Reccomendations on a string VI/library for a String Quartet?

[BKK-OZ]

I have had an idea for a string quartet piece for ages. I'm a self-taught musician (if I dare to call myself that!) and my oldest son has been going to a high school that specializes in music. Now that he is getting pretty good with his 'cello and piano playing and his singing, I thought I would take the time to try and get this thing recorded, to you know, show him some of the old man's 'stuff'. Like all teenagers, according to him, he knows everything about everything, and like all old bulls, I'm not quite ready to cede the high ground just yet, so I thought I'd lay this thing down and see if he might give me a bit more respect. (That last bit is a joke of course - teenage boy+respect = hmmmmm....)

Its funny actually, he's turned into a bit of music snob - earlier this year I was driving him to one of his concerts (he was singing in a choir with the local symphony orchestra) and I was playing some contemporary electronic music in the car, and he actually told me to "...turn that noise down..." because he wanted to "...listen to some real music..." because, after all, he was about to perform some "...Mahler..., you know Papa, real music"! My dad used to tell me to turn my rock and roll down when I was younger, and now my son is doing the same thing!

Anyway, I'm looking for a suggestion for a cost-effective, but reasonably good, VI/library for this string quartet. I won't be doing anything too serious with the piece - I just want to have something that sounds half-way decent, and is easy to control/manipulate. I am particularly interested in something that would support double-stopping, and perhaps even harmonics. I don't want to spend too much, and at the moment anyway, I wouldn't have any other use for this thing, so I don't need/want a full orchestral library tool, just the violins, cello, and viola.

You guys got any suggestions?

Oh, and here is something you are would all probably be interested in. Applied Acoustics Systems are giving away 4 copies of their String Studio VS-1, plus a copy of their 'Entangled Species' library, and all you need to do is to be one of the people that post in this thread over @ Mac OS X Audio. I think I'm going to give the demo of String Studio VS-1 a try, but I would still like to hear your suggestions about alternatives...

[Frodo]

It's always about ease of use and affordability. The most important thing at the end of the day is the sound, no matter how much or how little you pay, or how much or how little effort it took to get there. The least amount of money and effort are not matters to which I'm insensitive, fwiw.

That said, VSL's Solo Strings are remarkable. Check out the sixth demo down-- "Notturno" by Borodin.

http://vsl.co.at/en/67/3920/4943.vsl#

If that doesn't work for you, try this:

http://vsl.co.at/downloader.asp?file=/S ... tturno.mp3

I don't have LASS, but if LASS has solo strings they would be worth looking into. If other products appeal to you more, then by all means go for it/them with no "strings" attached!

[David Polich]

Sample Modeling is purportedly working on a set of solo strings. They
are the guys who originally created the Stradivari Violin and Gofriller
Cello for Garritan (both now discontinued). They have mentioned that
the new solo strings will blow the Strad and the Gofriller away, and if
that's true, they will definitely be the best solo string VI's out there.

Check out their demos for their trumpet and saxes, that should give you
an idea of the caliber of instruments you can expect from these guys:

http://www.samplemodeling.com

[wurliuchi]

I'm just staring off with strings and orchestration and I got Garritan Personal Orchestra 4 (GPO4) to help get my feet wet. It's pretty incredible for the price and you're able to download it and start working with it right away. It's fairly easy to use with its included Aria player, but you can also get way involved and deep with it. It doesn't have the status (or price tag) that some of the other ones have, and maybe not as great of sounds, but I think you'd be happy with the results. I've heard some of DP Dan's stuff and he's done some superb work with it. I have no idea how he does it, really.

To be honest, the other libraries scared the hell out of me, but I'm a wimp and very much unschooled when it comes to orchestration, so I wanted it as easy as I could get it. You may be up for more of a challenge.

[BKK-OZ]

VSL's Solo Strings are remarkable. If other products appeal to you more, then by all means go for it/them with no "strings" attached!

Mr Frodo, its soooooo good that you are a brilliant musician, 'cause yer jokes...
Based on your recommendation, I had a looksee/listen @ VSL and while I agree with you that they sound great, given the little I would do with them, I don't think I can justify the price. You are right though, they do seem to be very comprehensive. Their website is confusing as hell though - it took me awhile to even find Solo Strings (I & II).

Sample Modeling is purportedly working on a set of solo strings.

I had a look at their website, including their forum, but I couldn't find any mention of the strings product - do you have an idea when this might be coming out?

...I got Garritan Personal Orchestra 4 (GPO4) to help get my feet wet.

The price looks right for GPO4, but the samples I listened to were kind of drenched in reverb - how would you say the sound of the individual instruments holds up? The quartet format would mean that the sounds would be fairly exposed, do you think GPO4 would sound OK in that context?
For those that haven't come across it yet, their site links to a pretty good and detailed guide on orchestration, its worth a look if you haven't already done so.

Thanx everyone VERY MUCH for the tips, as usual, Motunationites are incredibly generous with offers of advice and help. If only this community could take over running the world, methinks it would be a better place!

I should also mention a coupla other things - that competition I mentioned in my first post runs only through December 15, so don't forget to get your name in there, and I recently bought a little book that has helped me (a complete neophyte when it comes to orchestral arranging/sequencing) a fair bit. Its called Computer Orchestration Tips and Tricks. Its a slender volume, pitched to beginners, but I have enjoyed thumbing through it.

[Frodo]

Mr Frodo, its soooooo good that you are a brilliant musician, 'cause yer jokes...

Based on your recommendation, I had a looksee/listen @ VSL and while I agree with you that they sound great, given the little I would do with them, I don't think I can justify the price. You are right though, they do seem to be very comprehensive.

Comprehensive, extensive, expensive-- yeah, I know (all too well).

Brilliant musician? Dunno.

But most halfway decent VIs with a string section will have solo strings, from EWQLSO to Miroslav Philharmonik and many others. As with AAS Solo Strings, the Hollywood Strings from East West is not out yet. Other options are Dan Dean Solo Strings, London Solo Strings (Big Fish Audio), Pete Siedlaczek Advanced Orchestra, to name a few. I'm not sure what Project Sam's Symphobia has to offer in the way of solo strings, but I'm sure others will continue to chime in with viable options.

[wurliuchi]

...I got Garritan Personal Orchestra 4 (GPO4) to help get my feet wet.

The price looks right for GPO4, but the samples I listened to were kind of drenched in reverb - how would you say the sound of the individual instruments holds up? The quartet format would mean that the sounds would be fairly exposed, do you think GPO4 would sound OK in that context?

Yeah, I don't know. I'm the wrong person to ask. Not enough experience with it yet and strings are not my thing. I'm sure others would know better and have a more educated opinion.

I was thinking about playing "Eleanor Rigby" with GPO4. I have a copy of George Martin's handwritten original string score that I got from his book "Playback" so I was thinking about giving that a go just to see how it sounded and get some more time behind the wheel, as it were.

For those that haven't come across it yet, their site links to a pretty good and detailed guide on orchestration, its worth a look if you haven't already done so.

Isn't that great? I've been going through that (slowly) whenever I get the chance and I've learned a lot. I've also been thoroughly confused at times. There's so much to know and I'm a complete beginner when it comes to orchestration.

I should also mention a coupla other things - that competition I mentioned in my first post runs only through December 15, so don't forget to get your name in there, and I recently bought a little book that has helped me (a complete neophyte when it comes to orchestral arranging/sequencing) a fair bit. Its called Computer Orchestration Tips and Tricks. Its a slender volume, pitched to beginners, but I have enjoyed thumbing through it.

Hey, thanks for both tips. I've entered the one and I'll buy the other. Many thanks.

[BKK-OZ]

...Other options are Dan Dean Solo Strings, London Solo Strings (Big Fish Audio), Pete Siedlaczek Advanced Orchestra, to name a few. I'm not sure what Project Sam's Symphobia has to offer in the way of solo strings, but I'm sure others will continue to chime in with viable options.

Well, there are some pretty good options in that list. Out of all those mentioned so far, the BFA London Solo and Dan Dean Solo appeal the most - in terms of price, closest fit to what I need, as well as audio quality, though the last is kinda hard to judge based on the mp3 samples provided. I'm going to hunt around for some reviews now, thanx again for your advice.

[BKK-OZ]

And here are some reviews from our good friends over @ SOS:

• - VSL Solo Strings II, Bassoon II & Trumpet in Bb
  - Dan Dean Solo Strings (Advanced)
  - Big Fish Audio London Solo Strings (Scroll down a bit)

And here is one on Dan Dean Solo Strings, over @ eMusician.

[frankymax]

Okay, here's a wacky idea... you could get Sibelius, an excellent notation program which has a decent library of sounds built in it, compose your string quartet piece, play it back for overall ideas and composition, and then print out the parts and have your son and 3 of his friends who play violin and viola play the piece. That might get your son's attention and respect!!... or maybe not; who can tell with kids these days!

[jroadrage]

There's also this library:

http://www.audiobro.com/

The developer is in the process of updating the library to address some of the tuning issues and improve the programming and has hinted at releasing a library with just the first chairs.

I have the full library and it is very playable. All of the patches are very responsive and more intuitive than using something like VSL, which as good as it sounds can feel more like assembling a part than playing it.

[BKK-OZ]

Okay, here's a wacky idea... you could get Sibelius,and have your son and 3 of his friends who play violin and viola play the piece. That might get your son's attention and respect!!... or maybe not; who can tell with kids these days!

Not so wacky at all - in fact, if I end up with something that I think is halfway decent, I want to do just that. I think I need to be able to render the piece reasonably well to convince him to do that though, hence the interest in a VI/library.

In terms of respect, I should say that both my boys are pretty good kids - our biggest problem with them is that we have to hide their night-lights to keep them from staying up late reading, so I probably over-stated my older boy's attitude issues. He's pretty generous with his respect, its just that in this instance, I'm kinda moving into his territory, so I want to get it as right as possible.

He uses Sibelius at school, so that's not a bad idea, but given I never do lead sheets normally, its probably not the closest fit for what I am after because I can always use Quickscribe for these sorts of jobs - its more the sounds that I need @ this stage.

There's also this library:
http://www.audiobro.com/

I had a look, and although it would no doubt be perfect for what I want to do, the price is a bit steep for this exercise. Thanx for the tip though!

[jroadrage]

That's the full library, my guess is that the "Lite" versions that get released (I would guess by Christmas) will be just a fraction of that. The full library would definitely be overkill for what you're looking for right now. Here's the post, about 2/3rds of the way down, the devs handle is "Thonex".

http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtop ... &start=175

[rikp]

There's also this library:

http://www.audiobro.com/

The developer is in the process of updating the library to address some of the tuning issues and improve the programming and has hinted at releasing a library with just the first chairs.

I have the full library and it is very playable. All of the patches are very responsive and more intuitive than using something like VSL, which as good as it sounds can feel more like assembling a part than playing it.

This is now my go to string library over Vienna and EastWest. Very realistic and easy to play. The divisi and solo chairs are truly revolutionary!

Reasonable price too, considering what you get!

Peace

Rik

[BKK-OZ]

Thanx everyone for your helpful suggestions...
I guess now I have to get to work on the damn thing!!!