Some of the replies here are brilliant and inspiring, no joking.
One other thing that occurs to me is specific types of music in this context. Mention was made of 'simple" music being hard to do in samples - I completely agree. An example is an almost childishly simple violin solo piece I once tried to program. It had been played fairly well by a live violin, but I tried later on to do it with some very good samples and it was terrible. I would never let anyone hear it. A single line with piano accompaniment! On the other hand, some massive orchestrations seem to work in an exciting, even thrilling way that I immediately want others to listen to.
I agree on specifically writing for samples being a deciding factor, though perhaps also there are certain types of orchestral music originally written for live that, because of their particular orientation toward sound and timbre, benefit from sample performance or might even sound better. For example, certain modern pieces that put extreme strains upon live players in their emphasis on unusual timbre. I often wonder what would Ligetti's Atmospheres, Lontano and Apparitions might sound like with samples on the level of VSL. These are pieces which treat the live orchestra almost like a tone generator in a fascinating timbral experiment. The Bacall performance of Varese worked very well and seems to demonstrate something similar though with the added element of highly complex rhythm in the percussion.
The exact opposite of this is the terrible, dull music for "Last of the Mohicans" which was simply a huge mass of undifferentiated sound, "scored" (to use the term very, very loosely) for a live orchestra, a group of studio players who must have been so bored by performing the exact same repetitive theme, doubled over and over throughout the ensemble, that they ended up the recording session in comas and had to be taken out on stretchers.
For the people who think that live orchestras are always better - that piece of shit of a score could be represented by a small, older sample library PERFECTLY. The live players represent nothing more than snob appeal and bragging rights for the producer and composer.
One other thing that occurs to me is specific types of music in this context. Mention was made of 'simple" music being hard to do in samples - I completely agree. An example is an almost childishly simple violin solo piece I once tried to program. It had been played fairly well by a live violin, but I tried later on to do it with some very good samples and it was terrible. I would never let anyone hear it. A single line with piano accompaniment! On the other hand, some massive orchestrations seem to work in an exciting, even thrilling way that I immediately want others to listen to.
I agree on specifically writing for samples being a deciding factor, though perhaps also there are certain types of orchestral music originally written for live that, because of their particular orientation toward sound and timbre, benefit from sample performance or might even sound better. For example, certain modern pieces that put extreme strains upon live players in their emphasis on unusual timbre. I often wonder what would Ligetti's Atmospheres, Lontano and Apparitions might sound like with samples on the level of VSL. These are pieces which treat the live orchestra almost like a tone generator in a fascinating timbral experiment. The Bacall performance of Varese worked very well and seems to demonstrate something similar though with the added element of highly complex rhythm in the percussion.
The exact opposite of this is the terrible, dull music for "Last of the Mohicans" which was simply a huge mass of undifferentiated sound, "scored" (to use the term very, very loosely) for a live orchestra, a group of studio players who must have been so bored by performing the exact same repetitive theme, doubled over and over throughout the ensemble, that they ended up the recording session in comas and had to be taken out on stretchers.
For the people who think that live orchestras are always better - that piece of shit of a score could be represented by a small, older sample library PERFECTLY. The live players represent nothing more than snob appeal and bragging rights for the producer and composer.