Can someone recommend what east west pieces I should get?

[charlie2]

Hi everyone.

I need some advice

I may have the money soon to buy the east west custom composer's bundle but I don't know which ones to get.
I mostly write for film, rock, pop and similar styles.

I was thinking about the quantum leap orch, or should I get the gold or platinum? I don't know the difference between them.
I was also thinking of the symphonic choirs, but I need to know if the voices of passion are better.
Also someone told me of goliath, but it seems I'd already have those instruments in the orch version. Is there anything unique in goliath which would make me buy it?

Also, I'm thinking of buying drum pads to play my drums in. I already have strike, but would stormdrum give me more realistic drum sounds?

Are there any other pieces I should have?

I have pro tools 7.3 and I think I have to upgrade to 7.4 for east west. I also have finale 2007 notation software, but I don't think it would affect anything. If it did I'd have to upgrade.

On top of everything, my PC is old, but still working. I may buy a mac after this.

Thanks for all ya help.

[elser]

If you have an old PC it probably won't run the east west libraries very good, if at all. If you have some money I think you're best bet is to upgrade your computer first.

[mazz]

Yes a pretty beefy computer or computers will be necessary to run more than a very few instruments at a time. East West always pushes the envelope on computer power.

Voices of Passion and Symphonic Choirs are two completely different approaches. The choirs are just that, the VOP library is solo voices that work really well in a more textural context. It is much more of a specialized library.

Stormdrum is a percussion library oriented towards big bombastic orchestral trailer or promo type work, it is not for pop drums at all. The drums in ministry of rock sound very good but aren't as good as a dedicated drum VI such as Superior or Addictive.

You'll be frustrated in a hurry if you try to run these on an older computer.

Mazz

[t4mh]

I would agree with the responses you have now. I am somewhat new to E/W stuff. I hear lots of war stories about issues in using it with Pro Tools of any version. I think it can be done but may be another frustration for you.

Good Luck!
Keith

[jparker]

I have a few of the EW VIs and I run on an 8-core Mac Pro with 6 gb of RAM, and I still occasionally have memory issues, but it's mostly related to Digital Performer as the host. Ministry of Rock may be the one instrument that will work with your style of music, but as mazz said, you'll get more mileage out of Superior Drummer or another dedicated virtual drummer; however, if your wanting to get the most of EW you can, this month the instruments are 50% off and you can get the Complete Composers Collection for about $750 using the coupon code "ANNIVERSARY".

[musicliner]

With all due respect to EW, there are other string samplers that offer pro-level sound, without heavy taxation of your computer (and your wallet, at the same time), e.g. Miroslav Philharmonik.
http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?ProductID=4347

p.s.
Currently, IK Multimedia has "buy1, get two FREE" promo until July.

[matto]

With all due respect to EW, there are other string samplers that offer pro-level sound, without heavy taxation of your computer (and your wallet, at the same time), e.g. Miroslav Philharmonik.
http://www.esoundz.com/details.php?ProductID=4347

I would have to say that while there are some very nice sounds in Miroslav Philharmonik that would work very well when mixed with other sources, by itself I would hardly describe it as a "pro-level" orchestral solution in the year 2010...
Yes the sounds in Philharmonik were state of the art when they were first released, but the state of the art has evolved quite dramatically in the, what is it now, about 20 years (?) since their initial release.

That being said you are absolutely correct that EW is not the only option...

[llama]

Hey Charlie,

A few months back I upgraded my EW composer pack running on Kontact to the EW composer pack running on Play. As already said you should definitely upgrade to a newer computer capable of running in 64bit mode. The memory constraint in the 32bit environment will quickly have you going insane as you try to add more instruments to your composition.
All the EW libraries are fabulous. Depends on what you want really. You might want to listen to the examples they have on the soundsonline page for each of the libraries. These give you a fairly good idea of what each package is capable of. FWIW I got Orch gold, choir, Voices of passion, Stormdrum, Pianos, RA, and Collussus.
Be prepared to spend the time loading all this on to your machine.............bring a good book into the studio with you.....or something to keep you occuoied while loading.. . HTH

Derek

[fusilierb]

I'm a big fan of East/West, but agree with everyone here. A computer that is old, but still running, will no longer be still running when you try to use these packages. I'd save the money for a new machine and then get some of the east/west goodness. Otherwise, they aren't that usable.

hth's
B

[eliotpister1]

I bought the East West Silver edition about 2 months ago, and have serious troubles with the homegrown player they've made for it. Apparently they used to rely on the Kontakt player, which I wish they still did. My PC is not absolutely state-of-the-art and current, but still, at 1 1/2 years old (not sure what the processor is right now), it should not be the issue. I get lock-ups 50% of the time either to my DAW or just the sample player, resulting in me needing to completely power down and reboot. Closing and opening my DAW or repatching the player usually doesn't work. What's more, these are only the 16 bit samples, so I don't believe I'm pushing the envelope much.

There's no doubt the samples themselves are amazing, but I'd be hesitant to recommend buying EWQL based on the instability of the player alone. I believe this app is still in ver. 1.x, so hopefully they deal with the bugs in subsequent versions.

My two cents...