Virtual Library Buying Guide
IN PROGRESS
Native Instrument's Komplete Start
This powerful free bundle from Native Instruments is one of the best starting off points for virtual libraries. Containing a wide array of sounds to cover all your needs, as well as Kontakt Player, which will serve as the host for most of the other free libraries.
Impact Soundworks Freebies
A fantastic and high quality selection featuring a guitar, bass, synths, and percussion. Most importantly, Palette: Primary Colors, an orchestral library, can serve as an excellent starting point for composing orchestral music.
Heavyocity Foundations
An epic collection of sounds to write impactful and cinematic score. With everything from strings, to brass and choirs, this is the perfect tool to turn your music up a notch.
Vital Wavetable Synth
My go to free synth - based on Serum and designed to work just as well as a professional paid product. If you learn how to use this synth, it can do anything you need it to.
Project Sam Free Orchestras
Another collection of epic and cinematic sounds while also introducing cool multi-instrument options. A go to choice for creating cinematic soundscapes and action sequences.
Spitfire Audio BBCSO Discover Orchestra
A fantastic full orchestra that can serve all of your needs when starting off. It uses the same samples as BBCSO Pro, an incredible orchestral library, simply with less options. Paired with Palette: Primary Colors, this library can cover your bases for orchestral music.
Crow on the Hill Vaults
This ever-growing collection of unique sounds presents emotional and inspiring instruments, desgined to power the creative process of composition and to write incredible music.
Spitfire Audio's Original Series - $29
If you want to elevate your music beyond free libraries, this is the place to look. The Spitfire Original Series is some of the highest quality "bang for your buck" that you can find. Their strings, pianos and percussion in particular can easily be used in a professional setting.
Native Instruments Komplete Select - $99
An upgrade from the free Native Instruments Bundle that includes an incredible upright piano, powerful synths like Massive, and other cinematic libraries such as Ethereal Earth and Hybrid Keys.
Audio Imperia Nucleus Lite - $99
If you find yourself writing a lot of epic orchestral music and needing an upgrade from the free content, Nucleus Lite is the perfect choice. A smaller version of Audio Imperia's flagship Nucleus library, Nucleus lite allows you to elevate your orchestral music composition for cheap.
Spitfire Audio Albion One - $499
Ablion One is the flagship All-In-One library. Part of Spitfire Audio's Alblion Series, each tailored to a specific genre, Albion One leans towards the cinematic and epic music route. With everything from orchestral ensemble patches, to an incredible collection of percussion, to complex and powerful synths and loops, Ablion One truly has everything you need. If epic music isn't your thing, libraries like Ablion Neo and Tundra serve as great choices for more contemporary and dramatic music while Albion Solstice is tailored to intimate and folky scores.
Orchestral Tools Metropolis Ark 1 - $550
Metropolis Ark is the flagship All-In-One series for Orchestral Tools. With each library in the series building off of the other, Metropolis Ark 1 serves as the perfect base for cinematic music, offering an incredible orchestral palette, choir and other sounds, while also using Orchestral Tool's Sine player.
Audio Imperia Jaeger - $599
The big angry sister to Audio Imperia's Nucleus, Jaeger is a massive sounding library and one of the most encompassing All-In-One libraries. With an entire orchestra with dozens of articulations, including legato, as well as percussion, vocals and sound design, and even having both instrument and ensemble patches, this library truly checks off all the boxes for the modern cinematic All-In-One library.
Spitfire Audio BBCSO Core- $499
The upgrade to Spitfire's Discover Orchestra, BBCSO Core is the golden standard concert library. With incredible legatos, every articulation that you will ever need, and all the instruments and sounds of a concert orchestra - this is a great starting point for an orchestral composer.
Spitfire Audio Symphony Orchestra- $629
Spitfire Audio's Symphony Orchestra is another incredible concert-focused orchestral sound. A powerful library with even more options and details than BBCSO, Spitfire's Symphony Orchestra is an incredible choice.
Spitfire Audio Abbey Road One: Orchestral Foundations- $449
Spitfire Audio's Abbey Road One: Orchestral Foundations is the library for those who are inspired by the sounds of Johns Williams and Alan Silvestri. Recorded in Abbey Road, the samples are imbued with the classic "Golden-Age Hollywood sound", and as an ensemble based library, it is easy and simple to recreate the incredible sounds that defined so many classic films. Unfortunately the Foundation library doesn't contain everything, but you can upgrade the library through their film scoring selections to craft an incredible orchestral plugin.
Audio Imperia Nucleus - $499
The upgrade to Nucleus Lite, Nucleus contains state of the art samples for Orchestra and Choir with great option for sound design. It also includes solo instruments and a wide array of articulations to allow for a detailed composition.
Cinematic Studio Woodwinds - $399
When it comes to the world of plugins, the Cinematic Studio Series is the industry standard for many composers. Cinematic Studio Woodwinds is no exception. With incredible legatos, intimate sample recordings, and fantastic details, this library can fulfill all your needs for a specified legato library.
Aaron Ventures Infinite Woodwinds - $349
Aaron Ventures presents a unique spin compared to a typical library as it introduces sample modeling. As most of the instruments are created by a complex series of synthesis, they are incredibly playable as articulations are triggered by your literal playing, and not by keyswitches. This library also includes many other woodwinds such as saxophones and individual instruments, allowing a wide range of flexibility as a composer. To get the most out of the library, it also requires detailed programming, however, the time and effort will payoff through an incredible sound