Orchestral Library Holiday Sale

[KirkHunter]

During the rest of 2007, you can save HUNDREDS off of products at Kirk Hunter Studios (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/)
The prices WILL go up after December 31st.

Scroll down to see what's available.

Diamond Orchestra (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/diamond.html)
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/imgs/diamondRound.png
Was $699.00 Now $499.00 60GB - Ships on Hard Drive - Includes Emerald Orchestra (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/emerald.html) and Ruby Orchestra (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ruby.html)
Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/vpro_instruments_str.html):
C (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_concert_info.html)oncert Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_concert_info.html), Symphonic Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_symph_info.html), Studio Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_studio_info.html), Chamber Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_chamber_info.html), Solo Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_solo_info.html)
Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass.html):
Concert Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_concert_info.html), Symphonic Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_symph_info.html), Studio Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_studio_info.html), Solo Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_solo1_info.html)
Woodwinds (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww.html):
Woodwind Solos (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww_solo_info.html), Woodwind Duets (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww_duet_info.html)
Percussion (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/vpro_instruments_prc.html)

The Ruby (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ruby.html) collection (included in Diamond) contains the newest top of the line recorded material at Kirk Hunter Studios. Every Ruby Instrument has been carefully programmed to get the most playability possible. With such new programming innovations as intervaLive®, Human Pitch Correction, Keyswitching and Round Robin, you'll find new levels of creativity and realism in your musical projects that were never possible before. And don't be fooled by the low price of these modules. In sheer expression and musicality, these samples surpass anything out there.
Emerald (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/emerald.html) is already a favorite amoung many leading composers, arrangers, songwriters and other musicians. And at its low price, it is without a doubt, a great value for a symphonic library of its size. Some of the many features of Emerald include its vast list of sampled instruments and articulations, LegatoLive® performance tools, use of alternates (K2 and EXS Round Robin), and flexible programming! These features make its value unsurpassed in the industry. But don't let the low price make you think that you're getting a "budget" product. This set truly rivals, and in many cases surpasses the quality of the best and most revered orchestral sample libraries out there. There are thousands of instruments containing samples that you will not find in ANY other sample library. The focus is on performance, dynamic range, musicality, flexibility and expression. But probably the most widely reported strengths are its amazing sound and its out-of-the-box playability!


Ruby Orchestra (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ruby.html)
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/imgs/rubyRound.png
Was $499.00 Now $399.00 50GB - Ships on Hard Drive
Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/vpro_instruments_str.html):
C (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_concert_info.html)oncert Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_concert_info.html), Studio Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_studio_info.html), Solo Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_solo_info.html)
Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass.html):
Concert Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_concert_info.html), Studio Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_studio_info.html), Solo Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_solo1_info.html)
Woodwinds (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww.html):
Woodwind Solos (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww_solo_info.html), Woodwind Duets (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww_duet_info.html)
Percussion (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/vpro_instruments_prc.html)

The Ruby (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ruby.html) collection (included in Diamond) contains the newest top of the line recorded material at Kirk Hunter Studios. Every Ruby Instrument has been carefully programmed to get the most playability possible. With such new programming innovations as intervaLive®, Human Pitch Correction, Keyswitching and Round Robin, you'll find new levels of creativity and realism in your musical projects that were never possible before. And don't be fooled by the low price of these modules. In sheer expression and musicality, these samples surpass anything out there.

Emerald Orchestra (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/emerald.html)
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/imgs/emeraldRound.png
Was $325.00 Now $299.00 20GB - Ships on Hard Drive
Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/vpro_instruments_str.html):
Symphonic Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_symph_info.html), Chamber Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_chamber_info.html), Solo Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_solo_info.html)
Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass.html):
Symphonic Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_symph_info.html), Solo Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_solo2_info.html)
Woodwinds (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww.html):
Woodwind Solos (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww_solo_info.html), Woodwind Duets (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww_duet_info.html)
Percussion (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/vpro_instruments_prc.html)

Emerald (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/emerald.html) is already a favorite amoung many leading composers, arrangers, songwriters and other musicians. And at its low price, it is without a doubt, a great value for a symphonic library of its size. Some of the many features of Emerald include its vast list of sampled instruments and articulations, LegatoLive® performance tools, use of alternates (K2 and EXS Round Robin), and flexible programming! These features make its value unsurpassed in the industry. But don't let the low price make you think that you're getting a "budget" product. This set truly rivals, and in many cases surpasses the quality of the best and most revered orchestral sample libraries out there. There are thousands of instruments containing samples that you will not find in ANY other sample library. The focus is on performance, dynamic range, musicality, flexibility and expression. But probably the most widely reported strengths are its amazing sound and its out-of-the-box playability!

New Products:

All Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/vpro_instruments_str.html)
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/imgs/cellosSmall.jpg
$399.00 20GB - Ships on Hard Drive
Concert Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_concert_info.html), Symphonic Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_symph_info.html), Studio Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_studio_info.html), Chamber Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_chamber_info.html), Solo Strings (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/strings_solo_info.html)
The largest array of string sections with the most passion and playability in ANY sample library available today!

All Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass.html)
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/imgs/TrombonesSmall.jpg
$299.00 20GB - Ships on Hard Drive
Concert Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_concert_info.html), Symphonic Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_symph_info.html), Studio Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_studio_info.html), Solo Brass (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/brass_solo1_info.html)
Beautifully powerful, yet blissfully serene! Symphonic Brass, Concert Brass, Studio Brass, and Brass Solos! Combination instruments included too!

All Woodwinds (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww.html)
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/imgs/fluteMacroSmall.jpg
$199.00 7GB - Ships on 2 DVDs
Woodwind Solos (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww_solo_info.html), Woodwind Duets (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/ww_duet_info.html)
"Sweet", "Playful", "Crisp" are just some of the descriptions that are reported about the woodwinds in VSPro. These woodwinds were designed to be highly expressive with a great deal of attention paid to getting the most realistic sound available. Also included are popular woodwind runs and trills.

Please feel free to email me at MuzkGuy@aol.com for more information.

[Gesticulator01]

Great prices!

Are there any additional discounts on seperate sections? I'm interested in the complete solo strings.

These libraries deserve to be better known - even though they're well known and well regarded at this forum. Best of luck with the sale!

[Kaatza Music]

Darn! Just when my credit cards are max'ed out and I'm broke. Of course, who says I have to feed my kids or buy them anything for Christmas ;)

[KirkHunter]

Great prices!

Are there any additional discounts on seperate sections? I'm interested in the complete solo strings.

These libraries deserve to be better known - even though they're well known and well regarded at this forum. Best of luck with the sale!

Look for sale prices on the separate sections starting sometime in January. Also, look, for EXS24 versions of Diamond, Ruby, and All Strings soon.

Until then, this is the LAST WEEK of the holiday sale.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

[davecos]

Look for sale prices on the separate sections starting sometime in January. Also, look, for EXS24 versions of Diamond, Ruby, and All Strings soon.

Until then, this is the LAST WEEK of the holiday sale.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Are the sale prices in effect when one wants to upgrade from. oh say, Sapphire and I want to get Emerald?

Just received Sapphire and I'm pretty impressed with the keyswitching and scripting in K3.

Oh one question Kirk, are there any really really short string articulations like Spiccato? Something where you can get a very tight sound with no string decay? I have been playing with it and different key switch samples but still have a more lyrical legato sound.

Nice product by the way. I can now understand why lots of people on this forum find you libraries very playable. It does not take much tweaking or time to get the expressive sound one wants which is ideal.

[KirkHunter]

Are the sale prices in effect when one wants to upgrade from. oh say, Sapphire and I want to get Emerald?

Just received Sapphire and I'm pretty impressed with the keyswitching and scripting in K3.

Oh one question Kirk, are there any really really short string articulations like Spiccato? Something where you can get a very tight sound with no string decay? I have been playing with it and different key switch samples but still have a more lyrical legato sound.

Nice product by the way. I can now understand why lots of people on this forum find you libraries very playable. It does not take much tweaking or time to get the expressive sound one wants which is ideal.

The sale prices as they are for the holidays won't be in effect for upgrade paths, however in your case, there will definitely be VIP upgrade path prices for Sapphire-to-Emerald, Sapphire-to-Ruby, Sapphire-to-Diamond, Sapphire-to-All Strings, etc.

Yes, there are very short articulations. If the provided spiccato articulation is not short enough, then load up the normal keyswitched instrument, then select marcato from the instrument by keyswitching or by clicking the marcato button. Then you can shorten the release knob value which will really "tighten" things up and make things a lot less "lyric". Don't forget that you can have a very aggressive staccato/spiccato, or a lighter feel on the same instrument by selecting either "with_aggr" or "with_spicc".

[davecos]

The sale prices as they are for the holidays won't be in effect for upgrade paths, however in your case, there will definitely be VIP upgrade path prices for Sapphire-to-Emerald, Sapphire-to-Ruby, Sapphire-to-Diamond, Sapphire-to-All Strings, etc.

Yes, there are very short articulations. If the provided spiccato articulation is not short enough, then load up the normal keyswitched instrument, then select marcato from the instrument by keyswitching or by clicking the marcato button. Then you can shorten the release knob value which will really "tighten" things up and make things a lot less "lyric". Don't forget that you can have a very aggressive staccato/spiccato, or a lighter feel on the same instrument by selecting either "with_aggr" or "with_spicc".

Thanks for the feedback Kirk. I figured there was some way of shortening the sample. I really like the legato strings too. Very emotive. Using the mod wheel is pretty much [U]the way[U] of applying timbral changes to the string tone. I love it.

Also quite like your French Horns. Being a former brass player myself, I always go for the horn sounds first in any new library.

p.s. Sapphire arrived on Christmas Eve which was great since I had some fun playing the sounds on Christmas day. I even came up with some rough ideas for a couple orchestral pieces.

[efiebke]

For the past couple of weeks, there's been a number of sales for various instrumental sound libraries. There's also been many-a-thread dealing with the issue of "which orchestral sound library should I purchase?" There's a lot of great sounding orchestral libraries that are a part of these holiday sales. I tell you, this is quite the time to purchase such items!!

I've been lurking and reading the various threads dealing with the issue of "which to buy". I've been listening and listening some more to the various orchestral sound libraries. Really! They all sound great to my modest ears! I also checked the "engines" that "drive" the sound libraries.

I'm buying the Diamond! I did so for two main reasons. 1) Well, it sounds great! and 2) I really like the Kontakt 2 "engine" and its ability to make the instruments sound great. I use Kontakt 2.24 (and the Kontakt 2 Player) for a number of different libraries, so I'm familiar with it.

Here's where I plan on housing the Diamond Orchestral sound library: My happy MacPro 2.66 ("quad core") with 8 GB RAM, 3 internal hard disk drives (1 for the programs, 1 for the libraries and 1 for the audio recording projects) and 1 external (for video). The OS is 10.4.11 (haven't upgraded to Leopard yet) and the sequencer/recording software is Logic Studio Pro 8.01. The audio & midi devices are MOTU's 2408 MK3 and MTPAV; the keyboard controller is M-Audio Keystation Pro 88.

I do NOT plan on upgrading to Leopard just yet. I'm too chicken! And, everything works just fine with the current OS. I also don't plan on upgrading to Kontakt 3 just yet. Again, I'm too chicken! And the rest of the libraries work just fine on Kontakt 2.24. Of course, I have Logic's software sampler (EXS 24MKII), which I noticed can be used for part if not all of the library.

So. . . I do have a few questions.

How different or how similar will the Diamond library respond to the Kontakt 2 sampler verses the the EXS 24 MKII?? Which is the better sampler to use for this library??

How well does the Diamond library work the new Leopard OS??

How well does the Diamond library work with Kontakt 3??

What should I know to do, if anything, to help make the Diamond library work well with the current MacPro computer set-up (noted above)??

I suspect all should be fine.

A few more questions. . .

What plans might exist for future updates and/or upgrades??

Is there a Kirk Hunter Orchestral sound library support forum that I could visit to have questions answered and seek support??

I'm excited! :)

Thank you for offering such a generous discount.

Edward (Ted) Fiebke

[KirkHunter]

So. . . I do have a few questions.

How different or how similar will the Diamond library respond to the Kontakt 2 sampler verses the the EXS 24 MKII?? Which is the better sampler to use for this library??
At the current time, Diamond is not ready in the EXS format. (possibly in late Jan 07) Having said that, the library is more "flexible" in the K2 version than the EXS version. However, the EXS engine with Logic is very very efficient using less CPU. In Logic 8, you can even allocate more memory to EXS, so that helps. The drawbacks are that EXS is limited to 64 voices per instrument, and Diamond can chew up a lot. Alternatively, the K2 version of Diamond actually uses less polyphony than the EXS version due to being able to script out unused groups.

How well does the Diamond library work the new Leopard OS??
If Kontakt 2 runs well in Leopard, then so does Diamond. I have not yet tested that myself, but have not had any negative reports on this topic.

How well does the Diamond library work with Kontakt 3??
Very well, but when using intervaLive®, you may need to turn down the "launchUp" and "launchDown" parts of this feature. Read more about intervaLive® here (http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/programming.html#il). Stick with K2 IMO.

What should I know to do, if anything, to help make the Diamond library work well with the current MacPro computer set-up (noted above)??
I would put the entire library on the drive you've allocated for sample libaries. It also works really well with external firewire drives.

I suspect all should be fine.

A few more questions. . .

What plans might exist for future updates and/or upgrades??
At this time, "Diamond" is the flagship at KH Studios. The only future projects possibly planned are for some choirs and some new solo strings. As always, there will be valuable upgrade/crossgrade paths available.

Is there a Kirk Hunter Orchestral sound library support forum that I could visit to have questions answered and seek support??
When I get a chance to re do the website, look for this feature.

I'm excited! :)

Thank you for offering such a generous discount.

Edward (Ted) Fiebke

See above for specific answers.

Kirk

[Seq]

Is anyone else having trouble accessing the audio demos? I get an empty window and a message at the bottom that reads "unknown zone." This happens on two different computers, so I don't know if I'm doing something wrong?