Though
the word orchestra may conjure up images of classical music performed
in a concert hall, sounds of the symphony are present in many genres of
music. Pop, rock, and, of course, film scores often contain full or
partial orchestras. But if you’re not named Wolfgang or Johann, how do
the rest of us get our hands on a quality orchestra at a reasonable
cost?
IK Multimedia addresses this problem beautifully with
Miroslav Philharmonik. Recorded in Dvorak Symphony hall in Prague, this
powerful seven-gigabyte sample collection of orchestra and choir sounds
(derived from the Miroslav Vitous Symphonic Orchestra and Choir Sample
collections) is now a virtual instrument plug-in available in most
popular formats.
IK Multimedia has done a great job of balancing
price, sound quality, and usability. There may be many other orchestra
sample collections, but not all of them include a playback engine for
easily using the sample library. Miroslav Philharmonik’s musicality and
reasonable demands on both your wallet and computer’s CPU set it apart.
We really enjoyed using it, and will probably do so for various
recording projects in the future! Features
Miroslav is a
multi-timbral virtual instrument (soft-synth) that consists of
orchestral and choir sample libraries. All major plug-in platforms are
supported – VST, RTAS, and AU.
The samples, recorded by the
Czech Philharmonic orchestra, include the original Miroslav Orchestra
and Choir collections, plus additional previously unreleased content.
The additional sounds include a concert piano and various percussion
instruments – even a triangle is represented. Also in the library are a
selection of other real-life sounds that are comprised of ambient noise
such as coughs, musicians talking, and pre-performance tuning. The
seven-gigabyte Miroslav Philharmonik ships on two DVDs that includes
over 1,300 orchestral and choir sounds.
Version 1.0 required an
iLok and only ran as a plug-in. Happily, the newly released version 1.1
does not require an iLok and also includes a stand-alone version of the
program that runs without a host environment. Of note to Mac users,
version 1.1 has Mac OS X Binary support, which allows it to run on
Apple’s latest hardware.
Sixteen instruments can be played
simultaneously. Each instrument can have up to four Insert effects, and
there are four main Send effects (each with twenty effects choices).
Miroslav Philharmonik boasts 256 notes of polyphony, which should be
ample for most scoring needs. If you do find yourself running out of
polyphony, just add another instance of the plug-in. Most likely you'll
be running out of processor power long before you hit the polyphonic
limit.
Miroslav Philharmonik is a sample playback unit that is
powered by IK Multimedia's SampleTank 2.1 engine. Although the look has
been changed to a more “orchestral” appearance, it operates in much the
same way as SampleTank 2, so if you are familiar with that instrument,
the learning curve will be practically non-existent.
There is a
complete set of effects, also derived from Sampletank 2. However, one
exception is CS Reverb, which comes from IK Multimedia's WIHO
award-winning Classic Studio Reverb (CSR) effects suite. This
particular reverb is tailored to orchestra sounds, and its simplified
controls include Dry/Wet and Time, which are fine in this particular
application.
The interface is divided into three sections: Ensemble, Sound, and Effects.
The
Ensemble section is where the sounds are layered and assembled. This is
where things like MIDI channel, output channel, panning, and of course,
sound names are displayed.
The Sound section is where sound
design is handled. There are two LFOs, two envelopes, a filter,
velocity settings, key range settings, Send settings, and tuning
controls. There are also Macro controls that allow the user to control
four other parameters, and those parameters change based on the
selected sound.
The final section is the Effects section, which
includes the CS Reverb mentioned, as well as chorus, lo-fi, distortion,
EQ/compression, and delay, to name a few.
In the middle of the
screen, just below the Ensemble section, is where you’ll find two rows
of control knobs. The top row automatically changes name and function
depending on which Sound control is selected. For example, if you click
the “Env 1” button just to the left of the knobs, the top row of knobs
become Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain, Release, and Level knobs. If you
were to click on the “Tune” button, also to the left of the knobs, the
first row of knobs automatically get re-assigned and displayed as
Pitch, Fine, Bender, and Pan (with an additional mode selector switch
for Re-sampling and Stretch). This auto-changing display is a welcome
departure from other applications that layer multiple levels of windows
to see the active controls.
The bottom row of knobs corresponds
to the Effects section. Different effects will also have different
control options. For example, the filter effect has controls for
Frequency, Resonance, Depth, Rate, and Mode, whereas the compressor
effect has controls for Attack, Release, Drive, Ratio, and Spread. Just
like when editing the sound itself, the effect knobs change depending
on which effect is selected. Again, this is a nice feature, as there
are not windows upon windows of editing knobs and digging up the right
set of active controls – it’s all right there!
Sound
The
sample library includes the original Miroslav Orchestra and Choir
collections, plus additional previously unreleased content. With so
much material here it was easy to find something suitable for most
orchestral applications.
The sounds themselves were very clean,
yet still had plenty of warmth to them. Bows, strings, and breaths were
each present, and did not sound artificial. Other people have describes
Miroslav’s sounds as organic, and we would agree with that comment.
When
selecting sounds, you have a choice between looped and un-looped
versions. Not surprisingly, the un-looped samples were more natural to
our ears than the looped samples, especially when dealing with wind
instruments and choirs. Strings and woodwinds sounded excellent, while
some of the brass sounds, good as they were, weren’t quite as natural
sounding as the other instruments. We loved the included whimsical
sounds.
Our reviewer had previously composed an original
orchestra piece while in college, when Finale (music notation software)
was still at version 2.6! After digging around, we found a MIDI file
(on a floppy – remember those?) containing the nearly ten-minute
composition. While the file needed more editing than time allowed
during our review process, with only minimal effort at arranging sound
assignments, the piece breathed new life. In fact, it hadn’t sounded
like that since it was last played with a real orchestra in 1993!
Miroslav indeed is a very exciting, powerful piece of software.
There
were a number of sounds that caught our attention in particular. Within
the “Advanced Ensembles” collection, which comprises ready-made
groupings, were a few of our favorites. Though simple, the “Bass and
Piano” ensemble was great – it sounded like a high quality piano and
upright bass in a jazz club, which was an unexpected treat to find in
an orchestra collection. The “Pop solo” ensemble was a multilayered
string and piano ensemble that would work well for a big, epic pop
ballad. The “Japanee” ensemble, consisting of slightly detuned metallic
percussion sounds, brought a knowing smile to our face, reminding this
reviewer of time he spent living in Japan.
The choir sections
overall were a pleasant surprise. Very realistic sounding, these could
easy be incorporated into many kinds of music. In fact, we had fun
playing the choir parts of the Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get
What You Want” while singing the lead above it. These were really quite
good, though we do wish a boys choir sample had been included. Though
the women’s choir could easily fill that sonic role, the additional
inclusion would have been a nice touch. You can listen to examples
of what Miroslav Philharmonik is capable of on the IK Multimedia
website (see the link at the bottom of this review). We recommend
checking out “Bach’s Badinerie” and “Dvorak’s New World Symphony”.
There is also an example of how expressive layers can be used in a live
setting in the file “Live Miro Combi.” Certainly, getting mixes to
sound as good as these demos takes a lot of practice, but we did find
that they faithfully demonstrated the sound of the product.
Documentation and Product Support
The
Sound manual has an introduction to the library, and includes a brief
history of the man who originally recorded the sounds (legendary
bassist Miroslav Vitous), and also of the hall they were recorded in
(Dvorak Hall, in Prague). It also offers a kind of crash course in
orchestral arranging, explaining how instruments are generally
positioned in the orchestra, and their general tones and ranges. This
was very useful information sure to appeal to beginning arrangers,
though it doesn't (and isn't supposed to) take the place of a really
good book on orchestral arranging or formal training.
The
various control sections were explained well, and there were some
examples in the manual detailing how some of the functions work.
Also
included was a poster showing (graphically) the range of all the
various instruments. This is particularly helpful for someone new to
orchestral writing, or an aspiring student (in fact, our reviewer had
to make one such chart by hand during college in preparation for
composing his orchestra piece), but for more seasoned composers, it was
of more limited value. Nevertheless, it was a thoughtful item to
include with the manual.
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