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Performance Samples Caspian as a first/main brass library - thoughts?

Arise

Member
I have Oceania and love the ease-of-use and performance based sampling (no articulations or keyswitches needed).

Caspian has the same thing going on, which makes me interested in it, and I need a brass library. Kind of a shame it doesn't have a tuba though.

Do you guys think it's worth it to get this?

From what I heard the trumpets are good, the french horns are aight but nothing special and the trombones are really good.

It's 239 full price, though for 40 more bucks I can have Cinematic Studio Brass (loyalty discount).

I love both Performance Samples and Cinematic Samples and their way of making libraries.
 
I have Cinematic Studio Brass and the marcato patches in it work sort of like Caspian if you turn on staccato overlay. And you get solo instruments and lots more articulations

Caspian is very small and light though.
 
I have Cinematic Studio Brass and the marcato patches in it work sort of like Caspian if you turn on staccato overlay. And you get solo instruments and lots more articulations

Caspian is very small and light though.

Yeah Caspian is incredibly small (1.16GB iirc). But I know that CS Brass will give me a better sound overall. I don't know, I could see myself liking either one of the 2 heh .Decisions..
 
I think all their libraries are fantastic, but to me a little overpriced.

While I can purchase the CASPIAN for 92.330 HUF,

Hollywood Brass Diamond is 94.484 HUF,
Cinematic Studio Brass is 104.240 HUF with loyality discount.

So for me don't worth it because there are very detailed sample libraries at similar prices.
 
I think all their libraries are fantastic, but to me a little overpriced.

While I can purchase the CASPIAN for 92.330 HUF,

Hollywood Brass Diamond is 94.484 HUF,
Cinematic Studio Brass is 104.240 HUF with loyality discount.

So for me don't worth it because there are very detailed sample libraries at similar prices.

That's true, the prices are very similar (considering the loyalty discount) and with CS Brass I get a lot more instruments and a better sound I'd say. And it would blend better with CSS.
Still I find the performance sampling method of PS fascinating. But overall I'm leaning a bit on CSB when it comes to bang for the buck
 
That's true, the prices are very similar (considering the loyalty discount) and with CS Brass I get a lot more instruments and a better sound I'd say. And it would blend better with CSS.
Still I find the performance sampling method of PS fascinating. But overall I'm leaning a bit on CSB when it comes to bang for the buck

To make the choice even more difficult:

CASPIAN is on sale ;)

https://performancesamples.com/caspian/
 
Worth getting? Yes. For the playability. As a main brass library? Definitely not. No tuba, no separate bass trombone, RR on trumpets only. I have many brass libs and use Caspian for layering or to quickly sketch something. Never as the main library (for that, I use CSB and CineBrass).
 
I have Cinematic Studio Brass and the marcato patches in it work sort of like Caspian if you turn on staccato overlay. And you get solo instruments and lots more articulations

Caspian is very small and light though.

but make sure you turn off the legato coz sometimes you might have that "sticky note" by accident. just to be safe. =)
 
I own both Caspian and CSB. Caspian is really great, I love it. Especially the Trombones. The only issue is playing repetitions is hard because there aren't really Round Robins. But playing big brass melodies with it is so fun! CSB I just bought and it just sounds amazing all around, IMO. The legato is so smooth and I LOVE the short articulations on the Trumpets and Trombones. You can pull of really nice Star Wars-y type repetitions with it and it can play rather softly, too!
 
I think Caspian is amazing at what it does. Very musical and easy to use. Sounds good out of the box, with just a bit of reverb. Performance Samples is amazing.
 
Hello,
Do you guys think it's worth getting Caspian & Angry Brass Pro (for the bity Repetitions) together for 100$ less than CSB? I own Jaeger and Ark 3 for Brass (as well as solo Horn & Trombone). I don't know if I will get THAT much use out of the Soloists and additional Artics from CSB... I just really like the sound from Caspian and ABP, more so than the CSB sound. Maybe you guys can help me a bit... ;)
- Lukas
 
Hello,
Do you guys think it's worth getting Caspian & Angry Brass Pro (for the bity Repetitions) together for 100$ less than CSB? I own Jaeger and Ark 3 for Brass (as well as solo Horn & Trombone). I don't know if I will get THAT much use out of the Soloists and additional Artics from CSB... I just really like the sound from Caspian and ABP, more so than the CSB sound. Maybe you guys can help me a bit... ;)
- Lukas

What do you want to use them for?

You mention that you already have Jaeger and Ark 3 but non of those I would call dedicated brass libraries, Jaeger is the closest but still not a full brass library.

If your going for the more playable libraries I would recommend Musical Sampling more than Performance Sample for you at the moment. They both have their place, but I believe you will get more use out for Musical Sampling with your current setup.

Caspian is limited by its lack of round robins and its dynamic layers; only 2 for Horns and 3 for Trumpets. The sound might be a bit more natural than Adventure Brass but Adventure Brass is more flexible.

Angry Brass Pro has a great sound for bombastic over the top epic music. It has very punchy attacks and will easily be heard over a heavy arrangement. But it's also limited by dynamic layers. So it's a niche library and only good for more over the top parts.

Cinematic Studio Brass is a great all around library. It doesn't have any 9 or 12 Horn patches like ARK1 and CineBrass Pro, or an extremely processed over the top sound like Angry Brass. But it will still reach rather far up the dynamic range. And if you want to add more bite you can always layer it with ARK3 or Jaeger. But CSB has got legato for all sections, good dynamic range, a great sound, is very consistent, and will layer perfectly with CSS.
 
I really find myself writing a lot of that loud, over-the-top sound, for which I think ABP would be great.
But I see your point there with the versatility, which is not that good with Caspian/ABP. Layering with Ark 3 is sometimes difficult because of the lack of long notes other than the decrescendos. Never really paid much attention to musical sampling tho, should really look into it... Damn decisions :(
 
Yeah, don't really like the sound of Adventure Brass. Actually I love ABP the most haha but not for general use, reminds me of Ark 3 but playable and with long Artics. Probably gonna go for CSB then as it seems to be the golden middle. Maybe I'll get ABP too at some point...
Thanks for the input, appreciate it :)
 
Since your title suggests you are looking for a main brass library, CSB is the obvious choice from what has been suggested. In a perfect world, you would have a combination of CSB, Caspian, ABP and those would pretty much cover your brass needs for quite some time.
 
no separate bass trombone
actually, iirc Caspian doesn't have tenor trombones at all, it's 3 bass bones.


Cinematic Studio Brass is a great all around library. It doesn't have any 9 or 12 Horn patches like ARK1 and CineBrass Pro, or an extremely processed over the top sound like Angry Brass.

CSB have probably one of the most fffff top layers out of any horns patch. They might very well be more ffff than ark 1(although it's just 4 horns, not 9)

infact I don't think it's even a maintainable dynamic, I'm pretty sure it's just long enough to have a short loop and be used for stuff like crescendos/ect.

to OP If you don't have a main brass library, I'd go with CSB. If you want a fun sketching tool - get Caspian or adventure brass. TBH I like adventure brass a little more - because despite the tone being worse, it can be corrected with EQ/reverb - lack of RR's makes Caspian less inspiring, because it makes me subconsciously avoid repeated notes - which is actually quite useful for melodic writing in general, let alone brass writing.
 
actually, iirc Caspian doesn't have tenor trombones at all, it's 3 bass bones.




CSB have probably one of the most fffff top layers out of any horns patch. They might very well be more ffff than ark 1(although it's just 4 horns, not 9)

infact I don't think it's even a maintainable dynamic, I'm pretty sure it's just long enough to have a short loop and be used for stuff like crescendos/ect.

to OP If you don't have a main brass library, I'd go with CSB. If you want a fun sketching tool - get Caspian or adventure brass. TBH I like adventure brass a little more - because despite the tone being worse, it can be corrected with EQ/reverb - lack of RR's makes Caspian less inspiring, because it makes me subconsciously avoid repeated notes - which is actually quite useful for melodic writing in general, let alone brass writing.

Yes, I agree. CSB has a great dynamic range and goes very high, but it's still natural. When listening to Angry Brass Pro I think it sounds processed, it might not be, just sounds that way. Hence why I think it's over the top. I also I agree that CSB probably goes higher dynamically than ARK1. One of the reason ARK1 might sound bigger and more epic is because of the difference in players, and different rooms of course since that's also a contributing factor to something sounding huge and epic.

I think CSB, as well as CSS, are both almost must have libraries, especially when starting out or when not having a main library. They are priced well in my opinion and they are great as main workhorse libraries. The consistency and sound make them them very easy to use for even beginners. Then when you get more advanced you might want to add niche libraries that complement your main libraries.
 
Hello,
Do you guys think it's worth getting Caspian & Angry Brass Pro (for the bity Repetitions) together for 100$ less than CSB? I own Jaeger and Ark 3 for Brass (as well as solo Horn & Trombone). I don't know if I will get THAT much use out of the Soloists and additional Artics from CSB... I just really like the sound from Caspian and ABP, more so than the CSB sound. Maybe you guys can help me a bit... ;)
- Lukas
I love Caspian, it is perfect or layering with Adventure and Trailer Brass. Since both have a similar playing technique, they complement each other perfectly.
Also with EW Hollywood Brass well combinable, so I miss nothing and I have a great sound.
 
I really find myself writing a lot of that loud, over-the-top sound, for which I think ABP would be great.
But I see your point there with the versatility, which is not that good with Caspian/ABP. Layering with Ark 3 is sometimes difficult because of the lack of long notes other than the decrescendos. Never really paid much attention to musical sampling tho, should really look into it... Damn decisions :(
Trailer Brass get also extremely loud, and also mighty deep, great mix of shorts and sustained sounds.
But it has no trumpets!
 
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