The Roland SRX-06 won't work on a Motif - and costs $280 on Amazon...do you have a compatible Roland Synth?

How were you going to play the Emu library?

You might do some more research to find other sample libraries...but do you have the equipment to play a sample library?

Here's an article from Keyboard Magazine on sample libraries: http://www.keyboardmag.com/gear/1183/orchestral-sounds-roundup/48460

But notice this statement: Orchestral sounds don’t typically fall out sounding finished at the push of a button, so expect to put in some time and effort. The results are worth it.

I got the CO library during the Spring sale for $79. And of course it loads directly into the Motif...which is really convenient.

That said, I was initially disappointed in the sounds. Which only means that I get to tweak them to better suit my taste.

The audition sounds on the Yamaha MusicSoft website are pretty much what you get. If you like those sounds - you will probably like the library.
If you don't like those sounds - you probably won't like the library.

I like the percussion the best. Deep and resonant. And who doesn't want an 1812 canon?

But strings are what I really want - and while there are some really good voices, many sound cheesy to me.

Some have a ringing sound that starts at keyoff.

There are lots of multiple note voices: the root note plays along with the 4th and the 5th (and other variations - strings, brass, winds, etc.) I'm still scratching my head wondering how DCP conceived these being used.

But don't worry every voice has a basic format with only one note playing - standard stuff. And most sound pretty good.

Of course YOU get to tweak your voices to do what YOU want them to do. Isn't that why we bought our synths?

And sometimes sounds that aren't great when they are soloed - sound much better in the mix. And sometimes those "weird" sounds are what make them work!

Can you afford to take a risk for $99? Can you spend the time working on your sounds?

Hope that helps!

Hi and thanks for you reply, what I ment with the Roland/Emu was that I have owned a Roland synth with SRX-06 board
and also the Emu Virtuouso 2000 module, I was not happy in the end with either one of them. What´s good or bad when
it comes to Orchestra sounds are of course a matter of taste, but I think you have described the sounds of the Yamaha
library very good so thanks very much. I think I will NOT buy that library 🙂

Cheers!

/ gris

Hey gris -

I sincerely hope you find that sound you are looking for! I know that there is an option that will satisfy both your wallet and your music!

The ability to play orchestra sounds by keyboard are light years away from the days when it was mellotrons and Arp String machines.

All the best!

johnb

Since samples are "snapshots" of sound, when attempting to emulate an instrument performance of a musical phrase, it is absolutely necessary to edit the sounds to fit your vision. Mellotrons and String Ensembles of yesteryear, were interesting attempts at emulating strings. What Yamaha has been doing to increase the "playability" of sampled-based instruments is work with dynamically manipulating the Elements in realtime. In the high end Clavinovas and Tyros-series you have the Super Articulation engines (Articulation Element Modeling) and in the Motif, MOX, and S-series synthesizers you have XA CONTROL (Expanded Articulation Control). Both are techniques to change the behavior of the sound you are performing as you play... Giving you access to more types of individual behaviors of the instrument you are playing.

For example, if you have a sample set of a String section - to record/sample the strings they setup microphone(s) and had the entire section play each pitch within its range one at a time. Bowing each sample. So at best when you attempt to play (from the keyboard) every time you lift your finger your only option is to re trigger the strings for the next note. This means your string section is bowing, bowing, bowing every note. They cannot bow and then articulate a six note phrase on that single downstroke.

You don't necessary understand always why it doesn't sound right, but a particular string sound is just not right for what you are trying to play, you only know it ain't right. Keyboard player are percussionist ... Because the piano, in spite of all its refinement, is a percussion instrument... So once we strike a note mostly we are done (yes of all the percussion family, the piano can actually deal with duration, somewhat) most drum and percussion instruments have limited articulation types. Bowed strings, and blown instruments, in particular, have all kinds of tricks they can articulate, like pitch bends both into and out of the note event; They can play legato where multiple pitches are played with a single attack or breath, and so on.

When picking a string sound you have to think about what it is you need to accomplish on a phrase by phrase basis. On serious projects rarely does one string sound pull off the entire track. If you are doing strings as a simple backing pad (a chordal harmonic carpet on which you place the rest of the pieces) then the articulations at note-on may not require you to choose another sound. But if you are playing intricate string lines, then you may need to choose several strings Voices and use the ability to mix to pull off the musical parts. Particularly if you are featuring the strings.

Some of the solo strings in the XF have a distinct spiccato bow stroke, either on velocity or via an [AF] button. Some have a legato function that can be brought in on a controller cue... When working to get a large section to do phrases a good trick is to record a solo violin, a solo viola, a solo cello each articulating the line exactly as an individual instrument would, then use a bigger section sound to fill-in the sonic spectrum. The listening ear will follow the articulated lines and accept that all the strings are doing this articulation. The results can turn otherwise unsatisfactory string section playing into something that works. The fact that is done by editing sounds you already have can save you money, and teach you a lot about how the ear listens - it accepts the articulation that it hears close-up and applies it to entire ensemble (when mixing correctly).

You make have to do this with libraries you purchase, but you should always expect to edit.

Expect to EDIT. If you are composing, don't expect the sound you play to "know" what you want, more often than not you have to *make* the sound do what you want by editing!

Seems like there aren't very many of us responding - and I don't want to hog all the bandwidth.

But I want to say thanks for this good advice and instruction.

Appreciate you taking the time to thoughtfully answer our questions...

jb

If you are searching for a good sounding string library, I can recommend Digital Sound Factory - Symphonic Strings (Link).

Regards, 🙂

Jo

Johannes wrote:

If you are searching for a good sounding string library, I can recommend Digital Sound Factory - Symphonic Strings (Link).

Regards, 🙂

Jo

Yep, I bought this, It´s pretty good 🙂 Thanks

/gris