Vienna Symphonic Library

The company was founded in Vienna in October 2000 by Herbert "Herb" Tucmandl. In the 1990s, Tucmandl, a former cellist (as a substitute member with the Vienna Philharmonic, amongst others), later cameraman, director and composer used some of the available first-generation sample libraries for the creation of his own film scores. Because the sounds available at the time did not meet his requirements, he developed his own concept for an authentic-sounding sample library for orchestral music. His idea stood out for his approach of recording not only single notes but also tone combinations (e.g. legato) and tone repetitions. Through their combination, they allowed users lively interpretations for the first time. He tested his concept with the cello himself and convinced the investor Markus Kopf with the tonal results.

While the largest libraries at the time covered the entire orchestra with about 6,000 samples, Herb Tucmandl developed a structure for over a million individual notes and phrases.

Silent Stage

Since no existing recording studio could guarantee constant acoustic conditions for recording orchestral samples, the company designed and built a custom recording facility; the so-called Silent Stage. It was located in Ebreichsdorf, a village near Vienna, in Lower Austria. Until the end of 2016, Tucmandl invited singers, musicians, ensembles, orchestras there and samples were recorded almost daily under the artistic direction of Michael Hula. Tucmandl always played the cello himself.

Synchron Stage Vienna

In 2013, the Vienna Symphonic Library took over the historic, landmarked "Synchronhalle" on the grounds of the Rosenhügel film studios of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation. The hall, which dates back to the 1940s, was converted into a globally unique music production facility, in collaboration with the renowned Walters-Storyk Design Group and architects Schneider+Schumacher. Completed in September 2015, the building features several recording and control rooms, editing studios, individual booths ("iso booths"), two instrument storage facilities with several pianos and concert grand pianos and approximately 300 percussion instruments, a sheet music archive, lounges, and offices and lounges for composers, producers, staff, and guests, totalling more than 2,000 square meters. The heart of the modern music production facility is the large recording hall, Stage A: with its 540 m2, it can accommodate an orchestra of up to 130 people.

The first production at Synchron Stage Vienna in October 2015 was the recording of the film score of the famous Sissi trilogy. The score was long considered lost and had therefore never been released as a CD or download. The production was a historical bridge-building project: Back in 1955-1957, the original music for the three legendary films about Austria's Empress Elisabeth, which helped Romy Schneider to her international career, was recorded in what was then known as the "Synchronhalle." Based on the original manuscript by composer Anton Profes, Paul Hertel put together three suites which were recorded with the Synchron Stage Orchestra under Conrad Pope as conductor. Grammy Award winner Dennis Sands served as recording director.

In March 2016, the Vienna Symphonic Library business offices moved into the new recording facility at Synchron Stage Vienna. On July 15, 2016, Synchron Stage Vienna was officially opened. More than 200 people were invited to the opening ceremony to see the state-of-the-art recording facility. Hollywood stars such as Grammy winner Nan Schwartz and Joe Kraemer were on the guest list, as were ORF Director General Alexander Wrabetz, Justice Minister Wolfgang Brandstetter and VfGH President Gerhart Holzinger. Karl Markovics hosted the evening.

In addition to sampling sessions for the products of the Vienna Symphonic Library, music recordings for national and international film and television productions have been taking place regularly at Synchron Stage Vienna since 2016. Shortly after the official opening, Remote Control Productions, the production company of Hans Zimmer, had several projects recorded here. Since 2021, Synchron Stage Vienna has been an official Dolby Atmos studio and can provide stereo and surround as well as Auro-3D recordings.

→ Main page: Synchron Stage Vienna

Product Overview

Vienna Symphonic Library's products range from individual instruments and instruments recorded in groups to software for composition, instrumentation and orchestration on the computer. The range is constantly being expanded and also includes recordings of choirs.

Music creators and studio owners worldwide use the products of the Vienna Symphonic Library: well-known TV and film music composers such as Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, A.R. Rahman, Alan Silvestri, Alexandre Desplat, James Newton Howard, Pinar Toprak use it to produce mock-ups of their orchestral scores and also combine the virtual-orchestral sounds in the final mix with live recordings of the actual orchestra. Pop musicians such as Lenny Kravitz, Beyoncé, and Justin Timberlake are also VSL users.

The first products were released in December 2002. The "First Edition" consisted of the modules "Strings", "Brass & Woodwinds", "Percussion" as well as the "Performance Set". In summer 2003, the "Pro Edition" followed with twice as many samples. Both editions were available in formats for the software samplers TASCAM GigaStudio and Apple Logic EXS24 (Emagic at that time). From late 2003, smaller packages of the "Horizon Series" followed. They were also available in formats for Steinberg HALion and Native Instruments Kontakt. The first small software development was the MIDI utility "Performance Tool", which allowed playing legatos and repetitions in real-time.

To manage the vast amount of samples more user-friendly, VSL developed a dedicated sample, the "Vienna Instruments" player. The "Vienna Instruments Collections", released from autumn 2005, contain the free player, which runs in the formats AU, VST, AAX Native and RTAS under Mac OS X and Windows. Further software developments followed: The network-ready mixing host "Vienna Ensemble PRO", the effects plug-in bundle "Vienna Suite", and the mixing and reverberation software "Vienna MIR PRO".