Those who share my penchant for rich-sounding chord pads will enjoy the mid-range string ensemble included here. The cellos/basses balance sounds ideal to me, but if you wish you can use the separate close mics trained on each section to adjust the mix. In MA2, these low strings are the only section to play pizzicato, and they do so with a great, fat, heavyweight tone. While the massive, throaty, grave and grumbling sound of this 20-piece low strings section readily lends itself to sinister and disquieting moods, the players sound equally at home performing high-energy spiccatos for fast rhythmic passages. All patches have Tree, Surround and A/B positions, with Close I, Close II and M-S available on selected patches.
MA2 was recorded from multiple microphone positions. with mutes attached) to soften their timbre, while the basses played without mutes.
To that end, the cellos were played con sordino (ie. Normally you’d expect cellos to outnumber basses, but the intent here is to ensure the low register never gets overpowered. As in the first library, the sound is intensified by some unusually large section sizes, epitomised by a formidable low strings section of 12 double basses and eight cellos played in octaves. In contrast to the high-decibel performances of its predecessor, MA2 exploits the orchestra’s quieter dynamics, producing an overall darker, more sombre tone. You can read the review of Metropolis Ark 1 at Deep Strings
In this review we’ll take a look at both collections, starting with an exploration of the uncharted depths of Metropolis Ark 2 (henceforth called MA2). Metropolis Ark 2 is 54GB, while Berlin Percussion Main Library is 75GB (installed sizes).
In a separate initiative, they’ve also extended their 1920s-cinema-inspired ‘monumental orchestra’ range with Metropolis Ark 2: Orchestra Of The Deep, featuring a completely new set of strings, brass, woodwind and harps sections, three choirs, pianos, harmonium, pipe organ, percussion (including large drums) and a set of synth and waterphone effects.īoth libraries were recorded at the Berlin Teldex Scoring Stage from multiple microphone positions, and work with the free Kontakt Player as well as the full version of Kontakt 5.5.1. Following the success of their Berlin Woodwinds, Strings and Brass sample collections, these young developers have released Berlin Percussion, thereby completing a full hand of sections for their impressive orchestral series. To use a horse-racing metaphor not often seen in the pages of music technology magazines, Orchestral Tools appear to have the bit between their teeth. Orchestral Tools add orchestral percussion to their Berlin symphonic project and unleash a second cinematic epic. If you want to get more detailed and varied with phrase building, then you may want to consider other options.MA2’s monumental low strings ensemble features a panoramic spread of 12 double basses and eight cellos playing in octaves. if all you have is the Ark choirs, you are very well set for most of your choir needs. But that can be remedied with some creative processing and/or layering.īut bottom line, in response to the OP. I'd say the only knock against it is the overall sound being a bit "church-choiry", meaning it's rather intimate and not as epic sounding as the Ark choirs. But now that I have it, I'm finding it really impressive. I really only got Tutti Vox because of the amazingly deep discount during Sonokinetic's holiday sale, and wasn't expecting to get much use out of it. And it also has spoken phrases and vocal effects. In addition to the basic collection of single syllables, it also has 2 and 4 syllable words, which can add a lot of character and variety to phrases. Not wanting to spend a lot of money on a choir (aside from those included in the Arks), I've mostly relied on Soundiron's Olympus and Requiem choirs, which have robust phrase-building and a lot of flexibility.īut then, last month I got Sonokinetic's Tutti Vox, and wow! If you're into phrase-building, it's definitely a cut above. The Ark choirs sound gorgeous, but the limited random syllable selection can start to sound repetitive, and the differences between the syllables are not all that pronounced.