There is no violins V3 update.

Yes. Complete 2nd violins, with all the articulations which were missing. The Strings patch has also been updated.

Hi,

Is there a way of checking what components of Synchron Strings I have and haven't installed? The download manager doesn't seem to keep a log of this, and given the updates, fixes, etc, I want to make sure that I've updated everything I need, but without pointlessly re-downloading stuff I already have.

Thanks in advance.

OK with all respect I do have for Spitfire as one of the few competitors of VSL who are seriously trying to present orchestral samplelibraries, at least as far this Video could present it to me this is definitly nothing what does impress me: They are obviously not awware, that in 20 minutes "in action" Video they dont present anything what I would not likewise expect from some decent synthypad-patches. I mean however they refer to Hans Zimmer to evoke dreams of the big film business with much money for very few notes and composition effort. If they went on like this they will end up boring me as Nils Frahms it already does with nearly all of his time consuming musical nothing that he presents.

No sorry, our music tradition definitly has more challenges than only the slowest adagio impressions. If they want to show anything in action, I would expect at least different kinds of action and not only constant lethargy in all variations the usage of bow allows.

However "many" libraries they present it seems to be more the Problem that they are nearly completly focussed on producing pad-like sounds with not that much real musical relevance. I already have had the same impression with their LCO Strings its allways about the same Ideal of a syntheziser pad without the necessary usability for the whole variety one would expect from strings playing more than any "dreamy" minorchord but real music with meldies, rythm architecture of dramaturgy, motives and development.

Good to know that VSL stands still on the real ground of music and seems to be not tat much in danger to flow away in a nilsfrahm like musical out of nowhere and nothing.

@fahl5 said:

Good to know that VSL stands still on the real ground of music and seems to be not tat much in danger to flow away in a nilsfrahm like musical out of nowhere and nothing.

Agreed.  I had not used VSL libraries much until now (just VEPro), but this is one of the reasons I bought Synchron Strings, and am adapting my writing to use it more (HW Strings are my usual go-to, but I like Synchron quite a bit). 

There are several library developers that seem to have adopted the "more is better" approach to sampling, and are releasing libraries with ridiculously unrealistic numbers of players aimed at the overhyped "epic" scoring mindset.  But to me, this kind of "scoring" is little more than sound design with musical samples.  True music, and true musical film scores can stand the test of time and be enjoyable a century or more from now.  Most of these sound-design styled scores and pieces will be forgotten 2 minutes before the piece has ended. 

It is good to see that VSL is planning and developing with the essence, purity and beauty of true music in mind. 

Agreed, as well. This "more is better" approach is unnecessary. And I agree on this pad-like sound, too. With this ridiculous number of players you can't really make professional sounding orchestration, in my opinion. I don't like Hans Zimmer scores, I am a John Williams' fanboy, and I would always prefer his complex scores. For this "epic" kind of stuff this new llibrary may be sufficient. But "epic" lies also in the orchestration. I dislike this "trend" and I really hope that there will be more composers like John Williams in the future. At the moment we have very boring movie scores without any motifs/themes really, and, which sound all the same to me.

The only thing which I like is the UI by ustwo. I am a media designer and really are in this kind of stuff. Unfortuantely, Synchron Player looks a bit "old" compared to this. But in the end it's all about the functionalities and the sound.

@fahl5, I had similar thoughts. I do like Spitfire, although I can't use their products for everything I like to do, as most of their libraries have this massive ambience baked into them, and as you said: so much is geared towards playing long, slow harmonies until someone in the back stars falling asleep. And it's always all these different obscure "longs" variations -  super sul tasto, con sordino sul ponticello, no rosin flautando, tremolo with your teeth and a sock stuffed under the string  ... while in reality, sample libraries still struggle the most with rhythm.

Therefor, these new HZ strings left me moderately unimpressed. Big name, big sound, big data, but beneath the surface, the scope of what I believe I could express using what it comes with in terms of articulations seems typically limited, albeit the sound of course is great.

From that perspective, I don't see what kind of sense it was supposed to make to bring it up here. Synchron Strings covers completely different ground and is definitely suited better for my purposes.

Having hung out recently with about a dozen low budget guys here in LA, (who do lots of shorts, ultra low-budget features, student films, etc), the Spitfire stuff is perfect for them, especially anything with "Hans Zimmer" in the branding.

Most of them come from pop/rock mid-2000s or late-90s bands and have no real knowledge of how an orchestra works.  If you show them a picture of an english horn and ask them to identify if it is a single reed or a double reed, they'll ask "what do you mean? Like, how does this instrument read?"

The Spitfire stuff is good for them because they can play block chords of vi - IV - I - V, slap on some takio drums in a 3-3-2 rhythmic grouping, and it sounds "cinematic" to a client who doesn't know any better.

VSL on the otherhand is for composers who need a tool that has a extensive expressive range.  I foolishly bought the Spitfire Symphonic Brass a couple years and absolutely hate it now that I know what I'm doing with sample libraries.  When I tested it and could play the horn solo in Till Eulenspiegel.  Months later I tried to play Petrushka with the trumpet and it's simply not possible.  Most things in the brass literature are not possible with Spitfire.

With the exception of works requiring extended techniques, the Synchron series has yet to show me that it isn't capable of rendering any passage from the classical repertoire.  I believe it engenders composers to rise to the challenge of being able to make use of that full expressive range.  Technology is leading the way, artistically, so far this millennium, and it is a benefit to us all.

That is a good point about the huge string sections -- I am now becoming tired of the "epic" sound and in fact believe it instantly screams "Sampled!"   Also it is very generic sounding and less expressive because of the size.  

I am thinking about this because I am working on a feature film score that is for a dramatic but small-scale low budget film.  In the past, with a live orchestra, this would be scored with a small ensemble, almost chamber, but nowadays the usual is to have  giant sampled string ensembles.  There is a clash that is weirdly inappropriate, so I am trying to figure out a small, even chamber sized ensemble, which has the added advantage of being more intimate, expressive sounding.  

The Chord progression is nice to work with. 

Is it documented how far each microphone is from any given section? I have the standard edition of Synchron Strings, and I am not sure where each mic is. I have looked at the manuel, the mic listing on the product page and the mic map, but things are not clearly listed. The map and list of mics do not match. For example, the "close" mic is not listed by name! The Decca Tree is clearly marked, but I have no idea where the Mid Mic is!

@esperlad

There is a separate manual "Setup Guide" for that purpose. Or have a look at the "Vienna Ensemble Projects" video at 3:50. There is an overview of all mic positions.

Hello，

Paul,

Hello yilalatavsl, 

The Legato System will stay the same for Synchron Player. 

We are making good progress with the software and internal testing is going well, but we are not ready to announce a release date yet. 

Best, 
Paul

Hello,

Paul,

Hi Yilalata, 

It's always great to reflect on problems, but we will keep the current testing in-house for now. 

Best, 
Paul