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  4. Woodwinds: Which is best for me?

  • Woodwinds: Which is best for me?

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    Hello all. I'm a high school student with a limited income, so I won't be able to purchase most of what Vienna has to offer, at least not any time soon. Nonetheless, I'm interested in a few of the download instruments available to purchase: Flute 1/2, Piccolo, and others. Right now I'm trying to decide which woodwind to look into. First of all, would anyone be able to offer some insight into the differences between flute 1 and 2? Also, how wise would it be to get a piccolo instead of a flute? Right now, all I have is the Kontakt VSL lite instruments, and I do like the sounds of the strings and woodwinds. It's too bad that Vienna doesn't offer a single solo violin download instrument. I'd get that immediately. (Solo Strings is out of the budget right now.) Anyway, I'm looking forward to responses. This is a tricky choice to make...
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     I would first go for the Flute, Oboe, Clarinet Bb and Bassoon which are the main instruments of the group because you will use them more often in you music.  The different between Flute 1 and 2 is basically the sound so if you write a piece for two flutes you will hear two different flutes playing rather than the same flute playing both parts.   This also prevents the phasing effect when the two flutes play in unison.
  • N
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    What sort of budget are you looking at?

    While, long-term, the full DVD collections are the better option, given your circumstances, if there was a way you could save up for the basic SE standard library, that might be worth considering.  It is very good in its own right, and it would give you basic articulations for all the main sections of the orchestra, including solo strings and solo woodwinds. 

    If that is beyond your budget, as already mentioned, if woodwinds are your first priority, starting with the standard flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon would be worth considering.  Regarding the oboe, VSL offers two, and of the two, the French oboe is regarded as the standard, traditional one.  If going with the downloads, getting both the standard and extended portions of any given instrument will give you far more articulations, and enable you to better emulate a real instrument, something that is harder to do with just SE standard.
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    Thank you for your insight. Yes, the piccolo is usually a side instrument isn't it? I think the flute is the best choice then; the only decision that has to be made is which of the two flutes to purchase. The differences are quite subtle. Does any one have a preference? EDIT: Also, initially I'd only be able to afford the standard edition of the instrument, so that is a factor in the decision. EDIT: In response to noldar12: I only have a macbook pro with 8GB RAM and 100GB of space left. I'm already having difficulty avoiding asio overloads with my current instruments from Native Instruments, so i fear that getting the SE bundle would be a mistake; at least at the moment. Might I also mention that I have a 5400 rpm hard drive? It's not a great situation and it's not possible for me to justify a purchase of more than $500, realistically, $200. I'm a high school student, and it's too bad that Vienna doesn't offer permanent student discounts, or special deals.
  • RaymondeR
    RaymondeR
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    last edited

    @synchronizer said:

    the only decision that has to be made is which of the two flutes to purchase. The differences are quite subtle. Does any one have a preference?

    Consider the alto flute-it does run short on the upper range, going only 2 and 1/2 octaves above middle C but the lower and mid  range, in my opinion, is especially rich in timbre having more overtones than the regular soprano flute. The upper range gets a bit thinner than the regular flute but not so much so that it is objectionable.

    Best to you

    Ray
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    Normally I use woodwinds for solos that soar about the other parts, like in this old song: http://soundcloud.com/synchronizerman/the-march-of-simon (Steinberg Cubase synth beware.) Therefore, the alto flute's limited range above the middle C might not be tolerable.
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    Long-term, the 5400 rpm hard drive might prove an issue when you start streaming a higher number of samples.  Another long-term thought: the SE libraries are designed to run very comfortably on less RAM.  All the patches from the four SE libraries (admittedly in total well beyond your budget) will run quite decently on just 8 gigs of ram.  SE really is designed for the type of situation you are facing, where computer resources are particularly limited.

    If you could hold off on making a purchase for awhile, SE standard might still be a worthwhile option to consider.
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    Also, as one who has made purchasing mistakes over the years, it never hurts to consider what sort of compositional goals you have, and to purchase with those goals in mind.
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    Yes, that's ALWAYS important to consider. Does my March of Simon composition help define what I may need at all?
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    At this moment, I've decided that the regular flute would be most useful to me. Would anyone offer opinions about flute 1 and flute 2? There are definitely some differences between the two; differences that I would like to analyze a little bit. Thanks.
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    How much is Flute 1 (non-extended) in USD? It's a tad inconvenient that the price is only in Euros (65, to be precise), and I'm not sure how accurate Google's currency converter is. Thanks.
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    When I was choosing which Woodwind set to get, I looked carefully at both sets to see what was included. I chose woodwinds 2 because, I really liked the sound of the *2nd flute*. The so called flute 2 was actually the first flute one could get back in the older days.

    I did not care for the sound of the bassoon. The newer 2nd bassoon was much better, and I love the newer instrument. I used the bass clarinet for the bassoon passages for a while, and that worked for me. I really liked having two english horns to work with, and the contra-bassoon was nice to have at times.