Vienna Symphonic Library Forum
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  • beginning with VSL / Finale and DAW

    Hello,

    My apology for asking obvious questions, but I am a complete beginner with VSL. I am a well trained musician, I have knowledge in using Finale for score edition, Protools for recording and editing "real" instrumental sounds, but I never had to compose with midi instruments for movie (a 10' documentary).

    I definitely intend to use some of the VSL libraries. I have heard of the players and software that are also available. It would have been rather easy for me to edit a score in Finale and have it played with the VSL library, but as far as I understand, the result would sound rather poor.

    My question is :

    Can anyone on the forum

    - give me general guidelines to create a working setup on my computer (I have a 2018 macbook pro), implying the VSL library, and the relevant software (Protools, or the VSL softwares, or both)?
    - direct me towards the documentation/tutorials that exist, or a possibly similar topic?

    The score won't be very dense, and it is not a complex project, but I will obviously have to master the basics.

    Thanks for your help.

     

    Coralie


  • My advice is. first of all, figure out a budget. Then study the two series that VSL has to offer: There's Synchron and then there's the VI series. Basically Synchron is ready made samples right out of the box. You just plug and play. However, you are limited to what comes out of the box and there isn't much sample manipulation. The VI Series is much more flexible especially if you get it with VI Pro. Also you have the ability to create your own sonic environments. The downside is you might have to buy more accessories (reverb, eq ect.) And a pretty steep learning curve. So think of Synchron as a prefabricated home that you just put together step by step while the VI is stacks of lumber that you have to use to build a home from scratch. As for DAW and/or notation software, get both. Compose the score in Finale then export the MIDI to be imported into the DAW so that you can breathe some life into the composition. This should get you started at least.