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Amadeus VS. The Orchestra

Fwrend

By Fwrend
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Fwrend

Fwrend

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Before the season is over for gas-induced inquiring minds and aside from price, are there any major considerations/comparisons from those "in the know?"  Surely there are usable apples and oranges in both programs?

e.g. usability of sounds for projects; GUI & user-friendliness; scratch to performance efficiency, $100 difference in value?, etc.

Indiginus Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra $119
https://indiginus.com/amadeus.html

Sonuscore The Orchestra ca. $199
https://sonuscore.com/shop/the-orchestra/

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bitflipper

bitflipper

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They are similar and both sound great. The Sonuscore product is more sophisticated. It has more articulations, lots of presets plus some surprisingly useful arpeggiators. I'd suggest going with that one if you're really into orchestration. But if all you want are simple backing tracks for pop and rock tunes, ASO gets you there very quickly.

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Reid Rosefelt

Reid Rosefelt

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It's unbelievable that such tools are available to us today.  What a time. 

For this choice, I think it depends on who you are.  If you have music school training, or have spent enough time on the internet to know how to compose for all the instruments in the orchestra--maybe Amadeus wins by a hair.  For learning.  And because it's designed by Tracy Collins of Indiginus it has an easy, easy interface. 
I'm somebody with a bit of training who is learning and will keep on learning, so buying it on release for $99 was a purchase I've never looked back on. 

If you're not a smartie and you just want to play a C chord, select a preset, and hear amazing orchestral music, then The Orchestra is for you.  Plus... you can still compose for the orchestra in the conventional way.  

The Orchestra is all about a 5-part arpeggiating machine.  And if you get it, you can keep adding to it with their other 5 parters like Elysion and Mallet Flux.  Not to mention that The Orchestra itself just got a string expansion and there will be many more expansions I'm sure. 

But I think that Amadeus has a bit more to offer for traditional orchestral composition. More instruments and articulations.

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pseudopop

pseudopop

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19 hours ago, bitflipper said:

They are similar and both sound great. The Sonuscore product is more sophisticated. It has more articulations, lots of presets plus some surprisingly useful arpeggiators. I'd suggest going with that one if you're really into orchestration. But if all you want are simple backing tracks for pop and rock tunes, ASO gets you there very quickly.

 

17 hours ago, Reid Rosefelt said:

If you're not a smartie and you just want to play a C chord, select a preset, and hear amazing orchestral music, then The Orchestra is for you.  Plus... you can still compose for the orchestra in the conventional way.  

[snip]

But I think that Amadeus has a bit more to offer for traditional orchestral composition. More instruments and articulations.

Uh... I'm getting some mixed messages here. So which is which?

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Fwrend

Fwrend

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39 minutes ago, Pseudopop said:

Uh... I'm getting some mixed messages here. So which is which?

? I thought the same thing actually.  I'm  "music schooled' so I'm not concerned with ease necessarily.  However, this has helped as it seems one significant difference is that The Orchestra allows for wider level of musician i.e. scoring individual instruments & groups AS WELL AS quick and easy full orchestra playing. 

Thanks all!

EDIT: though Bit & Reid seem to be saying opposite things which may indicate that both programs are a good choice with The Orchestra having a bit more manageability?

Edited by Fwrend
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Reid Rosefelt

Reid Rosefelt

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2 hours ago, Fwrend said:

? I thought the same thing actually.  I'm  "music schooled' so I'm not concerned with ease necessarily.  However, this has helped as it seems one significant difference is that The Orchestra allows for wider level of musician i.e. scoring individual instruments & groups AS WELL AS quick and easy full orchestra playing. 

Thanks all!

EDIT: though Bit & Reid seem to be saying opposite things which may indicate that both programs are a good choice with The Orchestra having a bit more manageability?

Here are all the main instruments in The Orchestra, with their articulations.  There is percussion too, and The Orchestra Complete has more string articulations.  Note that there are only six solo instruments: 2 violins and 5 woodwinds (no English Horn or Piccolo).

148665412_TheOrchestra.jpg.e65b882685f8e3d54f27c69ae3fa917c.jpg

 

Amadeus offers many more solo instruments.   You can find the full list HERE  but

Strings: all solo instruments plus 12 different ensembles

Brass: 4 different solo French Horns, 3 different Trumpets, 3 trombones, a tuba, and 7 different ensembles.

Woodwinds: Piccolo, 2 different flutes, Alto Flute, Bass Flute, 2 different Oboes, English Horn, 2 different clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 different bassoons, one contrabassoon.  10 different ensembles

Here are the Amadeus Articulations

1623055629_Amadeusarticulations.jpg.4e848135b5492188fe8125f9fb92079b.jpg

A composer has a lot more to work with in terms of NUMBER of solo instruments and ensembles with Amadeus vs. The Orchestra.  
Many people won't care if they have 4 different French Horns, but it gives you the option to use one, two, three, or four at once, or do divisi.
You don't have those kinds of options with The Orchestra.  It's four horns and that's it.

But The Orchestra has the arp engine and that is spectacular. 

And Amadeus might not suit the needs of certain people because they can buy virtual orchestras that have even more articulations and instruments. Or they like the sound of Spitfire or Orchestral Tools more.  They might prefer the sound of The Orchestra more.  Sonuscore intended The Orchestra to be rough and "realistic."  It definitely has its own sound, which some might prefer to Amadeus.  The Orchestra is a newer library than Amadeus, even though Amadeus came out after--because Amadeus was cobbled together from sounds from previous libraries.

The legato in The Orchestra is real and the one in Amadeus is scripted.  Some people don't like scripted legato, but the quality of true legato varies wildly between virtual orchestras.  That's why Cinematic Studio Strings is so popular--great legato.

To me, there are hundreds of things you need to know before you can compose orchestral music.  You should know about every single instrument.  If you don't know what the range is, and all or most of the sounds it makes, I don't see how you can do it. And the more you know about music theory, theories of orchestration, harmony, counterpoint, etc. the easier it gets.  Being able to sight read a score is helpful. 

But anybody can install The Orchestra and start making incredible music in ten seconds.  You don't need to know ANYTHING.  Play a chord and you're good to go.  But of course it has the tools to write orchestral music too.  But I bet most people use it for the 5 part arp engine. 

Edited by Reid Rosefelt
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pseudopop

pseudopop

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Thanks for the info, Reid.

I listened to the demos and Amadeus certainly doesn't sound like it's cobbled together! I really like how the ensembles sound.

Here is link to the comparison of articulations between different versions of The Orchestra, in case someone's interested: Articulation Comparison. It looks like Amadeus falls somewhere between The Orchestra and The Orchestra Complete, articulation-wise.

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Starise

Starise

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Most of those serious about composing have several libraries minimum for composition, so you could just get them both :)

Amadeus is my go to for putting orchestra ideas down on the fly. Works great for that  for me. Round robins, arpeggios meh. I prefer to use my own. Maybe your experiences will be different. It's just hard to quantify what will work best for you anyone because I don't know what you're trying to do.  The only niggle I have with Amadeus is the way the mod wheel is set up for dynamics. I have recorded and missed the dynamics and either lost the track or had to go back and record the mod wheel. This was mainly when using the whole orchestra settings which are quite amazing...One man.........10 fingers, ok 8 that are playing and I can get a whole orchestra with a choir. The solo instruments aren't bad either. The harp and organ are on par with other programs I have bought dedicated to only those instruments. Not as extensive but gets the job done in most cases.

I have begun to collect Spitfire libs.....nice to mix it up. Download their app/portal and get some decent libraries free. So is that tip. If all you're doing is small string arrangements...nice indeed..

The general idea is start somewhere. Doesn't really matter where because you're going to want something else... buy more....eventually end up buying a few more hard drives lol.

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TheSteven

TheSteven

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Complete version does...

 

Quote

 

Product Overview [of Complete upgrade]

You already own The Orchestra and would like to expand the number of instruments, articulations and features? With this upgrade you can extend your orchestral colors and features even further and maintain the intuitive and fast workflow you are already used to. 

This brand-new complete bundle comes with 108 new presets - Colors / Rhythms / Animated. It includes and combines the latest version of The Orchestra, the complete Strings Of Winter and Tuned Percussion within the Ensemble Engine. 

 

 

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