Recommendations for baroque string orchestra samples please

[kevvvvv]

Any small string orchestra experts here?

I like playing baroque orchestra with concertante and ripieno sections

- ie, solo strings set against small chamber orchestra strings.

I have Kontakt, but the VSL orchestra is too large-sounding, and the solo strings are only okay-ish.

Also have Tarilonte Era which is nice, but it's from a much earlier period.

I'm not necessarily looking for anything too complicated

- just a way to get that lovely Baroque string sound.

If you can offer suggestions for sample sets to check out I'd be grateful

[kevvvvv]

... or even viol samples

which would be heaven

[bigcat1969]

This is the only one I remembered seeing that came close.
http://www.bestservice.de/en/era_ii_med ... gends.html

Oh crud that's the one you already have sorry.

Says its Baroque
http://www.soniccouture.com/en/products ... ollection/

Also I hesitate to mention it because you are obviously looking for seriously massively sampled stuff, but Sasje did do a simple viola de gamba. It has only 19 samples with the bottom one stretched for an eternity.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/sjpbh ... aGamba.rar

[kevvvvv]

bigcat .... thank you for the viol link.

kev

[lemeur]

I would have a look to Kirk Hunter's string libraries (Concert String 2 or 3).
Don't hesitate to contact him by email and describe the kind of music you intend to produce he'll point you to the Best choice for you (by the way he's a string player himself and loves baroque music)
Hope this helps.

[Aryaroman]

I think this Viola-instrument for Kontakt is really good for some small-scale solo work. It has a nice rough down-to-earth-timbre, maybe it would be good for baroque. And it's free.

http://northernscoringtools.com/solo-viola-lite.php

Eduardo's libraries, particularly ERA have been used in historic dramas, like the renaissance-era HBO's Tudors, possibly on Borgias too, so I think maybe there's some baroque stuff in there too. If not in ERA I, probably in ERA II.

[kevvvvv]

cool .... thanks Aryaroman

kev

[evilantal]

Cinematique Ensemblia perhaps?

http://www.cinematique-instruments.com/ ... blia15.php

[kevvvvv]

Perhaps someone might suggest solo string libraries too.

I've googled about but would love to hear from someone who uses solo strings to play fairly fast passages that sound real

- and not just like vibrating machine guns.

For example, VSL solo strings in Kontakt have 1 marcato setting and that's it, and every note sounds the same.

help & advice appreciated.


evilantal - thanks for suggesting Ensemblia. It sounds nice in the demos, quite authentic, but isn't so good for the faster music I like to play, as the samples are fairly slow attacks.

[SirKen]

Perhaps someone might suggest solo string libraries too.

I've googled about but would love to hear from someone who uses solo strings to play fairly fast passages that sound real

- and not just like vibrating machine guns.

For example, VSL solo strings in Kontakt have 1 marcato setting and that's it, and every note sounds the same.

help & advice appreciated.


evilantal - thanks for suggesting Ensemblia. It sounds nice in the demos, quite authentic, but isn't so good for the faster music I like to play, as the samples are fairly slow attacks.

You should look into XSample complete.

http://www.h-j-winkler.de/xsample.htm

[audientronic]

Certainly anything by embertone. Currently on sale, by the way.

[kevvvvv]

audientronic

The Embertone solo strings are really nice.

Thanks v much for the help

SirKen

I'll take a closer look at Xsample - there are quite a few youtube demos to plough through tonight

[Tonberry]

Says its Baroque
http://www.soniccouture.com/en/products ... ollection/

The Conservatoire Collection doesn't have strings but it's an amazing set of instruments! I don't think there's anything that has so many old instruments so competently sampled (2 baroque ones btw.)! Stuff like Ethno World has many more, some very dated as well the flexibility of each one in EW is miniscule compared to CC. Which is not to say that Ethno World is bad, the sheer variety of instruments makes it a wonderful package (Ethno Voices suck though).

One more thing that sets Conservatoire Collection apart from the rest is the fact that it has true psaltery. For some reason, almost all sample libraries on the market have bowed psaltery - which is an awfully sounding barely popular XX century mistreatment of that instrument. CC has the only sampled fingered psaltery of high quality I've seen. Predating your baroque requirements, but nice tool to have in general

So yeah, no strings attached (hmm) but if you're into stretching outside baroque into different periods in music, you'd be hard pressed to find better multi-instrument VI package than Conservatoire Collection. Sorry for the fanboy tone, it's just that good

[kevvvvv]

What makes the Conservatoire Collection interesting is the Theorbos.

Theorbo was used for continuo sections right up through the Baroque

- and CC has 2 of them.

thanks TonBerry

kev

[Leslie Sanford]

I've googled about but would love to hear from someone who uses solo strings to play fairly fast passages that sound real

This is a realization I did with VSL's solo strings I standard+extended:

http://www.lesliesanford.com/music/temp ... t-1-v2.wav

The piece is a movement from one of Tomaso Albinoni's Sinfonias.

The fast passages were a combination of the staccato sample with the marcato+sustain sample. Typically, I'd start off a 16th note run with the staccato articulation followed by the marcato articulation. Also, I made the notes slightly staccato to give them a kind of fast detache sound (though I didn't use the detache articulation for the runs).