Amicus717

Well, it is worth noting that Albion ONE has weakness, too. These are just my 5 cents worth, but for the sake of perspective: 1) I really don't much like the brass patches in Albion ONE and almost never use them. There are some nice bits and pieces here and there, but overall the brass is rather synthy and never struck me as overly detailed or realistic. This is particularly true of the high brass, which is quite unconvincing to my ears. The mid brass is okay, and mid brass legato patch has a nice vibe to it, but the note range is more restricted than I'd like. 2) The strings are really nice, beautifully recorded onto 2" tape, and then converted to digital. So they have a real gloss to their sound. But they offer one specific kind of sound, and so if you are looking to summon a more intimate vibe, or work with divisi stuff or similar, you won't have much luck with Albion ONE. Basically, there is an Albion sound that is very particular to this library, and beyond changing the mic mix (which has limited effect, in my experience) you're stuck with that sound. I don't mind, as it suits me perfectly, but others might feel different about it. Also, the vibrato is not overly...vibrato-ish. Applying vibrato does make a difference, and it's quite nice -- but its more of an additional layer of texture added over the string than a real sense of the players applying deliberate vibrato. It works, but I find it has to be used judiciously, or the strings start to sound a bit synthy. 3) The Albion ONE string legato patches are very subdued in terms of legato transitions. The transitions are there, but not nearly as dramatic or swoopy as others, and there is no portamento. They also don't break the legatos out by individual sections (violins, cello, etc), but are broken out as simply Strings High, Mid and Low, and they use a lot of stacked octaves and similar. They work fine, but if you want more flexibility and tonal options, these are not the patches you want to use. 4) The Darwin Percussion patches have some nice sounds, but I have always found them hard to use, as the calibration between velocity layers is rather twitchy and abrupt. The sounds are big and boomy and resonant (except the high sticks), and all the percussion patches are really of one flavour: big, intense movie trailer thunder. Which is fine and useful, but limited in range. I'm not really into that sort of Zimmer-esque tribal, storm-drum routine, so aside from the Easter Island hits (which are deeep, thrumming booms that I often employ on transitions), I don't fire up the Darwin Percussion all that much, as I prefer to use more classical percussion. 5) In all honesty, I never use the Brunel Loops, and likely never will. They are fine, and when I've poked around that section of Albion ONE I have found some fun sounds and useful loops. But that kind of music is not where my current interests lie, so the Brunel Loops are not a huge factor to me. Basically, I like Albion ONE a lot because certain parts of it are perfectly suited to my tastes and the kind of music I want to do, and so they have become central to my working template. But other parts are not and don't see any significant use. It's clearly a well made and professional product with real polish, and it works as advertised. And even the weaker parts of the library can be coaxed into producing great music, judging by the demos on the Spitfire site. They do sound amazing, and I have no doubt that with proper care its possible to evoke all that from Albion ONE. But it won't be for everyone, and how much use you get out of Albion ONE will depend on how much it's baked in sound and overall patch design suits your tastes and working style. I figured I should mention all this, as it is always nice to know as much as possible about a product - both good and bad - before spending a few hundred bucks on it. It would be great if companies made demo versions of their big libraries available to try, as I hate dropping money on a library that sounds great in theory but doesn't turn out to be what I was looking for. I'm pretty sure we've all had that experience. Rob

It's intended as a complete toolkit for cinematic scoring, sort of a one-stop shop for all your cinematic orchestral and hybrid scoring needs. To that end it has: a) full set of strings, woodwinds and brass articulations, including some legato articulations and fx. Most of the patches are combination patches (woodwinds in octaves, strings and woods together, etc), or full ensemble patches with a few specific legato sections. There are no solo sections. I don't find the Albion orchestra patches to be as granular as others (Hollywood Strings, for example), but offers a set of commonly used textures and flavors often found in orchestral and cinematic scoring. They sound great, and I use them a lot for my own stuff. They have a fair amount of baked in ambiance, and generally are designed to sound pretty big and epic. b) cinematic percussion (toms, big hits, metal hits, etc). There is only a limited amount of 'traditional' orchestral percussion (some cymbals, etc), but no timps, and a cinematic piano patch which I use mostly for low end texturing. c) Stephensen's Steam Band is a collection of patches based on the orchestral and synth samples, and are run through their eDNA synth engine, and basically turned into a big set of hybrid synth patches. Most have a pretty huge sound, and are configurable (with gates and sequencing, etc) d) Brunel Loops - set of prerecorded loops that can be mangled and twisted for whatever use you want. It's all really nicely recorded and put together, and it is hands down one of my fav libraries. I don't use the whole thing -- my current template makes heavy use of the ensemble string patches and some of the big percussion hits. I use other libraries for solo instruments, string legatos and brass. But you can do a lot with just Albion ONE, and there is more than enough stuff to create a full piece of orchestral/hybrid scoring just within this one library. It's really great. YMMV, of course, as with all libraries like this. But I consider Albion ONE to be a desert island purchase.

Love this library, it is one of my gotos. Half price is a pretty fine deal.

Drums Of War - reg € 99 now only € 69 Drums Of War 2 - reg € 149 now only € 109 Drums Of War Bundle - reg € 199 now only € 139 Available here: https://www.bestservice.com/deals/cinesamples_drums_of_war_flash_sale.html

Available here: https://8dio.com/instrument/aura-guitars-for-kontakt-vst-au-aax/

I'm not a huge fan of loader/install programs, either, although I will admit the Spitfire one is pretty painless and seems to work pretty well. I've had no issues with it. FWIW.

Available here: https://projectsam.com/library-category/the-free-orchestra/

I have it. It's okayish. Not my first choice, but it gets a bit of use. Update: Just realized the deal is for the bundle. I only have Drums of the Deep I. Just FYI.

Does anyone have either (or both) of the Orchestral Essentials? Curious what you think, and which you prefer...

You must be watching a bit of TV this week...Avs are bringing it...

Can't believe nobody has mentioned Justin Bieber yet.

After listening to Shatner Claus, I really have no choice but to agree... https://www.stereogum.com/2023988/william-shatner-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer-zz-top-billy-gibbons-video/video/

Or William Shatner!

Did you also know that we have a Maple Syrup strategic reserve? I'm not even kidding. We do. And a few years ago, it was robbed: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/09/why-does-canada-have-a-strategic-maple-syrup-reserve/261869/

It struck me as a blunt-force instrument with a pretty limited scope. Tapsa's take makes a lot of sense to me, especially within that context. Anyway, I picked up Loegria also (and am really liking it), so that's my purchase for the month.

I have heard very mixed things about this library. Anyone have it? I hardly need it, but I'm curious anyway...

As I see it, people don't always appreciate what they have until it almost gets destroyed right in front of their faces. I can think of about a half-million examples of that on a daily basis, in fact...

I'd talk to the current ringer, first. He's got some pull with the church.

I have a hunch he did.

Daniel James walkthru is here, in case anyone is curious:

...and yeah, I really like it. Albion ONE is part of my essential collection of goto libraries, and I loved the Spitfire LABS. So after doing a lot of research into Loegria (mainly via Spitfire's demo videos and Daniel James' pretty detailed walkthru), I decided it was probably something I could use and was unable to resist the current 50% off pricing. Really glad I got it. Some gorgeous patches, and overall a really nice addition to the palette. The 1/2 size ensemble patches are lovely, and the ensemble flautando patch is freakin' gorgeous to my ears. There are some Easter Island II patches that I will probably be using a lot, and the euphonium and sackbuts are great brass patches with a unique vibe to them. Haven't had a chance to check out most of the Steam Band II patches, but the few I sampled were beautiful and haunting. Can't see me using the recorders all that much -- they are doubled up and adventurously tuned, and I have a solid set of recorder samples already across various libraries. Loegria will not replace any of my gotos, but since I use the Albion ONE strings a ton, the quieter Loegria strings -- which are recorded in the same space and using, I presume, many of the same players -- will fit in with them really well. Loegria is not for everyone, since it is really specific in what it offers. If you don't need this sort of intimate, quiet and detailed set of samples, you'll wonder why the hell you bought it. But if you need to accessorize your existing libraries with some quiet patches that have an authentic soft vibe, its a great addition. Figured I'd offer up my 5 cents worth. I find it tricky recommending libraries, since we are all really unique in what we need and like, and as always YMMV. But I'm really glad I got it, and figured I'd let folks know that Loegria is worth at least looking at before the deal ends (tomorrow evening, I believe)... Rob

Ah man. Yeah, that is irony. I've heard of that happening in other places, too. The problem with pipe organs is that they are usually way too expensive to fix if something goes sideways. What a shame.

Oh I bet that was amazing. A big pipe organ is the most powerful piece of gear you'll ever play in terms of sheer volume and space-filling ability. It can be a fun instrument. I play a lot of weddings as an organist, and once got a $100 bonus from a groom because I managed to sneak a wee bit of the Darth Vader / Imperial March theme into the wedding processional, right at the end (the bonus was null and void if the bride noticed and the poor guy got his marriage started off with a fight at the altar). Worked surprisingly well. Bride didn't notice, groom burst out laughing but passed it off as joy at seeing his wife-to-be, and I'm told the pastor glanced at me with an eye-brow raised but otherwise said nothing. So I am told NBC is confirming Notre Dame's pipe organ was NOT damaged; Great news!

I am told it was beyond description. That was the mother of all pipe organs, and the sound was apparently extraordinary. The current organ was technically installed in the mid 1800s, but had pipes from the previous two or three installation still active as part of the overall assembly, so it was several centuries worth of tones and timbres acting together. There is some word that possibly it may have survived. Apparently the interior was not as damaged as expected...https://mobile.twitter.com/areinaud/status/1117916691353067521?fbclid=IwAR3ma9YEfcrgmggR74Ri9tucUHgq0BKg1XbSnpsu9EsDRvvqyqgRW5yAHkU

Been following the horrible news out of Paris. I come from a family of liturgical musicians, and my uncle once had the privilege of playing the pipe organ at Notre Dame Cathedral. It was iconic and a really glorious instrument with a sound like no other -- a one of a kind creation to which other pipe organs were compared. And it is apparently gone, or so I am hearing. No confirmation on that yet, but I can't see how it could survive.