It makes layering articulations very easy to do. Separate midi tracks for everything does have a few advantages. Albion Neo - A volume with smaller section sizes, aimed toward a modern, intimate sound.Mostly a matter of preference, I would say.Albion Tundra - Aimed toward the pristine, ethereal sound of an orchestra playing extremely quietly.Albion IV Uist - An aleatoric volume designed to meet all of your needs for orchestral effects.Albion III Iceni - Aimed toward a powerful, meaty, and occasionally nasty low-end sound.Albion ONE - The vanilla volume, aimed toward a traditional epic sound.Individual instrument sections are often unavailable - these libraries will not give you finer control over the orchestra. Useful and great-sounding collection of instruments including more than just orchestral instruments (most volumes contain mutated samples, loops, and percussion). ONE / Iceni / Uist / Tundra / Neo each $450
Spitfire Audio - Works with the free Kontakt Player Woodwinds and 2nd violins are not included. Only the most basic articulations are provided. Legato is not available for every instrument. One of the best packages for those wanting to dive into trailer music, but more versatile than just that one genre. Metropolis Ark 4 - Meant for a dramatic, powerful, and focused sound.
Includes lots of atonal and repetition articulations, plus a huge variety of epic percussion.
Can't access every individual orchestral section. Provides the bare necessities for orchestral composition. Samples pulled from the well-loved Berlin Series. Orchestral Tools - Works with the free SINE Player The Lite version is rather limited in usefulness for orchestral music. This library won't be the be-all and end-all for your orchestral sample needs (but to be fair, it's not trying to be). Some patches lack legato, and the selection of articulations isn't exactly exhaustive. The individually recorded sections make it stand out from some of the other all-in-one orchestral starter kits.
Only includes one mic position, but you can always upgrade later. If you're not sure how you can jump into detailed orchestral writing, this is an awesome purchase. It includes an impressive number of articulations, including legato.
This is one of those rare libraries where every single tier is impressively useful for its target audience. The legato scripting is decent but not best-in-class. It's easy to upgrade to a higher tier after purchasing. Includes a comprehensive selection of instruments and articulations with a great sound. The bundles are often more comprehensive than the orchestral packages listed here, allowing for more detailed arrangements.ĭiscover $50 or FREE / Core $450 / Professional $1000 Product bundles, which are composed of smaller products (usually divided into strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion) are not mentioned here, but their component products are covered in the other pages of this guide. These libraries encompass more than just one orchestral section.