# Venice Modern Strings - Intro offer ends in 24h



## paoling (Apr 30, 2019)

Hello everyone!
Venice Modern Strings is finally released!



Soon I'll add an articulation walkthrough video...

Here are the first demos:



Price: *349 $* until June 20th (then price will be at 399)

https://fluffyaudio.com/shop/venice-modern-strings


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## James Marshall (Apr 30, 2019)

Is this library quite "wet" out of the box? ... (sorry).

Very intriguing, and look forward to hearing more


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## paoling (Apr 30, 2019)

In the video there was an additional reverb. It's a chamber strings library, sampled in the same room of Rinascimento and Dominus. It's not a completely dry enviroment at all, but this is one of the reason why we love its sound.

edit: now I get the joke! :D


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## axb312 (Apr 30, 2019)

Sounds nice....hopefully will be comprehensive....Looking forward to hearing and seeing more...The dominus room also sounds nice...


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## rottoy (Apr 30, 2019)

What a wonderful thing to start the day with!


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## zimm83 (Apr 30, 2019)

paoling said:


> In the video there was an additional reverb. It's a chamber strings library, sampled in the same room of Rinascimento and Dominus. It's not a completely dry enviroment at all, but this is one of the reason why we love its sound.
> 
> edit: now I get the joke! :D


Will it have polylegato ? Would be cool. Thanks.


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## Rob Elliott (Apr 30, 2019)

Intrigued and can't wait for 'naked' walk-throughs. For me with fast project schedules - I am really interested to see how long/effort is necessary to achieve the 'desired' sound. 'Live' naked walk-throughs give me THAT information the most. Congratulations on what was probably a monumental effort.


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## Vita Et Musica (Apr 30, 2019)

Nice. Definitely a different flavor of strings. Looking forward to it!


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## Wolf68 (Apr 30, 2019)

a very beautiful Video as a complete result! nevertheless - at least atm - I can't hear something Special in the strings. But I'm sure you will impress us soon.


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## paoling (Apr 30, 2019)

zimm83 said:


> Will it have polylegato ? Would be cool. Thanks.


Yes it has polyphonic legato. Not that I personally find it too useful, but it's surely sweeter than a basic sustain patch.


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## zimm83 (Apr 30, 2019)

paoling said:


> Yes it has polyphonic legato. Not that I personally find it too useful, but it's surely sweeter than a basic sustain patch.


YES ! Thanks. That's it !


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## ism (Apr 30, 2019)

As a teaser, it's pretty heavy on the tease. But I love what I'm hearing.

When LCO says "ultra modern strings" in means a kind of harsh, dry, detuned (and very beautiful) sound. Here "modern strings" seems to mean something closer to "Dominus, only with violins instead of singers". Looking forward to more!

Lovely video too. Had to watch it 3 times the visuals were so distracting. Or maybe its that the music was so subtle.


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## ism (Apr 30, 2019)

I was just thinking this morning that what the world desperate needs - and I say this with absolute seriousness - is another chamber strings library. Too early too tell of course, but this sounds like just what I've been hoping form.


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## Leandro Gardini (Apr 30, 2019)

It doens't show much of your strings library but the visuals are great.


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## chapbot (Apr 30, 2019)

I love the tone and am excited to learn more about them!


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## prodigalson (Apr 30, 2019)

Also not exactly sure what’s “modern” about these strings. It just sounds like another string library to me (albeit a very nice sounding one!). Looking forward to seeing more about what it brings to the table that isn’t covered in the 8 million string libraries on the market.


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## Rob Elliott (Apr 30, 2019)

prodigalson said:


> Also not exactly sure what’s “modern” about these strings. It just sounds like another string library to me (albeit a very nice sounding one!). Looking forward to seeing more about what it brings to the table that isn’t covered in the 8 million string libraries on the market.


For me - owning multiple strings libraries is driven by the wide range of projects I am working on. For example, I am just starting reel 3 on a feature and ALREADY I have tapped into 5 different strg libraries to achieve what the client is asking for. Which is the reality for 'snapshot' recorded performances that are what we have. If we were standing in front of musicians in a live session - we could 'ask' for exactly what we need - BUT - with lower budget projects (non-live) it is what it is.

Having said that - at this point with so many 'options' - I am really only excited about anything that offers a differential advantage - over what I own - or in the rare case - something uniquely new and fresh.

Looking forward to hearing more about this one.


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## ism (Apr 30, 2019)

Well, they’re chamber strings. So the only libs I know to compare them to are SCS and LSCS.

And as beautiful as both of those libraries are, this one clearly has its own qualify.


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## paoling (Apr 30, 2019)

Venice recalls to the music of Vivaldi and the Baroque era. So the reason why it is called "modern" is to avoid any connection with that era. Who knows we still may work to Venice Baroque Strings one day.

And why it is called Venice? 
Well, I can't think of any other Italian city that sparks the imagination like Venice, but also most of the players for this project were handpicked from the Virtuosi Italiani, a beautiful ensemble of players who happen to play in Venice very often and they have been working on many albums with Italian and international artists.


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## WaveRider (Apr 30, 2019)

Some really nice film making there. The filmmaker should be commended.


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## artomatic (Apr 30, 2019)

Wanted to hear more of the teaser strings but the visuals' audio was in the way.
Oh well, great visuals though. Looking forward to more teasers!


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## Drundfunk (Apr 30, 2019)

I'm kinda on a sabbatical when it is about buying new libraries, but I'll definitely watch the walkthrough


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## prodigalson (May 1, 2019)

Rob Elliott said:


> For me - owning multiple strings libraries is driven by the wide range of projects I am working on. For example, I am just starting reel 3 on a feature and ALREADY I have tapped into 5 different strg libraries to achieve what the client is asking for. Which is the reality for 'snapshot' recorded performances that are what we have. If we were standing in front of musicians in a live session - we could 'ask' for exactly what we need - BUT - with lower budget projects (non-live) it is what it is.
> 
> Having said that - at this point with so many 'options' - I am really only excited about anything that offers a differential advantage - over what I own - or in the rare case - something uniquely new and fresh.



Right, totally agree and in fact that last sentence "I am really only excited about anything that offers differential advantage" is exactly my point.


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## Lode_Runner (May 2, 2019)

prodigalson said:


> Also not exactly sure what’s “modern” about these strings. It just sounds like another string library to me (albeit a very nice sounding one!). Looking forward to seeing more about what it brings to the table that isn’t covered in the 8 million string libraries on the market.


They're modern compared to Rinascimento and Dominus .

It's nice to hear that it's recorded in the same space as those two libraries.


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## jamwerks (May 2, 2019)

Nice sound but, too much FX noise during that video. Distracting from what I imagine you want people to tune into, the samples...


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## paoling (May 2, 2019)

It's a teaser! Actually the whole teaser idea was an excuse to do a beautiful video. There's something in videomaking that reignites the same creativity stream as music and programming libraries do.


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## jamwerks (May 2, 2019)

paoling said:


> It's a teaser! Actually the whole teaser idea was an excuse to do a beautiful video. There's something in videomaking that reignites the same creativity stream as music and programming libraries do.


If your doing a Teaser for visiting Venise, that works great. If your doing a teaser for a string library, less so. Just my opinion...


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## Batrawi (May 3, 2019)

I love the sound...really live and honest (couldn't find a better word to describe what I'm hearing) which alone justifies its welcoming amongst the many existing string libraries as "not another string library".


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## Loïc D (May 3, 2019)

Very beautiful video !
When did you shoot without the crowd ? I guess early in winter morning, no ?...

Love this city so much.

Looking forward to hearing more of your library.


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## rottoy (May 3, 2019)

I'm really liking the lush vibrato of those players, the little I could discern from the trailer.
Looking forward to the walkthrough and revealing demos! 
You better have tasty true gelato on this with col legno portamento.


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## Go To 11 (May 3, 2019)

When do we find out more?


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## paoling (May 9, 2019)

Hello Everyone! 

We are ironing all the details, polishing stuff here and there, meanwhile collecting beautiful demos from our demo makers, discovering Simone (our new employee) composer's skills, Olmo is doing some videos for a proper walkthrough and I'm trying to setup everything for a shiny release. This time we'll be using Pulse to download the library, to avoid our customers download the library through a long list of .rar files (there will be this option anyway). 
I can share something that may interest you:





"

This library will be a "traditional" kind of core string library. The main stuff is there with some little things that you may not find elsewhere. We have an automated modulation system for all the sustained-like sounds, so you can create some custom articulations that can morph from a tremolo to a flautando, in an automated, controlled, or semi-random way. There will be arcs "a la" 8dio (can I cite other developers). Staccatissimo samples extracted from a real fast performance to perform ostinato-like stuff, time-streatchable staccatos (with Up-Down alternation and RRs), and there will be glissando, legato and bow-change legatos. Also rebowing on the same note. The main artwork, by the talented artist Sofia Bolognesi (https://www.artstation.com/sofiabolognesi) doesn't take space, since it's a panel that hides some custom features for each of the available articulations. 
The idea was to create a pleasant to look GUI, with basic functionality, but let the user explore further the possibilities of the library with the "advanced" controls.

We finished the main editing phase last November, then we spent months playing the library and fixing the stuff that we thing that could be improved, and so on. There are like 120.000 samples in this library (54 gb compressed in NCW)!

The GUI itself is still subject to little additions, we may add some features before the release, but the main point is that we want it to be the best as we can. 
The price won't be something unreasonable I think, something on the line of our most expensive libraries (which are not as expensive as the most expensive libraries of other developers).


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## rottoy (May 9, 2019)

paoling said:


> Hello Everyone!
> 
> We are ironing all the details, polishing stuff here and there, meanwhile collecting beautiful demos from our demo makers, discovering Simone (our new employee) composer's skills, Olmo is doing some videos for a proper walkthrough and I'm trying to setup everything for a shiny release. This time we'll be using Pulse to download the library, to avoid our customers download the library through a long list of .rar files (there will be this option anyway).
> I can share something that may interest you:
> ...


Looks fantastic, Paolo! I'm very much looking forward to the release and the inevitable walkthrough!


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## Go To 11 (May 9, 2019)

paoling said:


> Hello Everyone!
> 
> We are ironing all the details, polishing stuff here and there, meanwhile collecting beautiful demos from our demo makers, discovering Simone (our new employee) composer's skills, Olmo is doing some videos for a proper walkthrough and I'm trying to setup everything for a shiny release. This time we'll be using Pulse to download the library, to avoid our customers download the library through a long list of .rar files (there will be this option anyway).
> I can share something that may interest you:
> ...



Looks beautiful! Not just the artwork, which is stellar, but that lovely set of articulations, in a small warm room, is going to be such a great addition. Flautando and Sul Tasto in a chamber setting is just perfect, and I'm curious to hear Air, too! Do we have a release date yet?


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## paoling (May 9, 2019)

Go To 11 said:


> Do we have a release date yet?


Great question! I wish somewhen this month! Actually the first planned release date was last December :-O


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## ProfoundSilence (May 9, 2019)

I love the artwork, not sure if it's watercolor or coffee stains XD

based on the articulation list, you were playing around - this must have been a real labor of love


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## axb312 (May 9, 2019)

Looks like this has all the key features from the best string libraries out there right now.

Hopefully will sound great too... Excited.. 

How many dynamic layers and round robins pon average @paoling?


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## Lode_Runner (May 9, 2019)

Beautiful interface. I got lost for a moment looking at Sofia's artwork before it dawned on me to look at the articulations. Looking forward to seeing and hearing more.


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## Go To 11 (May 9, 2019)

I'm curious how big the section sizes are too @paoling ! Not sure if you're ready to share that yet though of course.


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## paoling (May 9, 2019)

Sections are 8 5 5 5 3
We have up/down for the arcs and the staccato, 4 dynamic layers for legato, poly legato and sustain and the staccato. RRs vary for the staccato and staccatissimo we have a system with random RRs with more than 4/5 RRs x up/down so it may be 10 per note. (Every note in a certain dynamic area "picks" a random sample from the available RRs in that area).

We have some other ideas that I'd like to implement like that ability to change the speed for the arcs, a keyswitch to force up or down strokes, and so on..

edit: also the Arcs have 4 dynamic layers


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## zimm83 (May 9, 2019)

paoling said:


> Sections are 8 5 5 5 3
> We have up/down for the arcs and the staccato, 4 dynamic layers for legato, poly legato and sustain and the staccato. RRs vary for the staccato and staccatissimo we have a system with random RRs with more than 4/5 RRs x up/down so it may be 10 per note. (Every note in a certain dynamic area "picks" a random sample from the available RRs in that area).
> 
> We have some other ideas that I'd like to implement like that ability to change the speed for the arcs, a keyswitch to force up or down strokes, and so on..


Fantastic. Really looking forward...Polylegatos !!! And rebowings !!! Great !
You could also add a transpose button that enables transpose +/- 24 tones up or down (like the one in OT's Capsule). It is great for layering instruments ....
Just an suggestion...... Thanks ! ( And even maybe an ostinato creator......)...


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## Go To 11 (May 9, 2019)

paoling said:


> Sections are 8 5 5 5 3
> We have up/down for the arcs and the staccato, 4 dynamic layers for legato, poly legato and sustain and the staccato. RRs vary for the staccato and staccatissimo we have a system with random RRs with more than 4/5 RRs x up/down so it may be 10 per note. (Every note in a certain dynamic area "picks" a random sample from the available RRs in that area).
> 
> We have some other ideas that I'd like to implement like that ability to change the speed for the arcs, a keyswitch to force up or down strokes, and so on..



Thanks! This all sounds really promising. 4 dynamic layers beats a lot of developers who offer 3, so that's great to hear. Up/ Down staccato is fantastic to hear and will certainly add to the realism. Can't wait to hear more demos and see walkthroughs etc. Cheers!


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## Rob Elliott (May 9, 2019)

paoling said:


> Sections are 8 5 5 5 3
> We have up/down for the arcs and the staccato, 4 dynamic layers for legato, poly legato and sustain and the staccato. RRs vary for the staccato and staccatissimo we have a system with random RRs with more than 4/5 RRs x up/down so it may be 10 per note. (Every note in a certain dynamic area "picks" a random sample from the available RRs in that area).
> 
> We have some other ideas that I'd like to implement like that ability to change the speed for the arcs, a keyswitch to force up or down strokes, and so on..


LOVE the section sizes. Can't wait to hear naked walkthroughs.


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## MichaelVakili (May 9, 2019)

Fantastic sound and the visuals reminded me of Assassin's Creed 2 .


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## whiskers (May 9, 2019)

i'm intrigued. Also, that teaser video was beautiful.


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## Nicola74 (May 9, 2019)

Very interesting, I like the teaser, the GUI and the sound.
Will it be possible to use a breath controller for dynamics?


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## jamwerks (May 9, 2019)

Great that you did 4 dynamic layers!


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## markleake (May 9, 2019)

Looks great, and the section size seems good. 4 dynamic layers too!

Is there vibrato control on the longs?


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## axb312 (May 9, 2019)

paoling said:


> Sections are 8 5 5 5 3
> We have up/down for the arcs and the staccato, 4 dynamic layers for legato, poly legato and sustain and the staccato. RRs vary for the staccato and staccatissimo we have a system with random RRs with more than 4/5 RRs x up/down so it may be 10 per note. (Every note in a certain dynamic area "picks" a random sample from the available RRs in that area).
> 
> We have some other ideas that I'd like to implement like that ability to change the speed for the arcs, a keyswitch to force up or down strokes, and so on..
> ...



Are there any recorded/ real con sords?


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## Karl Feuerstake (May 11, 2019)

Wow that editor really likes to speed up and slow down footage until it becomes nauseating.


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## Wolf68 (May 11, 2019)

thanks for These further Details! looking Forward to it!


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## paoling (May 14, 2019)

Hello guys!

Something to listen!

Here are some demos of the library.
Shoshin by Riccardo Barba, which shows the library in a typical "Olafur/Einaudi" style. It's nice to note that most of the musicians in this library performed in many famous soundtracks like Einaudi: Experience (watch Watchtower of Turkey, which is an awesome video that inspired a lot our teaser).

Streets of Venice by Antongiulio Frulio, which is one of the works that shows the library in its pureness. I love the burtonian atmosphere.

Gondolas by Ignacio Nunez, that is the demo of the teaser, complete without additional sound effects.



These demos don't showcase all the sounds and articulations in the library, but they are a beautiful example of the sound of these instruments (which we love).

Higher quality playlist at:
https://fidbak.audio/fluffyaudio/player/34c6c3b135ac6c6e30d76cc4


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## constaneum (May 14, 2019)

paoling said:


> Hello guys!
> 
> Something to listen!
> 
> ...




I like street of venice the most. The strings sound beautiful in that piece.


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## GingerMaestro (May 14, 2019)

@paoling These Soundcloud demos are beautiful, really enjoying listening to them this morning especially the streets of Venice. Do you have any idea of pricing at this stage, perhaps there might be an introductory offer ? I'm looking for a couple of string libraries at the moment. Grazie mille.


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## muk (May 14, 2019)

paoling said:


> The price won't be something unreasonable I think, something on the line of our most expensive libraries (which are not as expensive as the most expensive libraries of other developers).



If I am not mistaken, Dominus is currently their most expensive library at 379$/€. That would probably put Venice Modern Strings somewhere around/below 400$/€.


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## Fleer (May 19, 2019)

paoling said:


> Hello guys!
> 
> Something to listen!
> 
> ...



Pretty, pretty, pretty good. 
Reminds me of Einaudi as well as Jóhann Jóhannsson.


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## Nicola74 (May 29, 2019)

Any news?


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## GingerMaestro (May 29, 2019)

I heard from them yesterday, i think they are hoping for a release next week sometime. Fingers crossed. I think there maybe some more demos on another website/forum, but not sure what that would be ? Is there an alternative to VI-Control ?


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## Joe_D (May 29, 2019)

GingerMaestro said:


> I heard from them yesterday, i think they are hoping for a release next week sometime. Fingers crossed. I think there maybe some more demos on another website/forum, but not sure what that would be ? Is there an alternative to VI-Control ?



thesoundboard (dot) net. The “Front Page” sub-forum is accessible to all, and has a thread on Venice Modern Strings. 

FYI, the rest of the forum is hidden until you join (which is free).


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## paoling (May 30, 2019)

Hello!
Here's a more extended version of the Mahler Adagietto. It's always risky to do mockups of classical music. But it's fun and we love this piece so much so we gave it a try.
It's also a nice way to show the subtle dynamics of this library.


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## constaneum (May 30, 2019)

paoling said:


> Hello!
> Here's a more extended version of the Mahler Adagietto. It's always risky to do mockups of classical music. But it's fun and we love this piece so much so we gave it a try.
> It's also a nice way to show the subtle dynamics of this library.




beautiful


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## jbuhler (May 30, 2019)

paoling said:


> Hello!
> Here's a more extended version of the Mahler Adagietto. It's always risky to do mockups of classical music. But it's fun and we love this piece so much so we gave it a try.
> It's also a nice way to show the subtle dynamics of this library.


This mockup especially shows the soft dynamic layer of your library to good effect!


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## GingerMaestro (May 31, 2019)

I think this library sounds really natural, realistic and a great tone. I haven’t heard another library that comes close to this sound. I wonder if there is enough in this to use as a “core” string library, or if it’s more specialized..Really interested to see the walkthrough of how it handles legato and louder dynamics.


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## paoling (May 31, 2019)

Thank you all!


GingerMaestro said:


> Really interested to see the walkthrough of how it handles legato and louder dynamics.


Good point. We are working on preparing some videos. But I find typical half an hour long videos with someone playing through all the sounds a bit annoying. And I really suck at playing live  

Is there anything specific you want to know and wish to hear about the legato?


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## GingerMaestro (May 31, 2019)

Love to hear some big lush soaring Violin and ‘cello melodies. Kind of “classic” film score fare really, whatever that means. Whilst it’s “chamber” in size, the timbre just sounds so fantastic, love to hear it on some grander material. Thank you !


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## Wolf68 (May 31, 2019)

paoling said:


> Hello!
> Here's a more extended version of the Mahler Adagietto. It's always risky to do mockups of classical music. But it's fun and we love this piece so much so we gave it a try.
> It's also a nice way to show the subtle dynamics of this library.



full of life and mahleresque pain, bravo!


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## Blake Ewing (May 31, 2019)

GingerMaestro said:


> Love to hear some big lush soaring Violin and ‘cello melodies. Kind of “classic” film score fare really, whatever that means. Whilst it’s “chamber” in size, the timbre just sounds so fantastic, love to hear it on some grander material. Thank you !


Might be something like that coming soon


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## chapbot (May 31, 2019)

paoling said:


> Thank you all!
> 
> Good point. We are working on preparing some videos. But I find typical half an hour long videos with someone playing through all the sounds a bit annoying. And I really suck at playing live
> 
> Is there anything specific you want to know and wish to hear about the legato?



Those are actually my favorite kind of videos LOL the kind where you hear them play through all the patches for a half hour. I love the new ones 8dio has just put out for their Adagio updates. If you don't like to do them I'm sure someone else will once the library is released 

I am checking the forums every day for the release and/or new demos - I absolutely love the tone of this library and can't wait to get my hands on it!

if you're in the demo making mood I'd love to hear just single legato lines of the violins, violas and cellos.


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## Lode_Runner (May 31, 2019)

paoling said:


> Thank you all!
> We are working on preparing some videos. But I find typical half an hour long videos with someone playing through all the sounds a bit annoying. And I really suck at playing live





chapbot said:


> Those are actually my favorite kind of videos LOL the kind where you hear them play through all the patches for a half hour. I love the new ones 8dio has just put out for their Adagio updates. If you don't like to do them I'm sure someone else will once the library is released


Sorry Paolo, I understand that the really long videos can become taxing, but I'm with Chapbot on this one. I'm actually far more inclined to buy a library based upon an extensive walk-through than demos. Demos can be far more deceptive, while walk-throughs give a much deeper picture of what the library contains and can do out of the box. Also Chapbot is correct, if you don't do it, a third party will and depending on who they are, they may or may not do it justice - I'm sure there are many people in this world who suck more at playing live than you do.


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## constaneum (May 31, 2019)

I have to agree that i prefer walkthrough over demo.


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## Drundfunk (Jun 1, 2019)

paoling said:


> Thank you all!
> 
> Good point. We are working on preparing some videos. But I find typical half an hour long videos with someone playing through all the sounds a bit annoying. And I really suck at playing live


Just split them up as Audiobro did for MSB. So you have shorter videos in general but each about a specific topic. (One for legato, one for shorts etc.). I personally feel like this is a nice way because I can watch one or two videos in the morning when drinking my coffee and then just watch another whenever I have some spare time.


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## paoling (Jun 1, 2019)

Drundfunk said:


> Just split them up as Audiobro did for MSB. So you have shorter videos in general but each about a specific topic.


Yes I agree, also I like how CSS is presented. So many little videos about different features. And also a cinematic overview, that is something beautiful to see


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## chapbot (Jun 6, 2019)




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## paoling (Jun 6, 2019)

Hello guys! Yes Venice Modern Strings is released!

I'm assembling a little articulation walkthrough video to show more of the library. I'll post here when it's done.

I hope you all enjoy the library!

If you have any further questions and so on please let me know, I'll write more detailed info after I'll have the articulation video done.

Thank you all!


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## chapbot (Jun 6, 2019)

I just had a heart attack I am going to rush home and buy it 

Edit: here's the direct link:

https://fluffyaudio.com/shop/venice-modern-strings/

Great intro price $349.


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## Montisquirrel (Jun 6, 2019)

I own a few Fluffy Audio Libraries and only have good experiences with them. This new one sounds beautiful. Conrats for the release! Hope to get my fingers on this one day.


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## estolad (Jun 6, 2019)

This stuff sounds amazing. Definitely going on my wishlist. It just needs to wait a bit with the Cubase, Ethera and Komplete stuff I just bought.


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## chapbot (Jun 6, 2019)

I'm downloading


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## paoling (Jun 6, 2019)

Thank you Chapbot! In this release I'm getting wrong all the order of things. The video should have been out before the release and now I'm late for the mailing list. 

I am super thrilled. Two things I wrote also on the other forum:

I'm quite confident about the most of the important things, its sound. It sounds lush and warm. It has detail, but it doesn't sound too roomy. I love it.

There are a gazillion of things I'd like to add to this library, but I had to stop and release it. There will be many updates for sure, with the ideas we get and functionalities that our users will suggest but at least I won't have the anxiety of having to release it. I'm happy that we are expanding the Fluffy family so I share my thrilling with my colleagues that are way more laid back than me






As usual we strived for making the best legato we could, for smooth and cantabile passages, but all the other articulations sounds quite nice with few caveauts. The staccatissimo is "designed" to make it as short as we could without destroying the room. We cut little samples from a fast performance to make it. 

Other articulations are particularly cool when used with the Morph Controls. It's our way to make a kind of sound design system that's actually useful. On many libraries when they implement sound design tools they sometimes make their instruments to sound like a synth. 

In the end I'm quite happy that I'll finally sleep more than 5 hours. 
I hope you'll enjoy the library!


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## axb312 (Jun 6, 2019)

Would like to hear how this handles faster passages if possible...

For eg.


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## paoling (Jun 6, 2019)

Uhm.. lovely mockup, but this is not legato (I've noticed that you have changed the text).. I'd use the staccatissimo for most of this piece. We have a version of Archoir by Simone Mor, naked with just the staccatissimo in our articulation walkthrough. We'll try to produce some super fast demo-thing anyway :D


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## givemenoughrope (Jun 6, 2019)

That isn't a mockup. It's the real orch with the midi of the mockup playing. Saw it on social media a while ago and it confused me too...


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## whiskers (Jun 6, 2019)

looks and sounds amazing, great work!

also, props on that clean and beautiful GUI design. Too many devs don't keep their UX clean, yours looks especially nice.


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## Manuel Stumpf (Jun 6, 2019)

The painting used in the GUI is beautiful too. Lovely.


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## rottoy (Jun 6, 2019)

chapbot said:


> I'm downloading



When you have it under your fingers, I would love to hear a demonstration of the mic positions!


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## Manuel Stumpf (Jun 6, 2019)

@paoling As the fastspring rar archive downloads were extremely slow I used the pulse downloader. This downloader loads VeniceStrings114 vs the archive downloads are VeniceStrings115. Is there a difference between the two?

I had not too much time to use it yet, but I am already fully pleased and would get it again 
Venice Modern Strings has a beautiful sound 

A possible improvement would be an Ensemble Staccatissimo patch.

Just for info: The double basses do not have a c-extension and thus the lowest note is the E. Not that big of a problem though.


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## paoling (Jun 6, 2019)

Thank you Manuel! No difference between the two. We've named the ear differently because it was easier for Pulse, I believe, to handle many little parts of 1gb each, while for the manual download a bigger ear size would be more handy (so the manual download is 2.5 GB per file).

Let me know your experience with Pulse. We have tested it a lot, it works nice on our system, but some people had some issues that convinced us to give the manual links anyway.


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## Penthagram (Jun 6, 2019)

I´ve been playing around with Venice Modern Strings a little now. I´ve had/have lot´s of string libraries. And lately the only one I´m using is CSS. I´m pleased that I try Venice Strings. It sounds fantastic. And one thing I really like is that it sits super well with CSS. both together sound fantastic. Venice for me has a bit more defined and slightly brighter tone than css, not to be mistaken with harsh. Is really mellow. Dynamics are well captured as well. Don´t get me wrong, if i´m mentioning CSS in this post is cause is my by FAR favourite string library and I use it as a context. I can say Venice Strings is on par with CSS. Both combined are very nice! I think I better show something quick I did with Venice . As I think it speaks on their own. This has violins I, Viola, Cello and Basses from Venice Modern Strings, Mixed with Violins II from CSS. The link : https://www.dropbox.com/s/clrilhn4fhibdew/Venice Test.wav?dl=0 also played some lines with the first violin of Venice Modern Strings using the legato patch : https://www.dropbox.com/s/yl0p6ijt4fj3vfu/Venice Violin I legato test.wav?dl=0

Cheers!


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## Drundfunk (Jun 6, 2019)

Love the sound. Sounds and looks fantastic! Will definitely put it on my wishlist. Need to buy another SSD before even thinking about it tho .


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## AllanH (Jun 6, 2019)

That's an impressive release. I really like the warm sound. The staccatissimo demo is really excellent and essentially avoids the "machine gun" effect despite the same-note repetitions. I'm thinking of 2:30 into the Overview Video.


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## Manuel Stumpf (Jun 6, 2019)

paoling said:


> Let me know your experience with Pulse. We have tested it a lot, it works nice on our system, but some people had some issues that convinced us to give the manual links anyway.


Download through pulse worked very well. The biggest disadvantage is: Pulse buffers the temporary files to the main system drive and there is no option to change this path (really there should be an option, so that you can point to another disk for these big data files) . Which means you need the complete library space free on that drive, which already was a problem for me. My system drive is only a rather small SSD. For 55GB it was ok, but if a sample lib would have 100GB, the downloader would be totally useless for users having a small main system drive.

Most often I prefer manual links over tools (at least as a fallback option they are important).


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## pulsedownloader (Jun 7, 2019)

Manuel Stumpf said:


> Download through pulse worked very well. The biggest disadvantage is: Pulse buffers the temporary files to the main system drive and there is no option to change this path (really there should be an option, so that you can point to another disk for these big data files) . Which means you need the complete library space free on that drive, which already was a problem for me. My system drive is only a rather small SSD. For 55GB it was ok, but if a sample lib would have 100GB, the downloader would be totally useless for users having a small main system drive.
> 
> Most often I prefer manual links over tools (at least as a fallback option they are important).



Hi @Manuel Stumpf yes you're absolutely right! Not the best experience as some people don't have that much space on their main drive. So we're changing this right now and releasing the update in the next few days at the latest - your app will automatically update once the new version is out. Thanks for the feedback


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## rottoy (Jun 7, 2019)

I'm really curious about the spot mic position, any demos of that?


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## Penthagram (Jun 7, 2019)

rottoy said:


> I'm really curious about the spot mic position, any demos of that?


If i have time today can render some lines with that. Cannot promise anything as I'm busy, but will try!


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## Manuel Stumpf (Jun 7, 2019)

pulsedownloader said:


> Thanks for the feedback


Nice. Didn't expect a response on that so quick .


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## gpax (Jun 7, 2019)

I will say that the overview video on Fluffy’s site gives an honest and compelling representation of the character and sound. If you hear both those sustained moments in the Mahler, or the shorter pulse of the Vivaldi, and think how you might sculpt (midi interpret) a note or two a bit differently, as was my reaction before buying, that sums up my experience working through various patches so far. Kudus to them for using known works to help expose the product, btw.

Which is to also say I find the brighter quality to be both immediate and unique - something that has been missing from my string library template. I can’t say enough about how glad I am for that character. The choice of the hall/space used in recording, imho, is half the brilliance (literally). Some will find this to be too wet, and for my taste, the close mics alone capture that resonance and natural decay best, where less is more (the default patches load both close and far, and no mid, and I immediately started muting the far for composing purposes). So, I do find the mics here to be less distinct from each other than I’d like, though I’m only relaying first impressions here, void of thorough testing.

But to me, that space is a feature of how and where this was recorded: any style one might associate with Venice is not merely a product name here, as it is implicit to me that Fluffy set out to be distinguishable from the British hall sound, and the German studio, or an East European character, or other European go to venues, or even the darker coloring in another hemisphere hall mentioned by others - and it succeeds in standing apart on that front. I tend to be more critical of coloring in string libraries (not just the room decay) as I compose small/chamber/stage, than perhaps others are who work in more expansive orchestral strokes. Hence, “yet another string library” had to catch my ear before purchasing.

In terms of core articulations and how I (we) are accustomed to a certain way of working, I felt during auditioning yesterday those moments where the staccatos (and staccatissimos) have to be approached on their terms, if that makes sense. That these have a certain lilt in fast passages, and can be further harnessed via velocity considerations (and TM, though to very mixed results for me), is very stylistic and appealing. And while I suppose they are capable of being used (obliterated) into epic hellish intent, I would recommend other options for those inclined to do so.

The other expressive articulations, like floutandos and arcs are reminiscent of other libraries I use, and yet brighter in character for reasons already mentioned.

The compare/contrast, or blending with other library scenarios is inevitable to me as well, where I am already plotting how I might round out sustains or give more weight to shorts, sparingly. Though not necessarily. Listening to the demo songs beforehand, I had (have) reservations about some of the higher string legato, where scripting compensates for what feels like a slightly less mature development compared to other considerations.

And yet, I actually don’t always want a library to impose its legato on me (old school, I know). There were no surprises to me after buying, where the ample and amply expressive legato is concerned - Venice’s included tools for further shaping how legato styles are triggered a necessity. Out of boxers should take note! As these are all first impressions, it’s still a bit early for me to say how I will ultimately feel after integrating Venice in projects, except I already know that the glassier overall (baroque sheen) is worth whatever effort I put into shaping legato, even if I blend in a workflow like SCS, albeit very discriminately.

I haven’t gotten there yet, and can see how the advanced features themselves are going to be key in creating nuance. To me, so far, that nuance is never simply “out of the box,” no matter which library I use, though I was easily lost and absorbed playing the cello yesterday to great, inspirational affect - which meets a personal threshold for me in terms of a library’s effectiveness for future use. It’s not a perfect library, or a perfectly articulated solution throughout, and it has some inconsistencies I’m detecting (as well as technical glitches I have reported already). Being visually impaired, I wished Fluffy had stayed with the higher contrast against the parchment art throughout, as opposed to the second tier options which use muddy low contrast beiges and browns (and small text) for the advanced tools.

[Edit: not to end on a critical note, I meant to conclude with how my overall impressions are positive.]

Please forgive my review style, as it is what I did for years, and I tend to lapse into that cadence, lol. My personal wallet paid for these humble opinions and first impressions, all typed on an iPad at 4 am.


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## manuhz (Jun 7, 2019)

A pleasure to read such kind of personal reviews, very helpful and honest. Kudos to you!

This library seems to be a nice addition to the actual strings palette and would probably fits my needs. I hope Paolo will find some time to make a complete walkthrough video including "naked" playing of each instrument and mic comparison...


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## markleake (Jun 7, 2019)

@gpax. Thanks for your review, much apprected. It's a bit hard to follow you in places, but it sounds like you are giving it a thumbs up on sound and scripting overall?


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## GingerMaestro (Jun 7, 2019)

paoling said:


> Let me know your experience with Pulse. We have tested it a lot, it works nice on our system, but some people had some issues that convinced us to give the manual links anyway.



@pulsedownloader The pulse download worked well for me, no issues. I actually liked that I didn't have to physically download on to my laptop and then move it to my ssd drive etc...Took about an hour which I guess is fair for 50GB of Library. I will now back up to my spare drive


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## gpax (Jun 7, 2019)

markleake said:


> @gpax. Thanks for your review, much apprected. It's a bit hard to follow you in places, but it sounds like you are giving it a thumbs up on sound and scripting overall?


Sorry about that! It was really meant to be nuanced first impressions, and not a definitive review at this point. In truth, I thought I was posting in the other thread asking for those impressions, and by accident posted here instead. I really like this library, The sound which seems tailor-made for my style. But I’m still working through its various strengths and weaknesses.


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## artomatic (Jun 7, 2019)

Lovely demos! Owning most of the major string libraries make it so much harder to purchase another one.
But this is a gem. Wonderful tone...
Will most likely pull the trigger on this one. 
It'll be my last string library to buy....


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## zolhof (Jun 7, 2019)

artomatic said:


> Lovely demos! Owning most of the major string libraries make it so much harder to purchase another one.
> But this is a gem. Wonderful tone...
> Will most likely pull the trigger on this one.
> It'll be my last string library to buy....


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## chocobitz825 (Jun 7, 2019)

zolhof said:


>


Got to me Yoda did..
Regret, I do not.


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## rottoy (Jun 7, 2019)

True legato, you seek.
Many round robins, you will have.


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## gpax (Jun 7, 2019)

artomatic said:


> But this is a gem.


I am finding this to be very true with this library as I work with it more.


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## Ashermusic (Jun 7, 2019)

I just got it. I _swore_ I would not review another strings library but because Paolo always gets the tone right, I changed my mind. And darned if he hasn’t done it again! It sounds gorgeous. Looking forward to learning how best to use it.


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## artomatic (Jun 7, 2019)

pulsedownloader said:


> Hi @Manuel Stumpf yes you're absolutely right! Not the best experience as some people don't have that much space on their main drive. So we're changing this right now and releasing the update in the next few days at the latest - your app will automatically update once the new version is out. Thanks for the feedback




Yeah, ran out of system drive space. Cancelled the download and quit Pulse. Can't find the downloaded, incomplete VMS files that are currently occupying disk space. I want to delete them. Where are they located?


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## Manuel Stumpf (Jun 8, 2019)

artomatic said:


> Yeah, ran out of system drive space. Cancelled the download and quit Pulse. Can't find the downloaded, incomplete VMS files that are currently occupying disk space. I want to delete them. Where are they located?


Search for big .rar archives somewhere deeply buried in the user folder (if I remember correctly).


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## Drundfunk (Jun 8, 2019)

Damn you Paolo! The more I listen to the demotracks and watch the overview and the walkthrough, the more I think about prostituting myself just so I can buy another SSD AND this library. The tone is just.....so damn satisfying and classy and different to anything else I own. I swore to myself I'll be on a sabbatical this year and won't buy any library, but this..... . Well since I like Dominus very much it's probably my own fault for even watching those videos and listening to the demo tracks. Damnit!


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## stevenson-again (Jun 10, 2019)

Well it does sound fantastic, but could someone tell me if 1) the reverb is baked in or not? and 2) can you adjust the volume of the transitions?

So I'm not keen on the reverb used in some of the demos, but the change in intensity seems really smooth and there's a warm tone that should be easy to mix. The transitions at times stick out a bit - can they be adjusted for length or volume?

I see that there are some close mic options - but I couldn't tell much of a difference in the video.

Some other questions; 
- Can the dynamics be compressed? Most libraries are too dynamic meaning we don't get to exploit the colour differences in intensity layers.
- Are there individual articulations - ie non KSW options. (KSWing is the spawn of the devil IMO). Or can the articulations be re-ordered in anyway?

I'm sorry if they have been answered already - but it's a long thread to trawl through.


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## paoling (Jun 10, 2019)

Hello Stevenson!

Venice Modern Strings is not a dry library. Its sound is half part of the quality of the musicians involved and half the wonderful tone of the hall where we have recorded it. In some demos there's a bit of reverb (mainly a touch of Valhalla Room, just a bit), while in the walkthough video the library is without any reverb. Anechoic - super dry recordings tends to be incredibly dull and when there's some room left it tends to sound quite bad. And this often affects the performance of the players.

There are individual articulations. I'm not a fan of keyswitching too. And they are faster to load than the full patches. In anycase you can load and unload any articulation that you don't need, right in the interface.

There's a legato transition volume control, but it mainly affects the transition when playing really fast (the idea is that the transition is more pronounced when performing a faster passage). We'll add your request in the future things to add to the library.

About compressing the dynamics, I guess you can do with an external plugin in your DAW. What we have instead, which is quite unusual is a way to "compress" the modwheel behavior, as much as it happens with the Velocity curve.

By the way: here's a copy of the manual.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d94n4pi5vq2b5io/Venice Modern Strings - Manual.pdf?dl=0


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## pulsedownloader (Jun 10, 2019)

Hi all, we've released an update to Pulse now - it will now install your temp files in the download directory instead of the system drive. 

Additionally there's dual extraction built into the app now which means that if the built in extraction software (7zip) has issues extracting the files files properly for any reason, it will try a separate backup program (Unrar) instead. 

More updates coming soon - if you have any issues at all, please just contact us directly at [email protected] and we'll help you out. Thanks

The Pulse Team


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## pulsedownloader (Jun 10, 2019)

artomatic said:


> Yeah, ran out of system drive space. Cancelled the download and quit Pulse. Can't find the downloaded, incomplete VMS files that are currently occupying disk space. I want to delete them. Where are they located?



Hi @artomatic, the files would have been saved to:

PC:
C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Pulse\downloads

Mac:
~/Library/Application Support/Pulse/downloads


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## ChristianM (Jun 10, 2019)

These strings are a crime for my finances: how can I survive long time?


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## Ihnoc (Jun 11, 2019)

@paoling this sounds great. I was initially skeptical with the legato transitions and shorts from the walkthrough, but comparing to the demos I think you have shown those articulations in their walkthrough in their truest light which is very honest. I much enjoyed the Hisaishi reference in The Word of Midori by the way.

Some questions;

The videos suggest that hard velocity triggers slower legato transitions and lower velocities trigger faster transitions. Have I got that wrong? Can I invert it (since most other libraries do faster transitions on harder velocities)?
Can I control the short notes dynamics using a CC (rather than velocity)?
Have you considered a con sordino filter?


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## stevenson-again (Jun 11, 2019)

> Anechoic - super dry recordings tends to be incredibly dull and when there's some room left it tends to sound quite bad. And this often affects the performance of the players.



I completely agree. Without some early reflections the frequency response is unnatural and makes sitting the sound in a mix extremely difficult. However a chamber string sound is generally what we would reach for when looking for a closer more intimate sound, and the reverb I heard in the demos felt like it was getting away from that a bit.

Good to know about individual articulations. I tend to blend my libraries a lot and the way I have things set up I can have access to all my favourite articulations including blended ones from all libraries from one single midi instrument with a simple program change switchable on the fly.



> bout compressing the dynamics, I guess you can do with an external plugin in your DAW. What we have instead, which is quite unusual is a way to "compress" the modwheel behavior, as much as it happens with the Velocity curve.



No - you misunderstand me. I am not interested in audio compression, but I find many (most) libraries too dynamic. The louds are too loud compared to the softs. That's because of the mic positioning, which exaggerates dynamics in relation to how we perceive the sound when listening. It means fighting to get the sound balanced, or not using the extremes of the dynamic range. The result is we never really get to exploit the colour range of the recorded intensities. Hans Zimmer gets that in the HZ percussion so the level of the softs can be brought up so they aren't too soft in relation to the louds. It's one of my pet gripes about sound libraries.

What I heard from the demos was pretty good but it's hard to tell just by listening whether that was an issue for the composers. It's one of the first things I look for in an orchestral library. If the mic positioning is far enough away it doesn't matter too much. Berlin winds for example, seems to be a good example of being well balanced in this respect. It'd be great to get some control...I'd like to be programming going the other, pulling softs down a bit for once.


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## artomatic (Jun 11, 2019)

Is the portamento speed fixed? Would sure love to have it editable to fit the bpm of a project...


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## Olmo (Jun 13, 2019)

artomatic said:


> Is the portamento speed fixed? Would sure love to have it editable to fit the bpm of a project...


Hi Artomatic! Hello everybody!
Yes, the portamento speed is fixed.
Best


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## constaneum (Jun 13, 2019)

any detailed walkthrough yet ?


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## PeterJCroissant (Jun 14, 2019)

Hi Guys - I have written a quick 2 minute piece to demo Venice Strings. I really like it, Its uber sweet, very real, when I listened back and heard a human breath I almost died! ha....I even question my self if id recorded real musicians! well, of course it is that anyway...but it certainly brought home the very real nature of this strings. I hope you enjoy it.


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## ism (Jun 14, 2019)

PeterJCroissant said:


> Hi Guys - I have written a quick 2 minute piece to demo Venice Strings. I really like it, Its uber sweet, very real, when I listened back and heard a human breath I almost died! ha....I even question my self if id recorded real musicians! well, of course it is that anyway...but it certainly brought home the very real nature of this strings. I hope you enjoy it.




That is absolutely gorgeous. It completely sells me on what's so wonderful about this library.

A real sense of ... 'Fluffy-ness'? ... for lack of a better word. 

An entirely worth companion to Dominus.


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## ism (Jun 14, 2019)

That said ... trying to put my finger on what exactly is this sense of 'Fluffy-ness' ... and not sure I know exactly, by I know it when I hear it.


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## Mike Marino (Jun 15, 2019)

PeterJCroissant said:


> Hi Guys - I have written a quick 2 minute piece to demo Venice Strings. I really like it, Its uber sweet, very real, when I listened back and heard a human breath I almost died! ha....I even question my self if id recorded real musicians! well, of course it is that anyway...but it certainly brought home the very real nature of this strings. I hope you enjoy it.



Wonderful stuff!


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## paoling (Jun 15, 2019)

Hello guys!

Unfortunately we can't find the time to do another video walkthrough now, because we have an upcoming project next week. But you'll hear more news about Venice this year, for sure!



Ihnoc said:


> The videos suggest that hard velocity triggers slower legato transitions and lower velocities trigger faster transitions. Have I got that wrong? Can I invert it (since most other libraries do faster transitions on harder velocities)?
> 
> Can I control the short notes dynamics using a CC (rather than velocity)?
> 
> Have you considered a con sordino filter?



1-Harder Velocities / Pitchwheel / CC Values (whatever you choose) triggers the Bow Change legato, which is not at all faster than the fingered legato. 
2-At the moment no, but we've added this into the feature suggestion!
3-Yes, we have considered but we need a fair amount of time to study how the frequency change of string when a sordino is applied. We'll surely want to add it. 




stevenson-again said:


> No - you misunderstand me. I am not interested in audio compression, but I find many (most) libraries too dynamic. The louds are too loud compared to the softs. That's because of the mic positioning, which exaggerates dynamics in relation to how we perceive the sound when listening.



I don't believe this happens with our library. This is tends to be the result of bad volume trickeries in the programming part. Or maybe a bad effect of normalization (which we don't do).
Often developers (including us in some very simple instruments) tend to use the volume to emulate the dynamic. And this results in some lack of presence at the lower dynamics (or too much presence at higher ones). What mainly change between the different dynamic layers is the amount of harmonics that the instrument produce, so in some cases a filter would work better than volume trickeries.

Anyway this doesn't happen of course in Venice. Except for maybe the first 10 modwheel values which go from silence to pianissimo, at all the other modwheel values you'll hear a certain section playing at their correct volume. 


I loved Peter demo. In few phrases it captures the much of the beauty of this library!


So I asked him the midi of his piece, to show you the different mic positions. 

(all cues are of course, without any reverb, and the spot mics are panned with the included tools, since their default position is set in front of the section)









We are thinking about a few ideas about the future of Venice Modern Strings. Feel free to write us to tell your opinions and suggestions!


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## axb312 (Jun 15, 2019)

paoling said:


> Hello guys!
> 
> Unfortunately we can't find the time to do another video walkthrough now, because we have an upcoming project next week. But you'll hear more news about Venice this year, for sure!
> 
> ...




Close mics sound sublime. Mid mics sound like the panning is reversed to me for some reason (Violins on the right). 

I would love to see a demo showcasing Venice strings playing more lively/ faster parts well.


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## grandgooroo (Jun 17, 2019)

Yes, how it behaves on fast runs please ?


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## garylionelli (Jun 17, 2019)

paoling said:


> Hello guys!
> 
> Unfortunately we can't find the time to do another video walkthrough now, because we have an upcoming project next week. But you'll hear more news about Venice this year, for sure!
> 
> ...



Read portamento is fixed, but I assume we can turn it off, yes? Is there an option to have the 5th note from the start of the piece NOT have such a exaggerated gliss? Whenever I hear these transitions they always scream string samples.


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## constaneum (Jun 17, 2019)

Has anyone actually started reviewing this library? curious....i like the sound of the spot mics but i'm really curious with the rest of the articulations which aren't shown or explained much in the walkthrough.


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## paoling (Jun 19, 2019)

garylionelli said:


> Read portamento is fixed, but I assume we can turn it off, yes? Is there an option to have the 5th note from the start of the piece NOT have such a exaggerated gliss? Whenever I hear these transitions they always scream string samples.



Hello Gary, sure you can choose between legato, bowchange legato and portamento. By default the portamento plays if you play at avery low velocity level and the bowchange if you play at a very high velocity level. But you can also control the legato type with the pitchwheel or a CC control that you like. If you set it to a CC that you don't use, the instrument will just play the normal legato.

Just one thing! The Intro price for Venice Modern Strings ends in 24h!


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## Everratic (Jan 12, 2021)

I made a video with patch demonstrations.


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