# Checking Out : String Flow Collection by Ben Osterhouse



## ThomCSounds (Jun 3, 2020)

Hi everyone!

Here's my review of Ben Osterhouse's String Flow Collection. A wonderful bundle including a cello, viola and violin playing a particular technique that consists in rolling the bow accross the strings. If you're looking for strings with great texture and movement, this collection could be the missing piece in your arsenal.




To purchase String Flow Collection by Ben Osterhouse (72% off at VST Buzz for a limited time) :








72% off "String Flow Collection" by Ben Osterhouse


The "String Flow Collection" by Ben Osterhouse samples a technique string players use, in which they quickly roll the bow across the strings to create an energetic, chordal texture. If you are looking for inspiring, niche string sounds to add splashes of color and realism to your music, these...




vstbuzz.com





Here's a second video exploring the sounds of String Flow with effects in an indie pop context, in a big ambient pad and in a horror track.




If you'd like to support me, add one of my songs to your Spotify playlist, or write me some comments on the video  :


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## doctoremmet (Jun 5, 2020)

Nice one Thom. I took the liberty to add a link to both of your Ben Osterhouse library review videos in a playlist and place that in my new “Ben Osterhouse appreciation thread” I created here today. Of course I explicitly credited you there.


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## ThomCSounds (Jun 5, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Nice one Thom. I took the liberty to add a link to both of your Ben Osterhouse library review videos in a playlist and place that in my new “Ben Osterhouse appreciation thread” I created here today. Of course I explicitly credited you there.



Thanks a lot for your help @doctoremmet it's greatly appreciated! It's great to see some attention on Ben Osterhouse's libraries at the moment! Really love his work


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## doctoremmet (Jun 5, 2020)

ThomCSounds said:


> Thanks a lot for your help @doctoremmet it's greatly appreciated! It's great to see some attention on Ben Osterhouse's libraries at the moment! Really love his work


In just one week I stumbled across your review of String Flows. Then Guy Michelmore does Sospiro, Daniel James does Sospiro AND Pete Calandra does Sospiro. I figured there’s some sort of signal being sent by the cosmic powers that be, or something 😂.

Having just recently become aware of Ben’s stuff, I felt it’s time to create a separate Osterhouse thread, to be able to discuss some of his stuff in a more focused manner.
I heard you mention you plan on doing more reviews shortly yeah? I’ll keep an eye out for those, and maybe you could cross-post a link in the thread as well to those videos. Also, please fee free to share any compositions that include some of Ben’s instruments. I love your songs, especially your very fine vocals!


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## ThomCSounds (Jun 5, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> In just one week I stumbled across your review of String Flows. Then Guy Michelmore does Sospiro, Daniel James does Sospiro AND Pete Calandra does Sospiro. I figured there’s some sort of signal being sent by the cosmic powers that be, or something 😂.
> 
> Having just recently become aware of Ben’s stuff, I felt it’s time to create a separate Osterhouse thread, to be able to discuss some of his stuff in a more focused manner.
> I heard you mention you plan on doing more reviews shortly yeah? I’ll keep an eye out for those, and maybe you could cross-post a link in the thread as well to those videos. Also, please fee free to share any compositions that include some of Ben’s instruments. I love your songs, especially your very fine vocals!



Haha yes! Funny indeed  I got to know about his libraries a while ago when the first ones came out on Kontakthub, I liked the unique tone and approach to his instruments. He kind of bridges the gap between conventional strings libraries and downright experimental libraries  

Very good idea! There will be another video dedicated to string flow in the next few hours. I felt like I could experiment with it a bit more. There will be a Sospiro review, and I'd like to add some vocals to the demos I'll be doing about it. I have a few ideas in mind for Sospiro, they will take a bit more time to put together, but I hope I'll be able to make them happen. 

Thanks a lot for your compliments about my voice and songs! I'm actually a singer-songwriter before being a producer. But I found that doing sample library reviews could be a good segway to showcase my music, share ideas with other composers and experiment as well .

I'll post the link to the next videos in the dedicated thread as soon as they're done. Thanks for doing this!


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## Cathbad (Jun 5, 2020)

I just bought this through the VST offer. €29 is an absolute steal. 

As Ben Osterhouse says in his own walkthrough of the product, it's quite a standard string technique but it's absent from almost all string libraries. Looking forward to using it.


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## doctoremmet (Jun 5, 2020)

ThomCSounds said:


> Thanks a lot for your compliments about my voice and songs! I'm actually a singer-songwriter before being a producer.


Heartfelt mate. Your voice is an asset! And by the way, your producing skills are quite good as well. I was just talking to @DanMcKinney and mentioned you used his 1954 Baldwin on the String Flow track. I quite like that piano!


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## doctoremmet (Jun 5, 2020)

ThomCSounds said:


> There will be another video dedicated to string flow in the next few hours.


Cool. As I said, it would be very kind of you if you’d crosslink that in the Osterhouse thread as well! I hear that @corypelizzari is going to post a video shortly on his channel on Sospiro as well. Must be something in the water... 😂


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## ThomCSounds (Jun 5, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Heartfelt mate. Your voice is an asset! And by the way, your producing skills are quite good as well. I was just talking to @DanMcKinney and mentioned you used his 1954 Baldwin on the String Flow track. I quite like that piano!



Thanks for all this!  The demos I do in my reviews are rarely mixed but I do mix / produce my tracks in my albums and sometimes master them as well. Thanks for letting Dan know! Love the Baldwin, I'll try to use it in more demos. I like changing from review to review to showcase other products by great developers. Can't wait for his 1988 Connelly Chapel Grand to come out! 




doctoremmet said:


> Cool. As I said, it would be very kind of you if you’d crosslink that in the Osterhouse thread as well! I hear that @corypelizzari is going to post a video shortly on his channel on Sospiro as well. Must be something in the water... 😂



Will do!  
Love Cory's videos his reviews are great and his musical chops very impressive when it comes to playing different styles!


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## doctoremmet (Jun 5, 2020)

ThomCSounds said:


> I like changing from review to review to showcase other products by great developers. Can't wait for his 1988 Connelly Chapel Grand to come out!


Yes. I appreciate that you mention all the VI’s you use on each track.



ThomCSounds said:


> Love Cory's videos his reviews are great and his musical chops very impressive when it comes to playing different styles!


Absolutely. Cory sets a very high bar when it comes to reviews. He’s the one that hooked me on the Aaron Venture stuff.

BTW, Thom. Have you used Waverunner Audio at all? Ross has a very cool sale up,
for basically all libraries, including a lot of stuff still to be released. His Alder strings are right up your alley I feel, as well as the brass and the Celestial Guitars. Anyway, I won’t derail this thread any more than I already have hahaha. Okay people, move right along to Youtube and watch the video linked above in the first post!


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## ThomCSounds (Jun 5, 2020)

I do feel like it's important to mention the libraries I use, one of my favourite things to do is to use libraries that are controversial haha! :D For example in my demos lately I've used Kirk Hunter's libraries, some Sonivox companion brass and strings. My revolutionary instinct has always pushed me to go check out a library whenever somebody said something bad about it. It's all good fun! 

Yes! I do have the Alder Violin, lovely library. I've not had the chance to use it much, but I do like the sound and the approach of the company. I remember their 7 days sale that is just a brilliant idea! I've just checked out their current sale / raffle. Looks like there's awesome stuff in the pipeline! Definitely some products I could review in the future too!


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## doctoremmet (Jun 5, 2020)

ThomCSounds said:


> Sonivox companion brass and strings


Have those ✅ - what review am I looking for? Hell of a concept, I like it. I quite like Xpand2! and the Waves e-pianos. Apparently that is also frowned upon in these circles 😉


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## ThomCSounds (Jun 5, 2020)

doctoremmet said:


> Have those ✅ - what review am I looking for? Hell of a concept, I like it. I quite like Xpand2! and the Waves e-pianos. Apparently that is also frowned upon in these circles 😉



I actually used Sonivox Companion Brass & Strings as well Concert Strings 2 by Kirk Hunter in my review of Barrage by Hidden Path Audio (which is also a library that some like and others don't...) 

Maybe I'm too nice when it comes to library haha! I just love them all. And maybe it's bad for a "reviewer" but at the same time, I'm still a musician before anything else. 

Xpand2 is awesome! It's definitely not as well sampled as some of the bespoke libraries out there, but it's great nonetheless and very practical. You could go on a desert island and use Xpand2 only haha!  Actually it would be great if they did an Xpand3! . I've not tried the Waves e-pianos but I do like their Bohemian Piano! I don't like their Wup and installation process for older versions of plugins though...

Any libraries that you regret buying? Or that you just haven't found any use for?


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## doctoremmet (Jun 9, 2020)

For some reason I tend to like the “outliers” like you, and try not to ride the hype train as much (but still do of course). So one of my favorite synths (next to Falcon2) is Waves Flow Motion, FM is still my go-to form of synthesis.

I kind of regret buying Serum, I hardly ever use it. Nothing wrong with it, but I’ll fire up Falcon2 sooner than Serum for some reason.

On the sample front, I hardly use most of the Komplete stuff, so I should’ve gone with just buying a naked version of full Kontakt and buy Una Corda. That and the Scarbee Rhodes are literally the only soundbanks I’ve really used.


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## carlc (Mar 30, 2022)

Sorry to bump an old thread, but it seemed appropriate to keep the conversation together... I just purchased String Flow Cello on sale and am having lots of fun with it. There is one quirk related to note length, however, that is not really mentioned in the demo videos and I am wondering if there is a way to control it. 

When I press a key to initiate the string flow pattern, it sometimes dwells on the initial note for a relatively long time before launching into the arpeggiation. It is almost like a whole note followed by a flurry of 32nd notes. Other times, it goes straight into the pattern without the long note at the front. I can't find a way to control it or predict when I will get that longer note at the beginning. Am I missing a trick?


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## carlc (Mar 30, 2022)

One more question... I noticed that my version does not have the retrigger button shown in the demo video. Perhaps that has something to do with the behavior I am seeing?


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## ThomCSounds (Mar 30, 2022)

carlc said:


> One more question... I noticed that my version does not have the retrigger button shown in the demo video. Perhaps that has something to do with the behavior I am seeing?


Hey @carlc I don't think I've had the same issue on my end, it could be something related to your version of String Flow. @Ben Osterhouse have you heard of other people experiencing the same issue?

Ben should be able to sort it out for you


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## carlc (Mar 30, 2022)

Thanks for confirming, it very well might be an intentional change in the latest version. According to the Pulse downloader, I have String Flow Cello v1.4. In my version, it seems like it triggers off of the note velocity. In the MP3 example attached here, I walk up through each chord within C maj (keyswitches on, closed voicing, root / no inversion). The first pass is with all notes at velocity=127. The second pass is will all notes at velocity=60. You can hear that in the first pass there is a longer note prior to the start of each chord being arpeggiated. In the second pass that longer note is not present. That seems like a convenient way to access that feature, but it might conflict with the ability to trigger the desired velocity layer. IIRC from Ben's video, this .NKI has two velocity layers.


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## ThomCSounds (Mar 31, 2022)

carlc said:


> Thanks for confirming, it very well might be an intentional change in the latest version. According to the Pulse downloader, I have String Flow Cello v1.4. In my version, it seems like it triggers off of the note velocity. In the MP3 example attached here, I walk up through each chord within C maj (keyswitches on, closed voicing, root / no inversion). The first pass is with all notes at velocity=127. The second pass is will all notes at velocity=60. You can hear that in the first pass there is a longer note prior to the start of each chord being arpeggiated. In the second pass that longer note is not present. That seems like a convenient way to access that feature, but it might conflict with the ability to trigger the desired velocity layer. IIRC from Ben's video, this .NKI has two velocity layers.


I've just listened to the example, I see what you mean now. Yes, the accent on the first note is indeed triggered with velocity. Some libraries work that way and you have to go edit the velocities to make sure that they don't trigger other articulations. Maybe that the second velocity layer IS the accent? That would make sense to me.


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