The orchestral library rabbit hole

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I spent the last two months diving into the world of virtual instruments. Orchestral libraries. String ensembles. Choirs. Damn, if I only knew how deep a rabbit hole I've fallen down. I've watched countless videos on YouTube and spent way too much money on highly praised libraries that I didn't like as much as the „composer“ YouTuber shills made me think I would. As it turned out, the very first library I bought (Chris Hein Strings Compact) was already a slam dunk. I would have saved a lot of money and time by just enjoying it instead of reading and watching so much about supposedly better ones.

 

[Bruce]

Well…….the Ark stuff is really good but it’s a fortune.
NI has interesting takes on string libraries like action strings. Fun stuff. Their chroma series (I think that’s what it’s called) of those 4 pieces from like the 1600s, great libraries too.
IK multimedia also has some good stuff.

 

[hemmelight]

Yeah, this is a huge rabbit hole for sure.
In recent years it’s gotten a bit nuts with too many options, but one of the favourite sample companies is called ‘Cinematic Studio Series’ from Australia. Their ‘Cinematic Studio Strings’ and ‘Cinematic Studio Solo Strings’ pair together really well and sound fantastic. They have Woodwind and Brass as well, all sound great. If I was gonna spend a bunch of money on new libraries I’d probably go for their whole suite, honestly.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Yeah, this is a huge rabbit hole for sure.
In recent years it’s gotten a bit nuts with too many options, but one of the favourite sample companies is called ‘Cinematic Studio Series’ from Australia. Their ‘Cinematic Studio Strings’ and ‘Cinematic Studio Solo Strings’ pair together really well and sound fantastic. They have Woodwind and Brass as well, all sound great. If I was gonna spend a bunch of money on new libraries I’d probably go for their whole suite, honestly.

Yeah, their libraries seem to be quite highly regarded. But after trying out some stuff I came to the conclusion, that - at least for my use case, which is layering strings and choirs with heavy guitars - I prefer the dryer, brighter, more direct sounding libraries over the lush, "cinematic" ones.

 

[hemmelight]

Yeah, their libraries seem to be quite highly regarded. But after trying out some stuff I came to the conclusion, that - at least for my use case, which is layering strings and choirs with heavy guitars - I prefer the dryer, brighter, more direct sounding libraries over the lush, "cinematic" ones.

Yeah, I like the less “hyped” sounds for sure. Some of these libraries drive me crazy with the insane baked in vibrato.

 

[Whizzinby]

Must not investigate, i don’t need another rabbit hole. Chris Hein you say?

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Must not investigate, i don’t need another rabbit hole. Chris Hein you say?

Yep. The first chord I played with the Chris Hein library gave me goosebumps. Sounds soooo good. You should try it!

Most companies offer „light“ versions of their libraries for reasonable prices. Nucleus Lite by Audio Imperia, Chris Hein Strings / Orchestra Compact, Soundiron Micro / Elements, Spitfire Originals… there‘s a lot of good stuff waiting to be discovered!

 

[Bruce]

Whatever you decide to go with, learn the ins and outs to its fullest potential. Learn all th articulation triggers so they’re second nature to you. You shouldn’t have to look them up after a few weeks of working with them. Try before you buy, of course. Most 3rd party stuff these days is convincing enough to get you by. It comes down to workflow and if you’re willing to put the work into it. Also, learning how to think like that particular musician thinks, what articulation would they play? How would they group notes together? Spend time watching violinists, bassoonists, flautists etc etc. Yea it’s like watching paint dry but see and hear their choices and emulate that. It comes down to more than realistic sounds.

 

[Orvillain]

Gimme a Roland D50 string patch and stick a fork in me, I'm done.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Gimme a Roland D50 string patch and stick a fork in me, I'm done.

Come on, you cheap bastard.

Buy.more.sample.libraries.

 

[Orvillain]

Come on, you cheap bastard.

Buy.more.sample.libraries.

Hey! I make the shit! Never said I knew how to use it!

 

[Digital Igloo]

Man, I had every orchestral Akai—and years later, Gigastudio—library available back in the day. Full rack of four 4RU Gigastudios—one each for strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion/other. Now I'm down to Hollywood OPUS, the free BBC Spitfire, whatever comes with NI Komplete 13, and G-Player running Gigastudio emulation natively in Logic. Can't possibly imagine needing more...

...and then:

Dammit! Stupid Nucleus threatening to screw with my wallet.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Man, I had every orchestral Akai—and years later, Gigastudio—library available back in the day. Full rack of four 4RU Gigastudios—one each for strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion/other. Now I'm down to Hollywood OPUS, the free BBC Spitfire, whatever comes with NI Komplete 13, and G-Player running Gigastudio emulation natively in Logic. Can't possibly imagine needing more...

...and then:

Dammit! Stupid Nucleus threatening to screw with my wallet.

Haha, during my two-month descent down the rabbit hole I have purchased:

Spitfire Audio
- Epic Strings
- Epic Choirs
- Intimate Strings

Soundiron
- Hyperion Strings Elements
- Hyperion Brass Elements
- Olympus Elements

Audio Imperia
- Nucleus
- Chorus Lite

Best Service
- Chris Hein Strings Compact

Orchestral Tools
- Full Orchestra & High Strings Octave (from Berlin Inspire 1)

EastWest
- Hollywood Choirs Opus

Nucleus & Chris Hein Strings Compact are easily my favorite libraries for strings so far. Chris Hein for a bright and direct sounding full string ensemble and stunningly beautiful solo instruments (the Celli & Violas are to die for, heavily remind me of Game Of Thrones‘ opening credits), Nucleus for broader, more lush soundscapes (and Brass & Woodwinds of course). Also Epic Choirs for… well… Choirs.