Synclavier Sample Library

Sample CD Buyer's Guide

Published in SOS January 2000
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Reviews : Sample/Sound/Song Library

STRINGS

Vns: sus (f & p), stc, piz, trem.

Vas: sus, M stc.

Vcs: sus, stc.

Vn: sus, stc, piz.

Vc: sus, stc, piz.

Db (M): sus, piz.

HARP (M)

Single notes, gls: major 6th and whole tone.

MISCELLANEOUS

'Boys' choir' (M), Male choir ('bah' & 'dooh'), Vocal effects (M).

Comments: Vigorous ensemble and solo strings with plenty of bow attack, accompanied by a (mono) harp which acquits itself well in the heavenly arpeggio department. Vocal samples from the Synclavier library have been thrown in as a bonus, but are slight and unremarkable.

Standouts: The gutsy staccato cellos practically explode in a shower of bow rosin and the pizzicato double bass is solid and powerful enough to compete with a heavy rock drum kit. Pizzicato violins play well from the keyboard, sustained soft violins have an attractive upper register and layer well with synth strings.

Quibble: The absence of a solo viola is no great loss, but the lack of a double bass ensemble is a pity.

Contact: Time & Space.

Akai/Emu/Roland/Kurzweil/Ensoniq ASR/Samplecell Mac CD-ROMs £169; Audio CD (part of Orchestral Audio) £59.95.

Brass & Winds • • •

BRASS (ALL M)

4 Tpts: sus, stc.

2 Tpts: sus (f & p).

Tpt: sus (ff & mf).

2 Tbns: sus.

Tbn: sus, sus fp.

Fhn: sus, stc.

Tba: sus, sus fp, cr, stc.

Flg: sus.

WOODWIND (ALL M)

Flt: sus, sus vb, sus fp, stc.

Ob: sus, stc.

Ehn: sus.

Cla: sus (f & mf), sus fp, cr, stc.

Bcla: sus, sus fp, cr, stc.

Bsn: sus.

SAXOPHONES (ALL M)

Soprano Sax (f & p), Tenor Sax.

MISCELLANEOUS WIND (ALL M)

Panpipe: sus.

Wooden flute: sus.

Didgeridoo: sus.

Bird Whistle: sus.

Comments: Standard orchestral brass and woodwind, two saxes (the soprano very nice) and a flugelhorn, all recorded in glorious mono but with the usual Synclavier long loops. The collection is topped off with a slender sprinkling of useable ethnic winds. The pan pipe is only a single sample, but it's a good one!

Standouts: A nice bass clarinet with a suitably oily low register. Triumphal ensemble trumpets, perfect for that moment in a corporate presentation when the company logo rises from a sea of dry ice.

Quibbles: Trumpets apart, the quality is unspectacular. Documentation is very terse, not helped by the CD-ROM volumes eschewing instrument names in favour of numbers. Oboe programs are a semitone flat, and contain three out-of-tune notes (C#3, D3 & D#3) -- this is purely the result of careless or confused programming, as the samples themselves are in tune.

Contact: Time & Space.

Akai/Emu/Roland/Kurzweil/Ensoniq ASR/Samplecell Mac CD-ROMs £169; Audio CD (part of Orchestral Audio) £59.95.

Percussion Plus Disc 2: World & Orchestral • • • • •

PERCUSSION -- TUNED

Bass Mba (M), Celeste (M), Glk (M), Mba (M), Tmp, Vib (M), Tub (M), Xyl (M).

PERCUSSION -- UNPITCHED

BD, Bells (M), Cast, Clak, Clik, Clv, CrC, Cwb (M), Gng (some M), Gui, Ratch (M), Slb (M), Shk, SD, Tri, Wbl.

(Also included: abacus, angklung, caxixi, Balinese bell cluster, cuica, finger cymbals, various hand drums, kalimba, log drum, rainstick, rattles, shekere, tabla, timbales, waterphone, whistles & wind chimes.)

Comments: A good-sized collection of well-recorded orchestral percussion with the World kitchen sink thrown in. Good value for money.

Standouts: Excellent multi-pitched tympani with many performance variations. Cymbals, bass drums and snares all strong, bass marimba and celeste are rare and welcome additions.

Quibble: No musical criticisms, but there is some eccentric naming -- 'Totosan' for cowbell, for example (a Lone Ranger reference?).

Contact: Time & Space.

Akai/Emu/Roland/Kurzweil/Ensoniq ASR/Samplecell Mac CD-ROMs £129; Audio CD (part of Essential Audio) £59.95.