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Hi. Have been listening to the upright bass demos and they all sound like they are plastered with room verb. Is this on the original sample or has it been added byt the composers?
If the original sample is dry, could someone knock together a very quick mp3 for me to give me an idea how it sounds?
Many many thanks
Mattthew
This is such a realistic and expressive upright bass that when I listen to my recordings (and I've used it on over 20 jazz and Broadway tracks by now), I forget that I didn't drag out my real upright bass and mike it up in the studio!
I do find that it helps to use the Resonance Menu preset in Vienna Equalizer and then enable and drag those amounts and or frequencies by ear to tame some of the rumble that doesn't usually show up until you're mixing. I still need to work on this a bit more, to make it sound as good in a mix as it does soloed, but that is my responsibility not VSL's.
It is marvelously dry. The only other upright bass samples that I have heard that I found remotely usable before VSL's, are the ones from Chris Hein.
Having said that, I intent to check out Orange Tree Samples' upright and fretless libraries soon to hear how they sound. I don't expect much though based on the low resolution and lack of detail in their other libraries.
A dynamite combination is the VSL Upright Bass with the Vienna Jazz Drums. A match made in heaven! I don't know if I would have succeeded in breaking into local Musicals if not for these two libraries.
[...] A dynamite combination is the VSL Upright Bass with the Vienna Jazz Drums. A match made in heaven!
A side note - there will be a really nice "official" MIR demo piece featuring these two instruments very soon! 😊
Argh, now you're taunting those of us on the Mac platform that will never get to use MIR! :-)
Having said that, I intent to check out Orange Tree Samples' upright and fretless libraries soon to hear how they sound. I don't expect much though based on the low resolution and lack of detail in their other libraries.
Where do you feel Orange Tree Samples' libraries are lacking in resolution and detail? The sample libraries use Kontakt's scripting to extensively model the instrument and reproduce details never captured before.
For example, the Iconic Bass: Jaco fretless bass library has the ability to slide from one note to any other at any speed. It has 2x round robin alternating samples with three velocity layers. This is all sampled three times for three plucking positions. It includes legato samples for hammer-ons and pull-offs and utilizes an original hybrid of sampling and modeling to give you realistic vibrato. It even has different release samples depending on the duration of the note. Each string is sampled individually, modeling the fretting hand position to calculate which strings to play.
All the sample libraries are 24-bit and either 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz. (though they are downsampled from being originally sampled at 96 kHz)
For the sake of not changing the subject of the thread, would you like to continue the conversation through email? I would love to get your feedback, and if you feel unsatisfied with any aspect of Orange Tree Samples' libraries, I would really appreciate your input in order to create better sample libraries in the future (or release updates for existing products).
Greg,
The Jaco demo impressed me a great deal though, and after reviewing other fretless bass guitar options from other vendors, I really couldn't find anything that matches it in detail, execution, and especially fluidity and phrasing. If this library ends up getting picked by the KVR members (which I am not one of and have no intention of becoming due to the high percentage of trolls on that forum), as the sale item for your holiday promotional, you can be sure that I will purchase it.
I am sorry, but Pettinhouse wins my vote for electric guitar playability and believability, and of course I also find VSL's excellent 7-string electric guitar to be invaluable for contexts that need that pre-overdriven sound (for which it is intended, as that is the way electric guitar is usually used in modern orchestral compositions).
At any rate, it is all relative, as there are many good choices these days -- especially compared to even five years ago. Phrasing matters to me way more than timbre, as the latter can at least be modified somewhat via filters. Not everyone has this focus on their library evaluation, and this is one of the reasons I am in the minority when it comes to being in love with Pianoteq (which most people seem to hate).
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! I really appreciate your detailed response, and always value advice.
I agree with you about the upright bass. It has a pretty mellow tone that is more characteristic of 50's (and earlier) jazz. I find that it works well in folk music as well. Recent jazz trends seem to prefer a growlier, more present upright bass tone, which I would love to sample in the future.
