EastWest Symphonic Orchestra GOLD COMPLETE - PLAY EDITION

East West sound banks are a staple of my sound. In writing symphonic, cinematic prog rock synth funk, I've found myself going back to Orchestra Gold time and time again. However, those with slow computers - beware!

The general setup of the program is a time-consuming process. At the time of my purchase, all of the software came on several discs. I had to install the software disc-by-disc, sitting at my computer and watching the progress bar slowly move closer towards completion. And every time I've had to reinstall my OS, I've dreaded having to reinstall this software.

You get what you pay for, and in this case, you get what you WAIT for. The rather arduous process of installing disc after disc of material, then authorizing the product through Ilok, is rather tedious and can take the wings right out of your music production sails if you think you're gonna be making music within 10 minutes of opening the products box.

Having said all that, I do believe the software is now sent on it's own hard-drive, meaning installation is unnecessary.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

The thing with these sound banks, is it's a FULL orchestra at your freaking fingertips. Now I'm not much of a technical guy; I don't know how to make this software. I understand how it operates at a rudimentary level, but not enough to give you detailed cliff-notes on specs and the like. I'm a MUSICIAN, and my focus is composing music, not designing software. Having said that, from personal experience, this program can and WILL bog down your computers run-time, so it is of utmost importance you optimize your OS for music production, shut any unwanted programs, and work with East West ONE instrument at a time.

Basically, you have your skeleton of a track. As you add each part (11 Violin Staccatos, etc.) freeze the track when you are finished so it doesn't eat as much CPU. You'll also probably notice the reverb....it sounds amazing, essential to give the track even more of an edge. But you'll find turning it on AFTER the bulk of production work is done, and recording with the reverb off entirely is a good way to speed up the process and save your computer from locking up.

OVERALL OPINION

This might be my favorite VST, but it's a BIG investment and not for the faint of heart. I literally learned so much about orchestral composition just seeing the names of the presets. And as I loaded various samples in, I learned all kinds of terms pertaining to orchestral music (Pizzicato, Staccato, etc) and what goes into composing for an orchestra.

But as I said, this isn't for the faint of heart. Your computer WILL experience some CPU spikes if you are attempting to run 15 different iterations of the software at once. Freeze each section you're done with, and hold off on drenching the instruments in reverb until you've established some finality. Work with the product and around it's (very few) pitfalls, and you'll likely have at your hands the best orchestral software you could possibly find.

I'd also like to note Sounds Online runs almost constant sales. I actually picked this up with Stormdrum 2, a buy one get 1 free sale, and was extremely happy I did so. So in summation - bit of a learning curve, pain-in-the-neck to install, but amazing software that will bring so much more to your music and tracks with a little effort and knowledge.