piano thing) and playing with low dynamics but high velocity is really counter intuitive for me at least. I really need to watch Aaron's 1.6 video again to get some of the fine points I guess.

That aside, the entire approach is quite refreshing without the need to futz with articulation maps. So far nothing sounds "synthy" at all. I was very close to buying VSL Synchron Brass (I have Strings Pro, BBO and Synchronized Woodwinds) but now I'm looking forward to Infinite Strings. If it is as impressive and playable as the winds, there will be a bunch of libraries getting relegated to archive drives.

A big plus is it is very M1 laptop compatible due to disk and RAM footprint. And no bullshit authorization schemes or funky proprietary players (although the Synchron player is quite nice).
Have got a foot pedal if so, you can press it while dropping mod wheel then play soft and move mod wheel, you can adjust mic volume to get an even more quite start for portamento
 
Haha I could not make sense too when I just read, if you have like a sustain pedal press it , then move your mod wheel all the way down then you should be able to play soft, and mimick a portamento riding the mod wheel
 
This appears to be the result of the new, more dynamic legato from the 1.6. update. It's not the same for the woodwinds because he hasn't ported the same legato improvements to that library yet. Ive noticed the same increase in delay. Since consistency across instruments is part of the appeal of these libraries, I have no doubt that the new, longer delay will be ported to Infinite Woodwinds in the next update, for better or for worse.
I'm thinking a natural consequence of improved scripting could be longer processing times. I know nothing about any of this computer stuff though 😁
 
I recently bought infinite brass and have a question:
I see there is no horn ensemble patch. Let's say I have a unisono line and want 6 horns play the same line for a while. if I create an individual track for each horn will it sound like 6 horns are playing it? Or rather six times one horn? I mean for strings for example, if you wanna have 14 violins play unisono, the violins ensemble patch obviously sounds completely different than having 14 tracks in your DAW with a solo violin loaded into each one. So my question is, how is infinite brass solving it making it not sound like individual horns?
 
Each horn is different so you won’t get phasing issue, so it won’t be 6 times same horn.
Still, 6 different horns are not exactly sounding like 6 horns together in the same room.
My opinion : in the mix, I don’t care much and I appreciate immensely to have 6 horns to write to.
If I want a big fat sound, I add a pinch of Junxie XL.
 
In addition to humanize - or even in replacement -

Also experiment with a small amount of pitch bend or a very slow vibrato rate and low depth, different for each instrument. I guess with 1.6 you could more directly do it with the pitfh accuracy setting.

Also experiment with transposition trickjv

And also experiment with unique recorded midi performances for each track.

And also experiment with different mic mix on each instrument too. Seems drastic until you really hear the different sound of two different soloists playing next to each other, the really do sound reasonable different.

And importantly, make sure each horn is not using the same positional IR.

With those the tricks, it should be possible to get a very nice thick and brassy sound from ensembles in unison!
 
In addition to humanize - or even in replacement -

Also experiment with a small amount of pitch bend or a very slow vibrato rate and low depth, different for each instrument. I guess with 1.6 you could more directly do it with the pitfh accuracy setting.

Also experiment with transposition trickjv

And also experiment with unique recorded midi performances for each track.

And also experiment with different mic mix on each instrument too. Seems drastic until you really hear the different sound of two different soloists playing next to each other, the really do sound reasonable different.

And importantly, make sure each horn is not using the same positional IR.

With those the tricks, it should be possible to get a very nice thick and brassy sound from ensembles in unison!
Great tips, thanks.

To make individual instruments sound more like an ensemble, I also like to saturate them together. In the case of brass, I like to add some bassy tape saturation to make them sound heavier.
 
Just to pop in here with some ensemble tips: I get the most believable sound for the brass ensembles by running the studio IR for everything and then feeding the entire brass section into Teldex in Altiverb. You can use whatever scoring stage/hall you want, I use Teldex so I can blend my strings and brass nicely with Berlin Winds
 
I recently bought infinite brass and have a question:
I see there is no horn ensemble patch. Let's say I have a unisono line and want 6 horns play the same line for a while. if I create an individual track for each horn will it sound like 6 horns are playing it? Or rather six times one horn? I mean for strings for example, if you wanna have 14 violins play unisono, the violins ensemble patch obviously sounds completely different than having 14 tracks in your DAW with a solo violin loaded into each one. So my question is, how is infinite brass solving it making it not sound like individual horns?
In short, Infinite is designed with building sections in mind. Each horn has its own variations in the tone, pitch, timing and controls before you even start entering your own MIDI data. Do not forget also that the IR stage positions of each horn is different, as is every other instrument in IB and IW. It's so good 😁
 
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