Yo what’s good, time for some Big Fish baby
Today I’m checking out another library from one of my favorite developers….CineSamples
After checking out CineBrass and CineOrch…I was interested in seeing what they did with woodwinds
Admittedly, I first thought Hollywoodwinds was just a bunch of riffs….but I was wrong!
So let’s check it out!
So what is Hollywoodwinds?
Like many of their other orchestral libraries, it’s a library dedicated to the ensemble.
This time, it’s the woodwind ensemble.
Complete with tutti and octave patches, chords, rips, runs, riffs, fx, and all that goodness.
Also like all their libraries, it’s aimed at giving composers the tools they need to make their scores come to life.
And like all their other libraries…
I feel you don’t need to be a composer to appreciate it!
Quick Specs
- content: 3.6gb
- format: Kontakt 4 and Kontakt Player 4
- price: $299.95
So how does it sound?
Should we really have to ask this question? By know I’ve come to expect nothing but quality from CineSamples and I wasn’t let down here.
The sounds is amazing, very “real” and natural sounding. Though it has some nice ambiance from the stage mics, it’s too much that it sounds artificial, a sign of good recording.
I like that you can adjust the close or stage mic levels according to your own tastes and the fact that you have built in eq settings right in the interface.
As always, the interface is superb.
I do love the different patterns and sequences, the fx, and the rips/riffs…they really give you that “instant Hollywood” sound in my opinion.
But what I think puts this library over the top are the “keyboard patches” which let you play your own riffs and parts with tutti, octave, and various chords patches. With or without legato, and you can choose to load the close mic, the stage mic, or both and mix the levels yourself.
Recording is top notch and makes the library truly fun to play. But also fun to use, not “too” Hollywood that it doesn’t really fit in anything other than cinematic/trailer music either.
So what is the bottom line?
When I first saw this library a while ago, I didn’t know what to think. I wasn’t very interested as I thought it was only riffs and rips, and while that would be cool…I usually find myself wanting playable patches in libraries like that.
Bottom line is that this library is dope, I think it’s dope…and I give it 5 out of 5 subs. The interface is great, the library is simple to use and understand, and the patches sound very real.
This may or may not be something you’re looking for, but if you’re looking for a woodwind ensemble library…you owe it to yourself to check this out.
I think it went under the radar for many producers and electronic musicians, though I’m sure most composers and film producers know all about it
I really like how their libraries are usable by anyone, you don’t need a deep knowledge in orchestration to understand them…even though those with a deep understanding of orchestration will find the libraries very flexible, especially the notation view
Checkout the demo: http://www.bigfishaudio.com/detail.html?511991
and let me know what you think below!
Hi man.Some of the fx remaind me the sound of these old cartoon movies. Great tone.
@angelinni, yeah like tom & jerry or scooby doo! That’s what I thought too, good stuff!
This sounds like you could go a lot of places with it. It reminds me of the nice open sound of pre-1970’s soundtracks, old MGM flicks type stuff, which definitely crosses over to that OG cartoon flavor you guys mentioned. And like you said Joe, plenty of modern stuff still uses these type of natural wind sounds.
Maybe I’ll get it down the road, just got an RME and gonna freeze the setup as it is for a bit. (32 buffers all day, I’m in heaven bruh!)
@Metatron72, yeah it got t”that” sound man, that’s why I dig it. It can be old school and new school. RME son?!? Niiiiiiiiiice!! which one?
@saintjoe, Multiface II+HDSPe (96khz is enough for me), I highly recommend it for anyone crossing that $1000 plateau. I went PCIe to save some $, but it was mainly my OCD with latency. I got everything running 32 samples/3.2 round trip, and I doubt I’ll need 128/256 until sessions go 20+ tracks w/FX. Everything you hear is true, RME is rock.
…solid. Rock solid haha:)
@Metatron72, wow man, sounds like a dope joint bro, them RME joints is nice! I won’t be needing one anytime soon, but maybe one day I’ll grab one lol.
Nice, and it’s only 3.6GB. I like this library…I think I will buy this.
Another good one Joe.
@Madbull Studios, I knew you’d like the winds bro lol, yeah it’s small but the sound is amazing. I’m really diggin their stuff man.
SJ,I have to agree with you on this one. From your video review,the sounds in this set are great & gives a “Full,Complete delivery”. This one is a definite buy for those who are into the Orchestra/Cinema style genre like myself. Thanks again for peeping this one for us all.
@Baddboy2000, no doubt yo, I’m really a fan of their stuff, they continue to impress me. I want to checkout their choir library but it’s a lil steep for me right now lol.
Great sounds.
@sky, thanks for the comment fam.
anyway to get reason 5 working with maschine i’ve used it (maschine) as a midi controller to control reason 5 but i want to record maschine into reason 5 or vice versa
@matt, yo, this post has nothing to do with maschine or reason lol.
Anyway, you can use the rewire vst or you can use midi to trigger it from maschine’s seqeuencer. You can also record audio into Reason by sampling I would imagine.
Very very nice. I had a chance to install it yesterday but been too busy to actually play with it until today. They give you a lot to work with in this library. Sound quality is superb. Yeah I would have given this 5 subwoofers too. I took a listen to the CineBrass…now I’m thinking about getting that one too.
@Madbull Studios, no doubt brotha, it’s a real dope joint for sure.
I bought this last month and it sounds amazing. The only thing I wish was a bit better was the staccato samples. They could be a bit shorter and more aggressive.
@gnxmusic, yeah I agree with you on the staccato samples, I definitely like a nice aggressive staccato. But I knew you’d love these bro lol.
is there a demo version of this?
@-JN-, no, not that I know of, you can see if they have it on try-sound though
Hey …. just wanted to say great review,great sounds, think I will buy this library! 🙂 …. and love your site! Its my ‘go to place’ now before I buy anything!! …. wondering though, why is the cost of CInesamples Hollywoodwinds Library $299 at BigFishAudio, whilst at the CineSamples site, its $199? Just curious 🙂
Thanks for watching! I reviewed it when it first released so maybe they decreased the price on their site now. I would get it wherever its cheaper our ask big fish to match it.