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  • Can you hear the difference? A study in duality.

    Hey guys. I've been messing around with the VGL sounds while I'm on Christmas break. Here's a small Miniature Trio I composed and played on both VGL and Gold libraries. Personally, I prefer the VGL sound better.


    VGL version:
    http://forums.keyfax.com/user-files/159512-VGL%20Trio%20mp3.mp3">http://forums.keyfax.com/user-files/159512-VGL%20Trio%20mp3.mp3

    Gold version:


    http://forums.keyfax.com/user-files/159511-Gold%20Trio%20mp3.mp3

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  • True enough Paul. I should have just posted the VGL one since those were the sounds I wrote the piece for. I have just heard from more than one person about how the bundled VGL sounds on Gigastudio Orchestra are "garbage" and wanted to illustrate the they in fact are quite viable, and moreso than much more expensive libraries.

    I won't go into the whole Gold thing again. Truth is, I was quite content with my Silver and got caught up in the Group buy thing. Oh well. I became a lemming for a week.

    Thanks for the comments on the piece. I'll be posting more using VGL (augmented by some Project SAM and Sonic implants stuff). I think there are some extraodinarily beautiful sounds on VGL. And of course, it's whetted my appetite for Opus 1.

    -Dave

  • The composition sounds good I agree. However concerning the sample comparison, I was listening to the VSL, and thought yes, sounds good. Mm-hm, yes, rather nice... limited range but fine within it, yes, mm-hm.

    Then I switched to the EWQL.

    SHIT!

    Cold, artificial Sample-harp first heard on Vangelis albums, single-note-overlap-for-legato flute, and a bleating musical hobgoblin masquerading as a .... (gulp!) ... clarinet?

    This is "Gold"?

    I'd hate to hear "Brown."

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  • Yes, the sale is over. And part of me continually feels like an ingrate for being disappointed in the lack of difference between Silver and Gold. You see, with Silver, I accepted the fact that the arco strings bit the big one. For $300 I was willing to compromise and use other libraries like HALion String Edition or Prime Sounds Session Strings. But, I mostly bought Gold because I thought that the $600 difference in price would SOUND like a $600 difference. It doesn't. Plain and simple. I've worked and written for small ensembles so I know what a real group should sound like. Especially strings. With both Gold and Silver, you HAVE TO suspend your disbelief quite a bit. Honestly, strings are one of the most difficult instruments to get right. With the legato tool in Opus 1 and VSL, it's closest I've heard thus far.

    And yes, I should have simply 1/ bought Opus 1 or 2/stuck with my pre-order for Silver Pro and continued to use other libraries to fill in the deficits that I find on QLSO. But I cannot go back in time. The only thing I can do is use the Gold patches to the best of their ability and wait for upcoming NAMM to see what new libraries are out. I'm told about 8 developers have jumped on the virtual orchestra in a box bandwagon. And I'll keep my "Horizon"s open with Opus 1. In the meantime, I'm totally loving the VGL library. Great work Herb, Dietz and co.!

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    @PaulR said:


    Anyway, look, you can write by the looks of of it and let's be honest, you could give 95% of 'musicians' VSL Pro ED for free and they'd still make it sound like shit -so God knows what EWQL Gold is going to sound like.



    Not to be politcally incorrect but I do agree with this. On the other hand, I've heard great composers who have written amazing pieces on Gold but it still sounds like crap. As a composer myself, I can get past the obvious sampled instruments and respect the technique that went into making the piece. As I've said before, I was happy with Silver because I knew it served as a sketch pad and nothing more (although some instruments are very good on it). My big thing, and let's completely disregard the group buy, is that Gold does not to my ears sound that much better than its little brother Silver. Opus 1 does. And I think the "built in hall" debate is a matter of semantics. I personally prefer applying my own reverb like the Gigapulse Reverb which to my ears, kicks ass.

    As for composing in general, yes, I can compose on any program you throw at me. I wrote film scores on a U-20 and Proteus 2 back 10 years ago. Hated the strings on the Proteus so I got around them by layering them with the u-20. Gold presents the same challenges. But I honestly would be hard pressed to use QLSO on any finished product. Great for sketches for directors but eh-eh for end result. But I would completely comfortable using VSL for a finished product. I suppose in the end it's just a preference. 'nuff said.

    Cheers!

  • Well I agree the music itself was good. Speaking of commenting on music, I'd like some more comments on my music. Also Strawinsky's who I think is a really good composer. Also, there should be a new rule here (which of course everyone violates) but it would go something like this - if someone takes the time to download your music and respond then why don't you pay them the same attention? I would like to ask that of some of the composers of the user demos who ignore everyone on this forum including the people who have raved about their work. Too busy? Working for a living? I'm busy too. But I'm INTERESTED in what other people are doing!

    Anyway, I did the same thing with the evolutionary ladder of sampling you're talking about - the old Proteus 2. And various Korg sounds. Then gradually up with Miroslav etc. One thing I've learned - you can't be terribly concerned about money if you're into sample libraries. [:'(]

  • Hi William. I'd love to hear some of your work. I'll most certainly comment on it.

    Dave

  • Enjoyed the trio, good musical work. And the comparison.

    I think some of the VSL partisans above very much exaggerated the differences in favor of vsl -- the entry of the clarinet is crude in the Gold version, true, and later is far too loud -- but it seemed that you carved the recording based on VSL and should have modified it for Gold. Not that I've become a fan of EWQLSO Gold, particularly -- I find that I don't like using Kompakt and don't like the hall reverb in everything -- but I do like the opportunity to compare work using the different libraries, here or at northern sounds. So thank you!

    [edit] and Paul, your comments stink! I had forgotten briefly that you had written in this thread. [/edit]

    [further edit] Also, you dummies (generally, whoever you are, official, semi-official, or volunteer, that seem to criticise ME here) --- I am a potential customer who so far has spent only $500 US but has the potential to spend several thousand more in the course of time .... [/further edit]

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  • PaulP Paul moved this topic from Orchestration & Composition on