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Library Spotlight - Studio Brass

Listen inside and make your own decisions.

This is not directed specifically at you; however I do notice that some members here spend a cuckoo amount of time asking others about libraries again and again when sometimes all they really need to do is concentrate on already existent walkthroughs. I also have to mention that plenty of libs have "patches only" video reviews that take you directly into the library to judge for yourself. I daresay the latter, when done conscientiously by the video creator, can be even more important toward making up one's mind than the walkthroughs.

I listened to audios, watched walkthroughs and sounds only videos left and right before I bought Studio Brass and Woodwinds. I also read page after page of denunciations. In the end what I was hearing was all that mattered, and what I heard really inspired me. I bought them both and now I'm pleased as punch.

I feel that I would be amiss without mentioning that reviews can be helpful in plenty of other ways besides verifying a purchase already made; they can help you hear and see things you wouldn't have otherwise in order to get as much as you can out of the library.
I've always felt the exact same way when it came to making a decision on a library - I only rely on what my ears tell me. I got fed up in the past with developers not having enough actual playthrough content and I got angry when I clicked on a review or playthrough video where the person was playing the library like a piano.

That's what made me want to make videos in the first place. I never wanted to review libraries, just make interesting audio examples, but I eventually became known as a reviewer. It makes me want to just go back to basics to be honest...
 
I've always felt the exact same way when it came to making a decision on a library - I only rely on what my ears tell me. I got fed up in the past with developers not having enough actual playthrough content and I got angry when I clicked on a review or playthrough video where the person was playing the library like a piano.

That's what made me want to make videos in the first place. I never wanted to review libraries, just make interesting audio examples, but I eventually became known as a reviewer. It makes me want to just go back to basics to be honest...

You tend to trump many of the pro walkthroughs I've seen. It can seem more personal, plus you're not selling anything (which obviously makes a huge difference).

I've certainly used SA's walkthroughs to help me make decisions, but it's often the more personal reviews that sell me on something.

Shoot, as I've mentioned too many times (and please forgive in advance) I mostly bought SSTWW for the audios shared by a person who apparently despised the library lol!
 
I've always felt the exact same way when it came to making a decision on a library - I only rely on what my ears tell me. I got fed up in the past with developers not having enough actual playthrough content and I got angry when I clicked on a review or playthrough video where the person was playing the library like a piano.

That's what made me want to make videos in the first place. I never wanted to review libraries, just make interesting audio examples, but I eventually became known as a reviewer. It makes me want to just go back to basics to be honest...

Your reviews have been extremely helpful to me and I appreciate having access to your expertise :)
 
I'm using SStB every day and loving it! It's slowly taking over my Hein and EWH brass for solo instruments, and that's saying one yee-haw of a lot, as the Hein was my default for months and months (it's a terrific library imo).
How are you getting around the troublesome calibration of the modwheel for the longs on the brass and the velocities (imho) set far too soft for the shorts? Have you altered the velocity curve for the shorts to something more like what Cory demonstrates for the woodwinds? In addition to making that change to the shorts, I find with the brass that I have to make an alternate version of the longs that restricts the patch to the lowest dynamic layer to give me enough range on the modwheel to do effective gentle swells. Cory hints at this in his comments about the bumpy dynamic layers—not always a bad thing because sometimes you want to swell into that edge. But I do find many of the patches in the brass library difficult to use in the state that Spitfire shipped them.

I should add that other than the calibration I’ve been generally pleased with the library, so I 'm not meaning to knock it in the least but just noting some of the challenges it has presented me.
 
I find that it helps to sometimes use the expression control (which affects volume directly) in addition to the mod wheel (which has a smaller dynamic range and also affects which recordings are played), for more thorough control over dynamic movement.

I've now reached the point where I miss having that secondary control in non-Spitfire libraries :emoji_slight_smile:
 
How are you getting around the troublesome calibration of the modwheel for the longs on the brass and the velocities (imho) set far too soft for the shorts? Have you altered the velocity curve for the shorts to something more like what Cory demonstrates for the woodwinds? In addition to making that change to the shorts, I find with the brass that I have to make an alternate version of the longs that restricts the patch to the lowest dynamic layer to give me enough range on the modwheel to do effective gentle swells. Cory hints at this in his comments about the bumpy dynamic layers—not always a bad thing because sometimes you want to swell into that edge. But I do find many of the patches in the brass library difficult to use in the state that Spitfire shipped them.

I should add that other than the calibration I’ve been generally pleased with the library, so I 'm not meaning to knock it in the least but just noting some of the challenges it has presented me.
I must be more forgiving with libraries than some folks. Those peccadilloes to me were just things I either worked around or blended or replaced with another library. But I have had to do that with most of the libraries I've ever owned. When I get a library I'm so busy working how and with it that I just don't think about the annoying idiosyncrasies much... I just forge on. I play to the strengths and nip the weaknesses in the bud via substitution.
 
I must be more forgiving with libraries than some folks. Those peccadilloes to me were just things I either worked around or blended or replaced with another library. But I have had to do that with most of the libraries I've ever owned. When I get a library I'm so busy working how and with it that I just don't think about the annoying idiosyncrasies much... I just forge on. I play to the strengths and nip the weaknesses in the bud via substitution.

So what you’re saying ...is that you really can never have too many string libraries after all, no? :)
 
Broader point of course is re: allegations of excessive focus on the positive. Which is a valid point, yet this is how everyone has always worked with sample libraries. Find out what it does well, work around what it doesn't. This plus the fact that for every line a given sample library can play, there's going to be uncountably infinities of lines that it can't.

Just a thought.
 
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Broader point of course is re: allegations of excessive focus on the positive. Which is a valid point, yet this is how every has always worked with sample libraries. Find out what it does well, work around what it doesn't. This plus the fact that for every line a given sample library can play, there's going to be uncountably infinities of lines that it can't.

Just a thought.
There's no such thing as a perfect library, just as there's nothing as good as having actual performers play your composition...ideally performers who like your music. No library can or will capture that.
 
Hi Cory and thanks so much for both the review and the patches. I've only now gotten around to trying out the patches. I find that your corrected patches seem to be quite a bit louder than the default Spitfire patches. Is this done intentionally to balance this library properly with the rest of the studio range (I have had the hunch that the brass by default is slightly too quiet compared to WW and Strings), or is it simply a by effect of your calibration?
 
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Hi Cory and thanks so much for both the review and the patches. I've only now gotten around to trying out the patches. I find that your corrected patches seem to be quite a bit louder than the default Spitfire patches. Is this done intentionally to balance this library properly with the rest of the studio range (I have had the hunch that the brass by default is slightly to quiet compared to WW and Strings), or is it simply a by effect of your calibration?
I made it slightly louder. Some of Spitfire's libraries load up with the loudest dynamics at -6dB. That makes sense from a mixing perspective, but when you want to load up and play around with something it's a bit too quiet.
 
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