Even if you aim to do this by composing in the appropriate registers for any single instrument family, the reality is that there is cross over in their ranges eg: the higher notes of the bass overlap the lower notes of the cello, etc. Eg: the cellos will play these phrase while the basses play a different phrase. The main drawback to ensembles, is that there is no way to really write specific lines for specific instruments.
Note the “String High” and “String Low” patches, as well as how the Brass and Winds are also broken out in ensembles. Screenshot below shows the patches provided in Spitfire’s Albion One (legacy).
Note that I’m not 100% sure what is included in each patch, because, the idea here, is that you are getting a broad section (“String High”) vs specific instruments separated out. For example, if a sample library says that it is providing the sounds of the orchestra as “ensembles,” this usually means that they are bundling up several instruments (an ensemble) as a single unit to work with within your DAW (digital audio workstation.) Within your sample player (eg Kontakt), this unit is referred to as a “patch.” So, you might see a patch for “Strings High,” which could include all the violas and violins together, while the patch called “String Low” is likely just the bass and cellos together. What we are talking about here, is how the instruments are provided to you, the user, inside the sample library. If you are new to orchestral composition using sample libraries, you might be wondering what an ensemble is, or what a section is in the context of this work. What do we mean by “Ensemble vs Sections” in Orchestral Sample Libraries? These are some of the things I wish I understood better when I was first starting out, so I’m sharing here in hopes that it will be of help to you. As a reminder, these Intro series post are intended for beginners: those who are just starting out with orchestral composition using sample libraries. In part 1, I talked about the difference between a sample library that is recorded Wet (including the sound of the room) vs a sample library recorded dry (no room sound.) In this post, I’ll be discussing the difference ensembles and sections.
It is this focus on realism, combined with simplicity, that makes our libraries stand out from the crowd.Now it’s time for Part 2 of my Intro to Orchestral Sample Libraries for Beginners series. While auto-tuning is always an easy option, we opted instead to tune the entire library manually, by ear, rather than stick rigidly to perfect tuning. To do this, we left much of the natural performance of each instrument intact. Tuning: Throughout the entire production process of every library we create, great care has been taken to make sure the tuning of each instrument is as realistic as possible. We feel that it’s worth the effort this is a fundamental aspect of the library, and will not be changed. This requires practising playing your melodies slightly ahead of the beat, which will become natural after a short while. To achieve this, we incorporated a delay system, whereby each new note you play in a legato phrase will be delayed by up to around 1/4 of a second. Latency / Delay: All of the libraries in the Cinematic Studio Series have been designed to maximise realism, especially when playing legato.