# Cine Solo strings or Berlin First Chair?



## Martin S (Jun 13, 2021)

I know that Berlin First Chair blends well with Berlin Strings; but to me the Cine Solo strings demos in SP sounds better on their own. How well does Cine Solo’s blend with Berlin Strings? Are they also recorded in-situ (like Berlin first chair)?

I tried the search function but didn’t seem to find an answer.. Hope that anyone with both solo libraries (+ Berlin Strings) can enlighten me. Thanks


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## Jett Hitt (Jun 13, 2021)

Blending isn't really a problem with StaffPad libraries. They all play pretty nicely together. The Cine Solo 1st violin is the best available, but it is the only instrument in the library with legato. BFC has had a lot of articulation trouble in the past, but in general it is probably the most versatile choice. Cine Solo seems to have 50% off sales from time to time, so I would wait and snag it during one of those sales.


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## Martin S (Jun 13, 2021)

Thanks a lot, Jett. Much appreciated. It’s nice to know the libraries generally work well together. Your input is duly noted. As the BFC has more articulations than Cine Solo, I think I’ll get BFC first and later on purchase the Cine Solo. I imagine there will be times where one library will work better than the other - depending on the composition, and being able to swap between them at will is just an added bonus


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## Artemi (Jun 13, 2021)

I'm not sure about your question, but I love how this demo shows up each library.
Check it out if you haven't seen it.


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## ism (Jun 13, 2021)

Artemi said:


> I'm not sure about your question, but I love how this demo shows up each library.
> Check it out if you haven't seen it.



Note that this doesn’t actually show the current Spitfire Solo Strings, its’s the much older Spitfire library that was end of lifed 3 years ago.


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## Artemi (Jun 13, 2021)

ism said:


> Note that this doesn’t actually show the current Spitfire Solo Strings, its’s the much older Spitfire library that was end of lifed 3 years ago.


I think that the current Spitfire Solo Strings could've become a really realistic library, but the excessive amount of vibrato just makes it a little bit synthy. That's just my opinion of course.

There is also Sacconi Strings quartet btw https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/sacconi-strings-quartet/


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## MadLad (Jun 13, 2021)

If you actually write chamber music I'd recommend both. I'm currently working on a string quartet album and I use both.

I write in 8 staffs (4 CineStrings, 4 Berlin First chairs) and the range of timbre and articulations is phenomenal. CineStrings first violin has a beautiful legato just like the viola. They're great for presence and melodies. The first chairs on the other hand work great for texture and accompaniment. Also, the Berlin First Chair Cello sounds overall much better than the CineStrings Cello, especially for melodies.

If you really just want a few solo instruments to complement the orchestra then I'd recommend CineStrings. The first violin is much better than Berlin Strings for that purpose.

Here's an example where I used both libraries, if you want a sound sample:


The CineStrings pizzicati work better for this kind of music. Also, you can hear the beautiful legato of the CineStrings First Violin and how effortlessy the Berlin Strings Cello blends in.

EDIT: One thing that I also like: You basically get more dynamic layers for your pizzicati. The CineStrings pizzicati tend to be slightly louder compared to Berlin Strings and they show more presence. So, if you need soft pizzicati for soft passages go with Berlin Strings, if you need a good groove then go with CineStrings


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## ism (Jun 13, 2021)

Artemi said:


> I think that the current Spitfire Solo Strings could've become a really realistic library, but the excessive amount of vibrato just makes it a little bit synthy. That's just my opinion of course.



I'd argue that it's the least synthy library I own:

 


But the performance does need to be carefully crafted in the vibrato






Spitfire Solo Strings: How I learned to stop worrying and love vibrato


So the short version here, is that after a lot of experimenting, and via a "performance vibrato" script that I've developed, I think I've finally managed to get my head around the vibrato in Spitfire solo strings. And found a way to make it much more playable 'out-of-the-box'. Here's my first...




vi-control.net


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## Artemi (Jun 13, 2021)

ism said:


> I'd argue that it's the least synthy library I own:


I really enjoyed your performance, I've watched you thread also, great composition. 
The only thing that is distracting from the music is the volume swells as someone mentioned in your thread.
But I guess that's how the inbuilt dynamic layers are tuned inside the spitfire library. I's sad that spitfire doesn't allow you to change the setting for the volume balance. 
I've experience that in Albion series.


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## Martin S (Jun 13, 2021)

Thanks for your input, guys 

Maybe I should have made it clear in my initial post, that I meant StaffPad specific libraries. To my knowledge, Spitfire hasn’t released any StaffPad specific solo strings (as of yet) but such an addition would be most welcome.


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## brandowalk (Jun 15, 2021)

Martin S said:


> https://vi-control.net/community/threads/string-quartet-library-recommendations-in-staffpad.106024/I know that Berlin First Chair blends well with Berlin Strings; but to me the Cine Solo strings demos in SP sounds better on their own. How well does Cine Solo’s blend with Berlin Strings? Are they also recorded in-situ (like Berlin first chair)?
> 
> I tried the search function but didn’t seem to find an answer.. Hope that anyone with both solo libraries (+ Berlin Strings) can enlighten me. Thanks


Martin, 

Agree with the comment above that you probably want both at some point if you are doing a lot of writing and want options. If you had to pick one, I would recommend BFC as being more convincing and more musical overall. This is contrary to my original thought listening to demos as well - not sure why.

BFC has some issues with dynamics (shorts vs longs) that are annoying, but overall it is a great library. Cine Solo can have nice moments and is a different flavour, but sometimes sounds synthy to me. The V1 is good to have for some musical lines over BFC. 

Here is a similar thread for more discussion on the topic and with examples of a string quartet suite I wrote using BFC. I may one day do a re-output using Cine Solo Strings for comparison.


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## Martin S (Jun 15, 2021)

Thanks a lot, Brandon and thanks for the link.

Yes, based on the recommendations so far I’ve come to the conclusion that owning both would be the way to go for me. I initially planned to get BFC anyway, but once hearing the demos of Cine Solo’s I was surprised how well it sounds, particularly the 1st violin. Hence my initial question of how well it would blend with Berlin Strings.

I currently don’t have plans of writing for string quartet, although that might change in the future. But having the ability to write solo string passages, with the timbre/color changes, in larger orchestrations is something I’d definitely like to explore further. And it seems the combo of BFC + Cine Solo’s would get me there, at least for most of the writing I have in mind 

All the best,
Martin


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## brandowalk (Jun 15, 2021)

Martin S said:


> ...having the ability to write solo string passages, with the timbre/color changes, in larger orchestrations is something I’d definitely like to explore further.


Yeah, it's nice to have those colors in large orchestrations, using solo strings. Here is an example I used Cine Solo Strings v1 for the melody in a denser orchestration. Halfway through the piece, there is a "duo" with the BFC cello. For the ending, I essentially used a Cine solo quartet. It was great having these additional options and I think they blend well with the larger ensemble.


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## Martin S (Jun 16, 2021)

Beautiful piece, Brandon. Thanks a lot for this; it confirms that having both libraries is a sound (pun intended) decision


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