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Spitfire Audio London Contemporary Orchestra Textures – Available now

If I were to hazard I guess, I would think the excitement is less for the reverb, and more for the texture and evo aspects of the library.
Also the reverb can kind of (I think?) be adjusted with the mic positioning, but I haven't really messed with anything other than the mix yet.

The choice to use LCO, in two very different venues, remains something to get (personally) more comfortable with.
LCO Strings was already high on short list, yet Textures now stands well apart.
No personal pros /cons, just sorting this prior to purchase of one. :unsure:
 
I don't think this is really accurate. The sounds retain a lot of timbral character. One thing that the reverb does do is make it harder for particular sounds to emerge from the ensemble as EVOs often do because everything is bound together by the reverb. That's both an advantage and a disadvantage. In this library the reverb is also part of the character of the sustain, not an attribute that is applied to the sustain. Because the reverb is attached to the sustain it also does not build up as you move notes the way a long reverb would.
Have to agree - this is spot-on with my assessment.
@jtnyc - Put less eloquently, just because it has a long reverb tail didd not mean that the sounds and details and texture get washed out. There are many sounds that kind of have very reverberating feel and a bit distant at times, however textures in individual tones and timbres remain distinct and recognizable. They're not all washed out in a blur just because of the reverb. There is some blending with instrument groups at times, but not washed out. I hope that makes some sense, I'm afraid I'm not great at articulating what I mean when it comes to music and sound.
 
LCO Strings was already high on short list, yet Textures now stands well apart.
No personal pros /cons, just sorting this prior to purchase of one. :unsure:

I don't have LCO, or LCOT, but reading your post, made me go back, and try to evaluate LCO once again, I think it might be more useful for my needs than LCOT. Although, imho. both are useful libraries. I don't know why I didn't purchase LCO when it was first released, so I'm going to re-evaluate it, and see what that leads me to.
 
I don't have LCO, or LCOT, but reading your post, made me go back, and try to evaluate LCO once again, I think it might be more useful for my needs than LCOT. Although, imho. both are useful libraries. I don't know why I didn't purchase LCO when it was first released, so I'm going to re-evaluate it, and see what that leads me to.
I have found LCO very hard to use—except the spectral scrubs. I use those all the time as a kind of sparkly wash when I want to put a patina over some sustains. Don't get me wrong. LCO has lots of very interesting and even unique sounds that are fascinating to consider. I've just had difficulty figuring out how to compose with them.
 
Again I think I digress to Omnisphere that seems to be able to cover much of this same ground already. Will need to modulate some parameters to achieve the evolving nature of these textures, but I certainly think it's doable... and in the same realm of sonic quality.
 
I have found LCO very hard to use—except the spectral scrubs. I use those all the time as a kind of sparkly wash when I want to put a patina over some sustains. Don't get me wrong. LCO has lots of very interesting and even unique sounds that are fascinating to consider. I've just had difficulty figuring out how to compose with them.

Thanks for the feedback.

I don't want to go off-topic discussing LCO here, but I can relate to what you mentioned regarding LCO being very hard to use. Maybe that was one of the reasons It didn't click with me when it was first released, especially after watching the walkthrough video of the articulations it offered.
 
Here's a "darker" more tension based demo, in the style of Gone Girl (I think haha). Library really shines providing textures & atmosphere to cues like this!

Again additional instruments are Spitfire Studio Strings (there's a bit of cello hidden in there) / Albion One Easter Island Hits & some Zebra HZ @TheUnfinished sounds!



Cool track! Just what I was looking for.
 
I've bought LCOT but I'm having a hard time to figure out how this snippet of the library helps to answer the question? Can you elaborate?

All I mean is that if you found that you weren't using particular evos and had limited space on a touring hard drive, you could choose to leave some evos behind.
 
All I mean is that if you found that you weren't using particular evos and had limited space on a touring hard drive, you could choose to leave some evos behind.

Ok, I couldn’t tell them from your reply. Thanks for clarifying!
I thought the op was more referring to how to isolate instruments in a mix?

Since you've segmented the library in 4 logic groups (Ethereal, Mercurial, Quantum and Astral) it's somewhat possible to restrict the "instrument" types. For instance if you only select pegs in column 5 (similar to the Aurora Borealis preset) the focus is on choir only. Pegs 3 choir and bowls (glass)? etc.
It's most obvious when only focusing on the close mics. HTH
 
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The more I looked at Ark 4 the fewer reasons I saw to buy it. $456 for choral shouts and overblown winds seemed a bit much. (The strings sound good but I don’t see that they will add significantly to my current strings.)

One major difference _ for me _ is NOT having the extensive, top tier Strings /Orch libs as you and many others. This morning, @ ChrisSiuMusic presents his formal review of OT_ARK 4.
I find it very instructive and find ARK 4 more broadly useful than LCO Textures … given my current inventory. Textures will be very niche when added, while Chris' review suggests ARK 4 will add nicely.

No critique intended, just major differences in what my current toolbox contains. ;)
OTH, current costs are far apart …. $199. vs ~$460. (incld xchg + fees)

Will be interested in your impressions after @ ChrisSiuMusic ARK 4review.
 
One major difference _ for me _ is NOT having the extensive, top tier Strings /Orch libs as you and many others. This morning, @ ChrisSiuMusic presents his formal review of OT_ARK 4.
I find it very instructive and find ARK 4 more broadly useful than LCO Textures … given my current inventory. Textures will be very niche when added, while Chris' review suggests ARK 4 will add nicely.

No critique intended, just major differences in what my current toolbox contains. ;)
OTH, current costs are far apart …. $199. vs ~$460. (incld xchg + fees)

Will be interested in your impressions after @ ChrisSiuMusic ARK 4review.
I thought it was an excellent overview, and more helpful than the OT walkthroughs. It did not, however, change my basic assessment of Ark 4 for me, though I will likely pick it up if it ever goes on a reasonable sale again. I'm not convinced the strings will give you what you want, and you'd likely be better putting the $460 toward whichever of the top tier string library appeals most to you, if that's the appeal. If there are other things you are hearing in the library that appeal and seem like they give you new capability, then of course the equation changes. I definitely think the library sounds good, so that's not an issue.

I will add that I think you should trust your gut on Textures. It sounds to me like you are unconvinced that it will help you at this point. I think that means LCOT should be a pass for you. If you change your mind, you'll likely be able to pick it up next Christmas at 40% off.
 
I thought it was an excellent overview, and more helpful than the OT walkthroughs. It did not, however, change my basic assessment of Ark 4 for me, though I will likely pick it up if it ever goes on a reasonable sale again. I'm not convinced the strings will give you what you want, and you'd likely be better putting the $460 toward whichever of the top tier string library appeals most to you, if that's the appeal. If there are other things you are hearing in the library that appeal and seem like they give you new capability, then of course the equation changes. I definitely think the library sounds good, so that's not an issue.

I will add that I think you should trust your gut on Textures. It sounds to me like you are unconvinced that it will help you at this point. I think that means LCOT should be a pass for you. If you change your mind, you'll likely be able to pick it up next Christmas at 40% off.

Was trusting you would have seen the Review and commented in this context. Your informed impressions are most helpful in steering these larger investments going forward.

At this point, I am quite unsettled in terms of adding a top tier Strings Lib. My gut leans to Audiobro LASS, especially given the comfortable pathway thru LASS Lite. While 2.5 is getting long-in-tooth, there seems likely Update to LASS 3 while I'm still able to function.
The 'big 3' are all moving in new directions, and investing heavily in their existing, older, mainstream String Libs is iffy.
Many would urge Cinematic Studio Series, and that remains an option.

THX and regards
 
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Hi,

For those who purchased LCOT, how satisfied are you with your purchase ? Did it meet your expectations, usefulness, ..etc. ?

So, on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being extremely satisfied. What would your rating for this library be ?

Thanks,
Muziksculp
 
Hi,

For those who purchased LCOT, how satisfied are you with your purchase ? Did it meet your expectations, usefulness, ..etc. ?

So, on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being extremely satisfied. What would your rating for this library be ?

Thanks,
Muziksculp
I just got it last night, so I don't have tons of time with it yet. My first reaction is buyer's remorse. But that's how I feel about every single library I buy. The more time I spend with a library and understand it, the more I begin to appreciate it.

IMO, Paul's walkthrough was a very good overview of this library. That's exactly what you get, you don't need programming skills to use this, just ears that tell you if that's the sound you want.

This is a finite group of instruments, so I can understand those who find a lack of variety here. Many of the patches are subtly different from other patches.

But what I realized last night after a couple of hours, is that for me, the magic with this library will be in layering it in with others. This is exactly my experience with the LCO strings. I don't use them by themselves, but I can always find something from them to layer with SSS or SCS.

On a scale from 1 to 10, at this point I'll give it a 7. But that might change the more I use it.

Hope this helps.
 
I just got it last night, so I don't have tons of time with it yet. My first reaction is buyer's remorse. But that's how I feel about every single library I buy. The more time I spend with a library and understand it, the more I begin to appreciate it.

IMO, Paul's walkthrough was a very good overview of this library. That's exactly what you get, you don't need programming skills to use this, just ears that tell you if that's the sound you want.

This is a finite group of instruments, so I can understand those who find a lack of variety here. Many of the patches are subtly different from other patches.

But what I realized last night after a couple of hours, is that for me, the magic with this library will be in layering it in with others. This is exactly my experience with the LCO strings. I don't use them by themselves, but I can always find something from them to layer with SSS or SCS.

On a scale from 1 to 10, at this point I'll give it a 7. But that might change the more I use it.

Hope this helps.

Hi JT,

Thanks for the feedback, I think a 7 on the satisfaction scale is quite good/generous, given the kind of limited sonic palette this library seems to offers.

Looking forward to see more user satisfaction scores for this library, and any additional comments.

Cheers,
Muziksculp
 
I just got it last night, so I don't have tons of time with it yet. My first reaction is buyer's remorse. But that's how I feel about every single library I buy. The more time I spend with a library and understand it, the more I begin to appreciate it.

IMO, Paul's walkthrough was a very good overview of this library. That's exactly what you get, you don't need programming skills to use this, just ears that tell you if that's the sound you want.

This is a finite group of instruments, so I can understand those who find a lack of variety here. Many of the patches are subtly different from other patches.

But what I realized last night after a couple of hours, is that for me, the magic with this library will be in layering it in with others. This is exactly my experience with the LCO strings. I don't use them by themselves, but I can always find something from them to layer with SSS or SCS.

On a scale from 1 to 10, at this point I'll give it a 7. But that might change the more I use it.

Hope this helps.

I think this is well said. I had a bit of buyer's remorse too just playing with LCOT on it's own but after I started layering it subtly with other libraries I saw a bit of magic in it. Still I can't help think that this could be done with basically any instrument, synth, pad, or library to get the same results...but then the special sauce is the sound of the hangar with the evolving nature of the library.

It really seems to blend well with other Spitfire evos and libraries. I'll give it a 7 out of 10 and it could have been higher if it wern't for that horrible quality evo interface. Spitfire really cut corners on that, definitely below the Spitfire standard. How they released that without some sort of embarrassment boggles me. It's worse than any other Kontakt interface I've ever seen and their design team should revisit that. But hey, sound rules right? Anyway you asked in this thread so there ya go. It doesn't affect the sound but I'll hope they'll address it.
 
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