# 8Dio Century Strings



## Zhao Shen (Dec 8, 2015)

*The Post:*

http://8dio.com/#blog/century-strings/

December 9th:

"Colin and I have sampled orchestral instruments for over 12 years. The learning curve has been incredibly rewarding and like everything in life – we’ve developed a more nuanced and finite understanding through the years. The ultimate culmination of all our efforts happened earlier this year during our Century Brass Project. We kinda had a feeling during the sessions, but surely know it now. We finally got it right. In part because of the new recording techniques we’ve developed. In part because of the amazing players, conductor and environment we recorded in. But also in part because of you and all the incredible feedback we received during our initial public announcement of the project.

The time has come to take the ultimate task upon us and expand our Century Series to include orchestral strings. The current generation of string products (including our own) are good, but users are having a hard time creating completely realistic mock-ups with true emotion. A part of the challenge lies in the ways things are recorded. If you have an uninspired orchestra – you get uninspired samples, which ultimately means you get an uninspired library. Another challenge lies in the fact that most orchestral products are too complicated to use and control.

We want to invite you to tell us about your experience with string products. What works? What doesn’t work? What features do you love and what features would you like added? Are there certain things you can’t do with your library? Is there a specific type of controls you want? We want you to participate in the what we know will be the greatest string collection ever created. We have booked the same hall we used for Century Brass for over 2 months and are preparing some really, really heavy marathon sessions. But we want your input. We want to tell us what you want and we will do our best to make it happen. The ambition with 8Dio Century Strings is to make this an open and transparent project from the start till the ending. So give us ALL your input on this page or our Facebook page and we will address all your questions in a Podcast December 15th 2015. We need all your input by Wednesday 14th of December. We will be adding new posts as the project progresses.

Ps. We also have great news for all our current string owners. It’s four years ago since we began the journey with our Adagio, Adagietto and Agitato series. We obviously learned a tremendous amount of things during those sessions (+60 days of consecutive recording time) and in the production of the libraries. The end-result was the creation of the most alive sounding strings on todays market. However we’ve also realize that all the different string volumes can seem confusing to customers, which is why we are excited to announce that we are working on consolidating our Adagio and Agitato Series into one singular volume, which will be available spring 2016.

Let’s make this happen and create the best string tools for you (and us).

Sincerely, Troels & Colin"

*My Opinions:*

I must say, 8Dio is impressively ambitious. I absolutely support this decision - Adagio/Agitato/Adagietto has always occupied a certain niche in my mind that I wouldn't assign to orchestral strings due to their very unique tone. Century Strings - just the name already has me longing for it. I am very eager to see what they have in store for us. With the continuous boundary-pushing evolution of their sampling, I'm confident that they won't disappoint.

*My Suggestions Post:
*
"Wow. If the Century Orchestra goes as you guys have planned, it will have a titanic impact in the world of sampling. Looking forward to seeing just how amazing it will be!

As for features, a bigger focus on mic positions would be very nice - there are times when dryer samples make all the difference, and no reverb can replicate the lushness of an actual hall. The ability to switch between multiple well-recorded mic positions is invaluable, and it's something that I think the Adagio series didn't emphasize as much.

And I'm sure you guys are already making sure to include a comprehensive set of articulations, but the inclusion of sul tasto and sul ponticello would be a superb bonus feature. Multiple legato transitions/bowings/styles and first chair recordings would also be fantastic. With its increasing prevalence in the musical (and especially sampled musical) world, I also think multiple styles of spiccato would be useful, or maybe spiccato + staccatissimo.

To cap it all off, perhaps the characteristic I'm looking forward to hearing most - dynamic range. A smooth dynamic range from pianissimo to fortissimo would be simply incredible. So many libraries excel especially at one dynamic, and I think to truly capture the beauty of orchestral strings in one library, an expansive and beautiful dynamic range is a must."


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## zolhof (Dec 8, 2015)

Awesome! I'm always rooting for anyone that is willing to raise the bar and bring something new to the table.


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## IvanP (Dec 9, 2015)

Above anything, I'd love to use a legato patch that lets you change / choose the bow only when you say so. 

i.e. sus pedal up for down bow, pedal down for up bow, etc... or a kswtch...

Bowing has been always chosen almost randomly for easiness of patch playing, but most of the time it sounds wrong, since the patch changes bows when it shouldn't. 

What would make a more realistic playing (at least for me) is the ability to phrase it like a real player. Combine 2 up bows, change the bow on a specific note to be able to make use of the whole bow on the next phrase, etc. 

It might be less appealing to instant gratification playing, but, definitely a boost in playability...

I can only imagine sequencing a whole stuff, with all the expression, vibrato included, etc

Then, using your own score, choose (as a real player would do), when you'd be changing bows!

I, for sure, would love to have a patch like that!


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## Markus S (Dec 9, 2015)

These guys rock!


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## procreative (Dec 9, 2015)

Without wishing to snipe slightly, 8Dio do tend to over hyperbolise and make grandiose claims. Every time they have a new product its "groundbreaking" and "a game changer". They don't tend to fix things as often as other devs either.

Remains to be seen what the good news is for existing string owners, but I expect it will be an attempt to flog us the Agitato to Adagio users or Adagio to Agitiato users at some add-on price.

There are still some inconsistencies between articulations in Adagio. Its not a bad product but its not useable enough for me. I was offered a great deal to obtain 8w but it was still not enough to convince me (for one there are no legato demos in any videos, same for Majestica).

Im just a little stumped how many different "definitive" versions of epic strings one company can put out.


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## FriFlo (Dec 9, 2015)

My hope would be, that this would become a project, where their dedication to improvements and additions lasted for a century (pun intended). The Adagio/Agitato series was however announced with pretty much the same promise and look how quickly it is going to be bundled in an archive now.
I am actually very happy for any developer to do his version of the "perfect orchestral library", as we might find use in all of them! But since it is always a big investment, I must say I am pretty doubtful whether to trust 8dio with their history to make that a long lasting product due to their commitment. So far, I got the impression, they are primarily interested in the new, which brings most of the money ...


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## phil_wc (Dec 9, 2015)

I own a few 8dio libraries. I actually like the sound but I don't like that they have some bugs in scripting and balancing. I reported and hope they gonna have update, but nothing. They just keep releasing new products.


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## scarred bunny (Dec 9, 2015)

Mixed feelings... I'd rather they prioritized fixing the problems in the old Adagio series first rather than record all new material. I don't have the whole Adagio set, but what I do have I have a hard time using because it's pretty inconsistent. Which is a shame because I hear a lot of untapped potential in there.

I guess my wish list consists mostly of things that I feel should have been in the Adagio series but weren't:
- make sure the transition and release samples work smoothly and consistently, that the timing of the short notes is tight, that the stereo imaging doesn't jump around, et cetera. 
- velocity-sensitive attack control for long notes; we don't want every long note to start with a long smooth fade-in, we want this to be controllable. (In Adagio, this seems to be a common cause of bumpy transitions: with the slow attacks you need to allow the first note time to properly fade in for it to be matched volume-wise to the following transition sample. This vastly limits the number of contexts where the legato patches are usable.) 
- give us a way of controlling the re-bowing, rather than relying on tempo-sync with Time Machine. As of now these patches are only really usable at a particular tempo, +/- a few BPMs. (I figure this should be possible. Some libraries already use special "same note legato" transitions between notes that are retriggered in rapid succession, and it works pretty well. If I recall from the walkthrough, Emotional Cello lets you trigger rebowing via a keyswitch - but I don't have it so I don't know how well it works.)
- if you are going to give us pre-recorded dynamic bowings, give us a wider variety; not just smooth crescendos of different lengths.

So... yeah. Just in general, make it consistent, make it controllable. 

Specials like sul tasto, sul ponticello, con sordino et cetera would be cool, but honestly I'd rather focus on 'the basics' and getting them right and done well. And I'd rather have a wider variety of musically useful articulations than fifty different microphone positions that I'll never use because the baked-in ambience gets too problematic.


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## Tatu (Dec 9, 2015)

I hope that for once, a dev would make a legato patch, that doesn't legato the tail when there's a gap, but allows/forces either a scripted or natural fade.


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## ysnyvz (Dec 9, 2015)

It's good if they are learning. But there is one more thing they need to learn.


Zhao Shen said:


> The end-result was the creation of the most alive sounding strings on todays market.


I own full Adagio & Adagietto and this claim is not even close to truth.


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## vicontrolu (Dec 9, 2015)

Classic 8Dio hype speech. Man, you surely need some skills to keep writing things like these, specially after praying to the winds all the emotion on Adagio/agitato and now precisely saying they lack it! 

Anyway..lets see what they come up with.


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## Zhao Shen (Dec 9, 2015)

Hearing a lot of negativity here. I agree that the Adagio series is nothing outstanding relative to the rest of today's string libraries, and most definitely not "the most alive sounding strings on todays market." However, IMO 8Dio has gotten much, much better at sampling and scripting with their more recent products and it makes me excited to see what they will be able to achieve.


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## procreative (Dec 9, 2015)

I guess the negativity stems from the hyperbole and OTT claims, listen all developers are there to sell their products. But frequently Troels makes some pretty big statements, the best this, the best that.

Most of the time the walkthroughs rely on his nifty keyboard licks more than proper demonstration of what the libraries do and don't do.

Most of the negative opinion of 8Dio is not that the products are bad, but they over promise what they actually deliver and seem to generally forget their products once released.

The trouble when a developer releases the first of a series and you buy into that philosophy on the basis of future lines then they ditch it, makes you loath to trust them again. Remember Kore?


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## vicontrolu (Dec 9, 2015)

8Dio´s are my main strings and i love them, for the record. This and my thoughts on my previous post is 100% compatible.

I am actually pissed about the lack of decent updates, but i guess this happens with most of developers..except for ProjectSam and a few more.


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## stonzthro (Dec 9, 2015)

Don't think I'll be buying yet another string library from 8Dio - surprisingly, they still have stereo issues from time to time they have never addressed (2+ years and no update). The sound is good, but better than anything else? No, not by a long shot... It would seem 8Dio's update plan is for the public to just buy a new product. Thanks heavens ProjectSAM and Spitfire do actual updates.


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## gjelul (Dec 9, 2015)

Doesn't make any sense when there is already adagio / adagietto, w8 black and other strings from 8dio. Why not fix / update these instead? as an owner of almost everything they've made, i feel it is becoming a wall-mart rather than a boutique sample library. too many packaging, repackaging, same things with different names (same as this but minus microphone positions, hence a different name, and such). and not to mention the V8P 'exclusivity' now out of the window. 

Will definitely have to wait on this one...


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## ysnyvz (Dec 9, 2015)

It's not negativity, it's objectivity. I don't have Claire woodwinds but tried them with a friend. They have same inconsistencies like Adagio. Volume, dynamics, stereo image, reverberation, timbre, legato transitions, tightness, release tails etc. A lot of random problems. Some of them are related to recording techniques but some of them are there because of editing/programming. 
Making a sample library is a tiresome work. Recording a huge library with good players is just tip of the iceberg. Hard work comes after that. Have you ever edited/programmed samples for 10 hours almost everyday? I have. It was not fun like building hype on social media and it took a year.


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## Tatu (Dec 9, 2015)

gjelul said:


> Will definitely have to wait on this one


Yep and this applies to Century Brass as well


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## Zhao Shen (Dec 9, 2015)

gjelul said:


> Doesn't make any sense when there is already adagio / adagietto, w8 black and other strings from 8dio. Why not fix / update these instead?



I agree that 8Dio has been pretty awful with updates, but IMO 8Dio has still never created true orchestral strings. 8W is in a totally different category of mega-sized ensembles that isn't related, and the Adagio/Agitato/Adagietto line is very uniquely niche. I would describe it as a contemporary cinematic approach to strings, but I've certainly never considered them capable of anything close to traditional orchestra. Compare Adagio and Berlin Strings, and what do you see? It's not that one sounds better than the other, it's that each have completely different philosophies and goals.


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## ModalRealist (Dec 9, 2015)

Zhao Shen said:


> The learning curve has been incredibly rewarding and like everything in life – *we’ve developed a more nuanced and finite understanding* through the years.



*finite*
_adjective_
1. limited in size or extent


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## wst3 (Dec 9, 2015)

I don't see 8Dio changing their go-to-market plan anytime soon, and I guess I don't really care - they are passionate about their libraries. There is a natural downside to that passion, and it does leave some older libraries gathering dust, but if they really plan to roll all the strings into one package I'm anxious to see how that turns out!

Things I'd keep from the current line-up:
- dynamic bowing patches - I love them, I wish there were more of them, and I wish that there were more lengths. But they do sound very natural when they fit.
- the whole ostinato builder concept (I don't yet own Legato Arpeggio, but the demos suggest to me that they are on the right track) - and yes, extend it even further
- the general vibe. Adagio and siblings work really well in many settings, from pop to small chamber, and that's ok. Create a different library for big orchestral pieces, or let some other developer tackle it.

Things I'd change:
- make the user interface more consistent, the differences between Adagietto and Agitato can be quite frustrating
- make the articulations uniform across the entire library
- make it easier to control the articulations, and make that consistent too
- fix the reverb, not the baked in sound, that's manageable when there are close mics, but the built in effect, it just doesn't work for me, and I end up re-saving all the patches with it bypassed. Maybe even cede reverb to other developers?
- maintain focus - yes, it is fun to do something new, but with this library maybe stick it out for a bit? I'm not their business manager, so this one may be a little out of range.

Things I'd add:
- more articulations, of course, I want them ALL!!!!
- I really like the idea of bow control - this is something that was present in the GigaStudio version of Garritan Orchestral Strings, but I'm not aware of any other libraries that provide that capability (correct me please!)
- the ability to more transparently "morph" between articulations. I think that might go to the point above about the legato tails

I know I will be keeping an eye out for Century Strings! I may still add Legato Arpeggio to my template while I am waiting!


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## Zhao Shen (Dec 9, 2015)

wst3 said:


> Things I'd keep from the current line-up:
> - the general vibe. Adagio and siblings work really well in many settings, from pop to small chamber, and that's ok. Create a different library for big orchestral pieces, or let some other developer tackle it.


I'd disagree on this. I think Century Strings should focus on being the best set of *orchestral* strings out there (and I think 8Dio have the same mindset), especially in terms of tone. Otherwise it'd just be Adagio 2.0.


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## Vin (Dec 9, 2015)

Zhao Shen said:


> I'd disagree on this. I think Century Strings should focus on being the best set of *orchestral* strings out there (and I think 8Dio have the same mindset), especially in terms of tone. Otherwise it'd just be Adagio 2.0.



I'm sure that their 15th string library that'll come out in 2017 will be the one to end them all...


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## jononotbono (Dec 10, 2015)

Looking forward to seeing what they sound like. I have Adagio and Agitato. I wish I could access the articulations in a faster way. For example, having to find a Trill patch, to play at the end of a Legato patch, and then find the correct Dynamic Bowing patch (if one is right for what I'm writing) can be a slow process (for me) and would like this to be quicker. In fact, improve the Dynamic bowings so they can be time stretched or to fit with the BPM. The tails of Strings don't sound real without the Dynamic Bowings (I don't own any other string libraries to compare yet). On another note, I do wonder how 8Dio makes so many products in a year. Must have a big crew of people working on this stuff...


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## Saxer (Dec 10, 2015)

I have most of the 8dio strings and I really like their sound. But to be honest: I never used them for more than some short notes.

To my workflow they are complete unusable. Slow legatos in Adagio, faster in Agitato... that is a very stupid idea. When I decide to have a long note melody and want to add an upbeat I have to load shorter attacks from another library? Are you serious? Same with endless variations of legato... every single one beautiful when placed at the right spot. But if you don't want to have 20 tracks to build a single legato melody line you are lost. And I definitely don't want to have 20 tracks for a single legato melody! It feels like being a baker who has to make cakes out of thousands of crumbs.

I want libraries that are playable in all (or at least most) situations. 8dio is really far of that point.
So I'm happy to read they are consolidating their existing libraries into one. In my opinion they have all material they need for a beautiful string library even without another marathon recording session. They should really focus on workflow and usability.


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## ysnyvz (Dec 10, 2015)

Saxer said:


> To my workflow they are complete unusable. Slow legatos in Adagio, faster in Agitato...


Remember when people complained about slow legatos and thought it was designed like that hence the name "adagio"? 8dio denied all that. Then they made Agitato.


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## jononotbono (Dec 10, 2015)

Saxer said:


> I have most of the 8dio strings and I really like their sound. But to be honest: I never used them for more than some short notes.
> 
> To my workflow they are complete unusable. Slow legatos in Adagio, faster in Agitato... that is a very stupid idea. When I decide to have a long note melody and want to add an upbeat I have to load shorter attacks from another library? Are you serious? Same with endless variations of legato... every single one beautiful when placed at the right spot. But if you don't want to have 20 tracks to build a single legato melody line you are lost. And I definitely don't want to have 20 tracks for a single legato melody! It feels like being a baker who has to make cakes out of thousands of crumbs.
> 
> ...



I'm glad it's not just me then. I was starting to think I wasn't using them properly. I think 8dio stuff sounds amazing (hence why I own some of it) but I do find a lot of time gets sucked up by trying to "piece together" parts. Perhaps that's the trade off for pretending to have a string section at my literal finger tips.


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## Saxer (Dec 10, 2015)

ysnyvz said:


> Remember when people complained about slow legatos and thought it was designed like that hence the name "adagio"? 8dio denied all that. Then they made Agitato.


Yes, but they didn't expand the Adagios. They just added another library. It's like having two violins at home, one for slow music and another one for faster. But there's no other solution for a melody with faster and slower notes than to change violins and record them seperately.


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## ysnyvz (Dec 10, 2015)

Saxer said:


> Yes, but they didn't expand the Adagios. They just added another library. It's like having two violins at home, one for slow music and another one for faster. But there's no other solution for a melody with faster and slower notes than to change violins and record them seperately.


That was my point. Yeah, they made it like a new library instead of expansion. They denied it can't play fast but released Agitato and said "this one can play fast and flowing legatos, buy it". That's why I didn't buy Agitato.


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## Tatu (Dec 10, 2015)

As a side note: People often write about the complexity of writing a melody on Adagio. Simplest way to do that is to load up a Legato Master patch, which has legato and portamento with sustains (or just any legato patch, since sus xfade is the default). Isn't that what we usually get in a library, that has a legato in it? A patch that has sustains with legato and possibly a portamento transitions. With Adagio, you have plenty of options to craft that one part _further_ by doing that complex thing of splitting it up to multiple tracks, use a dynamic bowing here and there, loure etc.

What I'd like them to do with Adagio is to pick up a handful of most commonly used articulations and build new master patches from those (legato/portamento, staccato, spiccato, tremolo, trills etc) and presets with well functioning positioning without those nasty, occasional jumps on the stereo field.. Shouldn't be too hard task to perform and would make it a lot more easier to approach / appealing library for potential new customers.

Adagio and Agitato are so far from each other sonically/emotionally to my ears, that I don't really like to use them together (but I'm sure many of you do and can). Luckily Adagio has those "Natural" -legato patches, which work a bit better in fast parts than their normal legatos, far from perfect though (like most libraries out there).


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## koolkeys (Dec 10, 2015)

I agree with those who feel like the Adagio patches need some unification. While I think the Adagio strings are loaded with potential and some cool sounds, being able to switch between the various legato types easier would be ideal.

Has anyone ever tried using the 8Dio string libraries with something like Mind Control from Orange Tree Samples? That would let you set up keyswitches or velocity switches to get between patches. Maybe it is worth a try?

Brent


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## Vik (Dec 10, 2015)

Some ideas for 8dio/anyone who plan a new string library:



1) Plan for a proper divisi solution from day 1. Having smaller sections available (included or as a separate product) is always a plus, even when the sections aren't really big.

2) IMO the ideal and most flexible size of an orchestra starts with max 10-12 Violin 1s. But see above: even with a 12 piece violin section, there are several reasons to offer 6 piece versions with the same UI/room and so on (besides the divisi argument). Sometimes one simple wants a small and intimate sound.

3) Please offer full dynamic range in the legato presets, or ideally: just have a Legato-button in *all* presets with long notes.

4) Sometimes one wants something really soft - a library with 4 or 5 dynamic layers is a lot more attractive than one with three. If one has too few dynamic layers, users often ends up buying another product which have good recordings of the dynamic range they miss in their main library.

5) By the time a library that is being planned today is released, computers, storage and RAM is cheaper and faster than it is today. Remember that a library which takes this into consideration will be more ”future proof”.

6) Something a la "Adaptive Legato" (Orchestral Tools) – with full manual control – represents, IMHO, the future of all string libraries.

7) Polyphonic, playable legato. CineStrings has this. Spitfire has polyphonic legato, but not playable. Playable is better when improvising/composing.

8) Auto-Arranger/Auto-Divisi: Check out what LASS does.

9) Offer multiple dynamic layers also in the possibly not so often used articulations – like eg flautando. And, talking about flautando... it is sometimes said that flautando is not such a common articulation; but at the same time: many composers mention that the sul tasto/flautando articulations they have in their own libraries are their favourites, especially if they also come with legato.

10) One library should cover the full range of expression possibilities - one should not need to buy another product to get only a few features or sounds one is missing from ones main lib. Many (most?) of us end up buying additional libraries even if that means paying for many articulations we already have, which legitimates a higher price for a more complete library – or for add-on products which makes it more complete. (As an example, I just ordered Berlin Strings today because I feel that it will take too long before Mural gets some of the stuff I already have missed for some time.)

11) Sell each instrument as a separate product (like 8dio already does). It's totally OK and probably necessary to have both eg Viola and Viola Pro - because not all users need all features/layers/artics. Maybe the ideal solution is is to start with making a pro version, and remove some of the samples and offer a “Normal” version later. Again, the problem with buying into modular libraries like eg. Mural is that one may have to wait years for the library to contain everything you need. Meanwhile, one starts shopping for other solutions.

12) Add lots of extra stuff that we'll enjoy when we try it but which we didn't know we were missing before we heard it. Check out all the sounds that come with Emotional Cello!

13) Avoid anything which makes the user have to spend half an hour (or many hours/days) to set things up right before he can start to use it.

We don’t want to need to learn how to create multiple velocity controlled layers across multi presets or use multiple instances/banks/tracks before we'll. eg get a playable legato viola which covers the entire dynamic range.

Offer a non-cluttered UI (unlike VSL, sorry guys...), but which still has all the options we need - when we need them. Re. the user interface: please make it so that as few clicks as possible (and as few presets as possible) can do the job. We are used to phones where we can do loads of stuff with only one click now, and whenever possible, that is IMHO how a sample library should be designed as well.

14) Offer dynamic bowing presets, but not at the cost of a very good solution for multiple dynamic layers.

15) Check out how good the Spitfire library sounds, and make sure that the samples are recorded with the best possible signal chain.

16) Record the library with more microphones than you think you'll need, and with more round robins than you think you'll need. One day you may find that you need them, eg when someone complains about noisy samplings (no, they're not always welcome for "realism" reasons"  ), or when you regret not having dry/wet enough versions of your samples.

17) Still, make sure you can go back and record more articulations later, in the same room, with the same musicians and microphones, using the the same placement.

18) Read all string library reviews here: http://soundbytesmag.net/reviews-sound-libraries/ They are very well written.

19) Re-bowing.

20) "Emotional Cello"-kind of sul pont.

If such a product will become available, one wouldn’t need to buy eg Adagio for it's many legato types and dynamic bowings, buy LASS or Sable for it’s intimate/close sound/small sections, Spitfire BML for it's generally excellent recording quality/signal chain, Berlin Strings for its adaptive legato or CineStrings for it’s five dynamic layers and polyphonic legato.

The first company which aims for the "perfect" string library will get all these customers who rather want to pay more and get a complete product instead of buying and having to learn to use (and mix) multiple libraries.

This, and free trial versions which offer just an octave or so of one of the instruments for a limited period, and the two main problems with buying string libraries would be solved, namely that one needs to use multiple libraries and that one don’t know what one gets until after one has bought and downloaded the product.


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## Mike Marino (Dec 10, 2015)

A listen into the first of the libraries, Century Brass (alpha test):


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## D-Mott (Dec 10, 2015)

For me the biggest issue I personally have with string libraries is that the sections do not unison well. There isn't one on the market that I have heard that can play chords beautifully without any slightly annoying tuning issues/Emotionless vibrato and the sound of the sections being disconnected (recorded on a different day by different players with different instruments). Although from listening to cinematic strings 2, that lib to me has the least of those issues.

Also there is quite a bit of inconsistency. Some short notes will be sloppy. Some tuney. Scripting will vary across patches with the same articulations, but vary drastically and Sloppy dynamic behaviour. You make a flautando patch in one section, why the heck would you not include that articulation in all of them!! It's great when you have articulation consitency in libs.

There are good libs out there. I own HS and I like it a lot, although I do sometimes end up using the tuning knob in PLAY because some notes are just off, but that only get's you so far. I also own Mural. Tried Cinestrings. Tried LASS, but I don't know if this is sample limitation, but these sections lack that beautiful unison growl that I hear when a string section plays chords. I think Thomas Newman.

I think a company releasing a string library by articulations may work better than doing it all in one go. I know companies are doing this, but they are doing it in bulk. I don't know. If it was me releasing a library I would first record my longs, Just focus on them so no other articulations are in my head. Focus on releasing those and that's part 1. After that do my shorts and again only focusing on the shorts and slowly building the library. This may be a dumb idea but if I was a developer I'd feel quite over whelmed to focus on so many articulations and releasing them all at one time.

Most importantly. Don't rush. Don't cheat or take short cuts. Don't overhype. What's the point. Not directing this at anyone in particular. I know there is budget and time, but I would pay big money for just shorts or longs that were spent a lot of time on over a big string lib with everything there. You could use your budget in spirts. Perfect the longs and it will pay off for the next recording session for recording shorts. Ect. How bad could it sound if a lot of time was spent on one art at a time. Or is that stupid....


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## RiffWraith (Dec 10, 2015)

Mike Marino said:


> A listen into the first of the libraries, Century Brass (alpha test):



As it's only Alpha, I would hope and assume that vast improvements are lingering.

For comparison:

http://www.jeffreyhayat.com/sw-test.mp3 (www.jeffreyhayat.com/sw-test.mp3)

Cheers.


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## RiffWraith (Dec 10, 2015)

D-Mott said:


> For me the biggest issue I personally have with string libraries is that the sections do not unison well. There isn't one on the market that I have heard that can play chords beautifully without any slightly annoying tuning issues



I cant speak for every lib, but CS and Mural do not have this issue.



D-Mott said:


> Emotionless vibrato



Depends on your def of "emotionless", but again, the two aforementioned libs do fine here, IMO.



D-Mott said:


> and the sound of the sections being disconnected (recorded on a different day by different players with different instruments).



Don't hear that either. But I can think of one lib (which I do not own) where this would most likely be an issue.

Cheers.


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## Casiquire (Dec 13, 2015)

@Vik yep, pretty much perfect post! I only disagree about this:



Vik said:


> Offer a non-cluttered UI (unlike VSL, sorry guys...)



...I LOVE VSL's UI lol. I think it's perfect and every developer should use it. Also how do you feel about VSL's unisons? Personally I find them pretty precise.


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## Vik (Dec 13, 2015)

Since you agree in 19 of my 20 suggestions, I can live with that little disagreement. 

From a logical point of view, maybe I like the UI as such (with some exceptions), so maybe it's the GUI I don't like? VI Pro is very flexible and deep, so there may be no other good default view than to show a lot of info – it's just the way it's done that I don't like, and I'm thinking about both aesthetics and the... "flow" of it here.

I read from left to right, so I would have preferred that everything was presented in an hierarchical way, starting from left to right – with darker/nicer colours and very obvious ways to hide/show the elements one doesn't need to look at all the time.

Btw, I hope VSL one day will make a "global" VI Pro, which can be used to combine/crossfade etc articulations from any string library out (from any company). If they do, we could set up some kind of master patch outside our DAWa which – with *a few clicks* – will let me set up eg a preset which lets me make any kind of multi-layer preset I want, switch between the sounds on the fly using any method we want, and include any AU or VST plugin on the planet.

Until then (unless I go for VSL DS strings soon, not sure yet), I'm not sleepless over their UI - even if it somehow looks like a spreadsheet.  It's actually the "matrix" area which looks most cluttered to me, partially due to all the abbreviations. That's the bit which looks the most 1995 to me.


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## Ian Dorsch (Dec 14, 2015)

This is the most interesting part of the announcement to me:



> Ps. We also have great news for all our current string owners. It’s four years ago since we began the journey with our Adagio, Adagietto and Agitato series. We obviously learned a tremendous amount of things during those sessions (+60 days of consecutive recording time) and in the production of the libraries. The end-result was the creation of the most alive sounding strings on todays market. However we’ve also realize that all the different string volumes can seem confusing to customers, which is why we are excited to announce that we are working on consolidating our Adagio and Agitato Series into one singular volume, which will be available spring 2016.



Fingers crossed that this means a unified Agitato-style UI across all the Adagio and Agitato libs, and another round of bug squashing in Adagio Violins. I love the 8dio strings in spite of their quirkiness, and another coat of polish on Adagio/Agitato would go a long way toward creating good will toward Century Strings.


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## procreative (Dec 14, 2015)

Knowing 8Dio that translates to selling them all in a bundle with a modified UI graphic, with a discount.

I would be VERY amazed if that meant re-scripting and bug fixing. They just do not have much of a track record of improving older releases and only fixed Adagio last time as there were so many major issues that had to be fixed.


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## tabulius (Dec 14, 2015)

I've been using Adagio for years now and I like it. I agree that there should be made some tweaks and updates. 8Dio did say that an update is coming:

_"Ps. We also have great news for all our current string owners. It’s four years ago since we began the journey with our Adagio, Adagietto and Agitato series. We obviously learned a tremendous amount of things during those sessions (+60 days of consecutive recording time) and in the production of the libraries. The end-result was the creation of the most alive sounding strings on todays market. However we’ve also realize that all the different string volumes can seem confusing to customers, which is why we are excited to announce that we are working on consolidating our Adagio and Agitato Series into one singular volume, which will be available spring 2016."_

I don't know what to expect from Century Strings. But I'm looking forward to hearing it.


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## mickeyl (Dec 14, 2015)

Same here. There's a lot of potential in the 8dio strings, but they lack consistency in the UI and some of the auto-articulation-magic the competition has. Here's hoping for progress in these areas as well as an irresistible upgrade price if you own (parts of) Adagio and/or Agitato.


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## Ian Dorsch (Dec 14, 2015)

mickeyl said:


> Here's hoping for progress in these areas as well as an irresistible upgrade price if you own (parts of) Adagio and/or Agitato.



Agreed, that would also generate a lot of good will.


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## JE Martinsen (Dec 15, 2015)

Zhao Shen said:


> .. I think Century Strings should focus on being the best set of *orchestral* strings out there (and I think 8Dio have the same mindset), especially in terms of tone. Otherwise it'd just be Adagio 2.0.



I couldn't agree more. Regardless of whether or not they decide to give their older string libraries a last spit'n polish. Which I think they should. I have the Adagio Basses, Adagietto and Agitato Grandiose bundle and I love'em. The sound of these strings are really unique to my ears. The dynamic bowing is so full of emotion.. And when they released the Agitato Grandiose strings I was ecstatic because it made it possible to at least come closer to that molto vibrato Mancini sound which I so far couldn't find in any other string library out there.

Yeah it doesn't seem like they're as keen on nurturing and developing their older string libraries as they are on releasing shiny new products at an unmatched(?) rate. Maybe Spitfire beat them by small margin, but they release updates a bit more often afaik.

I'm hopeful and optimistic about Century Strings, mainly because the core sound of their older string libraries is so seductively warm and organic IMHO. I'm no connoisseur of string ensembles and how they "should" sound, but I'm hoping they would record the violins/violas/cellos/basses in situ this time, but I doubt that will happen. Con sordino, 1st and 2nd violins recorded, "molto vibrato" articulations and auto-divisi functionality would be nice. I don't have very specific wishes or requirements because I'm such a noob, but consistency across all sections/samples in the stereo image might be one of them. Well, it IS.

I'm really excited and curious about how Century Strings will turn out. I hope it will be something quite different this time, and as Zhao Shen writes, more in the traditional orchestral vein.


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## jamwerks (Dec 15, 2015)

Glad to hear Adagio is getting an upgrade. They really need to upgrade their user interface. Agitato has more controlability than Adagio, and that would be an minimum to upgrade Adagio to Agitato funcionality. But even that is years behind what Spitfire and OT offer. By the way, the entire Claire series also needs these newer functions.

It's unfortunately true that 8dio is the slowest of all the dev's in upgrading their UI. Was going to buy Lacrimosa and Studio Sopranos on Black Friday, but decided to wait until they do what should have been done months ago.


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## Zhao Shen (Dec 15, 2015)

jamwerks said:


> Glad to hear Adagio is getting an upgrade.


I wouldn't call it an Adagio upgrade. It's like Embertone Intimate Strings vs. Spitfire Solo Strings - different vibes, settings, and goals.


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## kj.metissage (Dec 15, 2015)

Zhao Shen said:


> I wouldn't call it an Adagio upgrade. It's like Embertone Intimate Strings vs. Spitfire Solo Strings - different vibes, settings, and goals.


He was talking about that part "_*we are working on consolidating our Adagio and Agitato Series into one singular volume, which will be available spring 2016*_".


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## Tatu (Dec 19, 2015)

Just saw this>


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## catsass (Dec 20, 2015)

Part 2...


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## Vik (Dec 27, 2015)

Vik said:


> Some ideas for 8dio/anyone who plan a new string library:


A couple of other details... 
Please make it sounds as good as this:


...including a way to get a smaller, more intimate sound, like this:


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## mickeyl (May 23, 2016)

First sound bits:





Beautiful tone and runs, if you ask me.


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## procreative (May 23, 2016)

It does sound good, but that could be looped run phrases.

Must admit I am very un-enthused by 8Dio these days. When Adagio was launched it was trumpeted as a new era and many promises were made about its development (as was Agitato). Plus they seem to be admitting that they made mistakes and that in fact Adagio was not the "best and most realistic set of strings ever". They do tend to overdo the hyperbole.

Both products have flaws in them that look like never being fixed. Coupled with their relaunching V8P products under new names etc I am not so sure I trust my money on anything new.

I also wonder where this leaves owners of Adagio and Agitato. While they say they will be "_consolidating our Adagio and Agitato Series into one singular volume" _I wonder what this will be? An updated product or merely a UI tweak and a bundle? Or will they fix the inconsistent features and glitches as well?

And will this consolidation be free or at a very attractive upgrade price?


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## jamwerks (May 23, 2016)

WOW!


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## muziksculp (May 23, 2016)

Hi,

I'm a bit late to the party, any info. about how many violins, violas, cellos, double basses are used in the 8dio Century Orchestral Strings ?

Thanks,
Muziksculp


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## kaiyoti (May 23, 2016)

procreative said:


> It does sound good, but that could be looped run phrases.
> 
> Must admit I am very un-enthused by 8Dio these days. When Adagio was launched it was trumpeted as a new era and many promises were made about its development (as was Agitato). Plus they seem to be admitting that they made mistakes and that in fact Adagio was not the "best and most realistic set of strings ever". They do tend to overdo the hyperbole.
> 
> Both products have flaws in them that look like never being fixed. Coupled with their relaunching V8P products under new names etc I am not so sure I trust my money on anything new.



They mentioned it's not looped run phrases on facebook.


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## Chris Porter (May 23, 2016)

kaiyoti said:


> They mentioned it's not looped run phrases on facebook.


I was just going to say this. I believe it was Troels who chimed in on Facebook and said that these were played runs (as in played on the keyboard), not loops.


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## procreative (May 24, 2016)

Well it does sound good then.

However still not sure how I feel about this product, with their bug-fix track record I hope it launches without too many issues or usability flaws as they rarely seem to fix issues quickly if at all.

Somehow Adagio although a great concept and containing some nice features feels like it needed more work as there were several inconsistent patches and missing articulations. It is also a bit of a pig to use as there are so many variations in each patch its hard sometimes to know which to use when.


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## mickeyl (May 24, 2016)

Myself, I only started to invest in 8DIO during the Agitato times, so I don't _carry any Adagi(ett)o baggage_ with me – which means I'm a bit more forgiving. I'm also not a part of V8P, so I don't have any grief with their rebranding policy. It looks like those guys learned a lot during the Adagio and Agitato times, so I'm just very keen to see what they are coming up with now. I do think though that the Adagio and Agitato tone has a very special quality though which can't be found elsewhere. Now if they improve their coding and update capabilities, everything shall be good


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## Patrick (May 24, 2016)

I frequently layer in the free Agitato Grandiose Legato Violins in just to get that tone mixed in with my Spitfire strings. Don't own any other 8dio string libraries, so it really does something to the overall sound in certain scenarios (the free patch is limited in octaves though).


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## airflamesred (May 24, 2016)

Patrick said:


> I frequently layer in the free Agitato Grandiose Legato Violins in just to get that tone mixed in with my Spitfire strings.
> so it really does something to the overall sound in certain scenarios


What, improves it?! Only joking folks.
I think it is reasonable to assume that the Adagoi/agitato (some say agitato) thing will be nothing more than a consolidation of the existing. Looking forward to Century Strings though, and how that is going to pan out.


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## jamwerks (May 24, 2016)

They reportedly recorded a bunch of stuff for an Adagio II. Hopefully we'll get that with this coming consolidation!


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## procreative (May 24, 2016)

You mean the Adagio 2 that they asked for input on what to record, that never saw light of day? Which possibly morphed into Agitato, which had the "Fast Legato Arpeggio" title that was meant to be the Legato to end all Legatos for fast runs.

So now we have another Legato Runs Builder in another "Best Ever String Library".

This seems to be becoming a common thread with developers, the rush to bring out new product, while neglecting to fix or add to existing ones. 

How many times have we been tempted into a library with a "future roadmap" that stops short with missing articulations or inconsistent scripting?


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## Vision (May 24, 2016)

mickeyl said:


> First sound bits:
> 
> 
> 
> ...





If these aren't loops, this is the best real time runs library I've ever heard.


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## Franco (May 25, 2016)

Really impressed by the realism of strings run.


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## cadenzajon (Jun 3, 2016)

A new demo today of the upcoming Century Strings arcs:


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## givemenoughrope (Jun 3, 2016)

Have they mentioned any details about the layout, divisi, etc?


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## TintoL (Jun 3, 2016)

If these are not run recordings.... it's impressive.


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## Mike Marino (Jun 3, 2016)

"Playable arcs"


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## ChrisL (Jun 4, 2016)

Mike Marino said:


> "Playable arcs"




I haven't really been following this -- are "playable arcs" Century Strings' version of Adagio's "dynamic bowings"? The chord changes in that example sound strange to me, like they're being crossfaded. I found this to be an issue in Adagio's dynamic bowings too -- there was no easy way to change notes during the bowing and preserve the overall shape of the swell, so you were basically limited to static chords (which admittedly sound great, when they work).

Those playable runs sure do sound nice, but wasn't this promised way back when as part of the adagio series?

I wish 8dio well on their new products, and I can't fault them for being ambitious, but I sure wished they showed their existing libraries some more love. I bought into Adagio, and while there are some nice things there, taken as a whole there's just too many inconsistencies and rough edges in usability for me. Have they announced yet whether Century Strings will be a single, comprehensive volume, or whether they'll be releasing the sections individually again? I hope they prioritize the UI and making the playability of the individual sections more consistent this time around.


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## Mike Marino (Jun 4, 2016)

ChrisL said:


> I haven't really been following this -- are "playable arcs" Century Strings' version of Adagio's "dynamic bowings"? The chord changes in that example sound strange to me, like they're being crossfaded. I found this to be an issue in Adagio's dynamic bowings too -- there was no easy way to change notes during the bowing and preserve the overall shape of the swell, so you were basically limited to static chords (which admittedly sound great, when they work).


They have a different audio example for the Arcs....but I'm not sure if it's the same thing as the dynbow from Adagio. In terms of the smoothness of it all, I'm pretty sure this is just an alpha example.




ChrisL said:


> Those playable runs sure do sound nice, but wasn't this promised way back when as part of the adagio series?


I don't think so, but if it was, perhaps they just didn't have the answer in how to do it better than the products currently out at the time.




ChrisL said:


> Have they announced yet whether Century Strings will be a single, comprehensive volume, or whether they'll be releasing the sections individually again? I hope they prioritize the UI and making the playability of the individual sections more consistent this time around.


I haven't seen anything announced yet as to how the library will be offered. For me I'm thinking that Century Brass will be a good indicator of how they'll offer Century Strings. We shall see.


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## devastat (Jun 5, 2016)

Really liking the tone of the library, can't wait to hear what the legato instruments sounds like. Impressive stuff.


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## procreative (Jun 6, 2016)

I often wonder with regard to dynamic bowings why there was not a slot in the patch for a note played straight in.

Action Strings has a feature where if you change a note mid cycle it maintains the correct point in a rhythm. Admittedly these are mostly non-melodic rhythms that are probably easier to fade between.

But if someone could crack that it would be something very exciting.


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## Mike Marino (Jun 6, 2016)

procreative said:


> I often wonder with regard to dynamic bowings why there was not a slot in the patch for a note played straight in.
> 
> Action Strings has a feature where if you change a note mid cycle it maintains the correct point in a rhythm. Admittedly these are mostly non-melodic rhythms that are probably easier to fade between.
> 
> But if someone could crack that it would be something very exciting.


Yeah, I think a number of people brought that up in their Skype discussion that they posted. Looks like they figured it out for the Studio Soprano library; the ability to change notes (or at least a single note) mid cresc-decresc with the note(s) still keep the arc's form. I'm wondering if the "playable arcs" snippet that they posted via SC is what you're talking about. There wasn't a description with exactly what it was (though maybe they spoke more about it via FB). Definitely something we'd all love to see happen though instead of having to use a secondary patch and crossfade in and out those changing notes. They seemed to have figured it out for the Studio Sopranos library so I'm hoping they were able to carry it over for both Century Brass and Strings.


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## mickeyl (Jun 6, 2016)

To get this right without phasing is a major undertaking... Crossing fingers.


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## Rob Elliott (Jun 6, 2016)

Playable runs and arcs are impressive - congrats Troels and Colin. Feels and sounds like you are on to something. Watching with great interest.


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## mickeyl (Jun 6, 2016)

Mike Marino said:


> For me I'm thinking that Century Brass will be a good indicator of how they'll offer Century Strings. We shall see.


True. I'm very curious about the ensemble size(s). Obviously for Century Brass they recorded 3-4 sizes per section. I wonder whether Century Strings has the same approach or is _fixed_ to one size. Given that the recording sessions are probably already done, they should know, shouldn't they?


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## Rob Elliott (Jun 6, 2016)

mickeyl said:


> True. I'm very curious about the ensemble size(s). Obviously for Century Brass they recorded 3-4 sizes per section. I wonder whether Century Strings has the same approach or is _fixed_ to one size. Given that the recording sessions are probably already done, they should know, shouldn't they?


Yea - for me nothing is more important than 'building up or down' the sections. Today's cue - a2..... tomorrow's....a6. The reality now is if not available with the SAME library than I have to use another library - then mixing issues ensue......


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## Mike Marino (Jun 10, 2016)

Viola Arcs Sordino alpha demo:


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## Zhao Shen (Jun 10, 2016)

Mike Marino said:


> Viola Arcs Sordino alpha demo:



Now that sounds phenomenal. Hope they add more useful features to the interface - the Adagio/Agitato GUI didn't even cover the basics. Things like legato transition volume, arc speed, attack, release... Fingers crossed.


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## Lionel Schmitt (Jun 10, 2016)

I've recorded the runs and did some mixing. http://picosong.com/ZEMU/ Close and Decca are combined, some panning and EQ (maybe to much hi-end for you). I wanted to add some reverb because the room in the decca samples changes with every legato transition, which sounds a bit strange. Adding some reverb solved that. Hope I did nothing illegal


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## Vision (Jun 10, 2016)

Mike Marino said:


> Viola Arcs Sordino alpha demo:




Hm.. Wow, great stuff. Would love for this to be an all in one playable patch. I'm assuming the middle section was keyswitched. Definitely would like to see a walk through video to check out the evolution of their GUI. 

Anyway, hopefully Troels and Colin will come back to VI-control like the Cinesamples folks. Would be nice to hear about their progress.


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## mickeyl (Jun 10, 2016)

That viola tone is amazing!


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## Lionel Schmitt (Jun 11, 2016)

The tone is indeed heavenly. A more symphonic than Adagio. I don't have the library but soundwise Agadio and Agitato seem to work better for more intimate scores or layering with bigger sounding libs.
I hope the legato intruments don't sound as good as the arcs because then I might sell everything I have to get this thing!!

I think the attack should be a bit slower, I hear some "white noise attack" in the beginning. But it's the alpha.


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## Dominik (May 18, 2017)

Hey,
any news about Century Strings?
I desperately need a new library and have hope in it.


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## midiman (May 18, 2017)

+1 for news about Century strings. We've been patiently waiting, but throw us a new bone. Give us a new hint 8dio


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## Dominik (May 18, 2017)

midiman said:


> +1 for news about Century strings. We've been patiently waiting, but throw us a new bone. Give us a new hint 8dio



I watched the video of the new insolidus. Trolls mentioned there that Century Brass is in late Beta. Seems that they concentrate on Brass first :-(


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## mickeyl (May 21, 2017)

I, for one, am glad that they don't rush the release. The competition has upped their levels enormously since adagio (and agitato) have been released. To stay competetive they really need to come up with something at least on par with The offerings from OT, SA, and CSS.


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## Dominik (May 22, 2017)

mickeyl said:


> I, for one, am glad that they don't rush the release. The competition has upped their levels enormously since adagio (and agitato) have been released. To stay competetive they really need to come up with something at least on par with The offerings from OT, SA, and CSS.



No, rushing the release is definitely the wrong approach, first of all because 8Dio don´t do much updating 
But if I thought that the competitors had good products I wouldn´t wait for Century Strings.
Orchestral Tools disappointed me with Berlin Brass so I don´t want to take the risk with Berlin Strings. Spitfire Audio is too heterogenic (very "human" touch) and has a very special sound which is in my oppinion difficult to mix with other libraries or synth.
What is CSS?


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## mickeyl (May 22, 2017)

Cinematic Studio Strings, which have a lovely tone, but – for me – the playability w/ the legato speeds is somewhat backwards.


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## Dominik (May 22, 2017)

Ah yes. I don´t know, in the walkthrough even fortissimo sounds pleasing and soft to my ears. It all sounds like velvet. Also seems to me that they didn´t sample very detailed.
I can´t find information about velocity layers or round robins. They don´t even announce the size of the library.


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