I think solo strings are always less convincing than ensembles, but embertone does a good job.Mike Speed | React Radio Uk | 201120 Friday Night Live | 8pm-10pm Free2Dance ReRun +1 House & Breakbeat - ’90-’93 Show 085 Mixed on Pioneer CDJ900NXS Possessed | Awesome 3 | Something Out Of Nothing Mix | 1991 | A&M PM I Want You (Forever) | DJ Carl Cox | Full On Mix | 1991 | Perfecto Good Friend | Paris Red | Ultimix Mix | 1991 | Dance Pool Elevation | Xpansions | Puffasonic Mix | 1990 | Optimism Records It's A Lot | D.K. If you do want solo strings, check out Embertone's offerings. I prefer to use only the close mics so I can "put them in the same room" with reverb- mimicing my treatment of other dry libraries (like sample modeling) in my orchestral template. The Spitfire Audio Symphonic Strings are also excellent. I like to use Orchestral Tools Berlin Strings because it has so many damn articulations. I think for strings, multisampled libraries still have the edge. I can't vouch for their solo string libraries. So keep this in mind if you want to make jazzy sounds- other libraries with real recorded mutes may have an edge here. Sample Modeling's libraries use mutes bourne from filters in kontakt, so this is potentially a weak point in their feature set. Using them with a breath controller - good example of the solo sound with a small verb. IIRC, the reverb in use here is the Todd AO scoring stage impulse from Altiverb. Star Wars mockup someone made - good example of building ensembles out of the various solo instruments. For bonus trickery, feed each one slightly different convolution impulses to further distinguish them from one another. This will distance you from the "4 fake trombones playing the same midi and chorusing" effect. Just be sure to feed unique midi (timing, velocity- think human variation), and also variation in the MIDI CC# Intensity curves u feed each inst. When there is a better option short of learning to play and record every brass and horn instrument, I'll keep using them.īonus tip: you can build ensembles OUT of different solo instruments.
Large orchestral hall, distant mic'd? Close mic'd, recorded to tape in a small room? You can do a lot with such a dry, dynamic instrument. You can emulate all stages of various signal chains.
The long term flexibility may be obvious. Either you think this is a bonus for flexibility, or more work and tedium.
Since they are dead dry, you will need to both spatially place the instruments yourself, and also put them in a room with reverb. But imo, it is the best way to get away from the limitations that most multisampled brass and horn libraries suffer. This takes time, without a breath controller.
Also dynamically variable vibrato and speed. Need staccato? Short notes and possibly a intensity curve that "blows the horn" in the manner you are after. Need Crescendo? Draw that slope reflecting it. They are incredibly dry solo instruments, and instead of relying on canned ".wav" articulation samples, all the articulation is built from midi CC# intensity data (think, modwheel is CC#1) you feed to the instruments to "blow the horn". For brass and horns, I like Sample Modeling's stuff.