Best FREE Orchestra Plugin 2024: The Orchestra Elements Library

[@happyron]

This is really interesting as it's the first Orchestra thing that I've seen that allows you to do a lot without having to individually program all the instruments, which is beyond many of our interest and time.

[@jackspring7709]

True. I only recently started using Kontakt and I'm amazed at the versatility of some of these instruments - something that most of my non-Kontakt instruments don't have.

[@ConwayBob]

The bargain of all bargains! Thanks for showing it to us, Mike.

[@CreativeSauce]

My pleasure!!

[@HarryAdee]

This is awesome. The first video I see with the usual greeting "I'm Mike and I hope you're well" at the end of the video.

[@ronnyb5890]

hi Mike, i bought the orchestra complete 3 some time ago at intro price, a great tool to start an idea, even this free one can do a lot with the shorts you can make your own ostinato's by entering the arpegio notes you want, start with emptying the 5 slots ( is have saved an empty instrument as a template in kontakt, that way i dont have to clear everything all the time) and bring in instrument by instrument you want, i dont know if you can do this with the free version, but the mod wheel brings the levels of the envelope and the arp up or down from a specific point, something to try, cheers mate

[@CreativeSauce]

Thanks for the excellent info Ronny :)

[@martynroach182]

Great video Mike. I have had the Orchestra Complete of this collection for some time. If anyone (Like me) is interested in orchestration this free version is a fantastic way to start - but be warned - you'll get the bug and want to start adding to it. The quality of the orchestra is superb.

[@johncostopoulos7741]

Another winner Mike! I have to say that - by far - the majority of the knowledge I have attained + software etc can be attributed to your tutorials / advice. Profuse thanks as always

[@robj144]

Sonuscore is one of my favorite plugin companies. All their stuff sounds amazing.

[@Sal_Sorice]

Sounds great - thanks for the heads up Mike!

[@jackspring7709]

I continue to be amazed at the instruments, and versatility of those instruments, are available on the Kontakt platform.

[@danaelston9848]

Wow - I totally agree with you Mike. This plugin sounds amazing! And it's free! Double wow! Downolading now.

[@CreativeSauce]

Enjoy!

[@WillKruger]

Wow! This is a great plugin. Thanks Mike!

[@MichaelCorbitt-bo9rs]

Thats fantastic.Very impressed.Thanks Mike

[@orderd29]

I'm excited about the possibilities of using this plugin alongside BBC Discover for specific melodies and arrangements. Thanks for showcasing yet another free release.

[@CreativeSauce]

Yes, the BBC Discover is a more traditional orchestra setup. I feel these can be used well in combination.

[@orderd29]

@@CreativeSauce Another user (@Fastvoice) mentioned this idea earlier to my comment. Credit where it's due, I didn't mean to piggyback or step on anyone else's toes.

[@robj144]

You could try sending the midi the produces (with the arps) to the BBC Discover. I don't know if it works or how well it works though.

[@NOUMAEL]

Exactly what I did and that sounds great. I purchased the full then.

[@dannymcrooster4089]

Thank you 4 this jewel. Its works lovely. I will use it in my new project. Kind regards from Argentina. 🍷

[@CreativeSauce]

My pleasure. Thanks Danny!

[@tekis0]

Thank-you for alerting me to this product and its company!

[@romanczy]

Very nice choice, Mike...as usual.

[@colinowenuk]

Excellent vid, Mike. Thanks.

[@CreativeSauce]

My pleasure Colin. Thanks for watching :)

[@Fastvoice]

May work nicely with another free plugin: The BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover by Spitfire which also gives you the otherwise missing instruments like percussion or piano.

[@julesalexander2583]

Well WOW again Mike! Thanks.

[@CreativeSauce]

My pleasure Jules :)

[@thespacealienssmogandgrog4283]

Thanks Mike. Installed.

[@anievestor]

Thanks Mike for introducing us to a new library. I will download and check it out. Thanks Tony

[@zechariahfrink3707]

Thank you for showing this program! I’ll be getting it for sure! Can you add vibrato to any of the string parts or presets?

[@mattwallis1893]

It’s a toy that grows old quickly, but worth to have - especially if free! 😊 Disclaimer: I own all the Sonuscore libraries that incorporate this feature. It can generate ideas for spring boarding but my inner musician is concerned it will just sound like someone holding down a chord to make music.

[@itisflat1356]

I didn't know about the mod wheel but it works on my smk too :-) thanks, and you can use the mod wheel on the kontakt player and your keyboard to enhance that too..

[@damelos4039]

Got this RIGHT AWAY. Thanks for the tip!

[@michaeltablet8577]

Your reviews are always excellent! Thank you so much!

[@pierrecarter3090]

Thanks Mike. Just downloaded it, soon to install!

[@paulhaullussy8662]

Beautiful!!!

[@Ray-um3if]

Hi Mike, thank you, I will go and get this now.

[@TeddyBongo-zf1ih]

Thank you so much, Mike the Troubadour ❤🎹🎶

[@CreativeSauce]

My pleasure :)

[@GoOKuSj33]

My free template changed from all discover to this, as you can create your own sections, also the winds and brass are solos i believe, and they have dynamic layers.

[@jimfogle184]

This is free? Wow! Thanks for sharing Mike.

[@maxboy99]

Thanks, mate, I appreciate it! I’m new to this and planning to use the background orchestra music for my video editing. By the way, which type of external keyboard would you recommend for my computer to use with the orchestra plugin? Cheers!

[@ARCHERSHEATINGSWINDON]

Hi Mike - Might be worth a short vid on how to run on cakewalk, not having much luck - great work dude

[@NathanEllery]

It works fine for me. What problems are you having? The kontact libraries generally need the location added which is great. You can put the bulk of it on a spare disk and then just tell Kontact where it is.

[@CreativeSauce]

Also worth noting that on the download page in you sonuscore account, there is a pdf with pretty decent instructions.

[@logicbug]

Hi Mike, I just asked a question in the comments of a beginners video, but then noticed that it was 5 years old. Hope you get a notification about it. The video is : How To Use Cakewalk by Bandlab - Getting Started

[@wojciechstecyszyn6040]

Wow, amazing! Im getting this right away. Thanks Mike :)

[@peterwaringofficial]

Wow! Thank you for sharing this! 👍

[@itisflat1356]

I'll try it out :-) onl;y have an m-vave-smk-25 and limited skills but love to noodle with prog sounds.. an hour later.. this is sooo nice!

[@ralphnelson-tucker8186]

Thanks Mike. Very useful in the absence of a user guide!

[@Spoolz07]

Excellent review! What a truly amazing instrument... for free!!

[@roqueavellaneda]

Sounds great for ideas Kickstarter! Certainly worth checking it out... Free is my favorite flavor 👍

[@CreativeSauce]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@The-Skyking]

This is great. Thanks for sharing or I never would have heard of it. Very inspiring to use.

[@reverendprophet]

LOVE IT! Thanks Mike!

[@CreativeSauce]

My pleasure :)

[@l.a.beltranmusic4554]

Thank you for this

[@CreativeSauce]

My pleasure :)

[@shootytheturtle]

Good stuff! Downloaded.

[@premeditatedplan5417]

Cheers mate, nice find!

[@CreativeSauce]

Any time!

[@PAL-MUSIC-1]

Picked it up today. An absolutely amazing orchestral plugin. 4gb zip, but worth the hard drive space 🎻🎻🎻

[@mybachhertzbaud3074]

Brings new meaning to the word ,Free.😁🎶🎹🎶Play On

[@henkbiesterveld7248]

Yes, that did convince me to try it out!

[@pecacartun]

Beautiful! Thanks!

[@97guitarzan]

Amazing! Great stuff and free...wow

[@CreativeSauce]

Yup! Amazing :)

[@andlinux]

Thanks Mike 👍

[@martinlewis2143]

Fabulous! Thanks for sharing this gem 💎 ! 🎸🎶

[@PieCompanyGuitars]

Thanks Mike. I hope all is well. Always a hoot

[@mimojapan]

Incredible product, it is.

[@adrock6874]

Maestro Mike .. Thanks ..

[@franciscoaragao5398]

(8:14) is great.

[@jayfblank]

Wonder if this means Mike is no longer making S1 videos?!?!

[@Ozpeter]

Thanks - I've had a lot of fun with this already (once the download actually happened, their server seemed to be having problems today). But how do you change the speed of the arpeggiator? There's an underlying rhythm with all the presets, but how do you change the speed of that rhythm? Maybe that's in the paid versions.

[@robj144]

Go in the engine and change the timing for the arp.

[@johanstorck7669]

Did you get a confirmation mail with the purchase including a serialnumber? I downloaded it yesterday but did not get any mail with s/n....I think the server are the issue

[@Ozpeter]

@@johanstorck7669 Are you certain that you spelled the email correctly? Have you checked the spam folder?

[@Audiomancer]

4:18, did he just play the Kefka tower theme from FF6?:)

[@fluffy123489]

Being a bit of a newbie on file placement, , where do I put this file to work with Kontact. I did add it to where I find my other Kontact files are but when I restart it doesn't show up. thanks

[@CreativeSauce]

You can place the files anywhere. But you need to go into native access, add the serial they gave you there, and then use the 'locate files' feature.

[@fluffy123489]

@@CreativeSauce @@CreativeSauce I finally figured that out and I did it. When I hit locate I get a wrong size path error... I tried different locations.. didn't work...is there a specific location?

[@crystalpistol2133]

Cost me money a few years back...thanks for the tips...

[@robj144]

This free plugin cost you money?

[@michaelsherron7815]

Question, do I have to have a keyboard hooked up to cakewalk in order to use the plug-ins like BBC Symphony orchestra? Thanks.

[@mcinen67]

Wow...! 😮😁👍

[@CreativeSauce]

:)

[@julesalexander2583]

Question. Will this work with Cakewalk?

[@jwhite1016aol]

I need to know this too

[@andlinux]

Why wouldn't it, Kontakt works with Cakewalk

[@GlennStanton]

yes, it's a Kontakt library and sounds great!

[@julesalexander2583]

That's not the question.

[@julesalexander2583]

Great! Thanks.

[@fredscaife6887]

I tried this about a week ago, I liked it so much, I went and bought the essentials package for $49. Bargain

[@CreativeSauce]

I'm not surprised!

[@DavidMaurand]

does it print out an orchestral score?

[@Audiomancer]

I recommend MuseScore 4 for that sort of thing. It's free, and the MuseSounds that it comes with (13 gigs) are pretty decent, and you can use your own VSTs in that program also...with the caveat that MuseScore won't perform the articulations that you enter onto your score.

[@Bernie_Rivera]

It's always a pleasure to see your videos and I've learnt a lot about Cakewalk and other things. As for those pre-made orchestral patterns, I'm not a fan. I think it kills creativity in music. It's like fast food from the freezer. At some point, people no longer know what good food is.

[@robj144]

I don't see how it kills creativity. It's the opposite. I mean most don't just use this only. You use this to start an idea that you would have never had and then you add your own flavor with other instruments.

[@Bernie_Rivera]

​@@robj144 I think it would be better to listen to real music that already exists and play it yourself. If you like metal, for example, I would definitely recommend classical music, e.g. Bach or Händel, as an introduction to composing. I don't see that prefabricated sound snippets promote creativity or even skills as a musician here, at most convenience and the illusion of a composition.

[@mikegraham2601]

So I downloaded this, and never got the serial number. did you get a email showing the number? cause I never did so couldn't mess around with this yet. Very cool vst if i could get it to work lol. Nice work by the way. Cheers.

[@AndyB01]

Took over 48 hours for my serial to arrive so you have to be patient

[@cvrart]

Sounds great, but my main criticism with "magical" stack patches, where a whole bunch of orchestral layering and musical notes are produced by pressing a single key on the keyboard is that the end result in the sequence is not all that useful for communicating in score form to real players. Probably not a concern for many who might use such a library, but it seems like, in principle, a wrong direction to go in. It also limits the ability, as a composer, to make more nuanced changes to the individual elements that are wrapped up together in mega patches. I also don't like the idea of incorporating mix settings in the patch, as opposed to controlling mix of individual elements via the DAW. I understand why this approach is used, of course - it's compelling to have ready made rich stack samples that can be easily triggered, and this can all be done under the control of the sample library producer inside the Kontact universe, which is supported in multiple DAWs. Anyway, appreciate the video. Thanks!

[@jayfblank]

Is it VST? -Any DAW?

[@bestdisco1979]

I’m using calling the guardians with 16ths at 90 bpm but there’s a bit of latency,,,how do get rid of it ? Many thanks.

[@robertclayton7433]

I've got this plugin today, but can't find it in Kontakt. How do you download it straight into Kontakt. Please help

[@TheGreatConstantini]

I have apparently some native instruments products, I can’t keep track anymore but which version of kontakt do I need? Player6?

[@TheGreatConstantini]

Well, I logged into my account and just hit download all. Who knows what it all is and how long it will take to learn any of it. Kontakt 6, kontakt 7, reactor 6, some choir,… but I will try to figure it all out. I have hundreds of programs and plugins and only so many hours in a day. Half the time I feel all of this just keeps me from writing music. I need an assistant to screw with it all so I can focus. It’s bad enough the issues I’ve had with my brand new computer. Dell and Microsoft can kiss my azure.

[@rickgordongordonellissteel3761]

Hey Mike, is this compatible with Cakewalk?

[@fredscaife6887]

Yes, most certainly

[@rickgordongordonellissteel3761]

@@fredscaife6887 Thank you.

[@GODLYTMO]

🔥🔥💯💯

[@MreenalMams]

The download process was a bit confusing for this (when it was released).. not sure if its sorted now.. but i got it registered on Native Access but it said the samples need to be located..

[@GlennStanton]

you need to download the install package and extract it into a folder on your system, then when you are installing in via native access, point to the extracted folder.

[@mattwallis1893]

Yes, the Sonuscore download process can be rather confusing.

[@lucodin5205]

thanks Mike, I downloaded it but during the winzip I have a CRDOWNLOAD file and nothing happens.?? ps: Are you still from Cakewalk?

[@robj144]

Did you install Kontakt?

[@lucodin5205]

@@robj144 yes

[@lucodin5205]

@@robj144 yes

[@lucodin5205]

@@robj144 Can you tell me what is the extension of the downloaded file. so that I can change it. because I have CRDOWNLOAD. Thank you

[@lucodin5205]

@@robj144 yes .I would have to change the extension (CRDOWNLOAD) .. which one is it?

[@rager-69]

Great find. I suspect you will spend many hours messing around and getting inspired.

[@JoaquinGonzalez2014]

👍

[@maksurdu9305]

6:05 AVENGERS!!! assemble

[@davidalexander8197]

Is anyone else having issues installing this?

[@robj144]

No, it's super easy.

[@davidalexander8197]

@@robj144 It was to do with the name of the folder it came down sorted now

[@johanstorck7669]

yes, didn't get any mail with s/n so I can't seem to add it....

[@mikaelschulin4315]

@@johanstorck7669 Same issue here. 😕

[@tommyapocalypse6096]

Had me at "free." Lost me at "Kontakt".

[@CreativeSauce]

Interesting. Why don't you like Kontakt?

[@tommyapocalypse6096]

@@CreativeSauce Perhaps I should clarify: It's not that I don't like Kontakt - though my options are few, since I'm still using a late 2012 Mac Mini and Logic Pro X 10.5 to make my music. It's more that I'm not a fan of Native Instruments' difficult setup process, additional required software, and not-so-great customer support. But that was some time ago. They might have improved since "the old days."

[@igoryva-p9132]

When using this library you will understand that it is practically not suitable for writing orchestrations. It sounds beautiful and useless.

[@phila2361]

Despite these truly wonderful instant musicians available for anyone with opposable thumbs and an internet connection, you will, however, always need a "proper" musician (someone who has spent years/decades learning the craft) to transcribe what someone OTHER than the "composer" has written so it can be played by actual musicians. . . . . . In my humble opinion.

[@GoOKuSj33]

😂 no comment

[@mybachhertzbaud3074]

One hopes that inviting more people to play, they will be prompted to spend the time to learn more.🤔

[@NathanEllery]

Who needs real actual musicians? Maybe for concerts. Most of top 10 is machines. Depends on what style of music I'd guess. Jarre has real musicians play his machines for concerts and so does Kraftwerk.

[@robj144]

What's to transcribe? You have the midi piano roll. Anyone can use that to chart if they want.

[@ladislaufazakas8980]

If Kontakt will be updated you can no longer use the library so no thanks Sonusscore, maybe If the Orchestra was on the NI website and the license was in serial format. In 2024 when there are many bookstores and there are many producers you have to be careful what you do because you might be working for nothing and no one will use your product. Kontact Library only in serial format and only in the NI cloud no another option. And for daws / plugins the offline license allows you to keep the products forever on the HDD and not on online sites because the producers could give up and you would be left without products. Everything that is under the online license does not belong to you, even if you pay those products will never be yours so be careful. I prefer U-HE, TAL, TDR, etc. because they are good and free of license and i avoid NI like hell, it might come with divine products I DON'T WANT ANYTHING FROM THEM.

[@NathanEllery]

What? Perhaps because you avoid NI you are not aware of this product and how it works. "If Kontact will be updated"? What does that mean? I first installed Kontakt 6 player (free) a year or so ago. Then they releaed Player 7 and then updated to 7.1. Both 6 and 7 are installed and working fine. I haven't figured it out but it appears that 7 does not play all 6 instruments but it may do. They seems to have different lists in the library. "you can no longer use the library"? Not sure what you mean by this. Are you referring to a paid product because this one is free. License in Serial format? What does this mean? I have a licensed serial no. for the free Kontact player (both) and serial no's for each free instrument (never paid anything as I am only a casual user). Bookstores? Producers? Working for nothing? No idea what you could be referring to and what relevance this has to the video. NI Cloud? I am continually connected so perhaps your concerns are if you function off line. I've no idea if NI free stops working but it would not be a loss for me. Producers? You mean those who produce the plugins? I guess that's possible, it's happened before that companies go broke but that's the same with anyone. Seems weird to avoid using a working product because maybe one day they'd go broke. I'd figure such a large company would be bought up by another large company and they would keep things going because of the big catalogue. NI like hell? Well it's free so it's hot for me with no budget. It's free but you still dont want it. Ok. U-HE, TAL, TDR are all good stuff.

[@robj144]

What do you mean in serial format?

[@curtisunit]

@@robj144you’d probably get an answer faster if you look it up

[@robj144]

@@curtisunit I was just seeing if he had some other definition of serial format because according to my definition, it is in serial format.

[@lwd_music]

Thanks for this, Mike!