Yes, that's very true.   I've been using VSL since it first came out in 2002 (first available in my area) and I still feel that I have not even come close to realizing a tiny percentage of what can be done with it.  And with things like Dimension Strings it is even more complex to the extent that just tiny changes in how you do the various MIDI parameters, as well as the mix, create enormous musical differences.  The expressive complexity of the library overall, performed by a sufficiently expert programmer, is at least equal to a single traditional music instrument played by a master. 

Originally Posted by: FedericoAsc

I mean, it's not a matter of preference. It's a matter of how real an instrument sounds. You may like or not the tone of a particular violin, that's the subjective part, but whether it is close or not to a real violin sound is quite objective.

That's illogical. There is no way to quanitfy "close or not to real" - that is totally subjective and based on whatever parameters one wants to create, which again is subjective.

Your second point actually contradicts you, not proves.  With samples, since expression can be used to modify velocity, it is in effect infinite based upon the whims of the performer.  So again - it becomes infinite in the subjective perception of the listener. 

This is all very cute to discuss, but not worth spending much more time on since it's just being persnickety - something people on internet Forums spend a lot of time and energy on.  

I have to add that one thing that strikes me repeatedly about VSL is how different the instruments sound on different pieces, different mixes and styles.  This is because of one thing - the extreme dedication to both purity of sound and truly representative detail that one finds in all the instrument recordings.  This makes even the earliest instruments VSL sampled - such as the tenor trombone, the first woodwinds and strings, etc. - timeless and of great value in the newest recordings.  And the reason for this timeless quality is simply the musicality of the sampling approach, capturing what instruments actually do in methodical detail, and doing it with extremely high quality of recording. It is that approach which allows the richness and resonance that varies radically, just like live instruments, depending on what the piece is, the size of ensemble, the venue and the mix.     

That's true about quartets and solo instruments which are so exposed and not in big masses of sound, and therefore usually more involved to do with MIDI.  Also what Dave said so nicely is the reality of it, and made me think of something not so nice -  ask Joshua Bell to play a violin solo you composed, and then you will know you can do that also, if you obtain a violin?

People think VSL and MIDI are just technology.  They are far beyond mere technology.  They are a musical instrument in themselves.  Like other instruments, you get out of it as much as you put in.  That's true of many sample libraries, but none of the others have the musical depth, detail  and control of VSL which allows this level of expression.    

Good luck though having seen some of your previous great scores I don't think you need any luck!     

Aha! I caught you!  I thought those release times were cranked up. 

I'm sure MMKA will have a reply concerning oboe players and reeds -  my niece Mary King who is a great oboe and English horn player spent endless amounts of time tweaking reeds, and didn't even consider herself expert at it.  It is a major part of playing the instrument just to get a note to  sound,  let alone create a good note. 

Well it's not really an issue. I am just obsessed with release times of double reed instruments.  Probably an indication of a deep-seated childhood trauma that needs to be psychoanalyzed.  

A charming composition that I'm sure a lot of oboe players would love to do!  

On the performance I noticed the releases of the oboe sounded too long.  The oboe being a double reed cuts off almost instantly as soon as the breath stops, and has no ramp down of volume like you get with default sample release time.  But a very trivial problem solved  by turning the release slider down.  I started listening to oboe releases and notice you can hear some of the Silent Stage reverb - which is almost non-existence - on the release samples, so that may also be an issue.

Anyway that's a beautiful composition!  

Thanks a lot Fabio.    

I heard that Stravinsky was going to score a film but didn't get hired, and then after that said that film music was worthless "wallpaper."     

Anyway I would also like to hear Guy Bacos scores for major motion pictures.  It would attract me into the theater much more often.   

This piece starts out quiet but gets insane.  I had it on here a long time ago but did this new mix for the score and parts that I finally finished printing.  It was played once by a live orchestra who seemed to have fun doing it, especially the chime player who was playing so loud he broke his mallet at the concert...

INVOCATION AND RITUAL    

Thanks Macker for those comments on the music - concerning the film I wanted to do it all on sets but didn't have the budget.  Also there  was dialogue but it was cut.  I am considering some other changes but still working on it.   

As part of my project of printing scores that were previously very messy handwritten, combined with some miscellaneous MIDI,  I recently finished (I hope) this score which is from around 1980 and has never existed except in a moldering paper version.  I did a MIDI performance a while back, but as part of the Finale printed version did a new VSL mix.  

It uses VI flutes 1 and 2, French oboe, clarinet 1 and 2, bassoon 2, 8 horns, divisi 4 horns, tenor trombone, trombones a3, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion ensemble, harp 1, Appassionata strings, Orchestral strings, MIR Vienna Konzerthaus conductor's position -29 dry/wet, Miracle Close orch. stage enhance default .  

This piece was inspired by the Saga of Grettir Asmundarsson who was basically an ancient Icelandic version of Conan without a happy ending.    

Saga

Jos, thanks.  I think Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann would have used VSL.  However, Mahler would have gone beyond, and actually worked at VSL.   Because the company  would have realized that he was trying to control every nuance of orchestral performance - as one can see from his scores - and he would appreciate all the capabilities of both VI and Synchron.  And so they would have offered him a deal he couldn't have refused. 

Hi Jos, that is so interesting and unusual a sound.  The whole tone scale has a striking effect psychologically - it is ambiguous, and slightly weird. After all any triad is only augmented.  That creates a slight disturbance.  This piece uses that very effectively.  I noticed the p-f-p notes in the flute early on, which are so good because they are the opposite of what you normally hear with samples.  

thanks Tom and Anand!  I was trying to have the music "narrating" the story instead of words, not sure if that works or not.  It is a project I've been too close to evaluate.  

This is a feature film I did recently.  It revolves around the same world my Metaphysician's Dream film was set in though it is live action.  It originally had dialogue but I cut those scenes making it more "impressionistic" -  somewhat of an experiment. That allowed the music to be more prominent.  It is played by VI using the Pernegg Monastery MIR with the instrumentation of solo flute 1, celesta, musical glasses, vibes, gong, timpani, Appassionata violins, violas cellos, solo violin 1 & 2, solo viola, solo Cello 2, orchestral violins and basses.   

Althyria