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It’s perfect for lusher large ensemble sounds and the portamento (slide) transitions which you get when playing a gentle velocity are glorious. Without completely repeating what I’ve said above, it works almost identically to the Chamber Strings library – the only difference being the number of players in each part of the ensemble.
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Here’s an example of a small mockup to show some of the different sounds of my a selection of my chosen libraries and how they compare to the stock EXS sounds in Logic. If you haven’t read my article How To Choose Orchestral Sample Libraries - An Introduction, then use might want to bookmark this page, go and read my introduction and then come back to this page. I should also say that I’ve not included solo string libraries like Embertone Joshua Bell Violin (amongst others) as I’ve concentrated on ensemble libraries of both big and small. The biggest trade-offs are between the achievable sound, the workflow to achieve it, how hard it pushes my computer and how much I enjoy working with it. This is somewhat harder for strings, and I can't promise to choose just one!
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I will, however, reveal my desert island choice at the end. But this is mine!Īs each library has a signature sound, and particular strengths and weaknesses, I tend to blend libraries to create a unique sound, rather than relying on one. This selection will doubtless be controversial, and 10 composers will give you 10 different lists. Continuing my series on Orchestral Sample Libraries, let’s move onto the family that is most likely to divide opinion – The strings.
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