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

[jroadrage]

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!

Rik

Me too. the deeper I dig into LASS the less things I find that it CAN'T do. I'm not ready to part with Appassionata I & II just yet but I'm running out of excuses to keep the rest of my string libraries preloaded into my template.

And for any prospective buyers, I can't say enough about the way that AK has dealt with the rollout of LASS and the subsequent support, top notch all the way around. I'd be surprised if his forthcoming LASS lite or solo string offering wasn't a really good value met with the same praise as his full library.

[BKK-OZ]

Ok, ok, I am tempted now - not for the full price version, but I am interested in what he comes up with for the first chairs/lite version.

Well, I'm in no rush I guess, so I'll wait to see what version of LASS 'Lite' they come out with. In the meantime, I have a few other toys I can use to lay out the basics of my quartet idea. I have a Motif Rack that does some fairly decent string sounds, enuf to get me going @ least.

Interesting related discussion over @ Northern Sounds Forum. Apparently the First Chairs version will be around $450.

One of the posters there swears by Xsample which like many of the others, looks good, but is a bit pricey for my current needs (€289 for the Solo String Library).

[audios]

Screamin' deal here;

http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/purchase.html

I just got the "Emerald" symphonic orchestra and for $150 you get over 20GB of samples, chamber strings in full articulations and either open or muted. Plays in full version of Kontakt-3.

Great library for the money, plus you get a full set of orchestral samples as well.

http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/products_emerald.html

Check them out. (BTW- you can always print from the scribe editor in DP all the parts you create in MIDI editing)

[mhschmieder]

I still haven't gotten around to listening to the LASS demos, but do now have that paged bookmarked so hope to soon.

I probably use VSL's Chamber Strings the most. I have zero issues with that library. All of the articulations are spot-on and slot in easily. The same with the Solo Strings, but if I wanted to handle a virtuosic solo, then I'd probably want the upcoming Sample Modeling solo strings.

For larger sections, I have not been happy with my subset of Orchestral Strings in VSE and so never bought those full libraries. I finally bought the full library of Appassionata I a few months ago, so still haven't had much time with it, but it has a wider range than one might expect for a large ensemble -- it isn't just for Hollywood type orchestrations.

I have a tendency to prefer smaller ensembles and chamber music, as a listener and also as an arranger, due to the intimacy and greater expressive range. They are easier for me to work with, as I typically find my attempts with larger sections start to sound synthetic very quickly. It is my own fault, I know, but I also wonder if this is the sort of issue people are addressing when looking at alternatives such as LASS?

[jroadrage]

I have a tendency to prefer smaller ensembles and chamber music, as a listener and also as an arranger, due to the intimacy and greater expressive range. They are easier for me to work with, as I typically find my attempts with larger sections start to sound synthetic very quickly. It is my own fault, I know, but I also wonder if this is the sort of issue people are addressing when looking at alternatives such as LASS?

Exactly. I think that LASS represents the sort of next level of playability for string libraries. One single patch has real time variable legato, portamento and glissandi, switchable monophonic behavior, velocity controlled attack, RT control on sus and transition notes, tuning tables, controllable dynamic response, adjustable legato behavior, etc...

Then you add the different section sizes on top of that and the level of control really is a big step up from other libraries out there. It does take some coaxing to get a bigger, fuller sound out of the library than something like EWQLSO, Symphobia or Cinematic Strings but that's not such a bad thing.

[BKK-OZ]

I know John and some of you others live in the higher realms when it comes to this stuff, but me, I'm just starting out - I came across
this ebay listing of Garritan Personal Orchestra for $100(AU$) and I was wondering if anyone could tell me if this is the current version or not... its so cheap I might just go for it, to tide me over for the holidays...

[jroadrage]

I know John and some of you others live in the higher realms when it comes to this stuff, but me, I'm just starting out - I came across
this ebay listing of Garritan Personal Orchestra for $100(AU$) and I was wondering if anyone could tell me if this is the current version or not... its so cheap I might just go for it, to tide me over for the holidays...

There are MANY more accomplished people on these boards than myself, my higher realms sadly still include part time work from just about anywhere you can imagine, well not ANYWHERE ("in this economy" I guess...)

My advice is think about a dollar amount that you would like to spend and how much usage you expect to get out of this library before upgrading. If the numbers around a hundred (and I don't blame you if you're just lookin to get your feet wet) than you probably wont get bored with or outgrow Garritan for a long while. Many of the newer libraries are also so dense that the steep learning curve could discourage you easily, which is always a bad thing. I recently saw a post on the LASS boards where some poor guy was trying to sell his license because he thought it was monophic, that's a big chunk of money to feel like you've wasted if you're not getting the most out of the purchase.

I would strongly advice not to skimp too much if you can afford it though. Something like GPO is great as a starter kit but if you see yourself outgrowing it quickly or needing more flexibility then in a few months time you could be going through the same decision process and learning curve all over again.

[BKK-OZ]

I would strongly advice not to skimp too much if you can afford it though. Something like GPO is great as a starter kit but if you see yourself outgrowing it quickly or needing more flexibility then in a few months time you could be going through the same decision process and learning curve all over again.

Good advice - I tend to think the same way myself. Why spend $100 on something that isn't that good, instead of putting that $100 towards something that will last a bit longer - always go for the best quality you can afford...

The Kirk Hunter stuff is actually the cheapest/closest of everything I have looked @ so far, apart from the Dan Dean Solo Strings, that is. Unfortunately, it requires at least Kontakt 3, which I don't have, so Solo String @ $99, + Kontakt=???. Mind you, I did find an ebay listing of Kontakt 3 here in Oz for $200 (AU$) that might still be available...

The Dan Dean SS would be $199 (USD) all up.

I dunno, choices, choices, choices.

I think I need to listen to F Zappa ("just shut up and play yer guitar"), all this thinking about what to get is starting to make me forget the whole point of this music stuff... to play, to make music!

[jroadrage]

I think I need to listen to F Zappa ("just shut up and play yer guitar"), all this thinking about what to get is starting to make me forget the whole point of this music stuff... to play, to make music!

Now THAT'S advice we could all probably benefit from. It's easy to get so bogged down in all the 1s and 0s that you forget what they're all for.

[audios]

The Kirk Hunter stuff is actually the cheapest/closest of everything I have looked @ so far, apart from the Dan Dean Solo Strings, that is. Unfortunately, it requires at least Kontakt 3, which I don't have, so Solo String @ $99, + Kontakt=???. Mind you, I did find an ebay listing of Kontakt 3 here in Oz for $200 (AU$) that might still be available...

Just Google "free download of Native Instruments Kontakt-3" and you'll be surprised at the results.

[Larry Mal]

Man, this is going to be a hard Christmas season- everything I've been looking at is on sale. Everything. The Kirk Hunter I've had my eye on for some time, but then again, I've been looking at some of the NuGen audio mastering EQ's, the Waves stuff is in my thoughts, UAD is offering some pretty good deals, and then there's the audio analyzers...

Anyway, I was thinking that you could get the IK Multimedia Miroslav Philharmonik for pretty cheap, it has good solo string sounds at a reasonable price. You can demo it as well as a I recall.

I'd still probably prefer the Kirk Hunter, though.

I often like to write out ideas as a string quartet, and I write in Sibelius, export into Logic, and from that point on I can simulate an environment and mix. Is it perfect? No, but you'd be able to compose your quartet, and no doubt win your son's love and affection like you never knew it before.

Although a laser eye or something would still probably be better and lot quicker. "Got to get home, guys... as you know, my father is pretty harsh sometimes. But then again, he is a half-man half-machine cyborg intergalactic bounty hunter..."

[BKK-OZ]

Just Google "free download of Native Instruments Kontakt-3" and you'll be surprised at the results.

Not sure if you are talking about the Kontakt player here or if you mean a warez version. If you are thinking of the former, the Kirk Hunter library requires the full version of Kontakt, not just the player. If you are talking about the latter, well, I kinda have a no-pirate approach to life, do unto others sorta thing, so I'll pass on that option, thanx just the same.

Man, this is going to be a hard Christmas season- everything I've been looking at is on sale. Anyway, I was thinking that you could get the IK Multimedia Miroslav Philharmonik for pretty cheap, it has good solo string sounds at a reasonable price.

Yeah, I'll look @ that one again, there have been so many options thrown up by the good Motunationers herein that I forgot about it as an option, thanx for reminding me.

...you'd be able to compose your quartet, and no doubt win your son's love and affection like you never knew it before.

Although a laser eye or something would still probably be better and lot quicker. "Got to get home, guys... as you know, my father is pretty harsh sometimes. But then again, he is a half-man half-machine cyborg intergalactic bounty hunter..."

Ha ha - yes, that would be great. "...hey what does your dad do?" "well, he is a cyborg who composed a string quartet, what's your dad capable of?"

[Larry Mal]

He doesn't mean for you to use any cracked software, the Kontakt player is free and will likely do what you need:

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/ ... kt-player/

So I'm pretty sure it can handle the Kirk Hunter stuff, which I might pick up myself, since you can upgrade to the higher versions from there at a good price. My question with you using it though, is will it have all the articulations that you are needing? Not knowing what you plan to write, I can't say, but I'd check into whatever libraries you are considering to make sure that they have what you want.

But again, since you don't intend for your MIDI performance to be the final deal, you have a lot of leeway, your sample library only needs to make you know what it will be like, and to give a rough idea to your players, so I wouldn't really sweat it too hard.

On the other hand, lots of articulations are one of the benefits to the larger libraries.

[jroadrage]

On the other hand, lots of articulations are one of the benefits to the larger libraries.

I think the newer products are headed in the other direction, with maybe the exception of the new Miroslov library, that's one you can probably leave OFF of your search. LASS combines basically every arco sustain sample into one single patch that has all of the parameters controlled in real time. The Trumpet from Sample Modeling basically only has 1 patch. There's some keyswitches but you can basically create or simulate any articulation by manipulating the various CC controls, I'd expect their solo string offering to work in much the same way. The nice thing is even for a keyboard hack like myself I feel like I'm playing an instrument as opposed to running an assembly line.

I think that this is the next evolution for most orchestral libraries, VSL has some catching up to do in this regard, the sooner I can be done cobbling 2 second phrases together with 7 different patches the better.

[mhschmieder]

But when you pay oodles of extra money for the Extended Libraries, VSL blossoms into a much more usable library.

Nevertheless, they need to add additional multi-patch setups and deal with more ways of controlling them.

The best thing they've done so far is the Speed-triggered patch-switching setups. I find them very musical and easy to use. Most are Extended-only, but a couple (dumbed down, of course) are in Standard (but not Special Edition or Kontakt or Mach Five).