Best sampled sounds for Film

[Malcolm Lindsay]

Hi,

Just wondered if any of you had an opinion on the best sampled sounds for orchestral / ensemble reproduction. I'm looking to upgrade my studio and have the chance to spend a bit of hard earned dosh!
Currently have some VSL components and Garitan Strings, but looking for opinions!!

Thanks

Malcolm

[Chris Alpiar]

I think if you can afford it, get VSL all the way, they are by far the best overall sounds. Project SAM also sounds wonderful and they also have lots of cool effects in their sounds: trombone cluster falls, chromatic string riffs, eerie percussion things, the Miroslav has some nice stuff, Westgate has beautiful woodwinds, WIVI has some cool ideas and while they are kind of hit and miss for me thier overall thing is worthwhile. EastWest has some cool stuff but it doesnt mix well with dry libraries so generally EW is good if you are making all your libraries from them

[James Semple]

Well first thing I'd recommend is Altiverb! Unless you have a good convolution reverb it's really hard to produce that cinematic sound with dry samples.

As my production chops have got better, my love for VSL has increased. They are great but can take a bit of work to get the best out of them. I bought the bass trumpets (as a download) last night and they have a fantastic sound to them.

Project SAM stuff is pretty much all great. The brass is fantastic and the percussion is industry standard.

I would say check out WIVI brass (or just the trumpets at the very least). Very playable and low on CPU and RAM.

For strings I recommend Sonic Implants Symphonic Strings. I usually combine these with VSL Appassionata Strings or Chamber Strings.

For Woodwind I usually use VSL and Westgate Flute.

Hope this is useful. I've written up more details about my setup in my blog.

[Malcolm Lindsay]

Thanks Chris - appreciate your thoughts.
I'm leaning towards VSL, since the couple of instruments I already have work well.
I'll check out SAM, Mirislav and the others too.
Its good to have options depending on the project brief etc.
Love your jazz music on your site - I'm just about to do a jazz influences film!
Its 'big band' style more than my own ensemble style, but should be fun.
check out my jazz here if you have time - > http://www.myspace.com/jazzreaders

Cheers
Malc

[Malcolm Lindsay]

Hi James,
Thanks for your valuable thoughts.
Yes I have Altiverb and what a difference it makes. I still use my TC M300 reverb for big film moments but I think its days are numbered!
I've also checked your blog, and music - both very good.

I have some sonic implants strings and would agree they are very convincing.
The Appassionata samples are great too, I've only been using them for a few months but I'm hooked.

I guess I'm not too far off having a complete sound at the moment.
Perhaps I should go through my samples instrument at a time and figure out whats lacking!

Thanks again
Malc

[James Semple]

Malcolm, I think that's a great idea.

For a complete sound, I think you might want to consider how well you can cover the following: -

Woodwinds:
All basic and most auxiliary instruments (piccolo, English horn, contrabassoon, bass clarinet, maybe even Eb clarinet and alto flute). True legato samples. Also ensemble samples for unison lines. You might want sax samples although I doubt they're essential.

Brass:
Solo and ensemble patches (or WIVI) for main instruments. Bass trombone and cimbasso are useful as well. Cornet, bass trumpets and Wagner Tubas can be useful for certain scores. Mute samples are certainly useful.

Percussion:
Generally I think this gets as big as you need it. I'm not very purist about percussion.

Strings:
Solo violin, viola, cello and double bass. Chamber and full size sections plus divisi of these sizes. As many articulations as possible (including true legato). Muted samples as well.

cheers

James

[Malcolm Lindsay]

THanks - its the brass and woodwind that are a bit lacking I suspect.
I'll let you know how I get on.
Malc

[Composer Peng Meng]

How about East West EWQSL Pro XP?

You can go to my space in the Composer's Forum to listen.