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Would you recommend the Spitfire Swarm libraries (Orchestral Swarm particularly)

porrasm

Active Member
I got my first paycheck from my summer job today AND Spitfire has a sale (the stars have aligned for me perhaps?). Well... you know how the story goes.

I'm looking for something ambient, especially something that could fill the background. I know the Swarms could fill this purpose but I'm mainly interested in if they're worth the money (or if there are alternatves out there).

What do you think of the Swarms?
 
I have them. Only a hobbyist and not really good at the classical thing yet. I find I never use them. I've used Kepler more. You are better off getting OACE - Olafur Arnolds Chamber Evolutions. Much more usable.
 
I have them. Only a hobbyist and not really good at the classical thing yet. I find I never use them. I've used Kepler more. You are better off getting OACE - Olafur Arnolds Chamber Evolutions. Much more usable.
I'll check out Kepler and OACE, thanks!
 
I have orchestral swarm and I use it almost in every orchestral track. for adding some complexity to the texture it’s great. It includes also some shorts that are sometimes handy. Very specifical tool, yeah, but gorgeous
 
I got Orchestral Swarm as part of a bundle where I already had other pieces, so it was dirt cheap. For that price it's been worth it, as a sort of poor man's version of Tundra/Evo textures. I don't need that kind of thing a lot to be honest.
 
Orchestral Swarm became an important part in my template. I love using unusual textures. I complement them with Tundra, OT Time Macro/Micro and a number of others.
To me EVO based instruments have proven themselves to be not very useful.
 
Orchestral Swarm became an important part in my template. I love using unusual textures. I complement them with Tundra, OT Time Macro/Micro and a number of others.
To me EVO based instruments have proven themselves to be not very useful.
So is Tundra a nice addition to your tools if you already have the swarm? I’m thinking of buying it right now
 
So is Tundra a nice addition to your tools if you already have the swarm? I’m thinking of buying it right now
In my opinion, yes. Tundra specializes on subtle and quiet nuances where most other libraries fall flat.
All in all I feel that Tundra itself as a sample library is a piece of art. I'd get it again despite having a myriad of 'swarmy' libraries, especially for strings.
 
I have them. Only a hobbyist and not really good at the classical thing yet. I find I never use them. I've used Kepler more. You are better off getting OACE - Olafur Arnolds Chamber Evolutions. Much more usable.

Hmm, could you say more about Kepler? I can get it for $147…I have Time Macro and wondering if that’s enough in that direction.
 
I adore Orchestral Swarm. OACE is a bread an butter library. Tundra was genuinely life changing.

But in the same league of these I’d also be sure to have at least have a look at Sunset Strings, Time Micro/Macro & Tallinn all of which are phenomenal also/
 
The Batas in Percussion Swarm have a fantastic close/detailed sound, they're great if you need driving percussion that isn't too epic
 
I'm finding the Harp Swarm quite useful. Especially the spectacular "harp glisses en masse". Not to replace a normal orch harp, but great for an ambient vibe (if EQ-ing out some lows). And I like that they run in Kontakt, which saves me RAM recourses on my VEP-in-the-box setup (by purging).
 
I adore Orchestral Swarm. OACE is a bread an butter library. Tundra was genuinely life changing.

But in the same league of these I’d also be sure to have at least have a look at Sunset Strings, Time Micro/Macro & Tallinn all of which are phenomenal also/
If you had to choose 1 would you choode OACE or the Orchestral Swarm?
EDIT: I own Spitfire Symphonic Strings which offers some textural patterns etc. but not as varied as OACE of course.
 
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Every time Ive used Swarm, next day when I listen to track, I wonder what the he.ll that annoying noise is, and it is Swarm. It has never passed the line of green light - that being said, I imagine it could. Maybe on some specific genre in which you want to make some peculiar sounding stuff. Imagine any nice symphony, and trying to put Swarm in there - it wont work. I dont see it working - except in making these sound poppings that dont really fit in.

So you got an honest opinion, and - while I dont have the library - Id be looking at Arkhis instead. It seems more complex and rich, than just pops from oboes and stuff like that.

Now, in retrospective, I regret buying Swarm, so I may sound a bit too negative. It might as well be okay for your arsenal. Look at the demos and see if it fits your stuff. It will not bring any magic, you need to have the magic there before applying it. If you are lucky, it may enhance it.

(Edit, for the clarification, talking about Orchestral Swarm)
 
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Every time Ive used Swarm, next day when I listen to track, I wonder what the he.ll that annoying noise is, and it is Swarm. It has never passed the line of green light - that being said, I imagine it could. Maybe on some specific genre in which you want to make some peculiar sounding stuff. Imagine any nice symphony, and trying to put Swarm in there - it wont work. I dont see it working - except in making these sound poppings that dont really fit in.

So you got an honest opinion, and - while I dont have the library - Id be looking at Arkhis instead. It seems more complex and rich, than just pops from oboes and stuff like that.

Now, in retrospective, I regret buying Swarm, so I may sound a bit too negative. It might as well be okay for your arsenal. Look at the demos and see if it fits your stuff. It will not bring any magic, you need to have the magic there before applying it. If you are lucky, it may enhance it.

(Edit, for the clarification, talking about Orchestral Swarm)
Orchestral Swarm is not intended to be used in "nice symphonies" LOL :rofl:
Always good to have an usage scenario before actually buying a lib.

It was made for the score of Blue Planet II, if someone needs a usage reference.
 
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