A trio would be good to start with. Cello, viola, violin. A good reed/woodwind section is key too.
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Orchestral/strings plugins/VST Recommendations
- Thread starter WG Plum
- Start date
I’d like to do stuff like this with a string section.
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Is this you? I like it a lot.I’d like to do stuff like this with a string section.
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That's fantastic, it'll be more than enough.
Since you're looking for more of a textural use rather than something realistic, maybe something like British Drama Toolkit and one of the followups? Heirloom is also a great option.
That is me, yeah. Thanks! As the description suggests, I was having fun with the delay on my Yammy Reface CP and mellotron with a pedalboard.
I do want the sounds to be as accurate/realistic as possible, though. I want to hear the wood.
I do want the sounds to be as accurate/realistic as possible, though. I want to hear the wood.
I guess I should clarify - not realistic as in not able to be reproduced live and acoustically. The pedals and delay aren't "realistic" as compared to a chamber ensemble.
I really encourage you to go listen to the stuff I've linked for you here, and maybe find some videos on youtube. At the end of the day, it comes down to what sounds best to you, and then we can help filter that down farther.
Orchestral Tools stuff is great, indeed. There's a lot of it and it gets expensive especially when you start getting all the packages, special bows etc. But you can get their stuff "a la carte", meaning if you like the strings in Miroire or Tallinn but don't need the non-strings rest, you could just get the violins and celli or something. Peteris Vasks strings are excellent with small ensembles and solos, but they're definitely not vintage in style, so if you're looking for lush vibrato like from an old movie, probably not the best.
There are other very solid options, from the very different SampleModeling strings to lower-cost options like Light and Sound Chamber Strings (not much legato, but 150 euros), Nashville Scoring Strings. How much are you looking to spend?
I also make this sort of stuff as a side hustle. That's what the "commercial user" thing is in my case. So I can be pretty opinionated about what I like.
There are other very solid options, from the very different SampleModeling strings to lower-cost options like Light and Sound Chamber Strings (not much legato, but 150 euros), Nashville Scoring Strings. How much are you looking to spend?
I also make this sort of stuff as a side hustle. That's what the "commercial user" thing is in my case. So I can be pretty opinionated about what I like.
Something that Christian Henson from Spitfire Audio talks a lot about is a MIDI hand controller. The device he has used is the Monogram Creative Console MIDI hand controller. It's something I'd like to try and it seems like an essential part for adding expression effects into orchestral compositions.
Monogram Creative Control
Monogram Creative Control
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Total Studio 4, the ultimate collection of authentic sounds and gear
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MIDI faders are important, yes. But do NOT get the Monogram stuff. The business is taking orders, but hasn’t fulfilled any of them for more than a year.
@LightForce104 That's interesting. I see they're taking pre-orders with no time frame, which seems a bit sus. Cheers!
The other MIDI hand control Christian Henson talks about is the Ghost Note Audio Conductor. I think he prefers the Ghost Note Audio than the Monogram controller. I guess you could map three faders on on a MIDI keyboard controller which might get you the same functionality.
Ghost Note Audio - Conductor Mk II
The other MIDI hand control Christian Henson talks about is the Ghost Note Audio Conductor. I think he prefers the Ghost Note Audio than the Monogram controller. I guess you could map three faders on on a MIDI keyboard controller which might get you the same functionality.
Ghost Note Audio - Conductor Mk II
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I'm always blown away by the AudioModeling instruments
audiomodeling.com
These are Modeled instruments and extremely playable, and highly accurate.
SWAM String Sections | Audio Modeling
SWAM Violin | Audio Modeling: discover ne of the most expressive and realistic virtual violin on the market
audiomodeling.com
These are Modeled instruments and extremely playable, and highly accurate.
I was gonna answer but this is the best answer and so are the subsequent answers. You can stop here:
@WG Plum - OP
Spitfire Audio is expensive, I think I paid almost 3K for the different libraries and I bought them during sales. I need 2TB to store only their libraries and I probably only have 20% of their libraries including the free LABs. If I have to do it all over again (because I did all of these purchases during COVID, I would have been fine with just buying KOMPLETE which I also own because their String and Orchestral and Score collection are good enough for the non critical audience who does not work in an orchestra or with an orchestra. With Native Instruments it makes sense to get Ultimate edition of KOMPLETE because for the price of 5-10 individual instruments, you get maybe close to a hundred. It's probably over 2TB to download them all, but you don't have to.
I suggest you read a book on Orchestration, No flute section is going to play one note for more than 4 measures because they need to breath, same with your brass. And what ranges are effective, Even though a cello can play some violin ranges, you really do not want that specially on a section
You also need a really a decent keyboard controller, possibly some additional MIDI switcher or even an expression pedal - so you can lay the articulations while playing. A lot of these patches have Key switches as well (notes that don't play a sound but will change an articulation.
Logic is fine and Spitfire uses Logic in their examples and tutorials. However most orchestral score producers and composers use Cubase. I say stick with Logic if you don't get Cubase because it's probably the second best for Orchestra and some would debate on that. Whatever you choose, get into the habit of creating templates. Logic has some starter examples.
Lastly be open to the idea that you probably do not need an orchestral library but maybe synth pads is what the music calls for. Because if you are not going to keep this going you would have paid too much like I did. I still think that KOMPLETE is the best bang for the buck. Although you can create good stuff with what Logic has, you'll find it wanting eventually.
Make sure you have lot's of memory. 16GB is minimum 32GB as you lay down more tracks. Make sure you have a good monitoring system also.
Hope that helps
Until I devoted time reading 2 orchestration books and talking with people that worked in the orchestra, it was difficult to get anything done that was decent with these Spitfire libraries, And I did a lot of listening to scores and orchestral music . So although the demos from Spitfire sound amazing, it was a lot of work. Lately - I get more interesting things with my trio of Korg Wavestate, Modwave and Opsix. I actually create samples with Spitfire and import them into these synths. Also the score libraries in KOMPLETE are awesome and faster workflow.
Just reiterating so you don't overdo it.
Just reiterating so you don't overdo it.
Absolutely no question that Komplete is the best bang for your buck out there, especially on when on sale. The sheer breadth of stuff you get is beyond compare. Buying the base tier of Komplete gets you something like 45 sampled instruments (plus synths, drums, and effects), and those instruments can vary from a deeply sampled piano to a broad sampling of East Asia.
Speaking for me personally, however, I find it not entirely useful. Having so many choices of things to wade through bogged me down until I went through everything and categorized all of the instruments, uninstalling the ones I didn't want/need. That took me a long time. Then as I used them more, I realized that many (not all) of the instruments are quite shallowly sampled, and I wanted something deeper for my uses. And so begins the digital clutter... More string libraries!
Yeah, having a feel for how orchestras work will make life a lot easier. And also some idea of how these sounds are typically used in more modern/produced music (which would be everything from strings in Motown to today's "hybrid" trailer music with synths and highly processed orchestral sounds).
I would also rather have a good string section library or two that's in the size and style you like, a good piano (personally a fan of Pianoteq), try to avoid exposed solo strings unless you know what you're doing, and make do with some inexpensive collection or even free stuff for everything else if it's ever needed. You might never need woodwinds at all - even many Hollywood composers use those very sparingly these days. If you want to do more epic (which judging from this thread is probably not true, but others reading this thread might benefit), choir and French horns should also be good.
And, yeah, there's always more string libraries, especially once you get into the more out there stuff like the Westwood textures stuff, or Soniccouture Threnody.
I would also rather have a good string section library or two that's in the size and style you like, a good piano (personally a fan of Pianoteq), try to avoid exposed solo strings unless you know what you're doing, and make do with some inexpensive collection or even free stuff for everything else if it's ever needed. You might never need woodwinds at all - even many Hollywood composers use those very sparingly these days. If you want to do more epic (which judging from this thread is probably not true, but others reading this thread might benefit), choir and French horns should also be good.
And, yeah, there's always more string libraries, especially once you get into the more out there stuff like the Westwood textures stuff, or Soniccouture Threnody.
Abby Road Two is probably perfect to start with, though I love reeds/woodwinds. That will be a library for another day.
As for what is typically used in modern/produced music, that's not really applicable. I'm not trying to make 'regular' music at all.
Seems as though I need to start by getting Kontakt.
As for what is typically used in modern/produced music, that's not really applicable. I'm not trying to make 'regular' music at all.
Seems as though I need to start by getting Kontakt.
You need to get Kontakt only if you want to get a library that needs the full version of Kontakt, not Kontakt Player. Kontakt Player libraries (which is most of the big string libraries for Kontakt) run in the free Player. And if you do need both, get the Kontakt Player library first - that lets you buy the full Kontakt as a crossgrade at half price. Or at least that's how it worked when I bought it years ago... and quarter price if you wait for a sale, though Black Friday was not long ago so next one might be summer.
And now... welcome to the other Big Complicated Thing with sample libraries... overanalyzing the history of every developer's previous sales so you can try to guess how long you'd need to wait for the next big sale and how much you could save, also whether you should buy from the developer directly or from some other distributor, haha.
And now... welcome to the other Big Complicated Thing with sample libraries... overanalyzing the history of every developer's previous sales so you can try to guess how long you'd need to wait for the next big sale and how much you could save, also whether you should buy from the developer directly or from some other distributor, haha.
