Jorge Quesada

This is a rompler library in Kontakt Player® format, specializing in orchestral sounds for composing film scores. Across its roughly 18GB you'll find multisampled instruments built from real recordings of a symphony orchestra, including an extensive collection of cinematic effects.

All the sounds were recorded at 44.1kHz/24-bit quality in a concert hall. The recording was made in two simultaneous configurations, which you can choose between when loading a patch: Concert Stage and Close mic. The Kontakt Player 2 instance that loads the instruments offers script and mapping customization, although it is limited when it comes to audio scripting. This is not the classic library of isolated instruments: each instrument delivers the complete set of an orchestral section, recorded with the widest range of articulations.

Introduction
Virtual instruments based on audio samples are evolving at a dizzying pace. So much so that today we're writing about Symphobia, and the Symphobia 1.1 and 1.2 updates and Symphobia 2 are already available.

The quality of the sounds and, above all, the articulations, editing, and manipulation of the samples get more versatile and practical every day. That lets us achieve three fundamental goals: a high-quality end result, a more personalized way of working, and less time spent producing it.

What Is Symphobia?
As we hinted in the intro, it is a multisample collection of more than 20 GB. You can get an idea of its scale. It is designed to run under Kontakt Player®. In our case, we tested it as a virtual instrument within Pro Tools on a Mac.

As for installation, we have to say it is, as you'd expect, tedious. Installing the 20GB takes quite a while. But I don't think that will surprise anyone familiar with sample libraries. The software fit our system perfectly, and after copying all the DVDs, it worked right away and flawlessly.

The most striking thing about this package is, first, the high quality of its samples. Second, the combinations of sound banks across strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion, and even effects. Those of you familiar with this kind of “combi” tool will have a perfect idea of how a library like this loads: dividing the keyboard into several sections so you have a complete tool in a single load. We find powerful sections covering the lows, the mids, the finest high-end details, and dozens of details (in effects) that give the sound a convincing realism. From phrases to loops, including percussion, effects, hits, stabs, and more.

What Kind of Productions Is It Aimed At?
Clearly, music for picture, film scores, and video atmospheres in general are its priority destination. As with other tools of this kind, many samples suggest ideas, contexts, and situations. Many of the banks we load in combi format (that is, combining several simple sounds) already show a predisposition: moods of tension, fear, impact, action, comedy, calm, and so on. Nevertheless, I don't think that's its only possible purpose. Although it is certainly perfect for that kind of work, fast and of tremendous quality, Symphobia opens a huge door to composing orchestral beds. What you can do with them is limited only by your imagination. From laying a heavy guitar on top, to... how far do you think you could go?

How Do You Use It?
As we mentioned, you need to install Native Instruments' Kontakt Player®. You insert that virtual instrument into your DAW software and, from there, trigger the library in question.

The Combis
Loading is done by patch (we detail them in the table). When you load a multi format, a channel mixer appears with individual volume for each single track, solo, mute, pitch change, and so on. This means that, to start with, we have a series of brilliant preconfigured ideas that are very suggestive and effective. That said, we can manipulate each combi to our liking, removing individual tracks, varying the tuning of one part or another, and so on.

Conclusions
We've posted a series of demos of version two (audio) at www.ispmusica.com. You'll get a fuller picture by listening to what the movie is about, so to speak.

In our opinion, this is a professional library for generating all kinds of orchestral atmospheres for film scores and video sound design. It is extremely flexible and lets you work at great speed. I can confess, and I do confess, that it had been a while since I tried a virtual instrument that convinced me so much. Within its genre, it is undoubtedly insultingly good. Highly recommended if your wallet allows it.

PATCH TABLE

STRING SECTION
10 full-string ensemble articulations
4 violin section articulations
4 low string articulations in octaves
12 cluster articulations
Upward & downward glissando
Wild arco, pizz & gliss textures
Low string and open string effects
Chords major, minor, open 4th, open 5th

BRASS SECTION
4 full-brass ensemble articulations
2 full-brass muted ensemble articulations
3 orchestrated brass articulation combos
3 low brass articulations in octaves
5 cluster articulations
Horn section and tutti rips
Note bending phrases
Wild repetitions
Chords major, minor

WOODWIND SECTION
6 full-woodwind ensemble articulations
2 low range articulations
4 cluster articulations
Octave runs major, minor
Grace notes major, minor
Flute & piccolo rips
Effect phrases
Wild textures & multi-phonics

STRINGS / BRASS
String and brass sections playing together
4 ensemble articulations
2 orchestrated combo articulations
4 low range articulations in octaves
11 cluster articulations
Glissando rips

SOLO STRING ENSEMBLE
5 solo string articulations

FULL ORCHESTRA

DYSTOPIA II


ADDITIONAL CONTENT
Duduk phrases
Shakuhachi phrases
Native American Flute phrases
Bonus Orchestral Bassdrum

LIBRARY AVAILABLE: UPDATE 1.1.
The following newly recorded content is part of the SYMPHOBIA 1.1 update:
New articulation: fast attack ensemble strings mf/ff (MW control)
New articulation: brass chords without tuba/bass note (MW control)
New effect: string ensemble very slow glissandi
New effect: string brass ensemble dark textures
New effect: string brass ensemble trill crescendo
New effect: string brass ensemble trill marcato
20 New Multis added, now 40 Multis in total

LIBRARY AVAILABLE: UPDATE 1.2.
New sample content: string ensemble tremolo 3-layer DYN (p / mf / ff)
New sample content: brass ensemble fast attack sustain 2-layer DYN (mp / f)
New sample content: uilleann pipe phrases
New sample content: low whistle phrases
New multis: 15 new multis added, now 55 multis in total, categorized

To see the spec sheet and rating table, download the magazine as a PDF