Eastwest Solo Violin And Symphony Orchestra Platinum Sound Libraries - Two Big Thumbs Up!

After completing my latest composition - Scherzo in C Minor for violin/piano (which I will be uploading shortly), I sent the score and a Sibelius/GPO4 generated MP3 to several reviewers.  My favorite response (paraphrasing slightly) was : "This is a great work for kazoo and piano!"  I responded by saying that this was an insult to kazoo players everywhere.  :)

But I got the message.  I had been using Garritan Personal Orchestra 4 and had never been happy with the sound except for the piano.  As bad as the violin was, another composition for bassoon and clarinet was even worse - I would describe it as a duet for bass and soprano kazoos.

After doing a lot of research I finally decided to get EastWest Quantum Leap Solo Violin.  I didn't get the piano library since the Garritan piano (and the native Sibelius piano) are both reasonably good and I figured I could mix and match.  I also got the Sibelius Sound Set to match from SoundSetProject.com.  I was a bit concerned about getting anything from EW given reviews trashing their customer service but I thought it was worth the risk at about $100 plus the sound set.  

Even though I am a computer expert, I know almost nothing about MIDI.  Installation was challenging and I needed help from Sound Set Project (their tech support was outstanding...).  Eventually I got it working and mapped the violin to the EW library and the piano to GPO4.  The resulting sound was amazingly good generated raw out of Sibelius (I don't have the skills to use a DAW to do sound editing).  The violinist that will be premiering the work was also very impressed with the sound, although it is nowhere near at the level she will play it.  I would describe it as at an advanced high school violinist level, which is all I was looking for coming directly out of Sibelius.

If anyone is curious to hear the difference, I can post links to both versions.

I then plunged ahead and purchased the EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Platinum Standard library (24 bit only) and the matching sound set.  This is not cheap - total cost was about $700.  I installed the sound libraries (all 117GB worth) last week, which took many hours.  Today I installed the sound set and got it working with Sibelius 7.  It only took an hour this time since I roughly knew what I was doing.  Again, well worth it.  The bassoon/clarinet duet actually sounds like a bassoon/clarinet duet - a major step forward!

Bottom line - I highly recommend these two sound libraries and by extrapolation, I suspect most of the rest would be a similar quality level.  But you may find installation challenging.  I had to use a combination of a lot of Internet research to get the EW libraries installed and help with the sound set integration, but the final results made it all worthwhile.

I like East West. The samples blend with each other without much effort, and I'm very happy with the sound, though I do agree about the tech support but I won't get into it here. Getting a good solo violin sound in any library requires some finesse. i've had good results layering two or more samples together for realism - one for attack and one for sustain.  I also have Gypsy, which has a solo violin, but I prefer the one provided in the Symphonic Orchestra. You can here my solo violin here at Young Composers.

You should also check out Embertone's Friedlander Violin:

http://embertone.com/instruments/friedlanderviolin.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7akUpXOHZoQ

You may be strapped for cash after purchasing EWQLSO and Solo Violin, but the Friedlander is a great deal for such an amazing instrument, and if you're a student they offer a discount.  They both have different sounds of course, so it's largely a matter of taste.

You should also check out Embertone's Friedlander Violin:

 

http://embertone.com/instruments/friedlanderviolin.php

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7akUpXOHZoQ

 

You may be strapped for cash after purchasing EWQLSO and Solo Violin, but the Friedlander is a great deal for such an amazing instrument, and if you're a student they offer a discount.  They both have different sounds of course, so it's largely a matter of taste.

i checked it out and I'm impressed! $110, - really? What was he using in his left hand to control the articulations? an ipad? Obviously then it is a requirement.

^{Yep, he's using an iPad.  But you can also use an iPhone or iPod touch.  The app is only a few bucks, and you can control the instrument wirelessly!  It even comes with editor software, so you can create the layout you want (what buttons, how many sliders, what to control, etc.).  It's called TouchOSC.  And a lot of other instruments and DAWs support it as well!}

^{Also, Embertone is coming out with a new solo cello that has even more articulations (sul ponticello, tremolo, etc.) in the next few weeks.  And once they release it, they're going to add those articulations to the violin for free!  I love those guys.}

^{Yep, he's using an iPad.  But you can also use an iPhone or iPod touch.  The app is only a few bucks, and you can control the instrument wirelessly!  It even comes with editor software, so you can create the layout you want (what buttons, how many sliders, what to control, etc.).  It's called TouchOSC.  And a lot of other instruments and DAWs support it as well!}

 

^{Also, Embertone is coming out with a new solo cello that has even more articulations (sul ponticello, tremolo, etc.) in the next few weeks.  And once they release it, they're going to add those articulations to the violin for free!  I love those guys.}

 

^{Does the violin require an ilok?}

Nope, no iLok required.  It runs in Kontakt Player, which is a free download from Native Instruments.

Ironically, I've been looking onto some string VSTs

Hi, I would recommend the east west libraries, and maybe the viena also.   You can also check out Spitfire Audio, they have great stuff with amazing quality, and not too much composers know about them, so its kind of a secret weapon for epic orchestral music, and also all orchestral flavours.

You should also check out Embertone's Friedlander Violin:

 

http://embertone.com/instruments/friedlanderviolin.php

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7akUpXOHZoQ

 

You may be strapped for cash after purchasing EWQLSO and Solo Violin, but the Friedlander is a great deal for such an amazing instrument, and if you're a student they offer a discount.  They both have different sounds of course, so it's largely a matter of taste.

I recently bought this instrument and I'm sorting through the kinks of memory upgrades and OS upgrades in order to use it. I will be posting a piece in the next few weeks that highlights this fantastic violin. It will come as a status update on YC.