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  • Advice needed for my next VSL purchase?

    I currently own VSL VI Orchestral Strings I, and Woodwinds I VI. I'm thinking about buying the Chamber Strings VI because that could possibly fill the gap for additional String Articulations, I could Use as Violins 2, and it would give me Cellos and Bass which I'm missing in Orchestral Strings I.

    Does this seem like a reasonable idea? Is anyone else using the Chamber Strings in this manner? Does anyone have any good alternatives for about the same price that would give me the same kind of versatility, and fill some gaps in my string section.

    I was also considering something like OPUS I or 2. Do any discounts apply if you are going the opposite way, and already own VSL VI and want to buy something from the
    VSL Symphonic Library (Pro Edition or Opus, etc.)?

    Thanks,

    Tom

  • Hey Wolf:

    Chamber Strings are certainly a nice addition, but I'm not sure that they are necessarily a viable solution for second vioilins-- they just sound so different. They *could be* used that way, but they do sound different.

    I can't find the thread, but one member has put up an mp3 link to solve an issue with the need to double a violin sound without doubling the samples themselves. He copied the track, transposed it up a half step, then used the pitch bend control number to set the entire track back down a half step. This enabled him to use different samples and the results he got were pretty darn effective. I would think that this could be used similarly for creating second violin parts.

    Chamber Strings is an incredible volume, but for the sake of your investment I can't personally say that it slots in as a wholesale solution for second violins with Orch 1 Strings. It really is a different section-- nice to blend it with Orch Strings or to be used alone, but we may be talking about some clever techniques which I've not yet discovered.

    That's not to say that others haven't found ways and means of sorting this through. Perhaps someone else will have deeper insights into this for you.

  • The advantage of having all the string packages is that one is able to mix and match. A couple of examples:

    When your violin section plays divisi, using 2 instances of Chamber Strings is much more realistic than having 2 lots of the orchestral strings.

    I nearly always double my Orchestral string lines with Chamber and Solo strings (and set a small delay). Then I ride the volume of the last two up and down to give a slightly more random effect to the overall line. With this technique you can make the section sound different enough to be used as a second violin section so that you don't need a totally different set of samples.

    DG