Max Richter

"Before I had this system I also used a load of Emu E4 samplers, but my current system, with Reaktor 3 and 4, Logic Platinum, EXS24, Melodyne and Sibelius as my main software, is fantastic. When I open the session, all the samples are there. This saves so much time. And Sibelius is a fantastic scoring program. There's no contest. When writing for orchestra I scribble on paper first, and then input things into the computer."

"I don't have many plug-ins in my new system, because I've only just migrated to it, but one that I use a lot is Altiverb, which is an amazing-sounding convolution reverb. Another great plug-in is the TC Master X5, which is fantastic for doing things for film and TV, because it makes everything sound huge, and TV and film people love things to sound huge. Also, [Camel Audio's] Supercamel Phat is a lovely compressor/EQ/band-pass filter plug-in that is cheap and sounds great on everything, especially bass and kick drums. I love the GRM Tools band-pass filter, and the Camel complements it nicely."

The composer calls the VSL library "a huge leap forward sound-wise, even though I still can't get it to work properly." He also uses the orchestral libraries of Peter Siedlaczek and of Miroslav Vitous ("great all-rounder, but a little too clean sometimes"), as well as Kirk Hunter's string library ("great sound, but very scrappy programming"). While these libraries are good enough for string and orchestral mock-ups in demos and for most film and TV work, Richter prefers to use real instruments on his albums. Similarly, few of the samples that make it onto his albums are canned. All outdoor environmental recordings on The Blue Notebooks are the real thing, recorded by him using DACS in-ear binaural mics.

The composer calls the VSL library "a huge leap forward sound-wise, even though I still can't get it to work properly." He also uses the orchestral libraries of Peter Siedlaczek and of Miroslav Vitous ("great all-rounder, but a little too clean sometimes"), as well as Kirk Hunter's string library ("great sound, but very scrappy programming"). While these libraries are good enough for string and orchestral mock-ups in demos and for most film and TV work, Richter prefers to use real instruments on his albums. Similarly, few of the samples that make it onto his albums are canned. All outdoor environmental recordings on The Blue Notebooks are the real thing, recorded by him using DACS in-ear binaural mics.