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Performance Samples discussion thread

jbuhler said:
I've sort of regretted both Vista and Pacific. I never clicked at all with Vista, and I find Pacific maddening (though it has many elements that I like). I am convinced, however, that Performance Samples strings are just not set up for me. (I really like the Oceanias though.)
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Out of curiosity, what do you find maddening about Pacific?
 
tc9000 said:
The thing that surprised me about Pacific is the sustains - I was expecting to love the legato.... but those whisper sustains.... and the con sordinos.... the dynamic range.... DAMN
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I find the sustains in general much better than the legato. I'm always running into problems with the legato, both on Pacific and Vista. And I'm not even a member of the legato police. It's just that I find they misfire on me. Maybe it's because they are not set up for the kind of lines I write. In any case, the legato issue would be fine because the sustains work reasonably well without legato. And I quite like the shorts. Mostly I just don't get along with the workflow Pacific requires.
 
Varvik said:
Out of curiosity, what do you find maddening about Pacific?
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The workflow (no keyswitches so it is hard to work with one instrument per track methodology), the lack of second violins (not for purist reasons but because second violins give redundancy and added options), the fact that the legato never seems to work properly for me, which given that others seem to get along quite well with it suggests to me that it's something about the sorts of lines I write. All of it just means that there are other options I like better.
 
Vista's legato is actually close to perfect. Pacific's legato is fine if you keep the mod wheel below 60%. Jasper is supposedly working on improvements to Pacific, and I assuming that the legato fix is one of them. Vista and Pacific are both beautiful libraries.

Blakus is perhaps biased, he does a live demo that proves Pacific is a beautiful library, although I admit that Vista is my favorite.

 
Performance Sample libraries tend to be something I have, but never utilize. I have Vista, but I'd rather use Appassionata Strings or CSS. I have Oceania, but I'd rather use Audio Imperia Chorus. These libraries not only can match PS for me (or better them), but also do a lot more than the PS libraries, so it ends up being simpler to just use them across the board. But I tend to gravitate towards all-rounders than specialized tools. YMMV.
 
jbuhler said:
The workflow (no keyswitches so it is hard to work with one instrument per track methodology)
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Just slap the articulations in a bank and switch with program changes.

And if you absolutely must use keyswitches, there are translator plugins out there that can take note inputs and spit out program change messages.
 
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AndrewS said:
Just slap the articulations in a bank and switch with program changes.

And if you absolutely must use keyswitches, there are translator plugins out there that can take note inputs and spit out program change messages.
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Sure, and your expression here says it all (“if you absolutely must use keyswitches…”) but it’s all still a pain that I don’t want to have to deal with and it still runs counter to my workflow. These workarounds rarely work well (I’ve tried plenty of them) and I’ve learned that if I want to use keyswitches and articulation sets based on them, I need libraries set up to use them.
 
I wrote a piece this week and decided it needed a big string melody climax, one of those with soaring violins in octaves that need to really drip with emotion and expression. It was a bit worrying because samples have historically been iffy at nailing that goosebump-inducing, hair-standing-in-the-back-of-your-neck kinda sound. But Pacific (and Vista) do it, and they don't just do it, they CRUSH that sound. And actually almost every other kind of sound you can think of - perhaps not fast legato lines, but we got CSS for that already :)

I honestly don't understand how anyone can use any other library other than Pacific, Vista and CSS for strings. YMMV obv, but damn, these samples are just beautiful.

SAFETY EDIT: I'm exaggerating to make a point. I love these libraries, but specifically Pacific. But ofc I can see other libraries being used. Don't hurt me please >.<
 
antoniopandrade said:
SAFETY EDIT: I'm exaggerating to make a point. I love these libraries, but specifically Pacific. But ofc I can see other libraries being used. Don't hurt me please >.<
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If they work for you, they work for you and that’s great. I don’t think anyone would try to take that away. It’s only the insistence that because they work for you they will necessarily work for everyone where you will rightly get pushback.
 
jbuhler said:
These workarounds rarely work well (I’ve tried plenty of them)
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What do you mean here? Those workarounds (KS Router specifically) are precisely how I've been using Pacific with a keyswitch workflow since it's been released. Save as a track preset and it's ready to go when you need it. And as a bonus you get per-articulation mixing flexibility. What doesn't work well for you?
 
Snarf said:
What do you mean here? Those workarounds (KS Router specifically) are precisely how I've been using Pacific with a keyswitch workflow since it's been released. Save as a track preset and it's ready to go when you need it. And as a bonus you get per-articulation mixing flexibility. What doesn't work well for you?
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Passing CCs properly to midi channels in Logic for one thing. I can propagate the CCs fine but Logic is weird about how it records CCs, which then causes problems if you change articulations. You’ll say that’s a Logic problem and you aren’t wrong, but it still makes it a pain and I’m not changing my DAW for the sake of a library I’m not overly impressed with anyway.
 
jbuhler said:
I mean maybe for you it is, but it’s not for me. I find it very thumpy, anything but smooth transparent joins of notes. But I also dislike the tone, which is totally on me because that’s perfectly evident in the demos.
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Makes sense. I realize that legato taste is a personal thing. I like sweet, soaring legato that borders on portamento in the highest notes, and Vista nails that for me, but I can see how others may prefer something different. I guess that’s what allows different companies to stay in business!
 
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