Virtual Instrument Plug-in Software and Libraries

[MichaelKD]

I am not looking for mixing or mastering plug-ins, but I am trying to improve the quality of my MIDI samples and sounds with a virtual instrument plug-in. A recurring theme on my submissions to Taxi is the poor quality of the sounds of my submissions. I am looking to add a virtual instrument library to my music set-up. I am currently using Studio One 6 and had a few questions: (1) would a virtual sound library be worth the money too spend on it? (2) what library would you recommend? (3) I am considering the Vienna Symphonic Library, Symphonic Cube, does anyone have experience with this library and is it worth the money? It is quite expensive! Let me know!
Thank you!

[edmondredd]

Hi Michael,
It would really help if you could tell us what genre are you interested in writing, and maybe post a couple of your tracks that got returned because of the poor quality of your samples.
This way, you'll get a better idea on what could be a good fit.

[MichaelKD]

Thank you for responding to my post! I really appreciate it! I am looking to compose tonal, "classical" type/genre/style music arranged for solo instrument up to chamber ensembles and full orchestras. So, I am looking for classical style plug-ins and libraries. I hope this helps! Let me know what you would advise me to do! Again, thank you!

[macomposer]

Soooo, for solo stuff, the best, best way forward would be to get players for that. There are a number of online musicians that will record your pieces, or if you have access to players in your community, have them over, set a mic, and off you go. This the best approach because as good as virtual instrument libraries are, living, breathing human musicians will always be better. Some stuff you can get away with of course: everyone uses sampled piano for example, and there are some good solo libraries out there (many of them not THAT expensive), but tastes differ. Some people love what Tina Guo does (cello) in her two libraries that she did for Cinesamples, and I have used her libraries on a lot of stuff, but some people would rather find a real cellist and record that person. And a real cellist with the right recording setup, right mixing, etc and the right music will probably beat a cello sample library with the right mixing, etc, and right music.

The adage has traditionally been, the bigger the orchestral sound, the easier it is to make it sound better with virtual instruments. But we've come a long way since that was the going adage, so it is possible to achieve quality sounding recordings with virtual instruments alone, even when working towards a smaller, more chamber orchestra sound. I would suggest that you listen to as many demos as you can before laying down cash.. Yes, VSL is great (and expensive!). And it has more a classical sound. But, if you're wanting your scores to sound cinematic for media use, there are other (not necessarily better, but maybe a bit cheaper) alternatives.

More cinematic sounding libraries include East West (very Hollywood), Spitfire (very London), and Orchestral Tools (Berlin). And they all do have different sounds, however subtle. Those are some of the biggies.. Another way to listen is to take your favorite records and see where they were recorded, who recorded them, etc. For scores and such, I very much will listen to how the London Symphony Orchestra sounds as opposed to say a studio orchestra recorded on the Warner Brothers soundstage. If you like the sound of WB better, maybe invest in East West; if you like how London sounds, maybe Spitfire.

One last thing: East West has a subscription - $200 a year, so does Cinesamples (another American Hollywood type sound), and I'm probably forgetting others. Maybe do a subscription for a year - you get access to everything they've done - you can download as much of their stuff as you want, and see what suits you.

[MichaelKD]

Thank you for replying to my post, I really appreciate it! I would like more information on your suggestion to use musicians over the internet to record compositions. Thank you!

[macomposer]

Sure. Here are some of the ones I've found that look really legit. (I don't have personal experience with most of these, but I have used other musicians like this over the years...)

Yourstringsattached.com
Supremetracks.com
Soundbetter.com
Studiopros.com
Gorangrooves.com
Stringssection.co.uk
Airgigs.com

Also, as you get more entrenched in the community here, you might also find some serious players within the Taxi community who might be willing to play on your tunes as a trade. They play for you, and you play for them.. or mix for them, or something... Just some ideas...

[cosmicdolphin]

Thank you for replying to my post, I really appreciate it! I would like more information on your suggestion to use musicians over the internet to record compositions. Thank you!

There are some good musicians over at Fiverr as well

[MichaelKD]

To start, I want to thank all of you who responded to my posts, I really appreciate all your feedback and advice! I do, however, believe I have come up with a solution for my questions. As part of my monthly Presonous Sphere subscription (Studio one) I have carte blanche to all their products and services including the PSO or Presonous Symphony Orchestra plug-in! I have downloaded the plug-in and have begun working with it. While the plug-in helps, the sound quality is still not as pristine as I would have liked. Again, thank you all for your help!

[BradleyHagen]

The Presonus stuff, IMHO, is crap. You really need to look into Spitfire, Native Instruments, East West, etc.... But here is the caveat..... It doesn't matter how many great libraries that you own if you do not know how to make them sound realistic, and I am speaking from recent experience, as others on here know...

[macomposer]

The Presonus stuff, IMHO, is crap. You really need to look into Spitfire, Native Instruments, East West, etc.... But here is the caveat..... It doesn't matter how many great libraries that you own if you do not know how to make them sound realistic, and I am speaking from recent experience, as others on here know...

I wasn’t going to say anything as I am unfamiliar with that particular library… But, I do do a lot of research on what’s available (gotta stay current), and I had not even ever heard of it… Occasionally one gem may escape my notice… but yeah, the ones you mention are used by everyone. As you say, you gotta have the right tools, but more importantly, you have learn to use them.

I would say, start with one library (a decent one), learn the hell of out of it, (and since we’re talking about classical/chamber) study orchestration, study midi orchestration, and see where that gets you…