Orchestral Tools Phoenix Orchestra

[Larry Shelby]

299 Euros intro - 499 Euros thereafter - requires the FREE Sine Player
https://www.orchestraltools.com/store/get-sine?utm_source=cleverreach&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=phoenix_preoder_newsletter&utm_term=phoenixemail&utm_content=downloadsinefree

Authentic Chinese instruments

Announcing Phoenix Orchestra: A vibrant, meticulously sampled chamber orchestra that lets you evoke the sounds of China—ancient and modern. Draw from 4 orchestral sections, 7 instrument ensembles, and 21 solo instruments—each with its own unique characteristics and playing techniques.

Phoenix Orchestra will be available for download on September 21. Pre-order today for a very special price!

HEAR DEMOS

https://www.orchestraltools.com/store/collections/phoenix-orchestra?utm_source=cleverreach&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=phoenix_preoder_newsletter&utm_term=phoenixemail&utm_content=preorderbutton

 

 

Edited September 4, 2020 by cclarry

[Reid Rosefelt]

I soooooo wish I didn't buy Strezov's Jade Ethnic Orchestra.  ?  I went up and down about whether to walk out on the intro price. Total buyer's remorse.  I spent weeks putting together an arrangement of "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence" with it--just to convince myself that I didn't waste my money.  That didn't work out.

This looks like it's on a total higher level.  I want it.  I  wish I had the money back from JEO.?

It is true that JEO is as much Mongolian as it is Chinese.  And it has two Mongolian choirs, plus a Vietnamese instrument and a Shakuhachi.  So in some ways, it's different from this. 

There are a lot of instruments that I feel I have covered.  I am not often tempted by another piano, guitar, violin,  string library, etc unless it is something really new--like Noire or Picked Acoustic.  It has to be different.

But when there is a big ethnic collection like this... 

[Lizzie Foster]

But it's Sine only.  So far, not AAX and crashes Cubase.  It's funny because the standalone version works fine on my computer. 

 

[Barrie]

On 9/4/2020 at 2:25 PM, Reid Rosefelt said:

But when there is a big ethnic collection like this... 

Just 3 days left..... ?

[Reid Rosefelt]

I'm out.  Something about this doesn't feel right to me.  The whole way it was made seems kind of glib and two steps away from authentic.  This was made in an offhand way by a Hollywood studio musician to be used for a job by a Hollywood composer who knows NOTHING  about Asian music.

My belief is that the Erhu and the human voice are the two hardest things to sample.  The Erhu can cry--it is so expressive.  It is infinitely harder to sample an Erhu than a violin and yet most people do not find even superb sampled violins to be believable.  Why?  Because they know what a real violin is supposed to sound like.  I have never heard a sampled Erhu that was believable in comparison to the real thing.  And in my opinion, it is one of the most beautiful and emotive instruments that exists.  At this point, Erhu phrases are the only way to go. 

For some developer to think that you can just pound out an ethnic library of lots of instruments in a short period of time does not show what I believe to be a respect for the music or the culture.  Maybe the flutes or plucked instruments, but not really.  Study for five or ten years with a master and then TRY to do it.   Isn't that the way people learn how to play a violin or a piano?  Know and love what the instrument is before sampling.  Know the culture that produced it and the kind of music it plays.  Can you record a symphony orchestra if you aren't familiar with the orchestral repertoire?

People bash EastWest's Silk, because it is old I guess or because Engine sucks.   But the truth is it is very good. It has an interesting approach that works for me. The more stuff comes out, the better it looks for me.  

If NI comes out with a Discovery, I'll buy that immediately.  The Middle Eastern one was  created by real players from their home countries.   They are well designed and fun to play.  At least they would be made by people who know what they are talking about and would be fun.    I would also buy a Tarilonte Asian library immediately, as I believe him to be the very greatest artist of sampling.   He loves every instrument he samples, you can just tell.

I'm sitting this out.  If it does turn out to be something I want, there will always be a sale someday.

[Matthew Sorrels]

I've been torn on this one myself.  I really don't like the SINE player all that much.  I have Ark 1 and 2 in it and they just aren't as good as the Kontakt versions.  Instruments in it don't seem to have full scripts like with Kontakt.  It's one of the things that EastWest lost when they went with Play.  You can see how much better an instrument can be when you couple it with a full on scripting language (like those NI Discovery instruments).  It's why UVI and Kontakt instruments seem so much better than all of these second tier sample engines (SINE/Play/Best Engine/etc) instruments.

As for this specific library, I'm not sure something built for a specific project like this is ideal.  But I also think sampling and building software instruments is a skill of it's own, not related to the instrument.  It's writing software more than anything musical.  To get a good instrument requires software development skills/experience and ideally experience with the instruments as well.  Then the sampling/recording/processing is another skill (or skills).  Plus the players and their skill.  And most of that skill is really more experience. 

My take on this product is it's a generic buffet.  So I don't think any one of the instruments is going to have the kind of detail and quality you'd really want.  If you look at the instrument list page, they don't even have descriptions of what they are.  No photos, no details at all.  it's just a big list.  General MIDI, Chinese Orchestra edition if you will.

I'm not so sure there will ever be a better sale price though.  It's still not clear what kind of sale plans OT is going to follow.

[Barrie]

Just one of the reasons I love this forum. (people with lots more experience than I have, sharing their thoughts). I was interested, but the more I read (and the lack of info/full demos OT has available) the less sure I am that it would be worthwhile at this point. As @Reid Rosefelt  noted, there is EW Silk (and even RA) which I've looked at before, but never purchased. At their current prices, maybe that would be a better purchase at this time. UVI also have World Suite 2 which looks interesting.

Thanks for the opinions.

[kitekrazy1]

RA and Silk can be had for under $150 each when they have a sale.  I'm getting sick of the proprietary players.  I've had no issues with Play, VSL, or Kontakt. 

[Fleer]

Silk is pretty good with sufficient articulations. RA has more instruments but less articulations. Didn’t get that one. 

[Reid Rosefelt]

I did try RA when I had Composer's Cloud, and I wasn't impressed with the sounds, and decided not to buy it.  

In terms of wide-ranging World libraries, my first recommendation would be EthnoWorld 6,(instruments only) which should be around $155 during Black Friday.    UVI has regular 30% off sales, so you should be able to get World Suite 2 fairly soon  for around $210.   

With both of them there is a range of quality, and there are instruments in one that aren't in the other.  I like having both, and if you can swing it, it's nice.  The only problem with these two libraries is that they can cause you to fall in love with these new sounds, and that can make you want to buy solo libraries. My growing interest in world music has been expensive.   But of course, if you come to this page enough, you may already be going broke on virtual instruments and effects!  ?

I don't mind Sine, though.  I may delete my Kontakt versions of the Inspires and have purchased a few of their other libraries.

It is true that I am critiquing the OT library without owning it, which is the only way to judge it.  I just don't have $300 worth of curiosity  at the moment. 

Edited September 20, 2020 by Reid Rosefelt