Bigcat Instruments has released VSCO2 Rompler, a reissue of the freeware Versilian Studios Chamber Orchestra rompler in VST and AU plugin format for Windows (Windows XP is not supported) and Mac OS.
This freeware rompler contains over 2,000 samples of over 25 instruments, many with round robins for staccato articulations and percussive hits. Chamber orchestras are by their very nature smaller than the symphonic variety, so this pack has a more intimate sound.
Even so, the string sounds are very rich and full, as are the percussion and woodwinds while playing chords. There are also solo instrument patches included for strings, brass, and woodwinds however it’s easier to tell these apart from a live human performance which is the case with almost all sampled orchestra packs.
Regarding the improvements compared to the previous version of the plugin, the main GUI of VSCO2 has been updated to be more visually pleasing and has an easier to understand layout. In the instrument selection area, you select the desired instrument and its articulation. You can tweak the envelope of the selected patched using standard ADSR envelope controls. The only other parameters available onboard are reverb, pan, and volume.
It appears that the user can select different instruments to be mapped to different parts of the keyboard. It’s unclear if this allows you to stretch samples past the point of the typical register. What’s cool about this rompler is that, even though it has a large amount of instruments and articulations available, it uses a maximum of 200 MB of memory and doesn’t need to continuously stream data from whatever device hosts the sample files.
On a related note, Versilian Studios is currently running a scoring contest for all Versilian Studios Chamber Orchestra 2 users. The submission deadline is March 10th. More info available at Versilian Studios.
VSCO2 Rompler is available for free download via Bigcat Instruments (1.7 GB download size, ZIP archive, 32-bit & 64-bit VST/AU plugin format for Windows & Mac OS).
