What virtual instruments do I use? 

g r o u n d b r e a k i n g

For everyone that keeps asking about the keyboard and faderbox: - Casio PX-S1000 - NativeVS Faderbox But just a heads up: whilst stylish, the Casio has quite bad latency, and the poor guy that made the Faderbox never intended to make a business out of it, so please don't inundate him with messages. If it's unavailable on his website, it's unavailable I'm afraid!

Thank you for featuring our Olympus Symphonic Choir in your list!

I've been waiting 100 years for you to introduce this.

It still blows my mind thinking about where this all started and where you are now. You always have and continue to make amazing music.

I'm a UI designer, Idk how I got here but your presentation, personality and the music made me stay the whole hour, really well made video Marcus 👍

Sampling your piano and offering it for free is one of the coolest and kindest things I've seen yet. Thank you so much!

I've been wondering over the years how the music was even made. At some point I was convinced it was a real orchestra, so I'm amazed you can do everything alone with your computer. Love your vibe and your works. I play your music everyday and it’s gorgeous. Thanks for the video man

This is awesome! Just been making some new additions to my library, it's amazing to see what you're using. Thanks for taking the time to show us!

Thanks for sharing this with us, Marcus. I've always been a fan of the quality of your music and production!

Man the funniest part of the video was the price breakdown of the spitfire library. Not sure why that made me laugh out loud but that was great! 34:57

I have followed you for a decade now and this was a treat to see and hear! Thanks for the behind the scenes.

Welcome back!! I absolutely love these "tutorial" videos you make :)

Your music has been a steady soundtrack in my life for years now. It clicks with me in a way nothing else does.

I never knew you had a RU-vid channel! Been a big fan for many years, and Octavia is one of my favourite pieces of Soundtrack of all time!

Been watching and listening since the early days. Keep up the good work, always love seeing new stuff from you

I've been waiting for this video for years. Thank you so much Marcus.

This was such a honest and informative video to watch, you've put me on quite a few new instruments that I'm itching to try out now!

Very happy to find your channel. I've recently started composing for symphony and your video helped a lot to figure out what I should get, thank you!

Looking very much forward to it! I really hope you can get more exposure as your Videos and Vibe and especially your music! are very warm

I am delighted you are back!

Bro's style is majestic. Keep up the great work!

I really enjoy your music, and the peek behind the scenes. Cool to see a bit of how it all comes together. Keep it up 💪

I'm looking forward to more videos/music, you really deserve the exposure!

Bro it’s like a dream come true 😂👌🏼 your music is so inspiring and EPIC haha

I have always wanted to make my own music and make my own little stories, I have been inspired by your stuff for a long time.

Great video and tour. I remember getting Hollywood strings way back. You’re a master composer.

I don't understand too much about the world of music creation, but I do enjoy just listening about the process of how some of my favorite songs were created ;)

You use so many unique libraries that I wasn't aware of! Love this video

As someone who wants to start or get into stuff like this, i find this very useful, and of course, ive loved your music or in other words, ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECES, for a while now, so this definitely helps in what to use to make my own music, and as always, G R O U N D B R E A K I N G work!

I was just listening to some older songs from you and right after listening to Chihiro, the progress was shocking 😂. But I've followed you since The way of honor and loved every part of the way. Looking forward to the next part

I've always been a big fan of you!

First video RU-vid has shown me from you for a while! Good to see you back again. I've used some of the Spitfire sample libraries myself and I found most of them are either full blast EPIC no hold barrels or very synthetic sounding, as if they were designed to be used by epic electronic trailer music composers. It's funny to think that the most creative outlets come when you are most limited in what you use. I've had to use the old East West Symphonic Orchestra library for most of my work between 2010-2018 on a PC that had 4GB of RAM. Loading and exporting one instrument at a time and painting notes on the piano roll through trial and error as I have no musical theory knowledge. Your insights really inspired me to hopefully get back into music after getting a proper ADHD diagnosis and being put on medication. I loved making music and your compositions really helped me through the rough years of self discovery of who I am and what I want to do in my life. I definitely will be using your Bluthner piano when I buy my own piano and start practicing for real. Good luck on your upcoming album. I will be awaiting it eagerly.

Thank you so much!!! The Shire Whistle is an amazing find! Will use it for sure. Keep it up, Marcus!

Brilliant video Marcus, agree with you a lot on Spitfire. I certainly have a few faves that I use, but do pick and choose now with any of their new libraries. A lot more options out there now as well

Gotta love them Lark licks 🙌🏻

I'm only half way through the video, but I just wanted to say that you've made me laugh more times than I was expecting and I've also learned a fair bit. Win win! Also, I really must know what you were playing at 31:48 lol

I'm 2 minutes into the video and I'm already a fan: liked & subscribed!

Marcus Warner vid on a Friday let’s go!

great list! you gotta hop on that cinematic studio series and performance samples wave too 💯

Spitfire Chamber Strings Flautando is my favourite string patch. It's also low on CPU and memory for those with older computers!

Just finished it, very well edited and super funny and authentic had some good laughs 😂 well done! I really like the style and pace :) I recently bought Atlantis III was quite astonished that it wasn’t on the list and also that you don’t have anything from performance samples. Thanks for sharing you tips 🙏🏼 also would be quite interesting how your journey started and so on.

YESS THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED

Have you ever tried Native Instruments Noire piano. That's my number 1 goto piano at the moment. Absolutely love the sound and 'feel' of that piano and there's so much sculpting you can do within the instrument to the sound. Great video by the way.

Dude wtf it's been 10 years since i discovered Africa and City of Sails which I adored back then but didn't listen to in a looooong time. I always imagined you as an old dude who has been doing discovery-channel themes for 30+ years and now I come to learn that you are actually a year younger than me and pumped these out when I was just starting with guitar! 🤣 Huuuge props for your work man! 😃

Hey thanks for doing this. Great insights. 🙏❤️🙏

DEFINITELY check out Pacific Strings from Performance Samples! After I bought it, I basically retired my other string libraries. The legato is hands down the best I've ever heard and their marcato patches are a game changer because they keep going and can be dynamically controlled via cc1!

YESS! Finally a podcast worthy video and sneak peaks of p e r s o n a l i t y (we’re winning rn)

love the Vaughan-Williams reference with EW Hollywood Strings.

This gold Marcus!! I also started with the GPO downloaded from disks, then I bought EW Hollywood Strings and Brass, which totally changed my life. I've never been able to replace those in my work. I would also put the Embertone Shire Whistle in S tier. I've been using it consistently for more than 10 years including on an Anime I just scored!! I also have been using that same Casio Keyboard as my midi controller for the past 4+ years!! Excited to see more videos!! I love the nostalgic color grading too!!

Really enjoyed this! Super useful too :D

I have a ton of Embertone stuff. They're really good. Their recent harmonica instrument is great fun, and I love the Whisky dulcimer too, The Joshua Bell violin is their flagship instrument however, and it is excellent. It usually outshines the Freidlander solo violin, so nice to see that getting some love here!

I feel so validated watching this! I’m much more pleased with my Originals purchases from Spitfire than I am with most of their higher end libraries. A lot of them feel overpriced compared to competitors and I don’t feel that I reach for much more than the BBC Symphony Orchestra that I use for sketching individual parts. I definitely think I fell for the hype. I do love the Cinematic Pads and Cinematic Percussion Originals libraries because you get a lot of utility for a small investment.

Hello Marcus! I saw you the first time in the review of the virtual piano by Fracture Sounds, and it was an amazing review and also beautiful music recorded. In the other hand thank you for this video it was very helpful to know your libraries and how you use them in your workflow. I am very interested for new upcoming videos and knowing more about music because I am studying how to compose. Hope to see more videos about how to compose, mixing tips, what hardware you use to make your music etc. Again thank you for all your wisdom. Pd: Beautiful filmmaking with the granular feeling 😄

This video is quite ..., you know what I was about to type. No, but really Marcus this is quite a nice overview into the digital Music making buisness. And though I don't make any music myself and I wouldn't claim to have quite a musical ear like this at all (if I even have one), I found this content pretty interesting and watchable. I decided to join you in your Patreon group, though I've never set up an account on this platform. So I think for the time being, I am going to just join for free but maybe later, seeing your high production quality (and I'm not joking, don't underestimate your video-making skills!) and the quantity of your page, I might consider subscribing for real. But this is not because I am planning to make orchestral music myself ir such but just because, I've always thought that the music you create and the way you compose it (and also teach it) is quite stunning and gives me a lot. Even if it is just for entertainment in my case. But let's be real your music is way more than just entertainment for me. I really love it and it will always be one off my favourite compositions (and you my favourit artist). So I've considered supporting you for a while now, because if I find the money to give it to any of the many artists who deserve it from their listeners, I would give it to you. Your music and films just mean so much to me. Thank you again, Marcus! You deserve all the love and respect and I am looking forward to what's coming next. See you around. :) ❤

Great video

The video I didn't know I needed

awesome thank you, great vid!!!

Well I think this video has cost me £1000 on new software....

I love Spitfire Appassionata and it's mainly my go-to string library. My only cons with it are the lack of short articulations and the Spitfire player's bug issues with the mics.

17:07 they have updated more than the interface. They streamlined the existing patches, added newly sampled instruments, and improved the legato programming (!).

What was EPIC!

I'm sorry Marcus but I NEED to know what song you were playing at 31:52. Absolutely amazing

Thanks for sharing this, would love to see some timestamps for each virtual instrument ! ✨

Thank you for fun with plug ins and detailed breakdowns, so true your views! Spitfire we Love/hate you guys...Crowhill here we come! cheers...oh and what is your keyboard she looks seriously responsive?

Also after watching your video, I think you should check out "Cremona quartet" ( insane solo string quartet) and Ew Fantasy Hollywood orchestra( in particular the 8 Violins and 6 Violas legato - One of the best and most dramatic strings I've ever heard). Also, I'd love to get your opinion on Spitfire - BBC Symphony ( I think they are good, but I'm not sure how good for today's standard)

Love the breakdown! I might get that Shire Whistle now 😂 I'm surprised you didn't mention Spitfire's Albion One. That was the first VST I bought back in 2019. I find myself using the strings, some of the drums, and the cinematic drones/pads all the time. Have you been able to try it out before?

What a fantastic video Marcus! I really fell in love with the piano you played at 1:10 - is this a full song?

Im following you for quite a while now, i think one of the most underrated phenomenal scores is for Starbase (Original Soundtrack)

Marcus, we're going to need to see some of that folk whistle performance! Also, what is that sexy looking midi-mod controller wheel you're using? 😍

I like your house.It is beautiful and simple.You look simple too.This is cool.Music is good!

Have you made a video on how you recorded your work in the commercial studio? The cost, what went into the mixing and mastering process... etc?

Musical Sampling, Spitfire and Fracture Sounds are my goto library creators.

Great stuff! My biggest question is: how do you treat your camera color? It looks incredible!

Nice!

please make more video with format like this

Thanks for sharing :)

question: what are those controllers called that look like mixing knobs to control kontakt?

When you said you were going to end on a high note and revealed the last library i was disappointed. No cinematic studio strings???!!! Noob! Hehe! In all seriousness, you should try anything from cinematic studio series, the noire piano from native instruments and the cello and violin from virharmonic. Thank you for taking the time to make this video, for the lovely playing, the humour, but above all, the honesty, which is hard to find when people are kind of reviewing products. You gained a subscriber.

MARCUS!!!!!! 🔥

Great vid. What model is the midi controller with the faders you’re using?

Really usefull :)

This is such an informative video! Thank you so much for sharing :D

Haven’t time to watch it yet but I will later - So as long as you can give advice to someone that loves music and creating music and not being able to spend money…. Yet I’ll love the vid and maybe watch more of what you have to offer but at 3 mins in you seem really awesome so I’ll watch later when I get back. (The day I can afford to buy a loaf of bread will be a good day and the day when I can create music is a better day)

Thanks for this video. What midi keyboard and interface do you use?

Love the massive bagpipe preset. Any way you could share that somehow?

Can you give us a desk tour/ what items you use such as speakers, computer, keyboard… anything of that genre. I was also wondering is this your full time Job? I am a high school junior student who studied piano for 12 years and counting and I want to be a composer. Did you go to college for it? Thank you in advance!

oh wow please do let me know what piece of music that was at 31:47, that is absolutely beatiful!

Nice.

Thanks

i love spitfire but the prices oh my god. they're like the apple of music making

Fire 🔥

man what is your camera and lens setup for this fantastic footage? I think it’s such an overkill for just some RU-vid video. Thanks! Cheers!

This is my first time finding your channel, and I absolutely love this video. I would have needed it a year ago though as I knew nothing about libraries and got some random ones. I also want to mention how your playing style reminds me of my favorite composer "Kevin Penkin". If you don't know him I recommend checking him out. His music is amazing. But definitely a fire vid🔥🔥🔥

Hi Marcus Came across your channel by happy accident😊. Very informative and interesting. Could you tell me what master keyboard you are using and also which 3 fader module you’re using? Interesting to listen to your opinion on spitfire Audio. Have you heard of Christian Hendon’s new project - crow Hill Company. You may be interested to check them out. Thanks again for a very straight up appraisal of the plug ins you use……….

I bought refx nexus when it was on sale and bought the hollywood expansion for it. I have nearly every instrument in there and they both together cost me around 300€ XD. Asian instruments are a little weak with it, but you can do a lot with it.

What is the name of that awesome midi controller with faders?

Marcus likes Porter Robinson??! What a king

HAHAHAh the shire whistle rating killed me. Insta subscribe.

What is the name of the additional encoder controller that you use with your midi keyboard?