Vienna Symphonic Library Synchron Prime Edition

This all‑in‑one symphonic package offers an easy way to create orchestral arrangements.

VSL’s Synchron Prime Edition gathers together all the essential instruments and articulations of the orchestra along with some tasty extras in one easy‑to‑use 31.4GB package. The samples are distilled from seven large VSL Synchron Series libraries comprising a 46‑player string ensemble, chamber strings, brass, woodwinds, ethnic winds, percussion and harp, all performed by hand‑picked members of the Synchron Stage Orchestra. The library runs exclusively on the Vienna Synchron Player, included free with all Synchron products.

You can check out the library with a free 30‑day demo, and upgrade and crossgrade prices are available to and from the big Synchron collections. It’s worth noting that while VSL’s iLok licence management system can be used either on the iLok Cloud or with a physical iLok 2 or 3 USB key, it doesn’t work with the old iLok 1 key. Once you’ve activated your iLok licence, the excellent free Vienna Assistant software takes the strain out of downloading and installation.

A major update for Synchron Prime Edition is Flow View, an alternative user interface designed to streamline your workflow by presenting just the essential controls for each instrument. Also included is a new Universal playing mode which tracks your performance and switches articulations in real time (see box for details).

Synchron Prime Edition’s new Flow GUI is designed to streamline your workflow by presenting just the essential controls for each instrument. It coexists with the old GUI within the Synchron Player with no loss of the latter’s functionality.

Downsizing

In order to squeeze a complete orchestra into such a small package, VSL omitted some performance styles (for example, runs and trills) and restricted microphone signals to two active channels. Every instrument has a stereo room mix of all mics used in the bigger Synchron Series collections, augmented by a ‘mid’ position for the ensembles and close‑miking for the solo instruments. The larger libraries’ dynamic layers are faithfully preserved for all instruments except the percussion, which now has fewer than the 16 velocity layers and eight round‑robin repetitions used in Synchron Percussion.

Sound quality has not been sacrificed: the combination of the room mix’s large‑hall ambience and the drier mid or close signals covers most requirements, and if you require additional mic positions you can port your arrangements across to the big libraries using their ‘Prime compatible’ presets.

Strings & Harp

The Prime Edition’s strings come in two sizes: a large 14/10/8/8/6 ensemble lifted from VSL Synchron Strings Pro, and a smaller 6/5/4/4/3 line‑up taken from VSL Synchron Elite Strings. These collections were reviewed in SOS May 2021 and August 2021 respectively.

If you want a big symphonic sound, the 46‑player ensemble is the way to go. Played with just the right amount of vibrato, the 24 first and second violins’ musically perfect legatos sound fabulous on soaring themes, and their Bollywood‑esque portamento slides are a delight. The short staccatos are ideal for propelling rhythmic passages, a tight, brisk delivery which sounds great from the violins down to the cellos and basses.

Performed by a selection of Vienna’s finest string players, the chamber‑sized Elite Strings’ more transparent sound works well for intimate ballads and sensitive film music. The large and small ensemble perform an identical articulation menu of silky‑smooth legatos, long notes with a choice of attack styles, staccato, tremolo, marcato, sforzato and regular and snap pizzicato. Both also include handy full‑range ‘tutti’ presets with the instruments mapped over a B0‑E7 span.

VSL’s Synchron Harp (reviewed here in December 2022) is a superb collection performed by the Synchron Stage Orchestra’s harpist Tina Žerdin. The pared‑down Prime version features straight plucks and an ethereal set of harmonics — both sound absolutely gorgeous. (User tip: adding reverb to the harp’s close mics sounds very nice indeed.)

Woodwinds & World Winds

Also featured in the above mentioned review was Synchron Woodwinds. All but one of its 13 solo instruments have been collated into the Prime Edition, the sole absentee being the alto flute. (A pity. Still, as the old joke goes, ‘You can’t have everything — where would you put it?’) The consolation is there are two examples of flute, oboe, Bb clarinet and bassoon, which together with the superbly playable English horn give you a wide range of melodic woodwind timbres.

All instruments perform precise, rhythmically consistent staccato and portato short notes, long notes, legatos and sforzatos, and all but the piccolo add emphatic accented sforzatissimos. Most incorporate no‑vibrato and vibrato sustains which you can crossfade using the MIDI CC20 controller. The Bb clarinets and superb bass clarinet use no vibrato, but their beautifully smooth, rounded tone is nonetheless highly expressive.

Three of the four included world winds are bamboo flutes: the Indian bansuri has a lovely soft breathy tone, while the higher‑pitched Chinese dizi is brighter and more penetrating. More commonly found in sample libraries, the plaintive Japanese shakuhachi is often used in modern film scores, and the good old tin whistle (a common fixture in UK high street music shop windows) epitomises the lively sound of traditional Irish music. These instruments’ expressive grace notes and pitch‑bends will add a colourful dimension to your arrangements.

Brass

Derived from Synchron Brass (reviewed here in November 2021), the Prime Edition’s brass covers all the orchestral essentials. Its two Bb trumpets are played with and without vibrato, producing magnificent melodic results for both pop and classical styles. Benefitting from VSL’s trademark true legato mode, the two solo horns and tenor trombone also sound convincing playing lead lines and supporting melodies.

While the bass trombone’s loud staccatos are ideal for oom‑pah bass lines, its quiet sustains also work nicely for chord pads; the bass tuba is equally versatile, providing sonorous low pedal notes for brass chords and occasionally contributing its own plaintive bass melodies.

For motoring rhythmic ostinatos, all instruments and ensembles perform excellent short staccatos and the solo instruments have an additional portato short‑note style. All come equipped with sforzato and sforzatissimo artics, the latter rasping, blasting delivery the brass player’s equivalent of turning up to 11.

If you want a big symphonic brass sound, the four trumpets and six horns ensembles will deliver epic fanfares and soaring regal themes, supported by four trombones in the lower register. For instant cinematic grandiosity, the 15‑player tutti ensemble combines these three sections with the bass tuba, providing a playable C2‑D6 setup with built‑in low‑end octaves — an impressive and inspirational symphonic brass texture.

Percussion

Reviewed in May 2021 alongside Synchron Strings Pro, Synchron Percussion I was VSL’s debut Synchron Stage release. Many of its samples have now been rounded up and herded into the Prime Edition, sounding as powerful as ever and providing a decent spread of tuned and unpitched instruments.

A highlight are the ringing, ultra‑clean timpani. Played with medium mallets and spanning a two‑octave range, their performances comprise booming single hits, looped sustained rolls and walloping octave strikes. A 36‑inch orchestral bass drum, a snare drum and three concert toms also play hits and rolls, which you can accompany with piatti cymbals, suspended cymbal and tam tam crashes.

In the tuned department we have a pretty celeste (which needs some additional high‑end brightness IMO), a sparkling glockenspiel, an impeccably sampled xylophone and ecclesiastical‑sounding tubular bells. The collection is rounded out by a nice set of wood blocks and an ethereal, ear‑catching triangle.

The library retains the traditional Synchron Player GUI, now referred to as Precision View.

Conclusion

Don’t tell the UK Flood Defences Committee, but the Flow is spreading rapidly — VSL have released a Flow version of Synchron Duality Strings called Duality Strings Essentials, which contains the same articulations as the Prime Edition strings with an option to blend between its simultaneously recorded 52‑player and 27‑player ensembles. Sounds like fun! You can read about the original library in my January 2024 SOS review.

Meanwhile, Synchron Prime Edition serves as an excellent primer for orchestral sample beginners, a perfect tool for sketching or live playing, and a resource‑saving compact orchestra you can run on a laptop while travelling (as someone implausibly said) “on the red‑eye from NY to LA”, or more likely on the delayed Central Line service from Epping to West Ruislip (which probably takes a bit longer).

A brilliant, comprehensive and intuitively playable collection of pristine orchestral instruments available at less than 20 percent of the total price of its source libraries.

A brilliant, comprehensive and intuitively playable collection of pristine orchestral instruments available at less than 20 percent of the total price of its source libraries, Synchron Prime Edition is the ideal starter package for anyone wishing to enter the world of virtual orchestration.  

Suggested further SOS reading: The Sampled Orchestra www.soundonsound.com/series/sampled-orchestra