@Dudley Ross said:
After spending some time researching the most authentic sounding orchetral software I've decided to go with Vienna, but I'm SO confused on what to get first, most importantly what I actually need to get making music!
I want to start with some basic so I can learn the software and at a later date look into getting the more advanced stuff. Where should I start?
Many thanks.
SE 1, 1 Plus, SE 2, and 2 Plus combined will work quite well with just 8 gigs of RAM. Adding the + portions of the SE libraries will provide helpful additional articulations. Also, once you get familiar with the free VI player, consider adding VI Pro. The features of VI Pro - particularly the stretch function - will enable you to create additional variations of the articulations. That can help fill in some of the gaps in the SE libraries.
Eventually, as finances allow, consider adding full VSL libraries. Note that the computer requirements for the full libraries are higher than for the SE libraries. One common combination has already been mentioned: SE libraries coupled with AP strings. A couple of the main advantages of the full libraries (standard + extended) are the wealth of articulations provided compared to SE, and half-tone sampling compared to whole-tone.