@John O'Neill said:
Wonder how far off we are to some experienced orchestral conductor mistaking the VSL for a live performance. We're closer .
We're definitely closer, but already I've seen many orchestral musicians and conductors who knew nothing about VSL listen to some Pro Ed tracks. It did not even occur to them for a second that it was anything other than a real orchestra. Some didn't believe me, most were astonished-- none were happy!!
That's very interesting and perhaps a little worrying too. I'm sure none of us want real orchestras to die out, especially if their demise is being encouraged by relatively cheap and realistic sample libraries.
Besides, I doubt very much that we'll ever be able to totally reproduce all the nuances and subtleties of real musicians with a computer. I say that knowing full well that this new release will be even closer to that illusive goal than ever before. But when you consider that every single musician in an orchestra is doing his/her utmost to impart emotion into their performance, it would take a huge amount of effort to reproduce that artificially. They have finite control over every aspect of their instrument, which they have spent a lifetime trying to tame and fine-tune. Whereas, many of us have never even picked up the majority of orchestral instruments, yet we all expect the same level of performance to be achieved through the limitations of a keyboard, with the help of a few controllers sprinkled here and there.
Ultimately, we will never rival the flexibility and emotional charge afforded by the real thing, but soon I fear even that may be lost forever.
Mobius.