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  • Dimension Strings IV — sul ponticello

    Hope springs eternal....

    This would be a significant step forward in the ongoing evolution of the greatest string library.


  • I like the idea of the "ongoing evolution" - it is definitely the greatest string library.

    I think in addition to ponticello having also extended techniques, sampled multiple-interval trills, and additional bowings would put it even farther beyond any other library.     


  • Yes, yes, YES! To an Extended Techniques (including sul ponticello) library! We have some chamber strings library including extended techniques from other manufacturers, but Dimension Strings can work in a much more flexible way, with internal variability between the soloists making the ensemble. Even Synchron FX Strings is not as useful as Dimensiin Strings IV would be. I'm personally not looking for an "effects" library, but for, as the common English name says, techniques extending the basic set, that i can use as I want or need in different contexts.

    Paolo


  • I still need the sul tastos, but more articulations are welcomed.

    +1

    And also a FX collection (Glissandi etc.).


  • I'll try to give an example of why I think extended techniques are currently missing. In general, we have three types of libraries including extended techniques:

    1) solo instruments;

    2) chamber-sized instruments;

    3) ensemble effects.

    The first type can be flexible in creating ensembles, but multiplying the same soloist never produces the same result as having a real ensemble. You feel how artificial it sounds.

    The second type doesn't allow for independent voices, making a finer ensemble texture.

    The third type (in which I include Syn FX Strings) is dedicated to a holistic effect, that the composer can't control. You use it as an object trouvé, and that's it.

    An extension of Dimension Strings including extended techinques would allow something like what is shown in the example, no longer so uncommon even in music derived from 'progressive rock'.

    Paolo

    Image


  • For a foretaste and the promise of such a sound, we have the VI Orchestral Strings'  sul ponti tremolo -- a unique patch in the VSL library. 


  • It *does* seem like an ongoing evolution, given that the first three dimension strings libraries have focused each on one of three relatively common playing styles—arco, sordino, and tasto—with all the variations in articulation that can be achieved within those styles, staccato, detaché, tremolo, marcato, vibrato, senza vibrato, etc. etc., thereby justifying the production of a full library.

    Sul ponticello, as a bowing technique can be realized with all of the same rich variety of articulations and would seem to be a logical next step in that evolution of the dimension strings concept as a whole.

    I agree also that there are missing articulations within the existing three libraries such as glissandi, dynamics for the sul tasto library, extended techniques like harmonic glissandi, and other special articulations that could make these libaries unparalleled for the production of contemporary forms of music. That would be another library, perhaps in the form of add-ons to the existing ones. I can see there a potentially profitable cottage industry for VSL in producing these add-ons on a modest scale and marketed as enhancements to the existing libraries. 


  • The fact that people are coming up with what should be the next Dimension Strings shows how it is such an extraordinary library.  It is beyond all other string libraries because it is the only one that replicates what actually happens with string ensembles - the infinitely complex interplay between individual players in the ensemble.  Everything else is an emulation, but with DS one actually gets that interplay happening in real-time.  It is truly magical.    


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    @William said:

    The fact that people are coming up with what should be the next Dimension Strings shows how it is such an extraordinary library.

    May I cite other manufacturers, here? DS and DB are like Lego bricks. You can build what your imagination dictates, anywhere and anytime. A fantastic toy for adult composers!

    Paolo