# New strings library: soaring strings, anyone talking about it?



## dreamnight92 (Jan 24, 2016)

Legato and sustains only. 
That is, the sound is very good, what are your impressions?


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## gjelul (Jan 24, 2016)

Sounds very good. Priced reasonably. I will probably get it.


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## Zhao Shen (Jan 24, 2016)

Lots of info and feedback here: http://vi-control.net/community/threads/musical-sampling-releases-soaring-strings.51184/


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## RiffWraith (Jan 24, 2016)

Convo here:

http://vi-control.net/community/threads/musical-sampling-releases-soaring-strings.51184/


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## sleepy hollow (Jan 24, 2016)

No, let's talk here, right in this thread! 

Let's not spam the commercial announcement with our jibber-jabber. (edit: shouldn't have spammed there myself, my apologies to the dev)


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## tav.one (Jan 24, 2016)

I'm a little confused between Albion II (Loegria) & this library. I'm looking for a *smooth* *warm intimate sound of Strings*.
In Albion II, I miss separate string sections & in Soaring Strings I'm missing articulations.

Can somebody suggest me what would work best in this case?


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## dreamnight92 (Jan 24, 2016)

Actually this is my idea about this library: 
PRO: 
- Instrument placed on their sit. 
- Intelligent programming. 
- Really really nice programming. 
- Rebowing.
- The legato samples seems to handle well fast passages. 

CONTRO: 
-No short articulations. 
-No vibrato control (at forte dynamic there is a lot of vibrato that you may not like). 
-No mics position. 


The price is good, I'm look for a string library with good and consistent legato, and this seems to be what I'm looking for (I actually own Hollywood strings that need lots of programming for legato). 
But I'm actually interested also to Cinematic strings 2, that is very very similar... 
I cannot decide!!!


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## tav.one (Jan 24, 2016)

dreamnight92 said:


> But I'm actually interested also to Cinematic strings 2, that is very very similar...



I have it in my mind as well, do you have any idea about size of sections (No of players) in CS2..?


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## dreamnight92 (Jan 24, 2016)

itstav said:


> I have it in my mind as well, do you have any idea about size of sections (No of players) in CS2..?



Which size? :D

Players are 12 8 7 7 6
The library is about 45 gb or so


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## tav.one (Jan 24, 2016)

dreamnight92 said:


> Which size? :D
> 
> Players are 12 8 7 7 6
> The library is about 45 gb or so



The number of players, thanks for answering.
I'm actually looking for drier & more intimate (6+4+3+3+2)ish sound, so I guess CS2 may not be best idea for that.


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## dreamnight92 (Jan 24, 2016)

Cinematic strings sounds quite big (listen to the demos), so maybe it isn't what you're looking for.


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## tav.one (Jan 24, 2016)

dreamnight92 said:


> Cinematic strings sounds quite big (listen to the demos), so maybe it isn't what you're looking for.



Yes you're right. I think all I'm looking for is a cheaper alternative to Sable. (Wishful Thinking?)


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## Baron Greuner (Jan 24, 2016)

edited


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## Johnny (Jan 24, 2016)

Excellent! I've been wondering for months now why any other developer hasn't taken it upon themselves to clean up the Agitato smoke; a tidy, polished, methodical, easy to use, comprehensive package- a perfect addition to any pre-existing String Library! Very well done and congratulations! You have really earned it! You have my sincerest thank you! This is a product that I've been waiting the last ten years for : D


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## ArtTurnerMusic (Jan 24, 2016)

Personally, I have found this library to be thin-sounding and full of annoying noises. I even thought maybe I downloaded the wrong files since everyone is positively over the moon with this library in the commercial thread.


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## zacnelson (Jan 24, 2016)

dreamnight92 said:


> CONTRO:
> -No short articulations.
> -No vibrato control (at forte dynamic there is a lot of vibrato that you may not like).
> -No mics position.



I liked your list of pros/cons, although I probably have a different opinion about the cons. To my way of thinking, the `no short articulations' is neither positive or negative, it's just a fact about the scope of the library. If there were shorts, then it would cost more, so that means shorts could possibly be a negative!  Also, the `no mics position' is in my mind a big positive. That means it would take up far less space on my SSD, and less RAM when loaded into Kontakt - and also it removes a lot of decision making which can take some of the stress out of the composing process.


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## dreamnight92 (Jan 24, 2016)

Mic position are a nice tool when mixing, you can adjust the timbre and the amount of ambiance as well; without any mic you'll need to adapt other libs to this


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## Zhao Shen (Jan 25, 2016)

itstav said:


> I'm a little confused between Albion II (Loegria) & this library. I'm looking for a *smooth* *warm intimate sound of Strings*.
> In Albion II, I miss separate string sections & in Soaring Strings I'm missing articulations.
> 
> Can somebody suggest me what would work best in this case?


Are you buying Albion 2 for strings only? It includes so much more - it'd be a shame to buy it if you were just looking for strings. If you are though, Soaring Strings is better at what it does. Just remember, you'll have no special articulations - just legatos and sustains. To start with strings you might want to look at something more comprehensive - there's lots out there. Berlin Strings is probably the closest to "smooth, warm, and intimate."


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## vicontrolu (Jan 25, 2016)

Can somebody post a simple line wit this library? nI want to compare with some other here..


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## oxo (Jan 25, 2016)

@ vicontrolu

take a look at 1:19


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## P.N. (Jan 25, 2016)

Soaring Strings do sound great. The only thing i am not actually fond of is the price.
I can respect the dev's decision on it (only he knows the amount of time, effort and money he put into it), but as a consumer, considering the limitations of the product in terms of articulations (and the competing alternatives), i'd expect a slightly lower price that would reflect that limitation. I do realize pretty much everyone likes the price, so, it's really just my opinion on this.


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## WindcryMusic (Jan 25, 2016)

itstav said:


> I'm a little confused between Albion II (Loegria) & this library. I'm looking for a *smooth* *warm intimate sound of Strings*.
> In Albion II, I miss separate string sections & in Soaring Strings I'm missing articulations.
> 
> Can somebody suggest me what would work best in this case?



I'm not sure that I'd personally characterize Albion II as being especially "warm" (e.g., when I think of "warm", I think of an emphasis on low mids, whereas the highs are very much out in force in Albion II). But "intimate" definitely applies, at least. Albion II is more of a chamber string sound, where there is less density and greater definition, to where you can almost hear the individual violins and other instruments in the samples, especially in the 1/2 sections. And the articulations are nice, especially the flautando, which I think is amazing and use a lot. You might be able to get the "warmth" aspect you want via a combination of mic positions and EQ treatments.

I don't know about Soaring Strings, other than that the demos thus far haven't impressed me I'm afraid.


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## tav.one (Jan 25, 2016)

Zhao Shen said:


> Are you buying Albion 2 for strings only? It includes so much more - it'd be a shame to buy it if you were just looking for strings. If you are though, Soaring Strings is better at what it does. Just remember, you'll have no special articulations - just legatos and sustains. To start with strings you might want to look at something more comprehensive - there's lots out there. Berlin Strings is probably the closest to "smooth, warm, and intimate."



I'll be using Albion II's other included instruments as well in future, for now I just need strings for one of my important projects. I'm sure that I prefer separate sections, but I love Loegria's sound. So I'm just looking for Loegria's sound in split sections. Budget is max $800 so no sable for me yet. Checking Berlin Strings right now, thanks.


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## tav.one (Jan 25, 2016)

WindcryMusic said:


> I'm not sure that I'd personally characterize Albion II as being especially "warm" (e.g., when I think of "warm", I think of an emphasis on low mids, whereas the highs are very much out in force in Albion II). But "intimate" definitely applies, at least. Albion II is more of a chamber string sound, where there is less density and greater definition, to where you can almost hear the individual violins and other instruments in the samples, especially in the 1/2 sections. And the articulations are nice, especially the flautando, which I think is amazing and use a lot. You might be able to get the "warmth" aspect you want via a combination of mic positions and EQ treatments.
> 
> I don't know about Soaring Strings, other than that the demos thus far haven't impressed me I'm afraid.



Yeah maybe to me warm means something different, but yeah chamber sound, less density is what I meant. I have no doubt about sound of Loegria, I love it...just that there are no separate string sections.


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## tav.one (Jan 25, 2016)

I just realised that I deviated from what this thread is meant to be, I apologise for that. After some study about available string libraries I'll post a new thread for this.


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## oxo (Jan 25, 2016)

itstav said:


> I'm looking for a *smooth* *warm intimate sound of Strings*.



first quick and dirty test - SS with a small EQ-boost at 200 hz:
https://app.box.com/s/rum2um1eediwhsm71fcltwhcwcbji0pq


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## lucky909091 (Jan 25, 2016)

Great.


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## renegade (Jan 25, 2016)

P.N. said:


> Soaring Strings do sound great. The only thing i am not actually fond of is the price.
> I can respect the dev's decision on it (only he knows the amount of time, effort and money he put into it), but as a consumer, considering the limitations of the product in terms of articulations (and the competing alternatives), i'd expect a slightly lower price that would reflect that limitation. I do realize pretty much everyone likes the price, so, it's really just my opinion on this.



I thought I was the only one. Wouldn't call it overpriced per se either. But too high for me anyway. One mix only, no sordino, no 2. violin, one type of legato only, no stac/spicc/pizz, no vib. control/non vib, harmonics etc.
It seems to be great at what it does, I like the sound. I was hoping for a price similar to Cornucopia Strings (which is also a great product...they would probably compliment each other quite well). But I guess not 
Anyway, I undestand the positive reviews and comments, It seems like a great set of sounds.
I like the idea of a mix instead of mic positions, but at least two would have been nice. I love that Sable have some mixes (close/intimate, in-between and far), they are light on RAM and you don't have to worry about mixing mics.


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## tav.one (Jan 25, 2016)

oxo said:


> first quick and dirty test - SS with a small EQ-boost at 200 hz:
> https://app.box.com/s/rum2um1eediwhsm71fcltwhcwcbji0pq



Great, as I'm hearing more I think I'm leaning towards Soaring Strings. I'm just writing a new thread which shows the exact sound I'm looking for and will ask for closest library, because I'm new to using good orchestral libraries. Thanks for this oxo.


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## oxo (Jan 25, 2016)

itstav said:


> Thanks for this oxo.



you are welcome.


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## dreamnight92 (Jan 25, 2016)

No second violins and the heavy vibrato is enough to me to decide not to buy this library...by the way I think is a very interesting library.


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## ryans (Jan 25, 2016)

After playing with it for a couple days... When used in the right context, this library most definitely 'soars'. There's nothing else (commercially available) like it. If overused.. the relentless vibrato _could_ become wearying... 

Ryan


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## MA-Simon (Jan 25, 2016)

They are really nice!! Will be using them a lot! :D


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## Hanu_H (Jan 26, 2016)

Bought it today and did a little test with it. It's basically out of the box. Only some Spaces reverb and gentle low cut with EQ. I like the sound, some of the legato transitions sound a bit loud in the cue but I am positive it could be tamed with better CC1.



-Hannes


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## Noam Guterman (Jan 26, 2016)

Hanu_H said:


> Bought it today and did a little test with it. It's basically out of the box. Only some Spaces reverb and gentle low cut with EQ. I like the sound, some of the legato transitions sound a bit loud in the cue but I am positive it could be tamed with better CC1.
> 
> 
> 
> -Hannes



This library is magical. Thanks for the demo Hannes, really nice theme you got there!


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## ScarletJerry (Jan 26, 2016)

I'm on the fence about this library. I don't compose professionally, and I already have Cinematic Strings and 8DIO Agitado Grandiose Legato Violins. I like both, but they don't have the realistic yearning legato that I hear in the soaring demos. If the library was closer to $100, it would be a no-brainer, but for someone like me, it's on the expensive side. Of course, if I was a professional composer, or even someone that did a lot of composing, I would definitely pick it up. I wish that the company would offer a limited demo (like Agitado did). That could change my mind.

-Scarlet Jerry


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## Assa (Jan 26, 2016)

I just downloaded it and I'm very impressed so far. Loaded the patches and played some soaring williams themes, absolutely beautiful. Then I played a melody with the violins and just improvised a little bit with the other patches. You can listen to my first little fiddling here:


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## zacnelson (Jan 26, 2016)

Here is a completed track using Soaring Strings. You get a good example of the violins `soaring' from around 1:04 onwards. The cello has a lead line from 0:24 and the violas are the focus at 0:51.


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## romanr (Jan 26, 2016)

zacnelson said:


> Here is a completed track using Soaring Strings. You get a good example of the violins `soaring' from around 1:04 onwards. The cello has a lead line from 0:24 and the violas are the focus at 0:51.



Wonderful track Zac, really underlines the romantic & emotional character of the library. Oh man, so hard not to buy it at the moment :D... but my wallet!


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## zacnelson (Jan 27, 2016)

Thank you Roman, glad you liked it! I know what you mean about the wallet thing…. I had serious reservations due to the money I've been spending the last couple of months…. I suppose that's why these intro prices are so effective, I keep thinking about how much I can save. Also I suppose with the rate of new libraries constantly being introduced, it helps to adopt a good new product early because then you get the maximum use out of it before the next shiny toy comes along… :D


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## markleake (Jan 27, 2016)

I'm with Roman, it's hard to resist. Your track is a good one Zac, although I would have liked to hear more from the violas. But I too am hesitant to pull the wallet out again after the damage it has take the last month or so (although I now have some pretty nice libraries on my HDD). I just find it hard to spend on something I already have in most regards, even if it does seem to perform better than other string libraries at certain tasks. I don't know if I should prioritize this over other things I would want. :/


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## Steve Martin (Jan 27, 2016)

Hi Zac, really great sounding music there. Very impressive. Thanks for posting this. 
Steve


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## Jack Weaver (Jan 27, 2016)

Wow, purchased yesterday. I was dubious before I tried them in my own system. Totally happy with this new addition to my string libs. It really gives me something I haven't had to date - strings that are silky and sing in the higher ranges.

Buy it. Give money to Aaron. Make sure he has enough cash up front to completely flesh out all the rest of the articulations.

However I doubt that this specific sound would lend itself to quality shorts articulations. Perhaps even a different type overall sound for his longs would occur in a new sampling session. All Aaron has to do is capture lightning in a bottle twice in a row. He's half the way there. 

.


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## Johnny (Jan 27, 2016)

Jack Weaver said:


> Wow, purchased yesterday. I was dubious before I tried them in my own system. Totally happy with this new addition to my string libs. It really gives me something I haven't had to date - strings that are silky and sing in the higher ranges.
> 
> Buy it. Give money to Aaron. Make sure he has enough cash up front to completely flesh out all the rest of the articulations.
> 
> ...


Yes, I equally gave Aaron my money and I honestly couldn't be happier! You nailed it Aaron! The legato patches are exactly what my template was missing! IMO: Soaring String's Legato and Sustain patches are scripted far better than anything currently on the market regarding "that" particular style of legato (and sustain). The tone and seating are right on the money! (Yes, I even like the baked in hall; it's extremely transparent and very easy to work with/blend- for those whom may still be concerned?) You can play the strings fast; you can play the strings slow- the transitions are extremely seamless, highly adaptive and intuitive. The repetitions are unprecedentedly scripted- as are the sustains. Exquisite little gem! Soaring Strings is the perfect addition to complement any pre-existing string library currently available on the market.
Best,
Johnny


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## ModalRealist (Jan 29, 2016)

Terribly tempted to jump in on this before tomorrow comes. Quick question: for those of you with Berlin Strings, how do you find blending this library in?


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