Cinesamples 75% off Composers Toolset

[arznable]

2 hours ago, antler said:

I've had CinePerc for a while now and haven't found any issues, though it's a big library and I don't think I've explored absolutely all of it.

If you want to hear what the MGM Scoring Stage sounds like with other instruments, the brass in this is from CineBrass.

Thanks for the track, but quite difficult to judge the room sound of CineBrass because the sounds become a bit muddy in the passage when all instruments are playing, thanks anyway.

Edited April 16, 2020 by arznable

[Amicus717]

2 hours ago, arznable said:

Really helpful preliminary overview, thanks.  I do notice people complained the CineBrass legato quite a bit.  Anyway, await your results for tonight's experiment...

So, for what it's worth: I like these libraries a lot -- they really suit my working style and I like their sound. The strings are not as smooth or pristine sounding as AlbionONE's strings, which are my current mainstays. CineStrings is raspier and more fulsome, with something of  in-your-face sound, and sits pretty wide on the soundstage. There is also a fair amount of MGM's ambiance baked into the default mix, and the effect is very intense and cinematic. The different mic positions change things a lot, although I haven't experimented with all of them yet. But I can say the dry, close mics are both pretty damn close and pretty damn dry. As for their ability to blend with other stuff, so far they seem fine. I've tried my VSL woodwinds with them, and with some fine tuning I think it will work great.

I also played around with the Trumpet Ensemble Articulations patch, and today I had an easier time dealing with the legato. It sounds pretty nice. I like that all their instruments were recorded in their proper place on the soundstage, which puts all the brass instruments exactly where I want them to be right out of the box (using the default mix). The default mix uses both some EQ and Reverb within Kontakt, but I disable the reverb and use my own. 

Cinesamples offers a couple of different ways to use these libraries in terms of mapping -- one based on velocity and pedal, and the other based on keyswitches. I find the keyswitch mappings are more suited to how I like to work. 

So, while it's only been a day, I'm quite glad I got these. But as always, YMMV.