Farewell Song: comparing solo violin sounds (Logic, Kontakt, Aria LSS, EWQLSO, Campbell sf2, etc)
This is kinda a geeky computer music one, or on the other hand you can just listen to a piece played in a variety of ways! I am resisting buying Kontakt 7 and honestly a lot of newer stuff seems bloated and wouldn't even run well on my computer, so here I am "shopping my closet" of sounds / sound libraries / kontakt instruments / soundfonts / VSTs and trying things out. Comparing some Solo Violin sounds I have. YOU SHOULD BE AWARE that my tastes often run to the 'vintage-y' and also I am stubbornly staying on Mac OS 10.12 Sierra at the moment so you won't find any cinewhatsits or orchestrating tools or whatnot. Over the years I have bought quite a few things - but I did this most over ten years ago. I've picked out 5 different ones that I quite like to compare through a piece, then a couple honourable mentions, then the whole thing played on the winning entrant :D Very obviously none of this is going to replace a real violinist and something kinda exposed like violin+piano duet is CHALLENGING. Go to 4:05 to hear my best attempt at the finished piece. I'm trying also to make the point that you have to work with things to make them nice and expressive or whatever, rather than just demo ing how they sound out of the box with thumpy midi keys you know? That said, I'm sure I haven't shown them to their full advantage yet either! The piece is Farewell Song, from Flower Moon. Piano version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3nwhii3YHA Music box version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1MW948ed40 There's a lead sheet if you want to play it on a real instrument (pls do) :) *** Full deets: Campbell Violin - free soundfont - original release: 2000 (?) - it only has quite short unlooped samples, but they are rather nice. - size: 1.9 MB Solo Violin from EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Gold XP (Old Kontakt version) - original release: 2006 - size 87.60 MB (multiple articulations) Kontakt 2-5 factory library/VSL Violin Solo - taken from old VSL Opus 1 - ? 2009 - size: 43.1 MB Aria LSS Solo Strings - pops up on big sales a lot - ~controversial~, some tricky bits; is there a manual for this?? where??? - size 1.20 GB, 3 out of 4 mic positions loaded. WHY THIS BIG WHY. - nevertheless I do like it Logic Pop Strings Violin (Arco) - came with Logic - ? 2013 or before - those are literally just pitch bends xD - size: 79.8 MB HONOURABLE MENTIONS Violin-adjacent instead? - Erhu (and also koto) from East West RA - Year: 2004 - The Kontakt version - I bought this in 2006 and I'm glad I did since 1) it's lovely and 2) This version is no longer available and my computer couldn't run the current version, but if yours can I'm sure it's nice! - size (multiple articulations) 8.83 MB - the Logic factory Erhu is actually also really nice - This sounds like Now is the Cherry in Blossom now haha. Properly olde sounds Violin from MT32 soundfont by HEDsound - this reminds me of my very old keyboard and please me - size 4.4 MB Properly olde sounds #2 Ensoniq ZR Violin-GM, soundfont from Digital Sound Factory - original release: 1998 Old but also new Solo Violin from Studio Orchestra from Digital Sound Factory - restored version from recordings originally made for EMU Virtuoso (2000) - only one articulation - size 6.8 MB WINNER I'm so annoyed with it being the newest after all, and being OVER A GIGABYTE IN SIZE, WHY, and being pesky and having some limitations that much smaller sizes libs don't, but yeah I enjoy how the LSS Violin sounds a lot. Also in the background we have St Thomas Strings, which is pretty basic set of sounds but kinda gorgeous like this I think.
This is kinda a geeky computer music one, or on the other hand you can just listen to a piece played in a variety of ways! I am resisting buying Kontakt 7 and honestly a lot of newer stuff seems bloated and wouldn't even run well on my computer, so here I am "shopping my closet" of sounds / sound libraries / kontakt instruments / soundfonts / VSTs and trying things out. Comparing some Solo Violin sounds I have. YOU SHOULD BE AWARE that my tastes often run to the 'vintage-y' and also I am stubbornly staying on Mac OS 10.12 Sierra at the moment so you won't find any cinewhatsits or orchestrating tools or whatnot. Over the years I have bought quite a few things - but I did this most over ten years ago. I've picked out 5 different ones that I quite like to compare through a piece, then a couple honourable mentions, then the whole thing played on the winning entrant :D Very obviously none of this is going to replace a real violinist and something kinda exposed like violin+piano duet is CHALLENGING. Go to 4:05 to hear my best attempt at the finished piece. I'm trying also to make the point that you have to work with things to make them nice and expressive or whatever, rather than just demo ing how they sound out of the box with thumpy midi keys you know? That said, I'm sure I haven't shown them to their full advantage yet either! The piece is Farewell Song, from Flower Moon. Piano version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3nwhii3YHA Music box version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1MW948ed40 There's a lead sheet if you want to play it on a real instrument (pls do) :) *** Full deets: Campbell Violin - free soundfont - original release: 2000 (?) - it only has quite short unlooped samples, but they are rather nice. - size: 1.9 MB Solo Violin from EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Gold XP (Old Kontakt version) - original release: 2006 - size 87.60 MB (multiple articulations) Kontakt 2-5 factory library/VSL Violin Solo - taken from old VSL Opus 1 - ? 2009 - size: 43.1 MB Aria LSS Solo Strings - pops up on big sales a lot - ~controversial~, some tricky bits; is there a manual for this?? where??? - size 1.20 GB, 3 out of 4 mic positions loaded. WHY THIS BIG WHY. - nevertheless I do like it Logic Pop Strings Violin (Arco) - came with Logic - ? 2013 or before - those are literally just pitch bends xD - size: 79.8 MB HONOURABLE MENTIONS Violin-adjacent instead? - Erhu (and also koto) from East West RA - Year: 2004 - The Kontakt version - I bought this in 2006 and I'm glad I did since 1) it's lovely and 2) This version is no longer available and my computer couldn't run the current version, but if yours can I'm sure it's nice! - size (multiple articulations) 8.83 MB - the Logic factory Erhu is actually also really nice - This sounds like Now is the Cherry in Blossom now haha. Properly olde sounds Violin from MT32 soundfont by HEDsound - this reminds me of my very old keyboard and please me - size 4.4 MB Properly olde sounds #2 Ensoniq ZR Violin-GM, soundfont from Digital Sound Factory - original release: 1998 Old but also new Solo Violin from Studio Orchestra from Digital Sound Factory - restored version from recordings originally made for EMU Virtuoso (2000) - only one articulation - size 6.8 MB WINNER I'm so annoyed with it being the newest after all, and being OVER A GIGABYTE IN SIZE, WHY, and being pesky and having some limitations that much smaller sizes libs don't, but yeah I enjoy how the LSS Violin sounds a lot. Also in the background we have St Thomas Strings, which is pretty basic set of sounds but kinda gorgeous like this I think.