Nice video, Don. I like your new approach, but I'm not as worried about The Score as you are. The Score was made by musician/developers who, starting a decade ago, with NI's Action Strings, Action Strikes, Emotive Strings, could enable a non-composer come up with something that sounded very professional. They continued that process with The Orchestra series and the Hollywood Orchestrator. You can use presets from any of those things, but they are all designed by composers for composers--they are designed to be tools that allow you to make your own music. You're right in that people will use cues from this and pass them off as their own (they could use Sonokinetic and loops to do the same thing), be everybody will know the presets. What is coming will be worse. In a few years, we will have true AI composing tools that are NOT designed for original composition. They will be designed to do everything for you with a text prompt. and these will allow people to make infinite music without any knowledge of music. And nobody will be able to locate the exact source of the results.
Thanks for the look! The Score has some standout powerful features! I imagine plugins like Scaler 2 can give it even more options on the progressions. It's a great time to be in. Both libraries and plugins can come up with sound suggestions for compositions that work!
Thanks for the terrific review, Don. I’ve put this one on my wish list, perhaps to purchase if it ever goes on sale and I have a project in mind for the near future that might benefit from it. A few years ago, as a music hobbyist, I had the thought that I might dabble in orchestral composition, and I started buying expensive orchestral libraries when they came on sale. Now that I have come to learn how much work and skill is involved, I’ve put ideas for orchestral projects on the back. I am thinking that If I ever want to get serious about learning orchestral composition, “The Score“, along with “Divisimate” might be fun ways to learn some things about orchestration.
I like the format Don. One thing is maybe give an introduction to what it is and how it works. I didn't know anything about the score and kind of had to figure it out as you went along. I do like the video but also like your other videos going through the interface and such. Just my 2 cents. thanks
I'm a beginner, and I like the idea of the Score. But, it's become very clear to me that this a sketching tool for pros. For a beginner, it's very, very hard to use effectively to create one's own composition. And, it's exactly like Don says, you can only really use it effectively if you have a strong vision already and/or know how to use these sorts of tools as a starting point. From a beginner's perspective it's next to impossible to use The Score to craft your own "stories" from within it. It's far too clunky for that It's leaps easier to just make a template for The Score instruments and input/record the MIDI directly there. At this level, one can only use the stories as an orchestration guide. The stories.... They sound really nice, but any beginner will get stuck with them. I still have no clue how to incorporate the stories to my compositions to not have them sound the same. Right now, I can really only use it to audition possible progressions to get a general feel for a piece, and then implement that separately in the DAW not using The Score content (but maybe the instruments). Even Sonuscore has not produced a how-to video about how one could effectively use this. It's sorely needed.
Actually, I'd argue this tool is GREAT for starting composers. Why? Because it allows you to look under the hood and see how its composing these tracks. You can learn a lot from just looking at what the plugin is doing to make it sound like it does. Yes, it could be used as a one-off preset player - but the only people going to really do that are non-professionals and filmmakers making their own music for their content.
Great Library, lots of improvements in comparison to The Orchestra Complete 3, but still the one thing it lacks is a MIDI channel for each instrument and MIDi thru features.
I kinda figured what the one dislike would be, cause it's the first thing I thought about when I saw it on SLR. However, if one uses this impressive instrument for good and not ill... I'm on the fence about purchasing, but my curiosity will likely get the better of me. Maybe in a couple, few months. Great review!
I can see the scenario from both sides regarding starting out composers etc etc, and i agree that presets can be a good jumping off point to get a motif or melody thing going, but with the score, instead of relying on the presets, then maybe someone might want to create a template(or not?) as you can load all the instruments singularly and compose that way? That way you are not relying on the presets and you would be creating something that hopefully will be unique to you. I have purchased this library and i will be creating a template, and using the instruments both singularly and with the presets? Whatever peoples views regarding starting out composers or serious composers, if this library can get people making music they enjoy doing then it is good for everybody! Of course, this is just my opinion, nothing more!
I really like using the score.. but I'm trying to find a good workaround for the delay. The manufacturers says its 48 ms. I add a lot of my own elements using a clic track some of the time. Now I am sliding the regions manually to get things to line up but I am hoping there is a more elegant solution.. Any ideas ?
Hi There thanks for your vidoeclip. can i ask: is there some nice struming guitars and did you think there is the abitlity to create other music stiles like rnb or salsa or reggae presets with score?
Helpful video but I don't like the throwaway used for the "thing I don't like." It's a good product, but there are plenty of things to not like about it, like this engine tends to crash if loading a new score while another has voices still playing. There's a HECK of a lot of reverb by default. The variety means some score themes are pretty sparse (I love the "world" ones but there aren't enough!). The manual is terrible. MIDI drag and drop seems confusing or even broken right now.
The crossgrade offer for TOC3 owners is gone. If/when it does return, that would make The Score 299 € vs. 399 €. What would I be getting in addition to what TOC3 offers that would make it worth spending 299 €? Thanks in advance.
My thoughts exactly as someone who wants to try out making scores it seems to easy and lazy. its a question of what plug is best suited for people who wants to master composing. though when you think about it this plug in can be used for therapeutic purposes. for example AI art is the worry because it could take over the creative industry but at the same time it can be therapeutic in a way
Great vid, and do really like the format. Its an impressive instrument, but above what I can afford. Certainly having many folk out there with a library that makes it this easy, would perhaps be daunting to those who compose commercially. Kind of reminds me of the ease of putting together music with the newer synths like the new Yamaha montage instruments. Easy yes...but should it be?
The answer is a clear “no” for me. It should not. This is getting close to the AI stuff that can just write entire songs for us. This kind of stuff needs to be heavily regulated and controlled. It can easily get out of hand and cause over saturation issues.
If you recently updated to Kontakt 7.6.1 it had an error which is spiking CPUs. Native Instruments is working on fixing this. 7.6.0 was the last solid version, until they come up with anything higher than 7.6.1!
I generally love everything they do. I have TOC3 as part of my template for generating ostinati and background texture. I love Elysion and the Origins instruments as well as Chroma and the awesome Mallet Flux. However after listening to The Score I’m a little less enthusiastic about the sound overall. It feels a bit two dense and homogenous to my ears so I think I’ll hold off. I’m happy to pull out the midi data from TOC3 to work with my other libraries and the latest update has a lot of variety. Sadly I’m assuming that this is the end of the road for further development of The Orchestra Complete. Also as a Composer Cloud subscriber there is a bot of crossover with the new Opus Orchestrator the Sonuscore also created.
I don't like the whole pre made patterns thing.. it's great for a demo i guess. but i find all that kind of technology quite useless. just leave that stuff for Scaler or Captain Chords. I want to write my own music. i feel like i wouldn't get this because all that stuff added is too much .. i just want an all in one library that mixes well and sits well together and has no problem mixing with other instruments (no offset times) i'm so tired of having to do one track longs, one track shorts. or going in my track and putting in offset times. this has been a thing for far too long. a few companies are solving it but a lot of companies are still not handling this properly for us. like most of the stuff i own for kontakt, they don't even tell us their offset times. it makes me cry really
i agree the issue with this kind of libraries is you get stucked in a loop of same repatetive sounding music and its very bad for people who are bgginers and dont really understand orcestration and how stuff is created ... its good if you need quick tetxure or something to just throw in there to fill it up but overral it should replace the classical way of writing and orchestration cause very quickly you will realise all of your soundstracks sound the same
The mod wheel dynamic control is nonsense. Gimmicky. It allows people who’ve put no work into the craft of songwriting and composing to create the illusion of actually arranged compositions… This is something that should be learned over time. Not something a mod wheel turn should allow someone to bypass, as that entire process is fundamental. It may as well write the entire composition at this point, while you just sit back and enjoy a cup… This kind of software should make the composing process more convenient and less taxing. They should aid us in creating compositions. But they shouldn’t “do” certain things for us. That’s cheating. So… I agree with you about the potential problems of this software. Develop your own voice, people. Put in the work to have your own musical identity. Just using this software to bypass the actual work will get you nowhere.
isolated sounds are not good, it's full of effects; it's an instrument for children who want to have fun. of no interest for a real musician.and very expensive for the quality
Learn more about The Score here: bit.ly/3tEhdXo. *OR SAVE $100* with the crossgrade offer - bit.ly/3S57nru
Nice video, Don. I like your new approach, but I'm not as worried about The Score as you are. The Score was made by musician/developers who, starting a decade ago, with NI's Action Strings, Action Strikes, Emotive Strings, could enable a non-composer come up with something that sounded very professional. They continued that process with The Orchestra series and the Hollywood Orchestrator. You can use presets from any of those things, but they are all designed by composers for composers--they are designed to be tools that allow you to make your own music. You're right in that people will use cues from this and pass them off as their own (they could use Sonokinetic and loops to do the same thing), be everybody will know the presets. What is coming will be worse. In a few years, we will have true AI composing tools that are NOT designed for original composition. They will be designed to do everything for you with a text prompt. and these will allow people to make infinite music without any knowledge of music. And nobody will be able to locate the exact source of the results.
Thanks for the look! The Score has some standout powerful features! I imagine plugins like Scaler 2 can give it even more options on the progressions. It's a great time to be in. Both libraries and plugins can come up with sound suggestions for compositions that work!
Thanks for the terrific review, Don. I’ve put this one on my wish list, perhaps to purchase if it ever goes on sale and I have a project in mind for the near future that might benefit from it.
A few years ago, as a music hobbyist, I had the thought that I might dabble in orchestral composition, and I started buying expensive orchestral libraries when they came on sale. Now that I have come to learn how much work and skill is involved, I’ve put ideas for orchestral projects on the back. I am thinking that If I ever want to get serious about learning orchestral composition, “The Score“, along with “Divisimate” might be fun ways to learn some things about orchestration.
I like the format Don. One thing is maybe give an introduction to what it is and how it works. I didn't know anything about the score and kind of had to figure it out as you went along. I do like the video but also like your other videos going through the interface and such. Just my 2 cents. thanks
Hey Wondergem thanks for the input really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts
I'm a beginner, and I like the idea of the Score. But, it's become very clear to me that this a sketching tool for pros. For a beginner, it's very, very hard to use effectively to create one's own composition. And, it's exactly like Don says, you can only really use it effectively if you have a strong vision already and/or know how to use these sorts of tools as a starting point.
From a beginner's perspective it's next to impossible to use The Score to craft your own "stories" from within it. It's far too clunky for that It's leaps easier to just make a template for The Score instruments and input/record the MIDI directly there.
At this level, one can only use the stories as an orchestration guide. The stories.... They sound really nice, but any beginner will get stuck with them. I still have no clue how to incorporate the stories to my compositions to not have them sound the same. Right now, I can really only use it to audition possible progressions to get a general feel for a piece, and then implement that separately in the DAW not using The Score content (but maybe the instruments).
Even Sonuscore has not produced a how-to video about how one could effectively use this. It's sorely needed.
Actually, I'd argue this tool is GREAT for starting composers. Why? Because it allows you to look under the hood and see how its composing these tracks. You can learn a lot from just looking at what the plugin is doing to make it sound like it does. Yes, it could be used as a one-off preset player - but the only people going to really do that are non-professionals and filmmakers making their own music for their content.
Great Library, lots of improvements in comparison to The Orchestra Complete 3, but still the one thing it lacks is a MIDI channel for each instrument and MIDi thru features.
Check out ‘Divisimate’
Interesting review, Don. I do like the format of this video. Keep up the great work!
Thanks so much for the input jerry
I kinda figured what the one dislike would be, cause it's the first thing I thought about when I saw it on SLR. However, if one uses this impressive instrument for good and not ill... I'm on the fence about purchasing, but my curiosity will likely get the better of me. Maybe in a couple, few months. Great review!
Great minds think alike :) thanks for sharing Nathan
Wait 'til the a.i. stuff starts coming out. If you think people are lazy now....................
hey great video ... any other vst software similiar to this where you can play one button and it creates patterns instantly?
Any idea when they might have their 1st EVER deal on this? :)
I can see the scenario from both sides regarding starting out composers etc etc, and i agree that presets can be a good jumping off point to get a motif or melody thing going, but with the score, instead of relying on the presets, then maybe someone might want to create a template(or not?) as you can load all the instruments singularly and compose that way? That way you are not relying on the presets and you would be creating something that hopefully will be unique to you. I have purchased this library and i will be creating a template, and using the instruments both singularly and with the presets? Whatever peoples views regarding starting out composers or serious composers, if this library can get people making music they enjoy doing then it is good for everybody! Of course, this is just my opinion, nothing more!
Hello Don, yes the short format is good; 10mn ... 15 mn max ! And i mostly agree with your pros and con ;-) Cheers
Thanks so much for the feedback my friend really appreciate it
I may have missed it in your video, but can you confirm that it's possible to sub in other instruments or synths?
Can you also input your 3rd party libraries? If not does anybody know the best way to mix various libraries in one program? 😎
I liked this type of review, thanks 😊
Great for novice composers like me. very helpfull thanks for sharing
Glad it was helpful! And thanks for the input
I really like using the score.. but I'm trying to find a good workaround for the delay. The manufacturers says its 48 ms. I add a lot of my own elements using a clic track some of the time. Now I am sliding the regions manually to get things to line up but I am hoping there is a more elegant solution.. Any ideas ?
Hi There thanks for your vidoeclip. can i ask: is there some nice struming guitars and did you think there is the abitlity to create other music stiles like rnb or salsa or reggae presets with score?
Helpful video but I don't like the throwaway used for the "thing I don't like." It's a good product, but there are plenty of things to not like about it, like this engine tends to crash if loading a new score while another has voices still playing. There's a HECK of a lot of reverb by default. The variety means some score themes are pretty sparse (I love the "world" ones but there aren't enough!). The manual is terrible. MIDI drag and drop seems confusing or even broken right now.
Damn, hope they fix this in time. Sounds like a headache atm
That was great Don! Keep going like this! 👍
What the differents between orchestra complete 3 and the score. Because i like to tweak in midi. Is the score a bether midi tool then the complete 3.
Very nice ! 😃👍 Too bad my system is too old ( mac mid 2010, os high sierra...) 😕
Thanks for the video Don, awesome editing, love the format, love your work (as usual).
The crossgrade offer for TOC3 owners is gone. If/when it does return, that would make The Score 299 € vs. 399 €. What would I be getting in addition to what TOC3 offers that would make it worth spending 299 €? Thanks in advance.
My thoughts exactly as someone who wants to try out making scores it seems to easy and lazy. its a question of what plug is best suited for people who wants to master composing. though when you think about it this plug in can be used for therapeutic purposes. for example AI art is the worry because it could take over the creative industry but at the same time it can be therapeutic in a way
Great review !!! Question : how to get rid of the chord piano sound when generated leads are playing on the gui ? Thanks.
There's a volume slider for the piano preview that you can use to mute the chords.
Thanks for jumping in Lukas!
Thanks a lot.@@lukasruschitzka
Great vid, and do really like the format. Its an impressive instrument, but above what I can afford. Certainly having many folk out there with a library that makes it this easy, would perhaps be daunting to those who compose commercially. Kind of reminds me of the ease of putting together music with the newer synths like the new Yamaha montage instruments. Easy yes...but should it be?
Thanks my friend appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts
The answer is a clear “no” for me. It should not. This is getting close to the AI stuff that can just write entire songs for us. This kind of stuff needs to be heavily regulated and controlled. It can easily get out of hand and cause over saturation issues.
Thanks Don, for me, one bad thing. Which is killing my CPU 😢
If you recently updated to Kontakt 7.6.1 it had an error which is spiking CPUs.
Native Instruments is working on fixing this. 7.6.0 was the last solid version, until they come up with anything higher than 7.6.1!
@@OfficialStevenCravis Thank you
Low down the buffer size , it won't kill it.. I did the same , you atleast i5(7th gen) and 8gb ram
I generally love everything they do. I have TOC3 as part of my template for generating ostinati and background texture. I love Elysion and the Origins instruments as well as Chroma and the awesome Mallet Flux. However after listening to The Score I’m a little less enthusiastic about the sound overall. It feels a bit two dense and homogenous to my ears so I think I’ll hold off. I’m happy to pull out the midi data from TOC3 to work with my other libraries and the latest update has a lot of variety. Sadly I’m assuming that this is the end of the road for further development of The Orchestra Complete. Also as a Composer Cloud subscriber there is a bot of crossover with the new Opus Orchestrator the Sonuscore also created.
I don't like the whole pre made patterns thing.. it's great for a demo i guess. but i find all that kind of technology quite useless. just leave that stuff for Scaler or Captain Chords. I want to write my own music. i feel like i wouldn't get this because all that stuff added is too much .. i just want an all in one library that mixes well and sits well together and has no problem mixing with other instruments (no offset times) i'm so tired of having to do one track longs, one track shorts. or going in my track and putting in offset times. this has been a thing for far too long. a few companies are solving it but a lot of companies are still not handling this properly for us. like most of the stuff i own for kontakt, they don't even tell us their offset times. it makes me cry really
well said !!!
i agree the issue with this kind of libraries is you get stucked in a loop of same repatetive sounding music and its very bad for people who are bgginers and dont really understand orcestration and how stuff is created ... its good if you need quick tetxure or something to just throw in there to fill it up but overral it should replace the classical way of writing and orchestration cause very quickly you will realise all of your soundstracks sound the same
Yep. 100%
I'll take this tool for $99, not more. It's nothing more than a tool for sketching. Not even worth the sale price pf $299
If this is "too easy" then just wait for AI composing full scores soon in 5 seconds xD :(
The mod wheel dynamic control is nonsense. Gimmicky. It allows people who’ve put no work into the craft of songwriting and composing to create the illusion of actually arranged compositions…
This is something that should be learned over time. Not something a mod wheel turn should allow someone to bypass, as that entire process is fundamental.
It may as well write the entire composition at this point, while you just sit back and enjoy a cup…
This kind of software should make the composing process more convenient and less taxing. They should aid us in creating compositions. But they shouldn’t “do” certain things for us. That’s cheating.
So… I agree with you about the potential problems of this software. Develop your own voice, people. Put in the work to have your own musical identity. Just using this software to bypass the actual work will get you nowhere.
isolated sounds are not good, it's full of effects; it's an instrument for children who want to have fun. of no interest for a real musician.and very expensive for the quality