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  4. BWV 1041 with the "good old" Chambers
  • A
    A
    Hi Beat, Erik and everyone, I've just come back to music after a long break (nearly 20 years!) and have been closely researching what is available as I put together my new home studio. I was lucky enough early in my career to have 15 years of professional experience with "real" orchestration, particularly small string ensembles. It is interesting to note everyone's views on the various libraries since I have no history with any of themn. I have heard VSL strings sound so much better than anything else on the market for pure realism (including the example here by Beat and others like Guy and Jay on this site). I've also heard VSL sound very ordinary in the hands of others with less experience. My view is that for those with little experience of real string arranging, libraries that sound good "out of the box" are probably more suitable (including the other libraries used in this thread). For those with more experience, if they are looking for realism and have some time to sculpt the sound, VSL still takes a lot of beating. It is great that we get to hear so many libraries at their best (and their worst) in forums like these for comparison. I've just ordered VSL solo and chamber strings bundles with VE Pro and Vienna Suite to get me started :-) and will be back for more. I will supplement with a few other packages simply for sonic diversity but VSL will be my core library without doubt. Thanks for these posts, they really help people like me make decisions. Cheers, Robert
  • E
    E

    Hi,

    To inform you.

    Updated (and slower) version of the Violin Concerto, part1:

    1. Added: more articulations as available in Session Strings Pro
    2. Added contrabass support in the continuo
    3. Other cembalo + further editing notes
    4. Solo violin part: further editing
    5. Different stage postioning
    6. Other verb, EQ, compression etc.

    1. Full version: all strings, solo violin and cembalo
    2. Strings with only the cembalo, no solo violin.

    And no....it is not "out of the box" btw.: I don't know any library as such that sounds OK to me.
  • W
    W

    Hello

    I'm trying to figure out what is going on with this sound.  I "reoriented" myself by immediately switching to the Beat Kaufman version from yours and it verified the reaction I keep getting.  It is strange - the sound of the Session strings and the Spitfire start to become unreal and weird and electronic after a while.  This does not happen with the VSL at all, which continues to sound very real and espressivo and in fact seems to get MORE real the more you listen (and hear the detailed articulations, vibrato, changes within notes, etc.).  I don't think it is your mix but it is the sample recordings themselves, which have somehow drained the musical life out of the notes.  This does not happen with VSL - they always seem alive. 

    I have to add that you are doing a great job musically, and it is just the sound of those samples that grates on me.  I think if you were using VSL your performance would be excellent. The overall musical impression is being severely affected by these other samples which simply do not give an impression of any reality, either acoustic or musical, to me.  Sorry to be so omnipresent on this thread and I will stop posting as it is probably very irritating.  
  • Beat KaufmannB
    Beat KaufmannB
    last edited
    last edited

    @Erik said:

    Hi,

    To inform you. Updated (and slower) version of the Violin Concerto, part1:

    1. Added: more articulations as available in Session Strings Pro
    2. Added ....

    Hi Erik, hello all

    I have a high regard for your job, Erik. You try to get out the best of the libraries - as William mentioned as well.

    And you did this with a very big effort. Thanks a lot for publishing the results of your work.

    Going a step further we get the following facts with the comparison of samples:

    (in any order)

    1. The way how samples are mixed (either themselfs or by the mix) is finally very important for the result as well. I don't know the solution for a fair comparison concerning this matter.
    2. The interpretation of the music is important. Maybe a solution could be here to come as close as possible to a real performance.
    3. Such Library-Comparisons are also comparisons of the particular users. I don't know how to exclude this point.
    4. It seems that it is even more difficult to get a harmonious mix with samples of different sellers - especially when the samples come with different wet-components.
    5. Even if VSL offers "older" samples they seem still to be in the race -->>> the "good old string libraries" of VSL 😉.
    6. In fact, such a test (with optimized conditions) could really separate libraries
    7. To be fair one should set different tasks for compared libraries: a piece of Jazz, Rock, Classic at a time for example.
    8. there are certainly more points...

    All the best

    Beat

    - Tips & Tricks while using Samples of VSL.. see at: https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/vitutorials/ - Tutorial "Mixing an Orchestra": https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/mixing-an-orchestra/
  • E
    E

    Hi Beat, William and others.

    Thank you for your kind words. Maybe I will do also a VSL version myself later within the same plugin context as the Session Pro version!

    Concerning the list of Beat: I think you are quite right about alle these issues. In a way it is undoable to compare libraries for other users, because we all have our own way of handling them in a specific musical surrounding. Too many parameters are involved. But.....regard this contribution moreover as the result of just interest in what I use nowadays as libraries. I have learned that sometimes things turn out to be sursprisingly good (as the VSL Chamber in the South-by-South West version in another thread). The reverse does exist also: starting a mock-up with samples A or B doesn't always fit my musical idea of the sound of a piece, so I have to change things in this case: library, samples C, verb etc..

    After all the main profit is getting to know a piece so well after diving into the score (like with the Britten and also this time with the Bach Concerto: it is just such good music!). What a wealth!

    Best,

    Erik