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EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

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Guy Rowland
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EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by Guy Rowland »

http://www.soundsonline.com/hollywood-o ... us-edition

Image
HOLLYWOOD ORCHESTRA OPUS EDITION

Brand new recordings include a new 18 violin string section for Hollywood Strings, new ensembles for Hollywood Brass and Hollywood Orchestral Woodwinds, plus new string, brass, and wind multi ensembles. "The new 18 violins are an alternate to the first 16 violins of the original library. They have a different sound," says producer Nick Phoenix, "the players are different. The vibrato is different. The legato is the best we have ever recorded. They work well with the existing collection or as a replacement for the original 1st violins. The new 2 tenor trombones have a completely different sound from the 3 trombones in the original collection. The new trombones are warm, full, and extremely precise. 2 trumpets were recorded again using two of the best players in the Hollywood film score scene. The legato is blazing at high velocities and sounds like a live performance."

The programming of the original content from Hollywood Orchestra has been updated to take advantage of the features included in the new Opus software engine, as well as the Hollywood Solo Instrument Series (now included in this expansion). Particular focus was placed on Hollywood Orchestral Woodwinds. After improving the original woodwinds, new ensembles were recorded, including 3 bassoons, 3 clarinets, and 3 flutes. "Once again, this was a huge success because of the quality of the players," says Phoenix, "Each woodwind ensemble works together on a regular basis and the tuning and timing are immaculate. These new recordings are unmatched in the virtual instruments world. The Opus Edition also includes new string, brass and wind multi ensembles that have a unique fat sound that captures the tuning of a large orchestra playing together in a live setting."

Powerful new control features include Master key-switches where all articulations can be fully customized in the new OPUS articulation palette. You can also customize the sound of each instrument using the new MOODS feature. Classic Mood is the original Hollywood Orchestra sound. Soft Mood modifies the sound for slower, more emotional passages. Epic Mood does the opposite, giving you a sound perfectly suited for your next Action Adventure score. Each mood changes the settings and the look of the interface, which has been completely redesigned and stylized for Hollywood Strings, Hollywood Brass, Hollywood Orchestral Woodwinds, Hollywood Orchestral Percussion, Hollywood Solo Violin, Hollywood Solo Cello, and Hollywood Harp. In addition, we simplified all instrument versions down to LITE and MAX, making Hollywood Strings in particular much easier to navigate. MOODS works best in the Diamond editions that include all mic positions mixed by Shawn Murphy. We strongly encourage our Gold users to upgrade to Diamond, and ComposerCloud and ComposerCloud X subscribers to upgrade to ComposerCloud Plus while the 50% off offer is available during our Black Friday special. ComposerCloud X subscribers will also receive a credit for the remainder of your current plan towards the upgrade price.

NEW OPUS ENGINE TO REPLACE PLAY

Our brand new OPUS software engine replaces PLAY and has been years in development. "Many improvements were made to the PLAY software engine over the last decade but we suddenly had a unique opportunity," says producer Doug Rogers, "we were able to bring Wolfgang Kundrus in as head of software development. He was the mastermind behind the creation of Cubase, Nuendo, and Studio One. Then we were able to bring in Wolfgang Schneider, the creator of Kontakt. With these two titans of the music software development now on the team, we decided it was time to develop a brand new software engine from the ground up. The OPUS software engine is the realization of this effort. Not only is it faster, more powerful, more flexible, and better looking than PLAY, it comes with some incredible new features such as individual instrument downloads, the ability to start playing instruments while they're loading, customized key-switches, new effects for the mixer page, scaleable retina GUI upgrades for legacy products, a powerful new script language, and many more features that allow you to completely customize the sound of each instrument. It's one of the most exciting developments in the history of our company and will be the launching pad for many exciting new products of the future."

HOLLYWOOD ORCHESTRATOR

At the same time as the release of Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, we are releasing an additional expansion product Hollywood Orchestrator. Developed in collaboration with Sonuscore, Hollywood Orchestrator uses all the instruments in Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition to create realtime arrangements based on your MIDI input with our innovative Scoring Engine. Build your own rhythms and scores with the StepEditor. Create Patterns with a length up to 4 bars. Get started quickly with more than 400 Presets in different categories and moods. There's playable full orchestral articulations and MIDI record and export. It's the whole Hollywood Orchestra right at your fingertips with up to 16 Patches across all instrument sections. Hollywood Orchestrator is the perfect tool both for new composers who want to get that Hollywood blockbuster sound within seconds and for professional composers who need to produce large amounts of compositions on a deadline. Hollywood Orchestrator is an optional add-on that requires Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition. All ComposerCloud members will get instant access to Hollywood Orchestrator as well as the OPUS software engine.
Interesting.


trumpoz
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by trumpoz »

Kundrus and Schneider involved in the development. Interested to see how OPUS compares to Play and Kontakt player. I will probably risk being an early adopter.
Richard Linton

I'm just a guy who plays and writes music.

I suffer from G.A.S. - Gear Acquisition Syndrome.


NoamL
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by NoamL »

Well, I'm pretty down on this now. Q1 2021 to get more brass and strings recorded in EW St. 1... or wait and get them recorded at Abbey Road. On top of that they started over with PLAY, ceding the only real advantage they had as a developer (the fact that they were the first to depart from Kontakt). All the majors are doing it now, and the Spitfire Player seems to have a sizable head start in stability over SINE from what I can tell. It's been solid enough on my system in some dense cues although I've not stress tested it. The major downside of the Spitfire Player is the lack of sample purging. OPUS initially looks like yet another developer taking a lateral step from Kontakt, not a true step forward. The big "features" are background loading (i.e., it's as good as Kontakt) and an a-la-carte store (i.e. it's trying to be SINE).

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Muziksculp
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by Muziksculp »

OT-SINE has been super stable, and efficient on my DAW. (Studio One Pro 5.1 / Windows 10), it's imho miles ahead of both PLAY, and Spirfire's Player in terms of features.

I'm sure it will have even more improvements and features as it matures.

The new EW Opus Orchestra looks pretty good, lets hope it delivers when it is finally released Jan. 21st, 2021.

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Linos
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by Linos »

The one thing that interests me is the ability to configure keyswitches. Together with the streamlining of Hollywood Strings, it should make the library much easier to use. I like the sound, and the depth of articulations sampled is almost unparalleled. But currently I never use the library because I can not set it up to suit my workflow. I hope HOOPUS will solve these issues for me.

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Stakk
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by Stakk »

I am a little disappointed that Play Pro seems to be finally, at last, in the end, shelved at this point (anybody remember?) - likely making no business sense anymore, though, Play these days is pretty slick and each instance of it boots up faster than Kontakt on my pc.


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Guy Rowland
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by Guy Rowland »

Linos wrote: Nov 29, 2020 3:52 am The one thing that interests me is the ability to configure keyswitches. Together with the streamlining of Hollywood Strings, it should make the library much easier to use. I like the sound, and the depth of articulations sampled is almost unparalleled. But currently I never use the library because I can not set it up to suit my workflow. I hope HOOPUS will solve these issues for me.
I set up a template with HS configured in Cubase to respond how I want it, using CC1 for velocity, getting rid of niente etc. It's the only way I can use it really. Opus looks like that will be a breeze (as it always should have been in Play), but since I have a workaround I won't be clamouring to get Opus for this alone.

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Linos
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by Linos »

Guy Rowland wrote: Nov 29, 2020 4:47 am I set up a template with HS configured in Cubase to respond how I want it, using CC1 for velocity, getting rid of niente etc. It's the only way I can use it really. Opus looks like that will be a breeze (as it always should have been in Play), but since I have a workaround I won't be clamouring to get Opus for this alone.
The smart thing to do, of course. I tried that too, but it isn't possible with Play in Cubase. I like to have one track per instrument. cc1 is volume crossfade on long articulations. On shorts, it does nothing. Shorts are controlled by velocity. Not possible with Hollywood Strings currently. cc1 will always control volume on short articulations, together with velocity. See here:

https://vi-control.net/community/thread ... lem.76911/

I hope HOOPUS will make it possible. Streamlining the set up process and the patch structure is very welcome here.

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Ashermusic
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by Ashermusic »

I cwill happily redo my HO template in VE Pro 7 to take advantage of why looks like it will be a more flexible approach.

But I am admittedly a weirdo who likes building templates.
Charlie Clouser: " I have no interest in, and no need to create, "realistic orchestral mockups". That way lies madness."

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trumpoz
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by trumpoz »

If you go past the marketing hype this looks really good.



New violin section
New 2 TPT patches
New 2 TRB patches
New Woodwind ensembles
Custom keyswitches
Orchestrator sounds interesting

The opening theme of Also Spracht Zarathustra sounded great through my phone as well.

No word on price, upgrade paths etc.
Richard Linton

I'm just a guy who plays and writes music.

I suffer from G.A.S. - Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

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Muziksculp
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by Muziksculp »

So, when will EW : H.O. Opus Edition be officially released ?


trumpoz
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by trumpoz »

Muziksculp wrote: Jan 21, 2021 6:04 pm So, when will EW : H.O. Opus Edition be officially released ?
Soon?

I remember Jay posting a little while ball that it had by give in to beta testing, so it could be a while yet.
Richard Linton

I'm just a guy who plays and writes music.

I suffer from G.A.S. - Gear Acquisition Syndrome.

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Muziksculp
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by Muziksculp »

I'm curious to watch a video comparing EW- Hollywood Orch. Opus Edition, with Spitfire Audio's BBCSO Pro. That should be very interesting once EW releases their new HO. OPUS Edition

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Muziksculp
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by Muziksculp »

Hi,

I just got this email from EW/Soundsonline today, Jan. 22, 2021.

Quote :

"Our 60% off sale ends today. This is your last chance to save 60% off all EastWest products during our New Year Specials. Please note, upgrades from Hollywood Orchestra to the upcoming Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition require you to have all four sections of Hollywood Orchestra. If you are missing sections, this is your opportunity to add them at these sale prices.
— OR —
Get all 67 EastWest collections that include over 40,000 award-winning instruments plus upcoming new releases including Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition with a COMPOSERCLOUD X subscription for just $199 for the year while this special offer lasts!
"


Topic author
Guy Rowland
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Re: EW Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, plus Orchestrator and new player

Post by Guy Rowland »

I currently have HO Strings and Brass Gold - in this current sale it doesn't look like there's an upgrade to the whole orchestra (Diamond only , but I could get winds and perc separately I guess). I also noticed that when I logged it my account doesn't show any of the many EW products I own, so I can't be sure I'd qualify. Finally - and most importantly - there's still no meaningful walkthroughs or demos, and given EW's history of over-promising I don't feel like jumping in blind.

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