# Hs string cue....updated 05.29.2011



## SvK (May 15, 2011)

Hi all,

Here is a Hollywood Strings Cue I've completed.

"The_Wreck_Cue1"
https://files.me.com/svonkampen/tics5e.mp3


best,
SvK


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## Steve Martin (May 15, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

Hi Svk,

very nice! I enjoyed listening to this, and I really like those ascending melodic lines. Very smooth and expressive sounding. Thanks for posting this.


best,

Steve


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## Dracarys (May 15, 2011)

I enjoyed it, sounds like platinum to me, nice job.
I'm about to post a HW string cue


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## RiffWraith (May 15, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

This is nice. Some of the note transitions need a bit of work, but it has a nice sound, and the composition is good.

Cheers.


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## SvK (May 16, 2011)

Thanx gents!

SvK


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## germancomponist (May 16, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

Very nice, SvK,

the only thing I do not like so much ist the reverb. Too present in the mid/high frequencies, maybe?


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## JohnG (May 16, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

wow! sounds GREAT! Nice composition and nice sounds. Really like the mallet touches.


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## SvK (May 16, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

John, Gunther

Thanx / Danke

Best,
SvK


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## Stephen Baysted (May 16, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*



JohnG @ Mon May 16 said:


> wow! sounds GREAT! Nice composition and nice sounds. Really like the mallet touches.




+1 - very nice writing, voicing and programming.


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## ricother (May 16, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*



RiffWraith @ Mon May 16 said:


> Some of the note transitions need a bit of work


Yes, especially the phrases starting at 0:19.
And I find the sound a bit... I don't know, maybe muddy, I guess it's because of the reverb.
In fact, the best thing was the composition itself, beautiful.


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## jlb (May 16, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

Hmm, I think this has just sold HS to me 

jlb


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## Guy Bacos (May 16, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*



ricother @ Mon May 16 said:


> RiffWraith @ Mon May 16 said:
> 
> 
> > Some of the note transitions need a bit of work
> ...



Along those lines, the sound is rich but on the other hand the inner voices need more transparency. Nice cue.


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## David Story (May 16, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

Beautiful evocation of a shipwreck, at the dawn of hollywood's post-romantic era. The timbre is rich, phrasing is excellent. Love the augmented progressions, and metal percussion. Thank You!


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## José Herring (May 16, 2011)

Nice!. Get's a little sample muddy over here as all the strings come in. But, what a gorgeous sound for a sample library, and I always love this style of writing. It's my fav.

best,

Jose


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## SvK (May 16, 2011)

Well thanx for all the positive responses guys and/or gals!

I really do appreciate it.

a couple of frustrations. The main figure that comes in @ 19sec is for me at least one of the hardest things to achieve in mock-up. No matter what library one uses; it is one of those elusive types of legato lines (compounded by its repetition) that is almost impossible to nail with mock-up.......rest assured I gave every single note in this mock-up respect and time......this is pretty much as good as HS will sound doing this type of material.....

......and that ain't bad at all (HS is better at this material than all libraries i've used previously; by miles)

HOWEVER it's nowhere near as passionate as a real string orchestra would be, and these types of cues require very passionate playing...

I spent hours upon hours just on the tempo maps for those slight rubatos between the phrases.....I love that "yearning" kind of sound; and any rigidity in tempo and tone just kills the yearning.

I am keenly aware of the legato systems for slur speeds, etc in HS and I pulled out all the stops, so as far as note transitions are concerned, thats as good as it'll get....

However I will load up the MID mics instead of the MAINs and see how that affects the tone to hopefully thin it out a tad.

I'll also swap out the tails with SPACES SO-Cal and see how that fares....

again thanx for all the positive props and constructive feedback.


PS: samples used: HS Main Mics (all strings con sordino), VSL Horns4, VSL Alto Flute, Flute1, Flute2, Spitfire Vibes......that's it.

best,
SvK


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## José Herring (May 16, 2011)

I was thinking the mid mics too. The way I figure it with samples you have so many recordings happening at once, that it just muddies the field really quickly. So we can't necessarily follow the way that Sean Murphy would mix John Williams. That's just one recording of an entire string section, not 1000 little bitty pieces of recordings layered simultaneously and in close proximity.


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## stevenson-again (May 17, 2011)

Steve,

Amazing writing and a beautiful sound. Way to show off HS tone wise. I don't agree with one of the commentators about the reverb. It's perfect to my ears. I do agree there is something noticeable about the transitions. The lowest volume ones, sort of 'pop out' suddenly as if the sample was late to trigger.

I'd love to see a screen shot of your HS programming on this.


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## ChrisAxia (May 17, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

Very nice work! I think you're right when you say that this is probably as good as you can get with HS on this type of material. I've mentioned to East West that there are many legato transitions that are 'weak', which is a shame. I do hope they will be fixed in future updates...

~Chris


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## vlado hudec (May 17, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

sounds very good, congrats !


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## Dan Selby (May 17, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

Really nice writing and execution, Steven. Definitely appreciate that doing this kind of repetition smooth swells with the constant push, pull on the tempo is really tough to do virtually - especially really exposed like this so great job. I can just imagine that you had to spend aaaages finessing the transitions, controller info and tempo map.


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## SvK (May 17, 2011)

Many thanx fellow dramatizers..

SvK


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## SvK (May 17, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

Rohan,

1st image is "Velocity Curves". 2nd Image is "Vibrato Curves"....tempo maps are on the list on the right in image....

best,
SvK


Velocity Curves
https://files.me.com/svonkampen/3c3w0u

Vibrato Curves
https://files.me.com/svonkampen/v4gtug

best,
SvK


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## Patrick de Caumette (May 17, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

Love it !

Herrmann would be proud! =o


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## Ned Bouhalassa (May 17, 2011)

As Steven Tyler would say, "Wow, man, that was a beautiful thing... just beautiful, man!"

As usual, you rock, but better. You know I love your style, the Mann.


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## stevenson-again (May 18, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

That's very interesting Steve. I notice that effectively you are riding the vibrato along with the intensity. You could probably set up a transformer in environment to duplicate the intensity and convert to vibrato for something quick and dirty.

I noticed that there are some very steep ramps at the beginnings of the phrases and I wonder whether if they may be affecting the slightly abrupt note transitions we noticed at the start of phrases. I have noticed that PLAY can respond slowly to controllers as if there was a slight lag. What would happen if you tried a section with the programming moved forward very very slightly?

I realise that you have PLAY on a PC and I noticed the lag on a mac, but it might be worth a look.

It's beautiful writing, no doubt about how gorgeous HS sounds.


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## SvK (May 18, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

rohan,

The velocity / intensity need to be somwhat tied for the main melodic figure since the players need to "dig in" for the high point of the swells but if you were to zoom in very closely they are not completely tied,,,,,,there is also alot of transition action of the vibrato and velocities that happens between quite small crossover points, and the curves are edited to take advantage of those very specific pockets where velocities and vibratos cross-over into their next zones.

Concerning abrubt rise at beginning of each phrase....i'll take a look and try your suggestion.

i do hear the problem with the transitions on some notes and i can tell you that its the result of using the MAINs on their own....the CLOse mics have much tighter legato transitions and enabling them does wonders to fixing that (i tried it last night)

the Mid mics also have tighter legato than the MAIns,,,,

Ps: time to polish the next minute of this piece 

Best,
SvK


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## stevenson-again (May 18, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*



> Ps: time to polish the next minute of this piece



be sure to post it!

you make a strong case for HS with writing and production like this. considering all the bad press it has had recently, it's nice to hear it sing!


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## tumeninote (May 19, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

Hi SvK,

Love the writing!


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## SvK (May 20, 2011)

I will post mid mic version as comparison this weekend.

SvK


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## SvK (May 20, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

TJ

thanx a bunch.
I'll try it.

PS: the LEG bumb problem.....When one plays the first note of a legato passage in non-vib and in P, there is a circa 2 second volume ramp. So if your first note is non-vib and p AND lasts for only say 1 second, it will "BUMP' on the leg connection of 2nd note because that first note has not reached it's full volume yet.....

solution is to kill the volume ramp on sus notes.

best,
SvK


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## SvK (May 20, 2011)

TJ

thats crazy cool 
Have a great Week-End.

best,
SvK


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## williamrice (May 20, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*

Lovely work, I really enjoyed the cue - the amount of work you've clearly put into programming has certainly paid off! I'd love to hear a mix with the vintage/ribbon mics in... I have a feeling the lush tone might complement the cue very nicely?

Also I think some of the legato transitions would sound more transparent if you simply pulled them down a couple of dB... especially the main figure on the violins from 0:18?


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## Ed (May 20, 2011)

*Re: HS String Cue....*



SvK @ Tue May 17 said:


> Velocity Curves
> https://files.me.com/svonkampen/3c3w0u



What s Velocity curve? Cubase can't automate like this can, can it?

ps I definitely noticed the bump, glad to see it was recognised and is being fixed :D Will be cool to see how it sounds after that


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## SvK (May 29, 2011)

Ok Leg-bumps are gone.....

Violas are now "Mid Mics"
Violins 1 and 2 are now "Vint Srnd Mics" + "Divisi B"

Celli are "Mains Only"
Basses are "Mains" + "Close"

https://files.me.com/svonkampen/t5x02u.mp3

best,
SvK


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## gsilbers (May 29, 2011)

nice. 

very cinematic.


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## Stephen Baysted (May 29, 2011)

That's a really great cue chap. Mid mics are definitely the way to go with HS IMO. 

Cheers

Stephen


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## gsilbers (May 29, 2011)

btw this cue sounds vaguely familiar. from a movie? 


does HS gold have the mid mics? ( the mid trees included with gold right?)


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## SvK (May 29, 2011)

gsilbers...

no its my cue, not from a movie.

Guys only the Violas are using the mid mics.
GOLD does come with MID mics....

SvK


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## toddkreuz (May 29, 2011)

Very very nice. 

T


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## adg21 (May 29, 2011)

Great cue! Really nice
I think I preferred the one in the first post however, is that bad? (as opposed to the ver3 one, or is that the updated one)


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## jlb (May 30, 2011)

Fantastic, in a different class to any string lib I have heard

jlb


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## jlb (May 30, 2011)

SvK are you using anything else on the strings such as EQ, an exciter, etc. Love the bright sound.

jlb


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## ricother (May 30, 2011)

Yes, I like this one.
The melody lines blend very well. o-[][]-o 
Almost considering purchasing HS... no, too expensive


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## SvK (May 31, 2011)

Jib,

There is a slight 2.5 db boost @ 8k on the strings...Thats it.....the sound is from the Con Sordino switch which is engaged on everything..

best,
SvK


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## samvoltaire (Jun 1, 2011)

wow sublime ! 
Merci


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