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  3. Need guidance; I may have bought the wrong package

  • Need guidance; I may have bought the wrong package

    T
    T
    First, my project. I am writing for a woodwind/piano ensemble. Flute / Clarinet / Oboe / Bassoon / Piano. I am using VSL to make mockup recordings for the performers.

    So after talking with a salesman, it sounded like Brass & Woodwind Pro Edition was the best choice as it contains all those solo woodwinds.

    Now after installing them, I realize that this $1000 USD package doesnt contain any legato samples. (I still can hardly believe this - who would need all these variations before they would need legato?)


    So, now I am asking for some guidance. I thought about going for the Woodwind Ensemble horizon package, but of course they are not solo samples.

    It seems like quite a waste to jump up to get the Performance Set @ $2000, just to get the legato variations for these woodwinds.

    What do I do?
  • JBacalJ
    JBacalJ
    Opus 1 would have been a better choice for you. Not sure what you can do now.

    --Jay
  • D
    D
    It's true that maybe you should have bought the legato instruments first however the essence of VSL is to use both the perf-legato instruments and the articulations together. The perfleg instruments don't sustain as long as you would like even though there are art., files that allow for crossfaded sustains but these are still not quite enough.

    It's a bummer but I would bite the bullet and get the performance instruments. If you study Beat Kaufmen's tutorials here you will see how the two are used together and indeed he uses the articulations more than the perf-legato instruments.

    You'll end up twice as glad with both.
  • R
    R
    dpcon is right. You need a combination of perf-leg and regular articulations to get the best results.

    To have only perf leg instruments means that you can't get lovely grating fffz or fp or sharp staccato. In fact, since owning opus 1/2, only ever use perf-leg instruments for effects only attainable by such instances. Like legato leaps, particularly on trumpet or flute, and the wonderful, if potentially overused, portamento strings.

    So perhaps opus 1 would have given you more than you need.
  • I
    I
    tenfour, I feel for you.. When I bought my First Edition strings package, I couldn't quite believe that there were no legato instruments in there, and although I should've read the articulation list more clearly, the advertising at that time made it seem (to me) as if the legatos were in there. It then took me a year and a half to get round to buying Opus 1, and that package gave me what I wanted, although as mentioned above, even then the PerfLeg instruments don't sustain enough. I have no experience of the Performance sets (which are a lot of additional money), but the best advice will come from others here who have used more of the products than I have..

    Good luck!
  • T
    T
    thanks for all your help. i am working with the retailer to see about doing an exchange for Opus 1. Cross your fingers for me!

    I would say that even though there is a lot of online material to go through before purchasing, it's not organized in a way that gave me confidence to make a purchase. It's all pretty scattered; with not much side-by-side comparison.

    There are a lot of different editions of this library - some are subsets of others, some are standalone, etc. A typical grid would have been nice to be able to compare them and see for myself what Opus 1 offers that i might be missing from WW&Brass. Considering Vienna has such a top-notch product, this sort of advertising would probably do them much good. Imagine if they put competetive products on this comparison chart! Hehe.

    Another thing that would have led me right to the correct purchase would have been more focused sample MP3s that demonstrate particular sets of samples. Sure all the current sample mp3s sound great, but of course they do - they were written to show off that sample set.


    It's still baffling that Brass & Woodwinds doesnt have legato samples. A $1000 sample library that everyone raves about should be able to play 16th note runs better than my soundblaster soundcard =)
  • P
    P
    irvind, legatos are the same length in Pro Ed. and Opus 1 (they are programs on the sam sample base, just reduced in size a bit). Therefore there are updates for GS3 on crossfades blends to the sustains for longer notes. The other sampler formats already have this afaik.

    tenfour, I'm sorry to hear you might have got the wrong package, let's hope it works out for you. The seperation into cube and performance pack was a decision back then, when nobody would even talk about or know what true legato samples are. They were revolutionary that time and therefore VSL decided to sell a "conventional" package with sample sets that people are used to, and additionaly the Performance Set where all the new things are included (true repetitions were also quite new back then). It doesn't seem locigal any more from a today's point of view because we are used to the fact or associate "VSL" with "legato" automatically, because it is still a unique approach.

    However I think the one to blame here the most is your consultant who doesn't seem to know a lot about it. For the price of a library I'd double-check what suits my needs. He at least should have mentioned the seperation of First/Pro Ed. (as of now discounted and First Ed. soonly discontinued) and Cube/Performance pack. He also should have mentioned Horizon series, not only for Opus 1/2 which is a selection from Pro Edtion, but also for French Oboe and Woodwind Ensembles. May I ask who was the salesman? In anyway, I agree there could arise confusion with the ton of information VSL is offering, but it's in the nature of bigness that some simple things get out of the view too easily. On the other side, if you didn't ask if the product meets your criteria or expectations exactly it's hard to blame him alone. A car without wheels is a car without wheels, but still a car...

    I can only encourage anyone to first have a close look at the detailed articulation lists of a library before buying, and if still unsure ask the heck out of this forum [;)] My advice for you if you can't get an exchange for it would be to get Opus 1 which offers a good selection at around the same quality. If that's too much money, the Cube part you got is still a versatile one and you can do a lot with it even not using the legato samples from the Performance Set.

    PolarBear
  • T
    T
    Agreed! Again thank you all for your help.
  • R
    R
    I had a crossed line with a salesman at a "reputable" digi music retailer. I had called up to ask for an AES/EBU to BNC converter and eventually got picked up by someone who had been talking to another customer about VSL, who proudly proclaimed that the first edition would be his best choice, since opus 1 is only the demo.

    I smiled and waited for the guy I was talking to initially, and prayed that the customer on the other line didn't buy from there.
  • P
    P
    I'd say if you experience such a thing it's best for *all* VSL users to report such behaviour with a small line to the VSL heardquarters and name the salesman in question. What good is a community if some are not satisfied because of information that is not so well informed? Those will hardly ever buy a package from VSL again, in fear of getting a wrong thing again, even if the quality would suit the needs!

    Just my 2 cents,
    PolarBear