Great libraries don't get old - they get even better!

We are very happy to introduce the High Definition (HD) Shorts to the VSL community. These are new portato, staccato and spiccato articulations with 9(!) velocity layers in both normal and muted versions. Just in time for their big anniversary these over hundred brand-new sounds extend the time-tested Symphonic Cube libraries for their next decade. They are included in the Articulate Presets for the entire Symphonic Cube (strings, woodwinds & brass).

Articulate Presets give you full access to most of the vast Vienna Instruments Super Package. They are complete, consistent across the entire orchestra and give you full control over the sound via their unique 3D-control. Moreover, they simplify the use of the comprehensive Dimension libraries with their convenient auto-divisi feature. Last but not least, they are seamlessly integrated into the major Music Applications; Logic, Dorico, Cubase and Studio One.

Simply download the full-featured demo and check out Articulate Presets, the new HD Shorts and the various software integrations yourself.

Hello Cyril,

thanks 😊!

There are separate versions of the presets for standard and full VSL libraries. Many Articulate Presets cover several libraries but they work also if you only have some of them. For instance if you have the Orchestral but not the Chamber Strings the Section Controller won't work, but everything else will. Similarly if you have Solo Strings 1 but not Solo Strings 2 you simply cannot use the matrices covering the muted playing techniques. However, the new HD Shorts require the VSL full libraries, since the standard versions (which the VSL has discontinued by now anyway) do not include the used samples.

Yes, you can integrate this into existing projects, but depending on your software you might have to re-assign playing techniques. For instance in Dorico merely by re-applying the Playback Template everything works automatically in existing scores, In Logic all playing techniques can be stored in the Articulation IDs of the notes and it is easy to assign/change them in Logics editors afterwards, by selecting them from a menu. (If you also want the next-generation key-switching and the automatic encoding of playing techniques into Articulation IDs, you would have to import an environment into your existing project.)

There is no dedicated Logic video, but instead of us showing you what we want you to see, it should be much better that you can simply check out everything yourself 😊. We offer a full-featured demo that includes the complete Articulate Presets for the Solo Cello (showcasing the new HD Shorts), the Dimension Violas (showcasing the convenient auto-divisi) and the Second Flute. Moreover they include the complete software integrations into all supported audio applications - without any restrictions.

In Logic you merely have to run the installer, load one of the included templates (matching the control hardware you have - as explained in the Setup section of the manual), load a patch in Logic's patch browser and can start checking things out. Once you load a patch everything is set up automatically and there is in principle no need to even open VI pro. Playing techniques can be selected by key-switches or program change (PC) messages and continuous controllers 2, 3 & 20 continuously control various aspects of the sound via Articulate Presets signature 3D-control. The new HD Shorts can e.g. be accessed by PC 109-115 (or key switches). You get a complete directory of all the available sounds and how to access them directly in (the Smart Controls panel of) Logic's main window and for each playing technique you see what exactly all the different controllers do. Once set up all this should be completely self-explanatory.

All the best

Kai

Hello William,

sorry to disappoint you, but this "person/company/whatever" did not hijack an orchestra and break into the VSL Silent Stage to perform new recordings 😊. The samples for these new sounds were always there as part of the Symphonic Cube ... merely extremely well hidden (somewhere in the "Resource" folder). The HD sounds are assembled out of thousands of patches that include the 9 individual dynamic levels of the repetition dynamics. Yet, these new HD matrices are fully playable just like the standard definition (SD) patches, and therefore they go far beyond the rather limited original purpose of these amazing samples. Their levels are meticulously matched so that they can easily supplement the SD patches for even more variation and realism. They do not share any samples with the SD patches so they can be combined even in unisono without phasing. 

Why don't you simply download our full-featured demo package and check it out yourself? It includes e.g. the full Articulate Preset for the Cello giving you instant access to everything included in these vast libraries as well as the new HD shorts on matrices 109-115. Then you will immediately see what this is, how we did it and whether this is useful for you.

Best regards

Kai

The original post was very misleading, because there was no mention of breaking up the repetition patches to use individual short notes.  Just an ad for new "HD" shorts.  (Except for detache I am assuming, as there is no repetition detache unless I am remembering the patches wrong.)  By the way those repetition patches are not "hidden" but present right among the other patches.  Also there is no such thing as "SD" patches (analogous to SD video?) in VSL - they are simply patches with varying amounts of velocity layers and alternate samples.   They are just as high a quality as any of the others. 

Cyril, 

This is just VI not Synchron.  The patches that have been cobbled together from dynamic samples are then assigned to this company's presets which you have to use their questionable proprietary player - as opposed to VI Pro or VE, which are nearly perfect software.   

Symphonic Riot,

These are not "high definition" - they are the same samples originally present in the dynamic samples.  You came on here with the bogus invention of "SD" samples vs. "HD" - that is bullshit, because you are trying to reference  video - so we should think the new HD presets are sampled at... 1920p?  As opposed to Standard Definition video? 

Yeah right.  What about just presenting what you actually did to begin with, and stop trying to fool people  in order to get sales?  

Dear William,

you obviously did not even spend the 5 minutes to download the demo, load a preset and simply play these sounds, otherwise you would not write something about a "proprietary player". As the name suggests, Articulate Presets are simply presets/matrices for VI pro (which is indeed a perfect software, otherwise we would and could not have done this, so there at least seems to be something we can agree on 😊)

I clearly wrote (even in the title) what we mean with the term "HD": "high definition with 9 velocity layers", which explains that we are referring to the dynamic resolution. In the case of digital video that you quote high definition refers to a larger number of pixels. When it comes to a sampled instrument there are obviously no pixels. Instead the two basic parameters that you can control on your keyboard are the pitch and velocity. While VSLs sounds are already chromatically sampled, a larger number of velocity layers - and correspondingly a finer resolution / higher definition - can be beneficial, as the VSL demonstrated with their pianos (in particular their Vienna Imperial with even up to 128 velocity layers). Providing playable matrices with an increased velocity resolution e.g. for the spiccato from 2 or 3 to 9, we found it appropriate to use the short term "HD" for these sounds. To distinguish them from the standard portato, staccato and spiccato, we used the term "SD", but did not suggest that these are in any way inferior. Quite the opposite, we made sure by painstaking volume matching that our matrices behave otherwise similarly and can be combined with the great standard potato, staccato and spiccato patches for even more variation and realism. 

I only posted here since Andreas from the VSL team encouraged me to do so. We are very open to any constructive criticism and suggestions. We have worked very hard to realize these over 100 new matrices with 9 velocity layers (as well as all the other features Articulate Presets offer). We did this because we love the Vienna Instruments libraries and the VI pro player. Our demo package includes several full-featured presets and matrices as well as all software integrations so that users can without restrictions check out every aspect before they make a purchase. We include all 5 independent in-depth manuals (one for the presets and one for each software integration) that explain every feature in detail. Our presets inherently do not implement any copy protection and everything is completely open, so our users can even easily adapt the presets and matrices to their needs. If you don't need any of this that's perfectly fine. But to suggest that this would be "proprietary" or we would be "trying to fool people in order to get sales" could not be further away from the truth.

Anyway, I wish you a nice day

symphonic riot

The reason I am not too friendly is because of your deliberately acting like this is a new recording - if you look at your original post it sounds like more velocity layers have been recorded on short notes. Which I immediately realized is bullshit  because you couldn't even begin to do what VSL did in their original recordings.  So why don't you make that perfectly clear?  Obviously because you want some sales prior to people understanding what they are getting.     

Don't do this deceptive hype if you want people to be enthusiastic about your company or whatever it is.

Hello Alex,

the underlying samples for these sounds are originally included in the repetition dynamics patches (e.g. perf-rep_cre9_por, ...). The latter are patches where whenever you trigger another repetition you get another dynamics level, so that you start with ppp and after the 9th repetition you end up with fff, or vice versa. The VSL made all the individual dynamic levels (from ppp to fff) individually available as separate patches in the Resource folder of (nearly) each library. We assembled these individual patches into matrices that are playable via velocity (or velocity X-fade) just like the standard portato, staccato and spiccato patches. We made sure that these HD Shorts behave very similarly to the standard versions: their minimum and maximum volumes as well as their velocity dependence are matched (i.e. you get about the same volume for the same Midi velocity), but their velocity resolution is higher (i.e. the gradual change of the sound with velocity is improved). Due to all this you can easily combine them with the standard patches. They generally have a distinct sound and thereby provide a clear alternative to vary the playback or even use both versions unisono. The HD Shorts do not offer automatic alternations (round-robins). Yet, being assembled from repetition (dynamics) samples they blend very well with the normal repetition patches and you can manually switch to them to even get nine distinct alternations.

The HD shorts are integrated into Articulate Presets, which are VI pro presets for each instrument that contain over hundred different matrices covering everything included in the corresponding VSL libraries. Each matrix covers another playing technique, yet these matrices do not consist of individual patches. Many offer "3D-control" and combine all available recorded versions for that playing technique and blend them to allow you to continuously change up to 3 different aspects of the sound.  

I hope all this makes it clearer. However, the simplest way to see what this is, how it works and if this is useful for you is simply to download the full-featured demo and play these sounds 😊. 

The demo package includes e.g. the "Cellos S" preset which covers all cello samples included in Solo and Chamber Strings 1 & 2. You can e.g. access all playing techniques (listed in the manual) by program change (PC) messages. Although you can surely also use them without this, to fully take advantage of the 3D-control you will need 3 physical controllers (knobs, faders, pedals, ...) that send Continuous Controller (CC) 2, 3 and 20, respectively. CC20 (Cell X-fade) generally always controls the "section size" (in this preset e.g. blending the Solo Cello and the Chamber Cellos). In the likewise included "Violins D" preset covering the Dimension Violas this controller dials the actual number of players and the auto-divisi feature automatically distributes the played notes among the different Dimension players. What the other two controllers do depends on the particular sound. It is likewise listed in the manual, but you can simply check it out what they control. E.g. for the first (sustained) playing technique CC2 controls the attack and CC3 the vibrato intensity. The new HD Shorts are accessed by PC 109-114 and offer the same continuous control as the corresponding SD matrices.

All the best

Kai

Hello Alex,

just to prevent any misunderstanding: Although the VSL team also still improves the VI series (e.g. with their recent VST3 version of VI pro), and hopefully will continue to do so in the future, this is not an official VSL product, but we are a third-party developer not affiliated with the VSL.

All the best

Kai

Hello Gaute,

Articulate Presets are simply presets for VI pro and work with any Sequencer/DAW. If you can host VI pro in the Standalone VE on separate machines so far (i.e. the VI pro instances receive Midi from Pro Tools and the latter receives the audio), then this should definitely work. But to make sure you could just check it out with the demo presets.

All the best

Kai