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  4. Making Chamber Strings Record 'Bigger'

  • Making Chamber Strings Record 'Bigger'

    S
    S

    Sorry for the  title, but I don't know how to word it more fairly.

    I -love- Chamber Strings. Just -love- it.

    However, I'm having trouble getting it to -record- big. I mean... it doesn't record as big as I think it should.

    It's a tricky thing, but in the right room, 20 fiddles can sound pretty big. But a lot of what I'm hearing is sounding more on the String Octet size right now.

    I know VSL is not as 'big' sounding by design, but... any suggestions on recording techniques to make it 'size up' a bit?

    TIA,

    ---JC
  • S
    S

    Chamber Strings has a smaller "chamber" sound by design.  Have you tried the Appassionata Strings Library?  It has a bigger, more romantic and lifelike sound.

    CK
  • S
    S

    LOL. Bring a nuclear bomb to a knife fight.

    I'm used to a slightly bigger band... my 'inner model' is the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (back in my day it was 26 guys.)  Just one or two more players @ each position, but I think it -really- makes a difference. The SPO was sized specifically to make it (barely) possible to do larger standard rep works if everyone played 'with the commitment of 50!'

    Chamber Strings is striking me as just a wee bit too small.

    I never thought this sort of thing would be so finnicky, but I'm now recalling a portion of Stravinsky's bio where he talks about being disgusted with a rehearsal of one of his pieces (Apollo?) and the conductor recommends adding just a couple of chairs. He's skeptical, but gives it a try and the whole piece starts to work.

    I wish there was a way to add just a few more guys as needed. Not a full double... just make each section a tad larger.

    OR ADD MORE VERB!

    (sigh)

    ---JC
  • D
    D

     If you layer Orchestral Strings with Chamber Strings and put Chamber strings to the fore, you will get a slightly bigger sound, but not huge.

    DG
  • J
    J

    You could also try applying a slight chorus effect.  But don't go overboard.  I've never tried it myself but it could be worth a shot.