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  • Special Edition Audio Demos exposing more of the strings ?

    Hi,


    I'm considering to purchase VSL-SE, I listened to all of the audio demos on the VSL site for the this library, I would like to hear more audio demos that expose the VSL-SE strings, both short and long articulations, the current demos IMHO don't seem to have enough of the strings exposed in the arrangements to better evaluate them.


    Are there any new VSL, or user demos that focus more on the strings ?


    Thanks.

  • Hi muziksculp,

    This demo is all Special Edition, it does not focus exclusively on the strings, but you hear them using staccato, pizzicato, and legato.

    Its on the sibeliusmusic site and here is the link to the mp3

    http://www.sibeliusmusic.com/cgi-bin/getmp3.pl?scoreid=117166

    the score is free to download, and there were some changes between the score and the actual performance recording, but the string parts - I don't think I had that many changes in them though. Here is the link to the score:

    http://www.sibeliusmusic.com/cgi-bin/show_score.pl?scoreid=117159

    I hope that may be helpful.

    best,

    Steve. 


  • Thanks for the additional demo links.

  • I just got my SE yesterday. I had not much time yet but I've done (without any editing, etc.) an "live" improvisation into Cubase with string trio (solistic, Vl, Va, Vcl) to try the handling of VI and different articulations.

    You can see how easy it actually is to play the instruments "live" and it sounds quite okay even without any detailed Midi editing done yet. And as I said, it just arrived I installed and made this little test [:)]

    http://www.andieheyer.com/sounds/stringtrio.mp3 

    I can really recommend you to purchase SE ! I really love it! So far I have purchased only the Standard Edition of SE and I'm thinking to expand it one day with Strings PLUS (Std) download or I wait what comes up with "single instrument downloads" maybe there'll be some interesting stuff.

    All the best,

    Andie


  • Thank You, and Congratulations !


    This is the fist time I Hear some of the VSL-SE solo strings exposed, and they do sound very good, I'm sure the non-compressed version, with a bit more EQ tweaking, and possibly some mastering plug-ins would sound even more polished, and realistic.


    I'm sure the complete "Solo Strings" set will have a lot more to offer, but as you have demonstrated, some of the more basic solo string articulation included in the VSL-SE (standard) version are very nice, and would also come in handy to mix with the section strings !


    If I may ask... What did you use for (Reverb) on the solo strings ? It sounds pretty good ! How do you like the section strings so far ?


    Cheers.

  • Andie,

    Sounds great!  Maybe the reverb tail is a little too long, but it makes the instruments sound nice.  I was curious as to what reverb you are using, and if convolution, what room?

    Thanks, Brian 


  • First of all, thanks for your very kind comments!

    I think I must disappoint you guys: The reverb is simply the built in "RoomWorks" from Cubase 4.

    About articulations: The bigger libraries (Solo Strings, etc.) do have a bigger sortiment of articulations and much more varieties of different lenghts of detachés, etc.

    I used the following articulations in SE (Std) for the demo: staccato, detache, sforzato, pizzicato and tremolo (on Violin Solo, Viola Solo, Violoncello Solo). (still some more articulations left) As I have played the instruments "live" into my sequencer the switches of articulations are not really perfect at all, but if you take your time and edit it with patience you might get much more realistic results (one note staccato, the next one detache, a sforzato, etc.) those little details pay really off (you can see a great tutorial by Beat Kaufmann). Of course the bigger           collections offer you much more varieties to "construct" really every little nuances that you wish.

    About the Section Strings: The "Orchestral Strings" in SE are really beautiful as well. Same articulations as the solo strings above.

    As I have only the Standard Edition I do not have access to the "Chamber Strings" and "Appassionata Strings", but that doesn't matter to me but I'm thinking of downloading "Strings PLUS (Std)" that gives me additional articulations (also for contemporary composition) as "con legno" techniques, "sul ponticello", "harmonics", "perf. repetitions", and many more... I think that's a good expansion for the beginning.

    If you'd like to hear the orchestral strings you can check my second soundclip I just did it yesterday night. Nothing special though, I tried the first time to load and set up a basical VI orchestra in Cubase and as a test I orchestrated quickly a simple piano piece in Satie style that I wrote once on university.

    I did the same way as with the solo strings: I played every single instrument "live" into my sequencer and didn't edit anything (or only little) afterwards. It's not perfect at all but might show how easy and comfortable it is to play "live" with the Vienna Instruments and what kind of results you get from the very first note on.

     http://www.andieheyer.com/sounds/hommage-a-satie.mp3

    All the best,

    Andie 


  • Hi Andie,


    Thanks for the additional feedback and demo.


    Steinberg's "RoomWorks" reverb sounds very good ! quite transparent, and the reverb tails are pretty smooth (IMHO it is important for a reverb to have these qualities when used for acoustic/orchestral instrument applications). By the way, are you using Cubase 4 on a Mac or PC ? I'm asking this question because I'm currently using Logic Pro 8, but have recently purchased Cubase 4 to use as a second DAW, (I haven't installed it yet), and would like to know how you like using it with VSL-VI, especially if you are on a Mac.


    I wonder how much of an improvement a sophisticated IR based reverb such as (Altiverb 6) offers the VSL-VI sounds ?


    As far as second (Satie) demo goes, I find it hard to evaluate the section string in this specific demo, I think that hearing more of the string section articulations (short and long articulations), just played freely into Cubase, would be a good way to expose the various articulations without spending lots if time composing for strings, just a few simple phrases (like you did for the solo strings demo) showing off each articulation with a bit of the (RoomWorks) reverb you used on the solo strings demo would be just perfect, if your time allows for that.


    Well, I'm almost ready to buy the VSL-SE, evaluating the section strings is all I really need to go forward with purchasing it.


    Your feedback has been very helpful, I really appreciate your time, and effort.


    Cheers

  • I use Cubase 4 on PC (XP). I also work on Macs now and then and Cubase seems to run just fine. I don't think there's any difference if you run Cubase on Win or OSX. Especially in filmscoring it is beloved to use Cubase on Macs. (Hans Zimmer and co... are the best example).

    I also know lot of people who run Logic on Mac. It's probably the most popular combination. In my opinion it is just a question of taste! It depends on which software you have "grown up" with. In my case it's Cubase, I started with it since I'm a little boy, almost :-) and so I'm definately used to it's user interface and functions.

    I think both softwares are just great and professional, depends just on your personal taste (optical appearance and also functionality, etc.) considering that we have to spend a lot of time working with those softwares!

    If you're satisfied with Logic, keep going with it. If you're ready to try also Cubase, give it a shot! I think it's also good to be familiar with all kind of available software standards. Just imagine you have the chance to work somewhere in a studio on a great project and they use another software. It's hard to learn that in few time.Cubase is really the choice of many composers (especially in film music).

    I'm sure VI-SE runs just as fine as it does on Win.

    About IR reverbs: As far as I know there's a nice IR included in Logic Pro. "Space Designer" ??? I think that's quite a good thing.

    Orchestral Strings in SE: Sorry, just had no time to do a demo yet as I'm currantly working on my Bachelor exam (I graduate next month) so I'm a little busy with other stuff right now, you know...

    But I'll post a short demostration especially with "short notes", something rhythmical. But I can tell you that they really sound fantastic.  But "describing music is always like a described lunch" :-)

    I can really recommend you to get the Special Edition! I started with the Standard edition and can always decide one day to expand it with additional "download instruments" or "PLUS libraries" that have in my opinion really fair prices! Just my opinion.

    All the best,

    Andie


  • Hi Andie,


    Thank You for the feedback, you have been very helpful, and I'm glad to hear that are very satisfied with the sound of VSL-SE's strings, including the short-string articulations, for rhythmic type string writing. That is very good to hear.


    I think VSL-SE is a critical product, which I view as start-up collection that covers the orchestra as a whole, and a launching pad for buying additional expanded versions of the VSL-VI instruments. So, I would think that the VSL team had to make sure that the VSL-SE instruments sounded very good, since the other VSL-VI's would be judged based on the VSL-SE sound quality. (i.e. I would not be buying additional VSL-VI's if I bought VSL-SE and did not like the way the instruments sounded,but I'm quite confident that won't be the case).


    Since all VSL libraries are recorded (Dry), I think the amount of audio engineering/mixing, besides good orchestration, creative use of the VI, and the use of dynamic automation to give the instruments more realism, and life-like characteristics, is very important. I have heard VSL demos that I thought were just (OK), they did not impress me that much. On the other hand, I have heard other VSL demos, that sounded (Great ), so a lot of it goes back to the skills, and tools used. The core sample material is very good, but needs an additional effort during the mixing phase of the production. How well this is done, can make a huge difference on how a VSL-VI production sounds.


    I'm currently working with LP8, and plan to begin using Cubase 4 (on a Mac Pro), as a second DAW choice in the near future, although this means that I have to put some time learning a new DAW system, but I don't think I will have too much of an issue adapting to C4, it has great audio and midi editing features, especially if you have lots of third-party effects, and VI instruments, and a great sound quality ! As you mentioned, having experience with more than one DAW can come in very handy in the future, and will offer me additional tools, and a different workflow to LP8.


    Good Luck with your Bachelor exam, and Congratulations in advance !