Guthey wrote:So with that in mind, what would be the best option for me?
Time for
Callenby's guide to orchestral shopping!!!Alright, so I'm gonna make a big list of places I know about, but before I do there is one thing I want to stress:
do a bunch of research. Find out what system requirements each of these things have, listen to a bunch of demos (even of things you're not necessarily looking to buy right away), read the EULA, compare and contrast similar libraries and see how they match up (what strengths and weaknesses it has, whether it skimps out of some things you may want, etc.).
With the budget you listed, you're not going to be able to afford the end-all be-all orchestral collection. But that's fine! You will definitely have a start and it will give you something to aim for.
(Also, this is going to assume you have Kontakt, because as I said it's pretty much required for this genre).
First, for reference, here is what I currently use.
Strings: the
Adagio series by 8dio. ($800 on sale)
Brass: CineBrass CORE from Cinesamples. ($280 on sale)
Percussion: Percussion Redux from Spitfire. ($410 with discount)
And for
woodwinds I just collected a bunch of
solo instruments also from 8dio. ($90-100 each on sale)
Piano: Emotional Piano by Soundiron. ($150)
You'll notice that I have assembled these from various places. That's because I researched each one of them and figured out that they were in my budget. I would rate each of this highly, but CineBrass a little less so. They aren't quite the same level of quality as the others but since I don't use brass very much it isn't so important to me. That's something else I should stress:
what works for me may not work for you. Ideally, I would have
Berlin Woodwinds for the winds and all of Spitfire's
BML series for brass, but those are simply out of my budget. You'll also have noticed that I spent more on strings than for any other section. That's because I've learned that strings are extremely important in my works. But for you it may not matter so much.
What I recommend for a smaller budget: Strings:
Cinematic Strings 2 ($250). This price is assuming you get the 50% student discount. I don't know if CS2 is worth $500 but it's definitely worth half that. This is what I used before I got Adagio.
Woodwinds:
CineWinds CORE ($280). Assuming you get a 30% discount they sometimes offer. They're not the greatest ever, but they'll definitely get the job done
Brass:
CineBrass CORE ($250). Same as CineWinds.
Percussion: perhaps
Elite Orchestral Percussion ($200). No discounts that I know of. I don't have personal experience with this but the demos sounded decent enough for the price.
That is the best collection that I could come up with off the top of my head. It also would be a tad outside your budget. So, again, research!
What I recommend for you to do: 1. Don't rush any of these steps! It's okay to take time. These are large purchases so it's only sensible to try and keep yourself from buying something you'll later regret.
2. Get Kontakt if you don't have it already.
3. Play around with the default orchestral stuff in Kontakt. They're not great, but they're good for testing out ideas. Use
only these for a while and see what you can do with them.
4. Find out what section is more important to you. For me it was strings, so I focused on that first. It meant having better samples for one section than for others but sometimes that's just what you gotta do (especially if you have a limited budget).
5. Find an affordable library for that section that you'd like to have and get it. Either use my recommendation or even choose something completely different! It's up to you.
6. Read the instructions and spend time just playing around with your new library. Get familiar with them and learn how they operate. Each one handles a little differently so you'll need to know each one's peculiarities.
Citric recommends that you get something with combined patches, but I have to disagree. It may be more daunting at first, but it will ultimately make you a better composer if you are able to think about and write for each individual instrument or section. If these weren't such large purchases then, yeah, I'd agree, but in the long run it's better to have them separation. Again, though, it really depends on what your own needs are and how much you're willing to do.
Eventually you'll want to expand your palate beyond the strictly orchestral, so by all means take a look at the other things they sell. For example, Soundiron has some cool experimental stuff that's fun to explore with.
Now, here's a big ol' list of places I know about
Remember, each company offers something different. Even if some of those things are the same type (e.g. both Embertone and 8dio offer high-quality violin solos), there will still be key differences. Learn what these are and see what's best for you.
Dang, that took a while to write. I hope it helped!