As a result of another thread, I was thinking of why people are enthusiastic about VSL strings. In my own case it is first of all because the sounds have a great musical quality and beauty and have made possible the realization of music that would not have been possible otherwise. People have talked about other libraries here, many of which are certainly good, but it doesn't alter the fact that the combination of Solo, Chamber, Orchestral and Appassionata allows a huge range of expressive timbres.
But also and just as crucially, the interface developed for Vienna Ensemble has - for me - made other sample libraries obsolete. The reason for this is that even the really good ones for Kontakt do not have the overall design for using samples like VE built in. I was thinking the other day while starting on a new composition that this interface has become much more than a mere efficient utility. It has actually become like a musical instrument in its own right. This is because of the matrix structure having the articulations constantly present, along with the notes in the sequencer. That is a hugely significant difference that you might take for granted, but the effect of it is that you have a kind of “meta-instrument” right before you, constantly there, waiting and ready, just like a huge grand piano or pipe organ waiting for you to play. And I am not necessarily referring to live performance either. Rather, I mean the more detailed aspect of programming huge elaborate pieces that cannot be played live by one person. That is the really significant aspect. The process of using samples at the highest level of complexity possible actually becomes like performing intuitively even during the programming. You become practiced in it like playing any other instrument after a while. You start switching to new articulations almost instantaneously. I have never experienced this with any other sample library. Others involve sitting there and thinking about what to do and re-do, then laboriously clicking and selecting, etc. In other words, other libraries involve much more non-musical work of mere computer programming.
This is most noticeable in the strings, since they represent the largest and most expressive ensembles in the orchestra. One example of this intuitive use is in this piece of mine -
http://vsl.co.at/Player2.aspx?Lang=1&DemoId=4510
Also, the string performances that Michael Hula did –
http://vsl.co.at/Player2.aspx?Lang=1&DemoId=4866
and Jay Bacal -