Timpani - what are you all using?

[Linos]

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

I am working on a piece with an important part for timpani. I have some good options to choose from:

Spitfire Symphonic Orchestra is too diffuse for this piece.

Spitfire BBCSO doesn't have the right sound and lacks sampling depth.

Hollywood Percussion is too dry and doesn't sound quite right with more reverb.

True Strike comes closest to what I am looking for. It's actually quite good, just maybe not 100% what I am looking for.

What are your favourite timpani? The Synchron Percussion I timpani and the Berlin Percussion timpani look like they have been sampled in depth. Are there any other candidates that I am missing? I am looking for an instrument recorded in a large studio or hall. Nothing too dry. As with brass instruments, adding reverb to timpani recordings does not sound natural to my ears. The sound doesn't naturally bloom like it does in a large hall.

If there is nothing significantly better than True Strike, I can work with it. Just thought I'd see what you all recommend.

[1gc]

I use ModWheel's "TIMPHONIA". $89.00 , Mallets and Sticks, hits, flams etc and programmed and/or roll your own (looped) rolls with some fx. Don't know if the space will fit your need.
g.c.

[Linos]

Good one, thanks 1gc. I didn't have it on my radar, and it looks like a great library. The room is too small for me though. I am looking for a concert hall sound.

[Lawrence]

Sad to say I’m still using EWQLSO rolls and hits (one patch.) My need for timp tends to be for loud pieces and I get by with these. I have Cinesamples Perc which actually sound great but EWQLSO is in my template, as is Rhapsody orchestral Perc. I’m lazy.

[Linos]

EWQLSO was nicely recorded in a concert hall. I bet the samples themselves are great. How is the programming on these? Can you do a roll with smooth dynamics, or are they jumps and/or obvious phasing?

Rhapsody percussion sounds great too. It's too dry for my purpose. Otherwise it would be at the top of my list.

[Lawrence]

You can do good preprogrammed rolls but the dynamic range isn’t huge.

Rhapsody is fine (I like the snares better) and again there are programmed rolls. I usually wet them up internally (same with EWQLSO.)

[Guy Rowland]

Sad to say I’m still using EWQLSO rolls and hits (one patch.) My need for timp tends to be for loud pieces and I get by with these. I have Cinesamples Perc which actually sound great but EWQLSO is in my template, as is Rhapsody orchestral Perc. I’m lazy.

Those are my two. It's nearly always Cineperc, but SO's are still great. I also now have Lineage and that's got a lot of good options with different beaters etc.

[Linos]

How is Lineage Percussion for you Guy? I just watched the part about the timpani in the official walkthrough, and it looks and sounds great to me. The question is, how is it compared to True Strike? They look and sound very similar.

[Guy Rowland]

How is Lineage Percussion for you Guy? I just watched the part about the timpani in the official walkthrough, and it looks and sounds great to me. The question is, how is it compared to True Strike? They look and sound very similar.

Last time I went to use them they didn't work in my template. So I've just fault-found and its to do with me moving VST3 versions of Kontakt 6 and 7 to a different folder, so Cubase always loads K8 but VE Pro loads the original versions as it cannot auto-migrate like Cubase can. This was all working just fine but now it isn't, no idea why. Anyway, for now I've put the earlier versions of Kontakt back in the main folder and all is working again.

So I compared Lineage, CinePerc and SO. For beef, CinePerc wins by some margin. SO is similar but less gargantuan. Lineage doesn't have that weight, but it is the most musical of the three, and it's upper range is fantastic. They sound the most like real timps to me, which is both a blessing and a curse depending on what you want.

I never had the True Strikes so can't compare with those. I do have Pandora and they have timps - they are a bit more weighty than Lineage actually. They don't have a dual hits patch though, which is definitely my preferred way of playing (duplicated on the keyboard so you can play as if with two beaters).

[Linos]

Musical and sounding most like real timps is exactly what I am looking for. I will dig a little deeper regarding comparisons with True Strike. I usually like how Project Sam libraries sound. It could be real competition to VSL Synchron and Berlin Timpani.

[Piet De Ridder]

Here's an audio example of the Synchron Timpani, Linos. Maybe it helps you make a decision. (I only have the standard version of the library which means I'm unable to showcase the full splendour of the Synchron Hall — whatever there is of that anyway — but I added a bit of reverb (a ReLab Hall, 17% wet) for extra symphonicity. Not too much though so as not deviate too far from an honest representation of what the standard library sounds like out of the box. That's why there is also no EQ or dynamic processing on this audio example.

My personal preference for sampled timpani lies elsewhere however, but that's entirely because I rarely do full mock-orchestral pieces (and if I do, I hardly ever use timpani in them). I like close-up timpani (and preferably ones that don't have too much 'boing' in them), for use in smaller settings, and the set I usually load up for that purpose are the timpani from Vir2 Elite Percussion (originally released, and also still available at Big Fish Audio, as London Percussion). These are pretty dry, so of no use whatsoever if you need believable 'concert hall' timpani. If the musical setting asks for a bigger space, I still use the ones from True Strike or the Spitfire timpani. But again, that rarely happens.

__

[Ashermusic]

Mostly True Strike, occasionally Hollywood Orchestral Percussion or EWQLSO.

[Linos]

Thank you Piet, that's helpful. I like the sound of the Synchron Timpani. It's the right amount of ambience for me. The top dynamics sound a bit compressed, but it's no deal breaker. True Strike gets quite a few votes though. I think I am going to finish the track with the timpani from True Strike and make the decision then if it needs to be replaced. Thank you all for your input.

[1gc]

I have a couple more to contribute..
XSamples-TYMP alone as with the the LONDON ORCH PERCUSSION (BIG FISH)
Also, look at Audio Bro for their LADD library.
again-g.c.

[Thomas Mavian]

I settled for VSL Studio Timpani (former Synchronized), even has glissando. The built in Synchron Stage IR from MIR works very well I'd say.

[Linos]

Xsamples and London Percussion are both too dry for my taste, as is the VSL Studio timpani. Over the last few years I have gradually moved towards using more ambient samples. I find that when trying to approximate the sound signature of concert hall recordings, it is best to use samples that have been recorded as similarly as possible. The only time I use really dry samples is for woodwinds. Somehow dry woodwinds respond very well to artificial reverb. Especially for brass and percussion, it's important to me to have samples that have been recorded in a reasonably large hall or studio. These instruments have a lot of interaction with the room, and if that's not captured in the recordings, reverb can't add it.

This shift to using wet samples has also led to a change in my approach to mixing. I have written about this here:

viewtopic.php?t=6299

Having a room signal and an ambient signal in addition to the spot mics is essential to this workflow. I have no problem simulating room and ambient signals with reverb for woodwinds, but not for brass and percussion.

I also write music that requires smaller rooms. London Orchestral Percussion and Rhapsody Percussion have piqued my interest. I will check them out.

[My name is Nobody]

Most likely you know but there is still a sale on Rhapsody…..this thread reminded me that I still also missed a good classic inclined percussion library.
Got Rhapsody even at a better price (€50) due to loyalty pricing.

Haven’t downloaded it yet……
https://impactsoundworks.com/product/rh ... XPsmipIRoO

[Linos]

That's a very good price. Incidentally, it costs exactly the same as London Percussion when that's on sale. With budget no concern, I am thinking about the work it will take to put the library into my template. I am in no hurry to do that work. So I guess I will wait for the next project that calls for drier percussion. And then it's either Rhapsody or London Percussion.

Let us know how you like the library Nobody!

[My name is Nobody]

Will do so Linos!

[Mike Marino]

I’m still using EWQLSO for timpani.