holy....
whats your definition of "recorded wet" peter?
Will,
Some libraries can get away with less reverb than VSL yes, but some cant be as flexible as VSL in terms of FX usage. VSL is the only library I have that has a very "ambiguous" sound. Its not "close mic'd" you can obvioulsy hear the "space" between the mics and the instruments in the recordings, but its not at all drenched in room ambience.
VSL is also all recorded in stereo, with "center" placement. Allowing you to place the instrument "wherever" you want. Generally, in other libs, I find this to be problematic because you end up haveing to collapse room frequencies and such that are in the recordings, but with VSL you dont have much or any of that. The Silent stage takes care of room resonances bieng part of the problem, and general "early reflections" that can hinder some "panning" techniques.
VSL is recorded like no other library. I'll tell you that. Its plain and simple that they are thinking this out in a "big picture" sort of way. You can see it starting to come together with the announcement of MIR. There's jsut ongoing development for days, so I have a feeling that VSL will be a strong tool for MANY years to come, but still stay as flexible as it has been since day one.
As for reverbs to use. Impulses are the flavor of the day for me, and they are great. Just make sure you get good ones, and learn to EQ still [[[:)]]]
Convolution has its drawbacks too tho. Sound quality is highly dependant on the impulse itself, which is determined by a multitude of things. Also "placement" options are difficult, if not dtrimental to the effect (if you dont have MIR [;)] )
Other good ideas are to get a good hardware unit. Just about all the softreverbs are problematic for orchestral music if you ask me. This doesn't include convolvers (impulses).
Stay the heck away from NFX1 for anything more than "ideas"
Peter's right all libraries can benefit from reverb. I dont agree that all of them NEED reverb tho. Specific cues may, and what specific people want to acheive in terms of sound may require reverb, but alot of the libs recorded in bigger rooms/halls are recorded hoping that the room would be reason enough to use less or no reverb at all to get the sound they were after.
Like Sharmy said, VSL was designed to be used with reverb, which is probably why it works well with reverbs [[[:)]]] No "jumpy room", and no "room within a room" sound when using lots of early reflections.
anywho....
if you buy VSL you will have some great tools. You may get caught up in the QLSO demo hype and feel disappointed you didn't wait, but I can assure you that VSL is a great product and worth the $$$
Also in the end, think about what it is you want and need. Just because VSL is great and flexible, it may not be exactly what you want. I wish people would jsut buy the lib because its awesome and inspiring and I personally would never be able to live without the feeling I get playing some of these instruments, still for people who are "ambience nuts" it just may ruin your experience with VSL when you get it, and then listen to QLSO demos, which no doubt will have a great "out of the box" room sound.
and after that long diatribe, my advice is, win the lottery and get both, as well as other libs, and about 48 computers, and each one loaded with everything, and a huge template that is programmed with bnk/prg changes so all you have to do is "select the right patch" you want for each instrument.
It can be done, and if I had the money I'd do it [[[:)]]]
whats your definition of "recorded wet" peter?
Will,
Some libraries can get away with less reverb than VSL yes, but some cant be as flexible as VSL in terms of FX usage. VSL is the only library I have that has a very "ambiguous" sound. Its not "close mic'd" you can obvioulsy hear the "space" between the mics and the instruments in the recordings, but its not at all drenched in room ambience.
VSL is also all recorded in stereo, with "center" placement. Allowing you to place the instrument "wherever" you want. Generally, in other libs, I find this to be problematic because you end up haveing to collapse room frequencies and such that are in the recordings, but with VSL you dont have much or any of that. The Silent stage takes care of room resonances bieng part of the problem, and general "early reflections" that can hinder some "panning" techniques.
VSL is recorded like no other library. I'll tell you that. Its plain and simple that they are thinking this out in a "big picture" sort of way. You can see it starting to come together with the announcement of MIR. There's jsut ongoing development for days, so I have a feeling that VSL will be a strong tool for MANY years to come, but still stay as flexible as it has been since day one.
As for reverbs to use. Impulses are the flavor of the day for me, and they are great. Just make sure you get good ones, and learn to EQ still [[[:)]]]
Convolution has its drawbacks too tho. Sound quality is highly dependant on the impulse itself, which is determined by a multitude of things. Also "placement" options are difficult, if not dtrimental to the effect (if you dont have MIR [;)] )
Other good ideas are to get a good hardware unit. Just about all the softreverbs are problematic for orchestral music if you ask me. This doesn't include convolvers (impulses).
Stay the heck away from NFX1 for anything more than "ideas"
Peter's right all libraries can benefit from reverb. I dont agree that all of them NEED reverb tho. Specific cues may, and what specific people want to acheive in terms of sound may require reverb, but alot of the libs recorded in bigger rooms/halls are recorded hoping that the room would be reason enough to use less or no reverb at all to get the sound they were after.
Like Sharmy said, VSL was designed to be used with reverb, which is probably why it works well with reverbs [[[:)]]] No "jumpy room", and no "room within a room" sound when using lots of early reflections.
anywho....
if you buy VSL you will have some great tools. You may get caught up in the QLSO demo hype and feel disappointed you didn't wait, but I can assure you that VSL is a great product and worth the $$$
Also in the end, think about what it is you want and need. Just because VSL is great and flexible, it may not be exactly what you want. I wish people would jsut buy the lib because its awesome and inspiring and I personally would never be able to live without the feeling I get playing some of these instruments, still for people who are "ambience nuts" it just may ruin your experience with VSL when you get it, and then listen to QLSO demos, which no doubt will have a great "out of the box" room sound.
and after that long diatribe, my advice is, win the lottery and get both, as well as other libs, and about 48 computers, and each one loaded with everything, and a huge template that is programmed with bnk/prg changes so all you have to do is "select the right patch" you want for each instrument.
It can be done, and if I had the money I'd do it [[[:)]]]
