THE ORCHESTRA FOR PRODUCERS
If you've ever sat in a concert hall and listened to a symphony orchestra in full flight, you'll know how exhilarating an experience it can be. Strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion sections all combine into one many-headed creature, a writhing hydra led by the Herculean efforts of the composer standing in the midst of it all. Witnessing so many top instrumentalists playing in unison, it's not hard to understand why orchestral services are often enlisted in other music genres to help with recording and performances.
Not everyone has the resources to be able to call upon a string section however, which is why a lot of producers turn to orchestral software instruments and samples for their symphonic fix. Orchestral sampling has improved majorly in recent years, and companies like Orchestral Tools and Spitfire Audio now offer wonderfully expressive, deepsampled instrument libraries meticulously recorded by the finest musicians in purpose-built scoring stages. These orchestral software instruments come with multiple articulations (playing techniques) and are capable of handling agile melodies and ornamentations as well as massive chord walls.
Orchestral samples can be used in countless ways to augment a mix, whether you're using traditional legato strings and pizzicato woodwind patches, or more unique articulations.
In this feature, we'll take a look at some of the ways you can use orchestral instruments within the context of an electronic track.
Articulations and key switches
Orchestral instruments are sophisticated, delicate tools, and their technologies and capabilities have been developed over decades and centuries to accommodate a huge range of musical
