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  4. Revolutionary Dimension sound - WOW!

  • Revolutionary Dimension sound - WOW!

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    After auditioning the Dimension Cellos I must write that the Dimension recording technique is creating an exponential leap forward in sampling that has no match anywhere. The sound is intricately varied, complex and immense in musical possibilities. A lifetime of musical expression is possible with these sounds, just as with a live orchestra. 

    The techniques that VSL first created - the analytical, fully detailed sampling of all the orchestral instruments which they were the first to do - have been expanded to a 3D complexity with the Dimension Strings. Each player is controllable, yet all harmonize together in a rich, complex way.  It is exactly what happens in a live ensemble, and the technique with which this was accomplished is as revolutionary as the legato VSL pioneered.  It is very significant that the previous work done - the gradually perfected way of sampling individual instruments which one can hear from the First Edition to the latest  - formed the foundation for this new Dimension technique which solves the problems that in the past seemed impossible to address.  I have, or have used, the major sample libraries starting with Miroslav Vitous, and because of this have a large base for comparison, and the VSL library has now reached a unique stage of uncanny realism and beauty that is based upon the fundamental musical principles that have always been the inspiration of performers and composers.
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    I agree this library is pretty outstanding. It's great for those of us who love to obsess over every nuance of a performance. Being able to control each player of a given section is so awesome...can't wait to see how these advancements grow over the next 5 to 10 years! I'm trying now to decide which other VSL strings to layer this with between Appas. strings and Orchestral strings.
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    I would suggest Appassionata if you have to use only one.  Because the Appassionata will give you a great general string sound, and then you can add the textures of the Dimension strings on top, or use them for divisi.  However, the Orchestral strings are extremely good also because of their all-inclusive articulations.    

    But this brings up the various things that are going on with the other libraries as well.  For example, if you layer the Solo Strings with Dimension, it adds another level of richness to the sound.  One thing I always liked to do in the past was add the solo violin on top of the Appassionata violins.  Now, with Dimension, it is even better since you can add the Dimension violins, and the solo including the 2nd solo violin.  If you maintain a relationship between the numbers, there is no distortion or thickening of sound this way.  It adds a 3D quality to the timbres that corresponds perfectly to individual players' lines in a live ensemble.
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    You are completely right about layering DS with the Solo Strings! The Solo Strings stan+ext was actually my first VSL library, which I bought just a couple weeks ago. I was on the fence about DS, but I didn't want to regret having to pay full price later and jumped on the early bird offer. So glad I did! My main string library for a little while now has been LASS. Being LASS has it's own divisi capabilities, I'm pretty excited to see how well I can get them to blend. I'm still in need of a large string section with many articulations, so I think Orchestral strings edges out Appassionata for me at this point. Of course if I hadn't wasted so much money on "film" libraries in the last year, I could have had one of the bigger VSL bundles by now...live and learn!
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    The thing that I am recently noticing about layering is that the very fact that the Solo strings, Orchestral Strings, Appassionata, Chamber, actually all blend really well with Dimension, being expanded in a complex way because they were sampled differently.   In other words, the single ensemble sound is augmented by the complex Dimension sampling and actually adds more to it as a result.  An example is how the solo violin becomes like concert master of the Dimension violins.  And since there is now a second solo violin, you have a leader of your second Dimension violins as well.  This applies to the cellos also.  And I am of course drooling over the thought of the violas and basses... 
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    Yes... I'm already highly anticipating the other sections. I'm sure the wait for the cellos was slightly painful (but worth it, I'm also sure!) so at least I spared myself that by buying in so late, lol. Would love to hear some demos with all the VSL strings together.
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    Another thing that is very striking about the Dimension instruments is how each individual player is subtly different in timbre, even though they blend because of being recorded simultaneously.  This creates the interesting possibility of selecting which player you want to layer, or how many.  Since the addition of just one Solo player added so much to the Appassionata sound (something that people have been doing very often) the further possibilities of adding perhaps just two or four of the D players is another feature. And since they have the difference of the individual players' timbre and playing style, each combination will sound different.