Some things I can never get enough of: Percussion, Strings and Pianos! 
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A while ago I said I wasnât going to buy any more plugins but instead focus on being better at orchestration.
Well I Iâll admit, Iâm weak.
I went ahead and expanded my Cinesamples suite with Cinewinds pro and Cinebrass pro on 50% sale. Hereâs my excuseđ:
Iâve invested in three different complete orchestras. Because then I have three different characters to work with.
1 Cinematic studio series strings, solo strings and brass.
2. Hollywood orchestra. Strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion.
3. Cinesamples. Strings, brass core pro sonore, woodwinds core pro, harps, percussion.
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Hey Mikael - looking at Strezov Afflatus. Can you tell me if the full ensemble patches have poly legato or is it only the sections? And whatâs the story with dynamics - can you cc control them or is it limited to velocity?
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Afflatus is my favorite string library in terms of tone! 
At least all ensemble patches with the name âlegatoâ in it, seems to have polyphonic legato.
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Really tempted to grab Afflatus as well, but my budget is not looking good right now, after all the physical modeling stuff, new microphone and whatnot⊠
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Interestingly Afflatus Strings was just updated (free update) for the 3rd time, so just like Infinite Series, the dedication to improve the product is really apparent with Strezov!
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Indeed, and it seemed to already be a massive and very capable library in the first place. Finally a library that acknowledges that strings actually have more than two timbres and three articulations! 
I was trying out some strings libraries for layering with the SWAM strings, but as one might expect, thatâs restricted by the limitations of the samples in much the same way as adding sampled first chairs: You can only add so much color and detail before it gets chaotic. So, unless the samples are just used for subtle texture (which of course puts extreme demands on SWAM), one still needs a very capable sample library.
Iâm glad that you called it âinvestâ, not just another expense. I guess that many people do it wrong, and obviously I did it too for many years due to the polarization marketing strategies that all the companies are doing. Itâs not bad, but I guess that a lot of people are just not doing the right moves (strategy), theyâll better buy another library and another plugin, instead of asking what they could improve in the âhere and nowâ?
Sometimes itâs better to invest in a $1000 course instead of a $1000 library and 10 extra plugins.
I mentioned that because I came across many guys who had no idea how to use specific plugins, but they bought it without looking into the manual, and have these amazing new libraries, where I know that those libraries are actually capable of more when I hear the results.
So today every decision is not an emotional one, but rational one. Do I really need it, or is it again another dust software on the drive? Iâm 100% sure that even if I would have all the money to buy all of that gear, I would never have the time to actually use it. So instead of buying, itâs better to make more music, invest more time learning how to properly mix and learning from mistakes after doing them.
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I went and bought performance samples Solos of the sea, Violin A. Wow, I love it! Wonât be buying anything else as the pennies are tight this year
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Iâm still undecidedâŠI want to buy some libraries, but I also plan to do a mega studio upgrade early next year, saved for a year to do this big upgrade.
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Thatâs exactly the reason Iâm not spending loads on plugins right now too!
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Garriton - World Instruments
Fabfilter - L2 upgrade
Uberschall - Pedal Seel Guitar (24Euros)
Wavefactory - Spectre (ÂŁ45)
Rubbing my hands together.
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Hello Paul, how is your Mac Pro working so far?
Interesting mix of new software tools btw. If you are looking into world instruments I can also recommend checking out âUVI World Suiteâ which I got myself and so far is my favorite in that domain of sounds.
Wavesfactory Spectre is a hidden gem of mastering/mixing as it is quite unique in its harmonic saturation per band.
I will check out UVI World Suite. Thanks for that.
Iâm hitting that duplicate button with gay abandon. No fear of overload from multiple greedy instruments/plugins where sometimes just one instance would have caused problems with my old machine.
Still reeling from the cost but worth every penny.
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I completely understand what you mean. Avoiding frustrations in every day production/creative workflow (or for that matter in life overall) is something that can not be measured in currency.
I checked out UVI and it looks good. Can you tell me if it has any Ulillean Pipes in the Bagpipes/Celtic section?
Yes you do get them, but I donât like the sound of the bagpipes in this plugin personally.
Many thanks Mikael. Garritan are not offering Black Friday discounts so I think I will go for the UVI. It also has the phrases which Garritan doesnât have. What is it about the pipes you donât like? Thanks for the recommendation. Cheers, Paul
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I think drone instruments are notoriously difficult to capture the tone and essence of. I still havenât found any sample library being able to do playable bag pipes or hurdy gurdys in a way that I like the result of. I believe it has something with the interplay and sympathetic resonances created from the drone + melodic part.
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Thanks again. Cheers, Paul
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