The Sound Board

"METROPOLIS ARK 4
Elite Orchestral Forces

Size may be king in the natural world but sometimes the real power lies beneath the surface. After all, some of the tiniest insects are hardwired to floor a six-ton elephant.
This latent symbiotic power comes to the fore in the same way with Metropolis Ark 4 – Elite Orchestral Forces, which integrates various approaches from the previous three collections, performed to perfection by the Metropolis Orchestra. The sections are not small – they are sharply focused like the Maschinenmensch robot in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, all unbridled expressive energy and singularity of purpose.
Similarly, the mixed wind sections are not instrumental sections in the conventional sense, but rather special blends of colors that come together to create a broad palette of virtual instrumentation. All performed and mixed in such a way that the listener perceives them as a single sound.

Just like the oppressive calm before a returning storm, the sound is always powerful and aggressive. The dynamic range goes from pianississimo to fortississimo, but the underlying force and bite is always there – every whisper is a controlled scream.
This time around, we have special high energy articulations – Power Legato, Martele Sets, Overblown Winds, Overpressure Strings – designed to harness the raw power behind the professional sheen. As well as the strong rhythmic and melodic articulation sets, Metropolis Ark 4 provides the building blocks for creating striking orchestral effects and textures. Shaped by their rough surroundings, these sounds are edgy, offbeat and expressionistic.
Metropolis Ark 4 includes an impressive array of High, Mid and Low String Sections for you to choose from, not to mention 10 Mixed Brass & Woodwinds Sections. With a Melodic Percussion Ensemble, Tuned Timpani & Tom Ensemble and a whole host of Percussion and Drum Ensembles at hand to harness the rhythms. And for that additional emotional charge, there is a Women’s and Men’s Choir at your fingertips.

As with previous collections, Metropolis Ark 4 was recorded at the sublime Teldex Scoring Stage in Berlin. The distinctively balanced room – neither too wet nor too dry, and with the finest microphones from the last five decades at its disposal – takes our Berlin Series and Metropolis Ark Series to a whole new level."

HIGHLIGHTS
The Front Row of the Metropolis Series
Focused Section Sizes
Ten Unique Woodwind and Brass Blends
Women and Men Choir
Extensive Matelé Sets (accented fff articulations) for many sections
Extrem Dynamic Ranges
Extrem Articulations - Overblown / Overpressure
Introducing Power Legato
Recorded at the Teldex Scoring Stage in Berlin
Thanks to consistent mic setups and recording environment all Metropolis Ark Collections blend together perfectly.


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thoughts? It looks like a combination of providing some "first chair" utility for the ark series - mixed with the Bernard herman stylized combinations...

http://www.orchestraltools.com/resource ... _Ark_4.pdf

somewhat frustrating, given the fact that some of these instruments aren't obtainable in the berlin series at all yet(looking at you cimbasso) and that some of these instruments(looking at you woodwinds expansion) aren't updated with the proper mic positions - but I think this could work just as well for berlin users in the end...

some of these patches could easily be volume matched to reflect a farther back seating along with the berlin series as reference, although some(like strings) would probably require a stereo tool to get them to feel like they are coming from the right location

It looks great, but I am gonna pass on it this time around. I thought OT would not destroy their reputation of keeping the value of their products for a very long time that quickly ... yet, they did by doing 40% off sale plus the usual NI junk shop sales within just a few weeks. :-)
Befor, I always bought almost anything they released right a way. Now, I don't feel the urgent need to get those. Maybe I am exceptional in that regard, but maybe that was a mistake OT will regret ... not sure.

I highly doubt it, especially considering the amount of people that went from not owning any OT stuff to owning half or more of a collection

I can tell you first-hand how addicting OT stuff is, to the point to where I am planning on dropping $500 more than I normally would to get a handful of instruments that I actually want to use out of the Ark series

And because that would mean that I own Ark one through three, I'm probably going to pick up Ark for at the introductory price just to be a completionist

And I have a sneaking suspicion Ark for will end up more like Ark 2, which ends up being somewhat of a sleeper Library, in that it might be more useful for anyone who doesn't do epic stuff

I'm obviously heavily biased, but I'm also firmly in the sleeper library camp.
When I got the first alpha I was thinking "what is that?!?!", but the longer I use MA4, the more uses I find for it in all kinds of pieces. It is extremely flexible and works great as an add-on to any other library because of the really unique sections.

I'm actually really interested in the strings

I was playing around a while back with the ark 3 quintet patches, and if you keep the dynamics on the lower half it really produces a different flavor, almost angry chamber like...

that said, hopefully I get my check before work today so I can download ark 1 and 2 tonight. ark 4 would be a stretch, but who knows. I get paid the 21st, or it would be a no brainer

finally a screencast

im not even half way through, and MAN those strings make me want to do a mock up of Verdi's requiem XD

POWER LEGATO

actually so far, really makes sense for the celli/bass to capture that extra anguish.


what I REALLY want to know, is if the power legato is in the drop down options in a multi, because if you can get power legato transitions with some of the martele shorts - things are going to get very aggressive

only about 10/15 minutes of snooping around after work

tomorrow after work and Friday after work I should have *some* time to play around.

definitely liking what I'm hearing... I loaded up ark 3 quinted, ark 4 strings and berlin strings all strings multi's all at once and played with sustains/spic after blending to taste

I might attempt to make some sort of divisi with the high strings, but all in all - I think it makes a killer combo so far.

and the bass clarinet + bass sax + cimbasso makes a greaaaat partner with the 3a contrabass clarinets from ark 2... ultra sinister

Yeah those power legatos sound pretty good, especially on the low strings. And the name made me chuckle (perhaps unintentionally).

MA4 looks like a fine addition to the family.

Wish the voiceover in the video was mixed louder though. Constantly rode my master volume while playing.