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La scoring strings (lass)

GingerMaestro

Senior Member
I know that there are multiple threads on this forum regarding strings, however I noticed AudioBro have a seemingly amazing package deal on LASS Lite plus First Chairs at the moment. I've had my eye on them for a while as I like the sound on their demos, but wondered if anyone has first hand experience using them as their go to string library.

I'm also considering Cinematic Studio Strings, although I think this sound a bit grainy on some of the demos I've heard, although I know their legato system is amazing, also Berlin Strings, but this is significantly more expensive, so would have to wait for their new store and probably do a pick and mix. I'm currently using Symphobia Strings to get going with plus Joshua Bell (Amazing) and Embertone's Viola & Cello.

Beautiful Sound is the most important thing for me, plus reality of course

Thank you
 
The real power of LASS for me is in the section divisi, legato soprdino and Auto Arranger. I don't think you get all of that with the Lite version. LASS is close recorded needs to be mixed to taste, but gives you everything you need to accomplish a wide range of mixes and feels.
 
Symphobia I has an incredibly good sound -- very hard to beat that, actually.

Regarding strings, I guess my advice is to go based on the demos for the one you like BEST, regardless of price or discounts. It takes a long time to "learn" a string library -- how it responds to mod wheel, cc11, other inputs, velocity -- and that learning is not usually fully transferable.

No doubt some libraries are more expensive up front, some have much heavier demands on computers. Nevertheless, if you want to be a composer, get the best tool that you personally think sounds like what you want.

I do like LASS, especially given the variety of sounds it offers with its colour engine and other fx that come built in. If you like the sound of it, by all means go for it. But if it's merely price, keep your powder dry and save for the library you really, really love.
 
I have Symphobia 1 & 2, and yes the sound is pretty good, I haven't experimented mixing it with Embertone strings yet, but that is my next project. I just find some of the high legato stuff in Symphobia a little bit "fake" but I need to play around with it a bit more. The Spicatto sounds really good.

So yes good advice, save up for something I really want, rather than going for the sales and another bit of advice another composer gave me was not to be tempted by the latest whizzbang library, in the hope that it will solve all your problems, better to spend the time investing in what you have before spending more money !
 
Berlin Strings, but this is significantly more expensive
Also resource intensive. I have a 64GB 2015 i7 iMac and only the basic library and still struggle mightily with resource management for this library. The sound is great but getting at the sound has been a challenge.
 
another bit of advice another composer gave me was not to be tempted by the latest whizzbang library, in the hope that it will solve all your problems, better to spend the time investing in what you have before spending more money !

That's right! I have fallen for the allure many times. I own a few great string libraries, but always go back to the the "best" one I had all along.....in my case, Hollywood Strings. I've invested so much time into learning it over the years, and it does everything I need it to. However, for intimate emotional pieces, I often pull out the sordinos from Lumina or 8Dio Adagietto. All a matter of personal taste, really.
 
I bought LASS First Chair a couple of years ago and I'm very happy with it. I really like its sound and versatility as you can tweak the sound pretty much from scratch.

If you don't have a problem having to do a lot of work to get a good sound in your mix, like working with velocity, setting up a reverb, panning... they are a really good choice I think.

Apart from that I have to say that the first chairs are good for smaller orchestration or writing parts for string instruments that should be highlighted in the production. If you want to make big sets of strings then you'll surely need an additional instrument, maybe LASS Lite or something else.

I am myself using Stringwerk in Reason for that bigger orchestration purpose as long as I can't afford the full version of LASS, which I want to buy sooner or later, maybe even wait for LASS 3 to come out, as in my opinion the current UI layout in LASS 2.5 needs a lot of improvements.

Here is one of my favorite demos on youtube that shows what you can do using only LASS First Chairs:



Edit: I deleted my SoundCloud accounts due to their abusive commercials, so I removed the links to my tracks.
 
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Have labored over LASS for absurd time. LASS Lite 2 + LASS FC 2 Bundle is indeed attractive package …. but goal has always been LASS Full 2.5 + LASS LS 2.5 Bundle, since it contains real strengths of Audiobro offering. Still sobering at $696. ( btw _ have mentioned MSRP $1898.00 'arithmetic' via e-mail and remain confused ).

No valid sense of LASS 3 timing and enhancements, but Upgrade cost will likely be attractive ……..
 
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LASS Lite remains to this day my favorite library purchase. I have been through 5+ brass libraries trying to catch the lightening in the bottle I got from LASS. I think the big thing you will get over Symphobia is the individual sections (afaik, symphobia is just ensembles). Writing for violins1, violins2, violas, cellos, and basses has a much higher ceiling than just writing for like Strings High and Strings Low.
That said, it's maybe not the most "beautiful" sounding string library - I'd lean toward CSS from what I've heard - but I think it's wonderfully playable and doesn't take much tweaking of parts while composing/mocking up.
 
The real power of LASS for me is in the section divisi, legato soprdino and Auto Arranger. I don't think you get all of that with the Lite version. LASS is close recorded needs to be mixed to taste, but gives you everything you need to accomplish a wide range of mixes and feels.
This! I had Lass Lite for a month before realizing I preferred the extra that the full version offered and so I upgraded and haven't used the Lite version since. Nevertheless, there are some amazing demos that use Lass Lite and for some people (more talented than myself) it's all they need.

If you don't have a problem having to do a lot of work to get a good sound in your mix, like working with velocity, setting up a reverb, panning... they are a really good choice I think.
Very true, and I would add that ,IMHO, if someone is serious about midi composing then these are the very basics everyone should learn. So initially a library like LASS will take more time to work with when it comes to EQ, Verb and other processing but once you learn it, it's not that time consuming anymore and now you have that knowledge to transfer to everything else in your mix.
 
One lil tip about FC: The legato sustain patch offers a 2nd chair for each instrument (and 3 violins total). This makes it super easy to get a chamber orchestra sound, just set two patches to one midi channel. Adjusting the portamento trigger velocity helps as well, one cello does port and the other doesn't. And if they both do it, they are timed differently. Detuning one a bit is nice. Do that with all the instruments and one can get a surprisingly good chamber orch for legato stuff.....
 
Lass Lite and Lass 2.5 are not compatible. They use the same samples and all but if you save a song with Lass Lite it will open with Lass Lite. If you update from Lite to Full one day you have to keep both versions on your machine or it won't load (or you have to replace Lass Lite in every song or copy the Midi content to new tracks).
 
I own A LOT of libraries, and I never go with LASS as the front line for my strings. I’ll double or augment with LASS, but I always end up not using LASS, or it’s always muted in my mockups.

LASS was the first string library I bought in late 2016, along with Cinestrings. Someone might have said me to get something else instead, but after trying both I was so blown away (compared to EWQLSO where I came from) so I went nuts and bought both- only to pretty much replace them both after a year of horrible frustration with Spitfire Chamber Strings and CSS a bit later. I'd still take LASS over Cinestrings any day for the styles I write, but I just can't get it working properly.

As in, I love the playability, but I just can't get the sections playing together nicely. It sounds always so detached from each other that I end up using SCS instead albeit from some minor doublings or fast runs. Maybe some day I'll tackle this one, but today is not the day.
 
IMO, if you're talking about Symphobia 1, those are pretty nice sounding strings, even compared to LASS Lite. The Sordinos are especially nice.


The sordinos are way too soft even though nice timbre. Anyway, I like layering LASS with CSS. I think they blend pretty well.
 
LASS is a constant part of my template, mostly for the short articulations. I've never heard anything better for spiccato or staccato. The pizzicatos are also great.
The strings library that I use the most, though, is CSS. The sound is just beautiful and once you've found a workaround for the delay in the legato transitions, it works like a charm! :)

This here was all done with CSS, no other strings in there:
 
LASS is a constant part of my template, mostly for the short articulations. I've never heard anything better for spiccato or staccato. The pizzicatos are also great.
The strings library that I use the most, though, is CSS. The sound is just beautiful and once you've found a workaround for the delay in the legato transitions, it works like a charm! :)

This here was all done with CSS, no other strings in there:


What woodwinds you use with CSS ? I use Berlin WW
 
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