I'm a long time user of the Chamber strings. What do the Elite Strings add that the Chamber Strings don't have?
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Elite Strings vs Chamber Strings?
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I'm a long time user of the Chamber strings. What do the Elite Strings add that the Chamber Strings don't have?
Alan,
From the short time I've been fiddling with and exploring Elite Strings, I would say that while the libraries are similar in section size, the core concept between them is quite different (and I don't just mean dry VS mic'ed).
Elite Strings has less overall articulations than Chamber Strings (especially if you include the sordino verisons), but the core articulations are comprehensively fleshed out, to the point where they become less like patches and more like playing styles.
To be more specific, you have legato, fast legato, expressive (baked in swell) legato, perf. detache, fast perf. detache, long, expressive long, portamento, and expressive portamento. All of those have three types of vibrato (regular, without, and strong) that can be crossfaded or individually chosen. All the perf. intervals sound convincing, so it's safe to say the core of the library is about shaping expressive lines with more control over dynamics, bow style, and vibrato amount than one usually gets.
The other thing that really sticks out to me is that tremolos, fast reps, and trills (!) have legato transitions and they actually sound quite good - something I haven't seen in a lot of other libraries. There are divisi presets as well, but I haven't gotten around to messing with those yet. Of course, it's got nice short articulations, pre-recorded dynamics, and whatnot, but to be frank, Chamber Strings contains a more comprehensive set of those. All in all, I would say these two libraries are apples and oranges - one is not a replacement for the other, in my humble opinion.
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To be more specific, you have legato, fast legato, expressive (baked in swell) legato, perf. detache, fast perf. detache, long, expressive long, portamento, and expressive portamento. All of those have three types of vibrato (regular, without, and strong) that can be crossfaded or individually chosen. …
But — aren't these things for the most part also available in Chamber Strings? Can you elaborate on the differences?
Paolo
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To be more specific, you have legato, fast legato, expressive (baked in swell) legato, perf. detache, fast perf. detache, long, expressive long, portamento, and expressive portamento. All of those have three types of vibrato (regular, without, and strong) that can be crossfaded or individually chosen. …
But — aren't these things for the most part also available in Chamber Strings? Can you elaborate on the differences?
Paolo
For me the biggest differences are:
- Wet vs dry - Elite can't get the presence of CS even with only the close mics. CS can be put in any space.
- Elite has a "normalized" system of 3 vibratos and 4 note attacks, i.e. most every combination is present for most of the long articulations.
- Elite has performance detache. This is a huge feature for idiomatic non-legato bowed lines.
- Elite's two solo mics give you the ability to get more "texture" to the ensemble than CS, which is quite tight and uniform.
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- Elite has a "normalized" system of 3 vibratos and 4 note attacks, i.e. most every combination is present for most of the long articulations.
- Elite has performance detache. This is a huge feature for idiomatic non-legato bowed lines.
Thank you for your answer. Of the two above points, it seems to me that the Synchronized version has normalized the attacks as well. There are now Soft, Normal, Marcato attack modes, plus Flautando. Vibrato is available as n.v., regular and molto vib.
As for the second point, I wonder if Marcato (Performance Marcato in the VI version) isn't the same thing.
Paolo
