Upright Bass VI/samples - Should I buy Trilian?

[stevenew]

I have never really used upright bass samples in my own music before, I usually use a combination of playing real bass guitar and bass guitar samples. I have the factory upright bass samples in both Kontakt & SampleTank 3, which sound pretty good but I am thinking maybe I should get Trilian as the demos sound amazing, plus I would have all the other basses to play with:-) But is it really that big an improvement on what I have already?

Any thoughts from users of Trillian?
Any other sample sets I should consider? I know there is Orange Tree CoreBass Pear.

Thanks

[buzzsmith]

I'm a big fan of Trillian. To me, the upright basses sound great as do the electrics.

The fretless choices are also very cool.

And, there are a lot of adjustable parameters.

Hope that helps!

Buzzy


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[stubbsonic]

I don't have either, but was listening to some demos for each.

One thing that is tricky is that you have to start with a beautiful sounding bass, then having a beautiful sounding player, then recording impeccable performances at carefully planned dynamic levels.

The problem with having very "clacky" attacks at high velocities, is that you have to calibrate your playing so that those clacks only occur when you want them. I personally don't like hearing them for most things.

Listen to lots of demos to make sure you are getting what you want in a tone.

[mikehalloran]

The problem with having very "clacky" attacks at high velocities, is that you have to calibrate your playing so that those clacks only occur when you want them. I personally don't like hearing them for most things.l.

I don't like hearing that in anything. For that reason, I've never liked any upright bass library I've ever heard. I think that the upright bass sounds terrible close mic'd.

I often recorded with no mic on my bass using the bleed through the other instrument mics in the room. Only the first time was an accident. After that, if I used a mic on my bass, it was my Shure 305 ribbon (on days that it worked) or my Groove Tubes 500 in figure 8 -- normal placement six to ten feet away depending on the sound of the room.

I've cobbled a VI library from samples lifted from my studio work but it isn't very good. Had I known there'd be a time I could no longer play, I would have made the effort with all three of my basses. I no longer have the G Pfretschener but my carved four string and Kay five string are still around. I've talked to a friend about recording both of them. He's a good player and the music director in a church with perfect acoustics for the task ... when we make the time, of course.

[Rick Cornish]

I think the Trilian acoustic bass library is great. Add in the Pattitucci samples from the Bass Legends series and you have plenty to work with. Plus—if you have Omnisphere 2—you can open Trilian samples from there and use Omnisphere processing or Trilian controls.....your choice.

Personally, I've never had a problem balancing attacks. Between Trilian's mic/direct mixing options and velocity switching and DP's velocity editing capabilities, I've always been able to get exactly what I want.

[stevenew]

Thanks for your thoughts, I have watched some more demos of Trilian and it seems pretty impressive, I think it would definitely be a step up from what I am using, I am very tempted:-)

[stubbsonic]

Hmmm. I thought the Trillian upright bass was well-recorded and sampled, but I wasn't wild about the tone of it. I expect EQ could help, but it sounded like a not-great-sounding bass to me.

OTOH, I got curious and listened to others that are out there, and wasn't really sold on any of the ones I heard. Trillian was not bad in comparison.

Though my ears are nowhere near as experienced as Mike H's, I have had the privilege of recording several very special and beautiful upright basses, and when done right, it really is a glorious sounding instrument.

[rnappi]

Premier Sound Factory, Art Vista & Straight Ahead Samples are all very nice.

http://www.premiersoundfactory.com/modu ... -p-36.html
http://www.artvista.net/back_beat_bass.html
http://straightaheadsamples.com/shop-2/ ... head-bass/

rich

[stubbsonic]

The straight ahead one seemed like the most natural sounding. The demos were very skillfully made.

They used a sampling method where the player had to play a musical phrase in order to get the different articulations. I think that is a pretty clever idea, and I can't argue with the results, which seem quite good.

There are a few notes in there with a bit of string rattle, but it wasn't very pronounced and added a bit of realism. There wasn't a ton of low-end woofiness--but it did sound like there was enough deep bottom in the tone that it could be brought up if desired.

If I had to pick one, that'd probably be my choice.

[stevenew]

@rnappi

Thanks for those links, I had not heard the Art Vista or Straight Ahead, out of those three I liked the Straight Ahead. So now I guess it's Trillion & Straight Ahead, I got to stop asking these questions, I always end up buying multiple libraries!

Thanks again for all your thoughts, much appreciated.

Steve

[greg328]

I love Trilian, been using it for years. Bottom-heavy, though. I'm always having to lo - cut to prevent distortion and overload.
Greg

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[monkey man]

I'm buying it; planning on doing a deal for all three Spectra VIs. I'm not a fan of the clicks' dominating things either; I expect finessing of velocities and / or layers or whatever to be in order. Regardless of its foibles, Trilian will be a huge step up from my ROMplers!

Hoping no further VI purchases, apart from FH Percussion, SM brass, PianoT and MOTU's updated (whenever that happens) orch offering will be necessary.

[Rick Cornish]

I'm buying it; planning on doing a deal for all three Spectra VIs.

FWIW: I did just such a deal at the Ilio booth at NAMM a couple years ago. They gave me a smokin' price on all three. You should be able to save significantly by doing it that way.

[stevenew]

I have ordered Trilian, a dealer here in the UK had it on offer, so how could I resist:-) I will post my thoughts once I have had time to play with it.

[mhschmieder]

I personally despise Trilian, and never use it. I wish I hadn't bought it. But I like Omnisphere for some stuff (atmospheric choirs e.g.).

The upright bass in Trilian is just about the worst I have ever heard anywhere. It sounds like a badly-placed piezo pickup vs. an actual miked upright.

That might be what some people want; I don't know. I don't do rockabillity music or jump swing -- at the moment, at least. Maybe it's good for that.