Glossary

Mic positions

Sample libraries often include multiple microphone positions. Each mic position is a recording of the instrument with a specific microphone setup. One mic position may capture the reverberations of the room especially well. Another might be placed close to the instrument to capture the fine details of the sound. When multiple mic positions are provided in a library, it allows the user to mix microphone perspectives together as they see fit, making the instrument more versatile than it would be otherwise.

Round robin (RR)

A sampling technique that involves recording the same note for a specific articulation multiple times. For example, a cello with 8x RR spiccato means that each spiccato note was sampled 8 times (potentially for each dynamic). This enhances realism by allowing the note to sound different each time that you play it, instead of playing the same audio sample over and over.

Sample player

Sample players are the engines that run your libraries. Every library requires a sample player to be run, but you don't need to understand how they work. Each library in this guide will indicate whether it requires a sample player to be purchased in order to use the library. If a library mentions "Requires sample player purchase (Kontakt)", you will have to buy the full version of Kontakt from Native Instruments in order to use it. If it doesn't say that, the library runs in a free player like SINE, PLAY, or the Kontakt Player (the free version of Kontakt).

SSD

A solid state drive is a type of hard drive that transfers data faster than "normal" hard drives and thus results in quicker load times for samples stored there. If you're using an external SSD, you will need at least a USB 3.0 connection for improved speeds.

Symphonic strings vs. chamber strings

Chamber string libraries typically include smaller section sizes than symphonic string libraries. For example, Spitfire Symphonic Strings is 16/14/12/10/8 whereas Spitfire Chamber Strings is 4/3/3/3/3 (numbers respectively denote number of first violins, second vilions, violas, cellos, and basses).

Wet vs. dry libraries

A wet library is one that was recorded with the ambience and reverberations of the recording location baked into the samples. Dry libraries have very little ambience in the samples. Wet libraries typically have the advantage of sounding great straight out of the box, and offer a sense of realism since they sound just as they sounded in a real room/hall. Dry libraries have the advantage of being more versatile, flexible, and easier to blend in with other libraries. It's easy to add simulated room sound to a dry library with reverb, but practically impossible to remove room sound from a wet library.