As in future I would like to be a composer for video games and film, however using stock Logic instruments do not sound realistic therefore it is very hard to create a convincing orchestral track when using stock Logic instruments. Therefore in the future I would like to invest money into professional sample libraries so that I can create music that sounds very realistic, therefore on this page I will be researching different plug-in companies and virtual instruments that may be worth buying in future for composing music.
Virtual Instrument Companies
There are many different companies that focus on creating realistic and user friendly virtual instruments for people who are wanting to compose realistic orchestral tracks at home. Some different companies you may have heard of are; Spitfire, Orchestral Tools, Native Instruments, Heavyocity and Vienna Symphonic Library. All of these companies design great user friendly and high quality virtual instruments, capable of making great music in different genres. Often companies such as Spitfire and Native Instruments collaborate with successful composers such as Hanz Zimmer to capture the sound of their music in an instrumental plug-in. As recently Spitfire brought out a virtual instrument called ‘Hanz Zimmer’ percussion which captures the tone of Zimmers action packed and cinematic percussion.
As you can see in this screenshot from Spitfire Audios website, they design virtual instruments that fit into each instrumental family of music. Meaning this company contains all the different virtual instruments you would need and to a high quality. However these virtual instruments can range from free to up to £2000 pound for a good instrument. Meaning they are very expensive and must be researched carefully before purchasing. This is why on this page I am going to be researching different virtual instruments I may purchase in the future and what others have said about them.
Spitfire Audio’s Labs
Labs is a library of free virtual instruments that re created by Spitfire, this allows people who cant afford expensive plug-ins make the music they want by giving them the required resources. As stated in the video above the instrumentation ranges from synth patches to orchestral percussion, furthermore allowing you to explore many different genres of musical composition.
This is a piece of music composed from the ‘Astral Forms’ plug-in on Spitfire Audio labs. This virtual instrumental has a very professional and well designed tone which could be used in very high quality music, therefore I Labs is a very good platform for composers who have not yet built up an arsenal of top of the range plug-ins. Therefore I will be using Labs in my future compositions to make music with the free instruments I have access to, however some of these instruments especially the orchestral plug-ins have limits to their realistic tone. Therefore I will save up to acquire more realistic orchestral instruments than the ones they have on Labs such as ‘Scary Strings’. As this instrument has a darker tone and is limited when trying to composer brighter and happier tracks.
BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover (£0-£899)
BBC Symphony Orchestra is a free downloadable plug-in which gives you access to a full orchestra, this includes strings, brass, woodwinds and even percussion. Meaning their is few limits to the music you can create with this plug-in, the visual arrangement to the plug-in is also very user friendly which makes composing music fun and easy. The virtual instruments interface arranges the instruments into their position within a symphonic orchestra, for example the percussion such as the timpani are located at the back of the plug-ins interface. This is where the percussion is also located in a regular orchestra as they are the loudest instruments in the symphony and having them at the front would make the audience in-able to hear the strings. The variety of instruments in this product is very good for a free download, however some of the instruments such as the double bass have synthetic and low quality tones to them. As the double bass has a high harmonic and strained tone which makes the instrument hard to listen to, however all the other instruments sound great to me. Therefore in future I will be using this plug-in for composing orchestral music of my own, however I will save up for more high quality instruments in the future which I will talk about soon. As there are still many other virtual instruments that sound highly realistic. From this instrument you can upgrade to Symphony Orchestra Core for £399, this instrument has much more instrumental articulations and higher quality articulations which makes composing music alot easier with the more tools you have.
This is a re-creation of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Waltz Of The Flowers’, from listening to this I am very impressed with the high quality of the sounds in the symphonic orchestra for it’s free price. The woodwinds have a very elegant and vibrant tone in this instrument, and the strings have a very thick texture. Furthermore I am very exited to trying this product out in the future when I am composing. This virtual instrument can be easily downloaded for 200mb on the Spitfire Audio homepage.
Kontakt (£360)
Kontakt is a sampler designed by Native Instruments which allow users/companies to create virtual instruments using recorded audio. Some plug-ins such as Spitfire Audios Symphony Orchestra do not require Kontakt as the download comes with it’s own sampler. However other instruments such as the ones on Native Instruments all require Kontakt, this product is average £360 pounds. However this is a worthwhile investment as it gives you access to pay and download thousands of other high quality plug-ins which you couldn’t download without it. It also comes with other virtual instruments with the purchase such as; Hybrid Keys, Analog Dreams and others.
Percussion (£300-£412)
Logic Pro X does not have realistic sounding percussion, meaning it is very hard to write powerful and effective percussive sections in your music, to solve this problem their are many external companies that have made very convincing percussive virtual instruments for you to use in your compositions. A very popular percussive instrument into todays modern music is Damage by Heavyocity, this virtual instrument has hundreds of samples of; drums, metals, trailer hits and tribal percussion. This instrument has been used by Brian Tyler (Avengers: Age Of Ultron and Thor the Dark World), this composer said that Damage “has great sounds and an intuitive interface”. Damage costs a total of £300, this is a very good price as the instrument has very high quality sounds and a life long use in your music (Heavyocity, n.d). Another popular percussion library is Spitfires ‘Berlin Percussion’. This plug-in has many different percussive articulations that you can use in your music, as well as the option to choose between the percussion being played by sticks or mallets. Furthermore this library has much larger of percussive articulations than Damages percussion, furthermore making it a lot more versatile of an instrument. However this instrument is more expensive with a cost of £412 in total (Orchestraltools, n.d).
As you can hear in this demo track for the ‘Berlin Percussion’ the drums sound very realistic and high quality, allowing you to make tracks that sound as if it is being played by a real orchestra. Furthermore this library is very worth the money if you are looking for a high quality sample library, the drums also have a natural and cinematic and symphonic sound which makes it both suitable for composing film music, game music or a stand alone composition.
Conclusion
In conclusion purchasing high quality virtual instruments can be very expensive, however it will reward you with the ability to compose realistic orchestral tracks from the comfort of your own home. However there are many cheaper options available for composing from Spitfires Labs programme and their ‘Original Products’ which are mostly below £100. Furthermore if you are wanting to pursue a career in composing, purchasing high quality virtual instruments is very much worth the price.
Source List
Native-instruments.com. n.d. Samplers : Kontakt 6 | Komplete. [online] Available at: <https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-6/> [Accessed 25 April 2022].
Heavyocity.com. n.d. Heavyocity Damage. [online] Available at: <https://heavyocity.com/product/damage/> [Accessed 26 May 2022].
Niedt, A., 2019. Alex Niedt – Zoetrope (Orchestral Tools Berlin Percussion Demo). Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4uHtYOKglY> [Accessed 26 May 2022].
Orchestraltools.com. n.d. Berlin Percussion. [online] Available at: <https://www.orchestraltools.com/store/collections/berlin-percussion> [Accessed 25 April 2022].
Rugg, L., 2022. Celestial Almanac. [Online] London: Spitfire. Available at: <https://soundcloud.com/spitfire-labs/celestial-almanac-louis-rugg?utm_source=clipboard&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Fspitfire-labs%252Fcelestial-almanac-louis-rugg> [Accessed 26 May 2022].
Spitfireaudio, 2022. LABS by Spitfire Audio — FREE Sounds For All. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzjHeOyBS4k> [Accessed 26 May 2022].
Spitfireaudio.com. n.d. Spitfire Audio — BBC Symphony Orchestra Core. [online] Available at: <https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/bbc-symphony-orchestra-core/> [Accessed 25 April 2022].
Spitfire audio, 2020. Walkthrough: BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwiLvezaWWg> [Accessed 26 May 2022].
support.output.com. 2021. What Is Kontakt and Why Do I Need It?. [online] Available at: <https://support.output.com/hc/en-us/articles/360050589033-What-Is-Kontakt-and-Why-Do-I-Need-It-#:~:text=Kontakt%20is%20a%20sampler%20by,as%20an%20Instrument%20Plug%2DIn.> [Accessed 25 April 2022].
Tchaikovsky, P., 2020. Waltz Of The Flowers – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (BBCSO DISCOVER). [Online] London: Spitfire Audio. Available at: <https://soundcloud.com/spitfireaudio/waltz-of-the-flowers-pyotr?utm_source=clipboard&utm_campaign=wtshare&utm_medium=widget&utm_content=https%253A%252F%252Fsoundcloud.com%252Fspitfireaudio%252Fwaltz-of-the-flowers-pyotr> [Accessed 26 May 2022].