@Suntower said:

I -love- CS so take the following comments as such... good, bad & ugly.

I think Chamber Strings sounds very different from Dimension and I actually prefer the sound of CS in -general-. Plus it's easier to use for simple things, faster to load--just sounds good OOTB. I especially like the basses... Although I -do- wish there was a 2nd violin for a bit more variety of colour.

Also, at the risk of sounding -whatever-, it sounds about 400% better with the Extended Lib so that's almost a -must- unless you want to do a -lot- of hand work. I mean not 100%. I mean 400% better.

And at the risk of sounding even -more- -whatever-. I don't have a lot of money to throw around. I think CS has always been quite spendy IMHO... and even more so when you factor in the cost of the Extended Lib. In short: that's a LOT of shekels for added colour. I got CS because there was NOTHING else like it for a long time. I still love it, but...

<HTH>

---JC

Hello Suntower,

Thanks for your helpful feedback regarding Chamber Strings. 

Do Chamber Strings users feel they are very good to use when a more Period Style (i.e. Baroque Strings Ensemble , think Bach, Handel, ..etc. ) is needed ?   I'm asking this, because in addition to using CS to layer, and add more color to the other VSL Strings, I enjoy using Strings for Baroque style writing, and would like to know if CS would be very good to use when a Period Style String section sound is needed. 

Thanks,

Muziksculp 

Muziksculp, for me chamber strings has been very useful for period styles.  I have been writing a double-bass concerto in classical period style, and the chamber strings are perfect for it.  Also, in the extended portion of the library, IIRC, chamber strings include Baroque trills, unlike the other string libraries.  As has already been said, they also work well for creating divided parts with orchestra strings.

I agree with the other comment that one really needs both the standard and extended portion of the library.

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback regarding Chamber Stirngs.

One of the forum members here, ' Philippe BAYLAC ' has some great Baroque genre demos, and I have noticed that he uses a combination of DS and CS, Solo Strings. in many of his fantastic audio demos posted on this forum.

It would be very valuable, and helpful to me, if ' Philippe BAYLAC ' can provide a bit of his insight as to how useful Chamber Strings are for him, given his experience with CS, DS, and other VSL libraries, i.e .Solo Strings, to create a Baroque style string sound.

Thanks,

Muziksculp

For what it's worth, my template has "come to rest" using Solo and DS Violins, Solo and CS Violas, Solo and CS Cellos, and just CS Basses. Having played around with various combinations for ages (i.e. for far too long), this to me is as good as it gets for a smaller section, and I'm loving it. I must get a demo or two out there at some stage.....[:$]

The chamber Strings are essential for a more "in-your-face" string sound, which includes both Urban/Downtown and Baroque.  But also as pointed out they are good for the normal divisi one uses in a large string section which is usually two-part.   

One thing to consider is that they have a different timbre from the other strings, and what you are trying to do with strings in general is combine different timbres to increase the complexity.  So ideally, you want all the strings available to emulate the huge differences that live strings have.  Also, the different instrument sections have different strengths. For example, the Chamber Strings basses are really vivid in their sound, much more so than the other larger bass sections.  I have done layering with Chamber basses and solo bass and it is an extremely complex sound in combination that I ended up liking better than any of the other basses.  Also, the particular variations in timbre one encounters between for example the Orchestral Violas, the Appassionata Violas, and the Chamber Violas are delicious to use in various situations for different expressiveness.  One gets a more intense, emotional tone from these smaller ensembles.  

Another thing to consider is if you do a layer of Dimension strings with Chamber strings it will increase the transparent individual tonality of each player enormously.  Especially if also adding the solo strings.  

The main point is probably that live strings have so much variation of sound that any additional recordings that are done to capture the various nuances are invaluable.  It is only with increased complexity in sampled sounds that one can capture the huge variability of string expressions.  And, it has now become apparent that the VSL strings taken all together are far more complex in their possible combinations than any other sample library.  The other libraries, even though good, all have a singular approach to sampling strings, without all the subtle variations of different approaches that VSL has developed over the years.   I am increasingly looking at the VSL library in terms of how it started with the basics - the Orchestral Strings - and then added more and more refinements.  This gives the MIDI composer/performer a great advantage since this "history" VSL has  corresponds to the real, actual variations of sound one gets in different live ensembles and players. Part of this is because the head of the company is a cellist.   A great advantage for string sampling and in figuring out exactly what is needed to represent everything that strings really do!  

Hello & Thanks for all the helpful feedback.  

I will most likely go ahead with purchasing Chamber Strings Standard + Exp. in the very near future. 

On a side-note . I am relatively new to using VSL Libraries, VI-Pro 2, MIR-Pro and VE-Pro 5. So I am just beginning to discover the amazing flexibility, and sonic variety one can achieve via combining various VSL libraries in many, many ways.  The more I work & experiment with VSL libraries, the more I get amazed at what is possible to accomplish with them, imho. VI-Pro 2 is the most flexible, and well designed sample player engine currently available, nothing else on the market comes close. The more I use it, the less I feel like using any other sample player. [:D]

Chamber Strings will surely be a valuable VSL String library to have.  Given your valuable feedback, and listening to some of the produced audio demos with them, I am sure I will find many ways I can use Chamber Strings with the other VSL Strings Libraries that I already have, and other non-VSL Strings Libraries too. 

I'm also eagerly waiting for Dim-Strings Violas, and Basses to be released.  Hopefully they will all be available this year. 

Cheers,

Muziksculp  

It is an interesting topic.  There are a variety of things you can do if you have all the strings you mention.  One very noticeable fact about the ensembles is that on a unison, it does not necessarily increase the complexity or expressiveness if you simply layer Chamber with Appassionata, or Orchestra with Chamber, etc.  This is because smaller ensembles can make a larger ensemble sound smaller itself. 

However, if you layer a solo string with Appassionata (or any of the other ensembles) it increases the espressivo quality a lot.  The solo must be very soft and reduced in dynamic range so it drops out while the large ensemble gets louder.  That can be done by turning the dynamic range slider down.  Also, they should be significantly humanized with a different preset than the ensemble. 

Another good use of the smaller ensembles is for larger divisi sections.  I have found that orchestral is a good divisi for two-part divisi on Appassionata, and Chamber is better for three parts or more.  Even though the numbers of players  may not match exactly, in actual sound it is very close to real divisi sections.  You can always layer in solo as well if you wish, including a second transposed solo violin on second violins.  This, if used with different humanize settings, can be very complex and expressive.  Also, the changes in timbre caused by shifting from Appassionata to Orchestral or Chamber for divisi are almost perfect. 

All of this does not mention the Dimension Strings, which I feel are the greatest thing yet created for sample strings.  Because they can be used by themselves all together, or in ANY COMBINATION of individual players among themselves or with any of the other ensembles.  You can imagine the number of possibilities of combinations this creates, especially since they are incredibly expressive and varied in their sound, just like the real players who recorded them. 

On MIR setups, I have basically tried to place the smaller groups where they would be if they were divisi of the larger group, simply laid on top  in two or more parts of the larger ensemble.  If it was solo, I simply placed the player where he would actuallly be sitting among the other players.  It is probably best to make each instrument in a different position. 

One other thing - In order to deal with the massive amount of CPU and memory that this approach entails, since I don't have the largest computer system I have sometimes done a second group of strings after freezing the first.  With Dimension, this becomes necessary unless you have the largest possible RAM.  I have only 24 GB so I ended up doing second run-throughs with a different ensemble that was humanized differently and placed in slightly different positions on the stage.  You can hear some of this stuff on the Vertigo demo I did, which has a lot of layered strings including Solo, Appassionata and Dimension. 

Hi,

I finally went ahead, and purchased Chamber Strings I  (Standard & Ext.) . I will be having fun discovering what Chamber Strings I offers, and experiment with various layering scenarios with other VSL Strings Libraries in the next days, and weeks to come. I will post some feedback on my experience in the near future. Which could be helpful to other VSL users.  

I wish to Thank all of the forum members on this thread, for their valuable feedback, and VSL for producing these amazing libraries, and tools for us. 

Cheers,

Muziksculp