Hello Alex,

the underlying samples for these sounds are originally included in the repetition dynamics patches (e.g. perf-rep_cre9_por, ...). The latter are patches where whenever you trigger another repetition you get another dynamics level, so that you start with ppp and after the 9th repetition you end up with fff, or vice versa. The VSL made all the individual dynamic levels (from ppp to fff) individually available as separate patches in the Resource folder of (nearly) each library. We assembled these individual patches into matrices that are playable via velocity (or velocity X-fade) just like the standard portato, staccato and spiccato patches. We made sure that these HD Shorts behave very similarly to the standard versions: their minimum and maximum volumes as well as their velocity dependence are matched (i.e. you get about the same volume for the same Midi velocity), but their velocity resolution is higher (i.e. the gradual change of the sound with velocity is improved). Due to all this you can easily combine them with the standard patches. They generally have a distinct sound and thereby provide a clear alternative to vary the playback or even use both versions unisono. The HD Shorts do not offer automatic alternations (round-robins). Yet, being assembled from repetition (dynamics) samples they blend very well with the normal repetition patches and you can manually switch to them to even get nine distinct alternations.

The HD shorts are integrated into Articulate Presets, which are VI pro presets for each instrument that contain over hundred different matrices covering everything included in the corresponding VSL libraries. Each matrix covers another playing technique, yet these matrices do not consist of individual patches. Many offer "3D-control" and combine all available recorded versions for that playing technique and blend them to allow you to continuously change up to 3 different aspects of the sound.  

I hope all this makes it clearer. However, the simplest way to see what this is, how it works and if this is useful for you is simply to download the full-featured demo and play these sounds 😊. 

The demo package includes e.g. the "Cellos S" preset which covers all cello samples included in Solo and Chamber Strings 1 & 2. You can e.g. access all playing techniques (listed in the manual) by program change (PC) messages. Although you can surely also use them without this, to fully take advantage of the 3D-control you will need 3 physical controllers (knobs, faders, pedals, ...) that send Continuous Controller (CC) 2, 3 and 20, respectively. CC20 (Cell X-fade) generally always controls the "section size" (in this preset e.g. blending the Solo Cello and the Chamber Cellos). In the likewise included "Violins D" preset covering the Dimension Violas this controller dials the actual number of players and the auto-divisi feature automatically distributes the played notes among the different Dimension players. What the other two controllers do depends on the particular sound. It is likewise listed in the manual, but you can simply check it out what they control. E.g. for the first (sustained) playing technique CC2 controls the attack and CC3 the vibrato intensity. The new HD Shorts are accessed by PC 109-114 and offer the same continuous control as the corresponding SD matrices.

All the best

Kai

Dear Kai, thank you so much for this most detailed answer, and all the trouble you took to explain this to me, very much appreciated! This goes straight to my "buy asap"-list:-) I am very happy that the VSL-team keeps improving this already unparalleled library, can't wait to try it out!

Warm regards,

Alex

Hello Alex,

just to prevent any misunderstanding: Although the VSL team also still improves the VI series (e.g. with their recent VST3 version of VI pro), and hopefully will continue to do so in the future, this is not an official VSL product, but we are a third-party developer not affiliated with the VSL.

All the best

Kai

As a Symphonic Cube owner, I am highly intrigued by this. So, is there a way a Pro Tools user, who run VE in standalone mode on separate machines, can get his to work?

Best,

Gaute

Hello Gaute,

Articulate Presets are simply presets for VI pro and work with any Sequencer/DAW. If you can host VI pro in the Standalone VE on separate machines so far (i.e. the VI pro instances receive Midi from Pro Tools and the latter receives the audio), then this should definitely work. But to make sure you could just check it out with the demo presets.

All the best

Kai 

To give more Vienna Instruments series users the chance to check out the new HD Shorts with 9 velocity layers for the entire Symphonic Cube, we have added the Articulate Preset for the Trombone, containing the complete content of five full VSL libraries, to the comprehensive Articulate Presets Demo Content.

Thereby, the full-featured demo contains now four complete Articulate Presets: the Cello, the Dimension Violas, the Trombone and the Second Flute. Moreover it includes the complete integration into all supported Music Applications: Logic, Dorico, Cubase & Studio One.

Concurrent with the VSL Vienna Instruments (VI) sale, all Articulate Presets for the VI series are likewise 50% off

Instead of "HD" - which has already met with negative response here - might I suggest perhaps "high contrast timbre" (HCT), "multi-contrast timbre" (MCT), or something else along those lines. "HD" already has specific established meaning among the audio and video technical community; so I believe it really is, therefore, likely to be misleading.

@Macker said:

Instead of "HD" - which has already met with negative response here - might I suggest perhaps "high contrast timbre" (HCT), "multi-contrast timbre" (MCT), or something else along those lines. "HD" already has specific established meaning among the audio and video technical community; so I believe it really is, therefore, likely to be misleading.

Hello Macker,

thanks for your suggestion to change the established name of an 18 months old feature (which is used countless times in nearly 40 presets, 5 distinct manuals, our web site, ...) because it has "met negative response" from a single person.

We spent a lot of time and effort creating these nearly hundred new sounds that extend a classic library by a whole range of alternate versions of key playing techniques. These fully playable matrices were assembled out of great samples that were quite hidden and very likely unused by nearly all users of the Symphonic Cube - and we are very happy with the result! I had explained the motivation and justification for the name above and do not see any problem with it: 9 velocity layers is still state of the art for orchestral sample libraries nowadays, and it says a lot about the quality of the Symphonic Cube and the vision of its creators that such an extension was even possible after 20 years.

We offer a full-featured demo (cello & trombone) and it only takes five minutes to download and install it to simply check out these new sounds (program changes #109-115), so that users can easily see for themselves what this is and if they are useful for them. But for some reason nearly the only feedback we got on this forum regarding this major extension (and free update for all our users) is about naming ...

@symphonic riot don’t let one critic get you down. If I owned more VI sounds (only the sax atm) I would definitely be very interested.

Thanks rAC, really appreciated 😊!

This sounds very good. And I am more than happy after all the (not so good) news for Symphonic Cube Owners that this is a very welcomed addition I was not aware off.

I know myself how much time will be consumed by working with fine-tuned articulations - so this is really a big helper.

I will download the demo and give it a spin.

And especially cudo's for supporting Studio One, which is a very underrated DAW which have gained much ground with newer versions, not to even mention the integration with NOTION.

So hopefully, I can make a decision before sales end.

+1 on the "Don’t let one critic get you down." remark .

Thanks 😊, hope you like them.

An even easier way to see the HD Shorts in action (also for other instruments) is to watch the video showcasing the automatic Dorico playback which prominently uses them as well (although that particular score unfortunately does not really take advantage of their dynamic range and resolution - and the fully automatic playback without edits surely does not use the advanced features of Articulate Presets to shape the playback in detail). For comparison there is also a version of the same score using the standard short VSL articulations instead.

Right now is the hottest Summer day of 2024 here in Germany and late in August.

After spending the last week thinking about the future of my invest in the VSL cube (not so much the money, but almost 10 years of time, knowledge and work) I found two things coming together, that sparkled and boost my creativity around my actual setup and work with orchestral music. (With the VI Cube and my binaural mixes with MIR3D)

The very intriguing part of "Articulate" is the immense work that went into the Cube presets to shield us user from endless tweaking and give the benefit and power of simplicity to focus on orchestration and writing.

I was always wondering, if it was just me getting lost in the gazillions of articulations and what to use when certain timbre of the voice is wanted.

Yes, Articulate makes these things much more easy. And it it is the only preset that focus on VI, not SY-ized. Well, exactly what the plagued VI mind need these days.

The second part is Dorico. Exactly this week, their 40th anniversary sale was starting and everything is half off. I checked out Dorico Elements, to not beeing forced into the big license, and find out, Elements is all you need and can do everything a hobbyist composer needed, without sacrificing core functionality.

And Dorico Elements works just fine with the Cube and the "Articulate" expression maps. Big win.

Not to say it is easy. I spend some days now getting everything together. I had never used Dorico before and the learning curve is deep and ugly. But at the end, it was very rewarding. With the actual quality of Dorico in Version 5 and the player abilities with VI Pro and the preset of Articulate Cube Expression Maps, your VI Library like my cube gets a whole new diemension of "ease of work".

With my newborn workflow, I can indeed now focus on score-based writing WITH a lot of expressions without setting and tweaking up endless Matrix combinations. It is just that - nice flowing.

So another 50% off offer these day from Articulate and I was all set. Downside is, this is now the challenge to write my symphony, there are no longer no technical excuses. And they must be finished by Nov 2025, EOL VI - so better start now.

Get the two while sales season and summer last and before the shorter days and longer nights could be filled with great work.

Thanks so much for the encouraging feedback 😀,

I fully agree with your comment on Dorico Elements. Since the former instrument limit is lifted and it is mostly lacking expert notation features compared to the Pro version, it is a steal (even without a sale), and what one gets is more than enough for most applications. Although I unfortunately also agree with your comment on the somewhat steeper learning curve, it is eventually worth it, because Dorico is the only Notation software that can actually compete with many DAWs and thereby combines the best of both worlds.

I wish you fun and success writing your symphony!

I am also a user of Articulate Presets, and it is incredibly useful. Kai is also very responsive over email if I had any questions and he has solved many issues over the years. Absolutely worth it!