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Short lower strings recommendation wanted

AndyP

still@work
I assume this question has been asked many times before, but I'm not completely satisfied yet.
I'm still looking for the biting, powerful short strings, especially in the low registers, cello and double bass.

Neither Hollywood Strings nor VSL SE Bundle Strings have convinced me so far. I like to use Spiccatos from The Orchestra because they are very aggressive, or Layer VSL Chamber Strings with Solo Cello or sometimes Furia Strings.

My problem is that the sustain and release phase for fast bass ostinatos lines is too long for me and the sound is quickly blurred, especially with layered sounds. EQ, limiter / compressor settings haven't brought me to the right result yet.

I'm looking for powerful and bone dry doublebass and cello spiccato shorts that drive the beat properly in the depths, not thin and not washed out.
I'm happy with the mids and highs, but not in the low ranges.

I want a sound that cuts through the mix like a knife. Any ideas?
 
It's not entirely what you are looking for, but until others chime in with better suggestions you could try Project Sam's 'Bombastic Basses':

https://projectsam.com/libraries/tfo-6-bombastic-basses/
It's a free library, so nothing to loose.
 
Thank you, I will try this! :emoji_thumbsup:
Edit: Ok, I already have them in Symphobia. But not satisfying enough 🤔
 
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I've been liking adventure strings.
Yes, they are great. I also use trailer strings, but unfortunately not the sound I'm looking for. It is a special project with lots of low registered sounds, deep, dark, over the edge. Unfortunately non of them suits perfect. Maybe I should try something like ... using effects instead of changing the patches.
 
Have you tested the short strings in Spitfire's Iceni library?
Not yet, I haven't had the Albion librarys in focus yet because I thought they were more hybrid synth oriented.
But the demos already sound like what I'm looking for. If I now find a demo with the strings alone ...
What I heard comes very close to my idea.

Thank you very much!
 
OK, I found this video on Youtube, an interesting comparison for short strings. I was looking for Iceni shorts, and ended up with this comparison. I could have searched for it earlier.

Iceni and Spitfire Symphonic Strings are very convincing. Also Albion 1 surprised me positively. I don't know why I always stayed away from Spitfire.

But I was also positively surprised by Adagietto. In the low range not so voluminous, but nicely biting...

 
SF LCOS' Vivid Spiccatos (Celli and Basses+Celli patches) keep on impressing me every time I am playing with them. The highlight of the whole library for me.
 
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uh ark 1. done

But the arks are not very dry, fantastic I agree. But OP wanted "powerful and bone dry doublebass and cello spiccato shorts". Iceni's close do clean up nicely, but are also not fitting of 'bone dry'
I've just tried them both and Iceni is... lovely :)

@AndyP what type of music are these for may help suggestions?
 
? close mics ???

you can trim the release tail if needed. Libraries like LASS aren't dry, they just have the tail edited off

I would challenge the original poster to show me an exact example of the sound they are trying to recreate.

Considering people are even suggesting Albion one, I would venture to say that most people who complain about wetness don't ever use close microphones for some weird reason
 
Even with release tail, I'm not able to get Arks to sound as dry and tight as Iceni (although not exactly dry). But others may have achieved better results.
I bought Ark for that room sound
 
Can you post an example, using a short phrase with a long nose and a few short notes

Bonus points if you post the midi file so it's easier to work with when I get home

I only have Albion 4 and 5 from the Albion series, although I have very many string libraries in general
 
I'm looking for powerful and bone dry doublebass and cello spiccato shorts that drive the beat properly in the depths, not thin and not washed out.
I'm happy with the mids and highs, but not in the low ranges.

I want a sound that cuts through the mix like a knife. Any ideas?

Novo. In addition to individual sections, there is even a "low ensemble" patch. Huge sound.
 
LASS Cellos have a feature called... Bite, or dig, or something like that I can't remember. It's a knob you can tune. But they are definitely the most aggressive shorts I've heard.
 
Will do dude. I'm out for next 18hrs so it'll probably be over the weekend
Filthy peasant!

I suppose I will have to wait, maybe I will post an example for you to pass through Albion 3.

Not nearly as important as the original poster providing an actual example of a finished product that they are trying to emulate.

The common issue I see often different microphones to achieve the sound they want and think that their entire template should be one microphone for every instrument with a Reverb, which is literally have nothing they have heard recorded is going to be made.

If someone loaded up for instance in orchestral tools Library and a Spitfire Library, they would find that the tree microphones are drastically different distances. and confuse this with wetness.

However the typical desired sound is almost always reachable with a combination of microphones, considering that is the sound of actual recorded music that we are used to.

So it's not like apples to apples, and the end result is not significantly different when you dial these libraries into a particular sound. Infact if you're actually EQing instruments to clean up/polish - then the difference is even smaller.
 
LASS Cellos have a feature called... Bite, or dig, or something like that I can't remember. It's a knob you can tune. But they are definitely the most aggressive shorts I've heard.

neh, lass spiccatos are just noisy. Berlin strings spiccato exposed is a similiar(but vastly better sounding) version of the upper dynamics. Berlin string shorts are pretty darn tight in general too. Low menacing sustains works much better if you have access to the expansions and 98729872 gigs of ram.
 
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