Which are YOUR Favorite Instrument Plugins/Libraries of all time?
And more importantly why?
Here are my personal favorites:
Omnisphere by Spectrasonics
My go to plugin for all things “synth” or “sound design”. I have chosen to truly master this plugin, ever since I got it in 2009, and the features and depth of this engine is incredible.
Keyscape by Spectrasonics
I have over 20 piano plugins and libraries, but the quality, consistency, depth and sound shaping capabilities of Keyscape is above and beyond anything else. And the Keyscape Creative library is such a lovely bonus, full of instant inspiration.
Afflatus Strings by Strezov Sampling
Lovely expressive and rich tone, lots of variation, amazing playability, and great advanced features like polyphonic legato, switchable divisi, dynamic ensemble variation from velocity, ensemble section mixer etc.
Forzo Modern Brass by Heavyocity
Bold and powerful tone, with very deep sound design capabilities, and an inspiring interface with lots of features. I find this particularly good for it’s short note and accented articulations (rhythmic brass).
Damage by Heavyocity
I have used this processed cinematic percussion library for so many years, and even though I got soooo many newer percussion libraries, I seem to always go back to this beast of hits, impacts, and powerful percussion.
They have a set of “powerful system” patches, and I now have a powerful system—so I started using them, and yep, it’s better. These strings STILL can’t be beat! Convince me I’m wrong!
I also love CineSamples everything for the recording quality.
Hey Mikael, because I’ve used the sound banks in my Kronos, I’m just getting started with sound modules. I have owned Omnisphere for just a few weeks, so not much to report. I just got XLN’s XO percussion module, but again little experience yet.
Are there any great jazz percussion modules?
I see lots of orchestral modules. I’d like to hear a sample of you playing your favorite strings compared to what Everett Young’s favorite, Eastwest Hollywood Diamond. Maybe you and Everett can play the first minute from Beethoven’s 7th, 2nd movement, and compare?
It’s just popular to hate on EastWest, because that library is older than most of the popular libraries out there. But it’s VERY professional.
I have since that post moved on, for the most part, from EastWest. I emptied my pocketbook and bought a bunch of Berlin orchestra samples from Orchestral Tools. VERY expensive, but the elite of the elite.
I still think EastWest is competitive with it, though, and with every other library.
