# Cinematic Studio Woodwinds: A Review



## ChrisSiuMusic

Hey everyone! In today's sample library review, let's take a look at the long-awaited release from Cinematic Studios: the woodwinds. How does it hold up?


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## Cory Pelizzari

Was wondering when you'd get around to this.


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## ChrisSiuMusic

Cory Pelizzari said:


> Was wondering when you'd get around to this.


Yessir


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## JakeT

I was already waiting for your point of view on this library. Well done!


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## ChrisSiuMusic

JakeT said:


> I was already waiting for your point of view on this library. Well done!


awesome Jake!


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## ALittleNightMusic

@ChrisSiuMusic Given you're a big Berlin user, how do you compare CSW to Berlin WW?


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## ChrisSiuMusic

ALittleNightMusic said:


> @ChrisSiuMusic Given you're a big Berlin user, how do you compare CSW to Berlin WW?


I'll be using both in combination! The bassoon in BWW is still a favourite of mine, while the rest of the winds in CSW I find very playable, sound great, and can stand on their own exposed. For ensemble-based writing, I'll use BWW with CSW, as the tone of CSW doesn't stand out too much either.


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## Ashermusic

Well done, Chris. Here though is one area where we disagree or maybe I misunderstood you? It is indeed a problem with transitioning between dynamic layers with true legatos that sometimes it sounds like two with a lot of woodwind libraries. That is one of my beefs with Hollywood Orchestral Woodwinds as well. But it's only in exposed parts you really notice it. In a dense arrangement, you don't.


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## ChrisSiuMusic

Ashermusic said:


> Well done, Chris. Here though is one area where we disagree or maybe I misunderstood you? It is indeed a problem with transitioning between dynamic layers with true legatos that sometimes it sounds like two with a lot of woodwind libraries. That is one of my beefs with Hollywood Orchestral Woodwinds as well. But it's only in exposed parts you really notice it. In a dense arrangement, you don't.


Thanks Asher! Yes, I meant to say that those crossfades are only more of an issue in sparse mixes, rather than denser ones.


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## Ashermusic

ChrisSiuMusic said:


> Thanks Asher! Yes, I meant to say that those crossfades are only more of an issue in sparse mixes, rather than denser ones.


Ah, ok that makes more sense. (Call me Jay.)


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## ChrisSiuMusic

Ashermusic said:


> Ah, ok that makes more sense. (Call me Jay.)


Sorry Jay!


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## Leeward

I recently bit the bullet and purchased this... and it's an absolute game-changer, just in the same way that their Strings library is.

There's a 'sound' I was after, for years, that I simply could not achieve with other woodwind offerings. So this has been quite a revelation.

I just need to save up for the Brass library now. And, by God, I'll try.


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## ChrisSiuMusic

Leeward said:


> I recently bit the bullet and purchased this... and it's an absolute game-changer, just in the same way that their Strings library is.
> 
> There's a 'sound' I was after, for years, that I simply could not achieve with other woodwind offerings. So this has been quite a revelation.
> 
> I just need to save up for the Brass library now. And, by God, I'll try.


It’s lovely isn’t it?


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## Leeward

It really is! Thanks so much for your in-depth review... it tipped me over into submission!


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## ChrisSiuMusic

Leeward said:


> It really is! Thanks so much for your in-depth review... it tipped me over into submission!


You’re so welcome!


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## mr-sound

I like bassoon. Sounds nice.


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## Joshua Day

ChrisSiuMusic said:


> Hey everyone! In today's sample library review, let's take a look at the long-awaited release from Cinematic Studios: the woodwinds. How does it hold up?



Hey Chris, there's a trick I learned from Spitfire regarding getting a Flute 1, Flute 2, Flute 3 etc out of a library that has only one soloist patch. It's not the absolute most realistic when exposed but if you can't afford something like Berlin Woodwinds with individual players, it works very well especially in a mix.

Duplicate your Flute Solo track in your DAW and have two separate instances of Flute Solo on MIDI channel 1 and 2 in Kontakt. For Flute 2, go into settings and transpose the instrument down -2. Then use the tuning knob to tune it up 2. What this does is grab a different sample so if you play the same note in both Flute 1 and 2, there will be no phasing. A minor drawback is that it does limit the instrument's range by one whole step on the transposed instrument.

In Cinematic Studio Brass, I did this for the French Horn in order to get horn players 1, 2, 3 and 4 so I could mock up some John Williams stuff. I transposed/tuned Horn 2 -1/+1, Horn 3 -2/+2, and Horn 4 -3/+3.


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## Honigdachs

Joshua Day said:


> Hey Chris, there's a trick I learned from Spitfire regarding getting a Flute 1, Flute 2, Flute 3 etc out of a library that has only one soloist patch. It's not the absolute most realistic when exposed but if you can't afford something like Berlin Woodwinds with individual players, it works very well especially in a mix.
> 
> Duplicate your Flute Solo track in your DAW and have two separate instances of Flute Solo on MIDI channel 1 and 2 in Kontakt. For Flute 2, go into settings and transpose the instrument down -2. Then use the tuning knob to tune it up 2. What this does is grab a different sample so if you play the same note in both Flute 1 and 2, there will be no phasing. A minor drawback is that it does limit the instrument's range by one whole step on the transposed instrument.
> 
> In Cinematic Studio Brass, I did this for the French Horn in order to get horn players 1, 2, 3 and 4 so I could mock up some John Williams stuff. I transposed/tuned Horn 2 -1/+1, Horn 3 -2/+2, and Horn 4 -3/+3.


The transposition trick of course is a classic and does work, but I don't actually find it necessary very often with solo woods and brass. Applying the most common orchestration techniques, two of a kind won't be playing unison very often to begin with, so most of the time I can get away with simply using two instances of the same instrument without adjusting anything, other than maybe panning one of them slightly. Especially woodwinds, since having those play unison doesn't really come with much benefit (they don't blend and sound bigger when doubled the way strings do, for example). And if stuff is really supposed to be a2, the patches for that are included in the library.


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## Joshua Day

Honigdachs said:


> The transposition trick of course is a classic and does work, but I don't actually find it necessary very often with solo woods and brass. Applying the most common orchestration techniques, two of a kind won't be playing unison very often to begin with, so most of the time I can get away with simply using two instances of the same instrument without adjusting anything, other than maybe panning one of them slightly. Especially woodwinds, since having those play unison doesn't really come with much benefit (they don't blend and sound bigger when doubled the way strings do, for example). And if stuff is really supposed to be a2, the patches for that are included in the library.


Occasionally I have found that divisi parts do need to converge on the same note. With round robins, there is less of a chance of the same sample being played anyway, but I still just like to be safe. Also, for me it's more convenient to leave the unison note in the parts rather than cut it out and paste it into the a2/ensemble patch. Makes things easier for the orchestrator too IMO.


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