I decided that now was a great time to reinvest in orchestral samples. I've had good luck with Symphonic Instruments, but the truth is that there's only so much that you can expect from sub $300 samples. What's there is great, but there's much more to explore when trying to simulate an orchestra.
So...unlike the Native Instruments purchase this wasn't as easy. At least Native Instrument products like Kontakt are easily an industry standard these days in the midi world, but choosing the right type of sample required trying to balance dollar vs quality vs perception of what was the "best".
Ok, hands-down the most "popular" product (in terms of advertising that I've seen to would-be composers) is put out by East West, and belongs to their Symphonic Orchestra line of products. Their demos are fantastic, they have great reviews & endorsements from some famous people (like David Newman)...but I gotta say that from what I've read and heard--that doesn't necessarily make them the "best". Yes, if you're going to score a rich Hollywood production & want a sound recorded in a multi-million dollar concert hall their sound is fantastic.
HOWever, you need to buy into the Platinum edition in which the orchestra was mic'd from 3 different positions; otherwise, if you but anything less you'll get only 1 mic'd position. On the surface that may seek Ok, but since that 1 mic'd position is pretty rich in reverb--that means you'll always get a sound laced with reverb--and if you're scoring something that requires strings lighter in 'verb these samples will not work nearly as well. AND, if you choose the high-end bundle, you'll need to be prepared to have a *very* powerful computer--I've actually read that people really setup 2 computers just to run 1 sample set.
I, on the other hand, decided to keep looking. So, East West was out. I decided to look at the Vienna Symphony Library. Now, these folks are *serious*. Their stuff is highly professional--and they have a top-notch reputation. Let's put it this way--their top-o-the-line product, the Symphonic Cube has nearly 750,000 samples and comes at a cost of nearly $12,000. I can't even begin to think of the horsepower & major professional setup needed to run that!
So...I kept looking & settled on what is arguably one of the most overlooked & under-advertised orchestral sample set--made to be played using the Kontakt player I might add. And that, y'all is the stuff produced by Kirk Hunter Studios. I was unsure at first when I listened to the demos--but then I realized that I was meant to hear *precisely* what I was getting--with very few frills. I didn't get a purely "wow, that sounds like it came off the big screen" kind of sound initially--but man o' man after tinkering with the samples recently, I can say without a doubt that this stuff is really remarkable--and is priced very competitively.
...and after speaking with Kirk over the phone, I can say this guy is really nice, sincere, professional, and is fully committed to his product. Thanks, Kirk!
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