Choosing an Orchestral Library in 2024

[Draco Solis]

Like in any other forum dealing with mostly subjective matters, you have to factor in bias, perspective, subjective taste, aspirations, exposure to real instrumentation, path so far, etc etc. No one is immune, certainly

Oh, certainly not denying that. Mostly it's just amusing how SSO went from something that—aside from a few who did like it—could hardly be taken seriously as a legitimate suggestion compared to other (often far more expensive) options, to now being praised as a worthy contender for an all-in-one orchestra.

Not that this is bad at all, quite the opposite if it's finally getting the recognition it deserves. It's just an amusing 180 in terms of the general consensus on it. And does kinda cement the fact that all of this really is just subjective in the end.

 

[Bluemount Score]

And does kinda cement the fact that all of this really is just subjective in the end.

It's definitely a value for money discussion in the case of SSO. Many (including me) couldn't justify the price point in the past, but now that it has gotten soo much cheaper, it beats (almost all?) the competition with ease, looking at what you get for your $$$

The inconsistencies are an included feature that apparently hasn't changed much.

 

[Henrik B. Jensen]

Why is it hard to understand that a library going for $1699 or whatever is judged very differently than the same library - containing a big brush-up - going for $569.

 

[MikeT99]

And that's why blind testing is such a valuable resource, whenever possible. You remove almost everything from the equation (but I grant that in such tests it's impossible to judge workflow issues, and in all fairness they're not as tiny as one would generally think).

 

[Onemandown]

I did in fact notice how far opinion shifted on SSO once SF cut the price... It went from "this library totally sucks" almost to "still the best thing ever." And the new performance patches are not that much of an improvement...

Haha I noticed the same thing. Users will dog all over SF Symph Strings but they'll jealously guard SSO.

 

[Henrik B. Jensen]

The crazy thing is I can personally "feel" within just a few minutes of using a VSTi if the workflow is gonna fit me or not.

If only more developers had a trial-and-money-back guarantee policy.

 

[mybadmemory]

The crazy thing is I can personally "feel" within just a few minutes of using a VSTi if the workflow is gonna fit me or not.

If only more developers had a trial-and-money-back guarantee policy.

Same. I can never judge a library in demos or walkthroughs but the second you play it with your own hands you know instantly.

It’s just something about the expectation you have when you strike a key in a certain way and weather what comes out represents that or not.

 

[Gagarin Moore]

The crazy thing is I can personally "feel" within just a few minutes of using a VSTi if the workflow is gonna fit me or not.

If only more developers had a trial-and-money-back guarantee policy.

All comes to that, to be able to try a library for an hour or so. Maybe people here can meet with others who bought specific libraries and try them, you write location and library of interest and probably someone will be around, like a dating app! Male 34 looking for EW Hollywood Brass long time commitment!

 

[jbuhler]

I can never judge a library in demos or walkthroughs but the second you play it with your own hands you know instantly.

I can usually get a decent idea of workflow from user walkthroughs, especially if it's done by someone I've watched a lot (it's one place that user walkthroughs are preferable to the official ones). But it's true that there are often still workflow surprises.

 

[lishuiX]

I noticed not many people are talking about the percussion libraries. The only one I’ve seen mentioned is the Abbey Road Orchestra Percussion. Would that be a really good choice?

 

[Jrides]

I noticed not many people are talking about the percussion libraries. The only one I’ve seen mentioned is the Abbey Road Orchestra Percussion. Would that be a really good choice?

Actually, a number of the suggestions have been full orchestras, which include strings, woodwind, brass, and percussion.

 

[Simon Passmore]

Hello everyone, I am a student specializing in film scoring and I’m looking for advice on selecting a comprehensive orchestral library without considering budget constraints. I’m aiming to acquire the best available library for each section of the orchestra. Could you please recommend libraries for the following categories?

1. Strings:
• Symphonic Strings
• Chamber Strings
• Solo Strings
2. Woodwinds:
3. Brass:
4. Additional libraries specifically for composing for a Jazz Big Band
5. Percussion

I am not looking for general suggestions like SSO or NI Komplete bundles. Instead, I prefer recommendations for the best and most suitable library for each individual section. Thank you!

Before you do anything, I would buy the full version of Kontakt - not only does this open up thousands of good quality free instruments for you, it’s a requirement to run some of the best orchestral libraries (and many others just run in the free player).

For big band, you’re going to need to learn to use hybrid/modelled instruments - take a look at Acoustic Samples/Aaron Venture/Sample Modeling. For classical stuff it’s impossible to say what’s best as it’s just taste and workflow, but I would consider subscribing for a month to something like Composer Cloud or Musio just to get a feel for different libraries.

Don’t forget also that most companies offer free products - I would start by downloading lots of these! Performance Samples is a great place to start for that, and Musical Sampling also has an incredible legato trumpet available for free.

And on that note, these free plug-ins will be very useful for orchestral programming, and they’re worth learning before looking at more expensive options:

ice9 (Cerberus Audio)
Panagement 2 (Auburn Sounds)
Convology XT (Impulse Record)
Equalizer 4 (Toneboosters)
Levelling Tool (AD-HD)
Transposer (Grumpy Monkey)

 

[John Wilson]

I noticed not many people are talking about the percussion libraries. The only one I’ve seen mentioned is the Abbey Road Orchestra Percussion. Would that be a really good choice?

Not at it's current price and this percussion would not be the best choice for someone new to this and looking for their first libraries. Your best option in my view would be to get a full orchestra that includes percussion, @Trash Panda made an earlier post asking some questions, by answering some of these points then that would help in getting some better advice for your particular needs and workflows.

 

[Simon Passmore]

The crazy thing is I can personally "feel" within just a few minutes of using a VSTi if the workflow is gonna fit me or not.

If only more developers had a trial-and-money-back guarantee policy.

Same. I can never judge a library in demos or walkthroughs but the second you play it with your own hands you know instantly.

It’s just something about the expectation you have when you strike a key in a certain way and weather what comes out represents that or not.

I'm not sure I agree on this one - some of the very best instruments around can take a fair bit of time to learn to use properly, but most of the time it's worth making the effort

 

[rAC]

I'm not sure I agree on this one - some of the very best instruments around can take a fair bit of time to learn to use properly, but most of the time it's worth making the effort

But then there are others that remain unrewarding no matter what you do with them

 

[Jrides]

Not at its current price and this percussion would not be the best choice for someone new to this and looking for their first libraries. Your best option in my view would be to get a full orchestra that includes percussion, @Trash Panda made an earlier post asking some questions, by answering some of these points then that would help in getting some better advice for your particular needs and workflows.

I don’t think the OP wants any real guidance regarding how to approach this whole ordeal. I think the OP just wants a list of libraries, to consider and talk about.

 

[InsomniaEmperor]

I noticed not many people are talking about the percussion libraries. The only one I’ve seen mentioned is the Abbey Road Orchestra Percussion. Would that be a really good choice?

Not to diminish the value of percussion cause I like percussion, but they're kind of like toppings so they're not exactly the main sound and they all have distinct flavors that depends entirely on what you want. We're not going to recommend say world percussion unless you explicitly say you want to write music that uses those. Some percussion libraries are bombastic and are great for trailer music but they're usually confined to that kind of music and can't really do subtle.

Now if you're a percussion specialist and want real control of the sound like type of mallet, techniques other than standard hits, rolls, and flams, then I could recommend Synchron Percussion. That kind of detail is a bit too "choice paralysis" for me cause I'm not a percussion player myself so something that's more simplified like Berlin Percussion works fine with my needs, but you could take a look at this.

 

[mybadmemory]

I noticed not many people are talking about the percussion libraries. The only one I’ve seen mentioned is the Abbey Road Orchestra Percussion. Would that be a really good choice?

CinePerc, CinePerc in Musio (which also gives you everything else for the same price), or TrueStrike are good choices.

 

[frozenlac]

Same. I can never judge a library in demos or walkthroughs but the second you play it with your own hands you know instantly.

It’s just something about the expectation you have when you strike a key in a certain way and weather what comes out represents that or not.

Truly agree with this. For me I think the issue of solely watching others' walkthrough is that I cannot feel the 'touch' of the library. Not always the case but an example can be, if a library has a kind of delay, or how a certain note behaves, I can get a general idea from videos however may not feel it properly, unless I press my MIDI keyboard by my own fingers and sense it. It just gives you so much more information by trying with your own hands.

 

[Draco Solis]

I noticed not many people are talking about the percussion libraries. The only one I’ve seen mentioned is the Abbey Road Orchestra Percussion. Would that be a really good choice?

Nearly all major orchestral libraries either come with a percussion library in it already (such as HOOPUS and SSO now that they're both all-in-one), or they have one separate that's meant to go with them (like CinePerc and Berlin Percussion). The only big one I can think of right now that doesn't have percussion in it (yet) is the Cinematic Studio Series, and that's usually paired up with the likes of CinePerc, True Strike, Berlin, etc.