Hello composers,
I've been part of Native Instruments community for over 15 years, but this is my first post and I wish it could've been under different circumstances. I recently purchased Odes to complete my Evolution Series Library. The library was billed as the rhythm portion of this triad and while that is true, it's far from anything a day in, day out composer would use. It's not something I would recommend unless its a specific need, but let me get to the meat of this post. I'll post Pros, Cons, Why I bought it, Summation and Alternatives.
Here are the Pros:
It's well sampled and eclectic. It shares the same GUI continuity as the previous libraries. You have broad control over every sound, and each sound is comprised of 3 layers to choose from. Each instrument carries control over stage floor microphones and panning which is very easy for dialing in a mix. You have a good selection of sound banks Atonal, Tonal, Loops and One Shots designed around the most common time signatures and phrasing (Important Note- Not all banks available for every instrument). You do have separate "channel outs" ready to go so you do not need to set that up in your pre-session and can assign them it to each of the three layers. The main GUI gives you access to the most needed controls including Reverb, Noise floor, Boost -(amplifies filter and dynamics), Power -(removes space and adds directional EQ)
Here are the Cons:
While the measured rhythms are layered and there for different in texture the instruments are to similar to Lores. Much of the content can be replicated with an IR reverb and the factory Arp in Komplete. In fact I would say you have more control than with this library. The real crux of this library is supposed to be rhythm, tempo, time signature and it relies on the most in-adequate instruments to do this. When I'm looking for movement that will glue a piece together I never think, this needs a Shakuhachi, Alto Flute, Tenor Sax, Pan Flute, Tenor Recorder or Bass Clarinet. No matter how amazing these instruments are the frequency spectrum cannot sustain more than two without bleeding into each other especially if you're using this for textures. The timbre and registers are just too similar. How the developer did not include one percussion instrument is baffling (Not one folk drum. Not one Bodhrán, Frame drum, Shaker, Tamborine just nothing). The biggest problem with this library is there is no global Quantization. Let me say that again, no quantization in a rhythm library (This makes no sense). If you have Komplete Kontrol no worries you can quantize within that, but you may lose the phrase, texture and release you wanted to use.
Why I bought it:
You might be asking, "Well Nick didn't you watch the play through or read the manual or do your research?" the answer is, "Yes!"I looked over as many play-throughs as I could on YouTube and read reviews from top music sample review sites. I bought Odes because I was already working on a short folk film and was using Fables to write my character themes when it went on sale this week. I bought it to complete my library, but didn't end up using it for this project. It will find a place in my toolbox but not as a first, second or even third option.
Summation:
Odes delivers rhythm, but it's more syncopation than controlled tempo. The instruments are well sampled, but not unique at all. The broad sound shaping and layers can produce great motifs, but again nothing you can't find in other libraries with quantization control. The tempo disorganization makes this hard to write cohesive passages without having to spend time in your DAW syncing up notes from 1 bar to the 32th note. Odes is an exploration in storytelling and for that it makes this a decent folk library. Too many of the instruments share the same frequency band and can muddy your mix. The instruments are not typical glue for bread and butter tempo. The lack of timing control makes it an unintuitive rhythm library and more of a phrasing library.
Alternatives:
EastWest: Fantasy Orchestra (Best overall player, sound and control)
Sonuscore: The Orchestra 3 (specifically Strings of Winter, Horns of Hell, Wild Woods and Forces of Fury) These libraries give you great folk/modern sound. The Orchestra was the blue print for EastWest's OPUS.
Arkhis and Sequis Bundle: This is what I would consider the best textured and tempo designer at Native Instruments for this type of genre. Arkhis delivers the entire orchestra via textures, pads, pulses, trems and even strums. Sequis gives you exact tempo control over everything and it does not just have percussion. It has strings, woods, vocals, keys, mallets, echos, effects and ornamentals. These to libraries allows for gating and tempo control (Sequis Specifically) along with reverb, delay and filters. They have everything you need to build great textures that stay in sync. The sounds are designed as well, meaning the art of combining instrumentation, sound and tempo was the top priority, not the after thought. Load and play. It's that easy.
Hope this helps, hit back if you want to talk shop,
Nick
AKA Scoreonyx
