Symphonic Strings Collection

Sonic Implants
Symphonic String Collection
Gigasampler

Looking for a poor man's orchestral replacement? Rental on the Pops getting you down? Need to score a movie on a budget? This might be the product for you. Sonic Implants brings yet another great product from their line of sound applications featuring one of the lushest orchestral collections currently on the market. The Symphonic String Collection comprises Violins -- First and Second Sections, Violas, Cellos and Basses sections for the Gigasampler system and is the perfect replacement for at home orchestral string recordings or even just mocking up a score in preparation for the real thing.

Sonic Implants, headed by Jennifer Hruska, represents one of the sound industry's best and is one of the few companies with the knowledge and history to bring out the best of any sample and its subsequent patches. Originally known for working with Kurzweil synths, SI is well known for their perfectionism within their genre. The Kurzweil platform is a proving ground for sound designers as the possibilities are limitless and its users are insatiable, yet few designers are cut out to deal with this platform. SI has always performed to the satisfaction of Kurzweil users.

Moving along to the Gigasampler, this realm is fraught with companies that think the only necessities in design are good edits and large file sizes. Few companies have any sort of quality control or idea of what it takes to actually design playable articulate instruments. These are generally sound engineers that took a crash course in synthesis not knowing the background and history needed to accurately portray an instrument in electronic form. True, the Gigasampler allows for sloppier work without the pitfalls of traditional RAM-based sampling mediums.

Luckily enough for us, Sonic Implants understands the Gigasamplers 'lack' of limitation, and delivers a product worthy of use in top notch recordings, yet responds to the touch of the arranger.

Physically, the Symphonic String Collection is a set of 20 CD-Roms comprising multiple discs per section. Installation was, honestly, a bit interesting. Depending on the speed of your drive, this can take as little as 15 minutes per disc. For those with the latest equipment, there is a 3 DVD version of this collection available which should make the tedious swaps a bit faster.

The packaging on this product is unique in the soundware category. It emulates that of high-end boxed long play recordings of the past. The product looks more at home within my boxed Nonesuch and CBS 44s and 78s.

Documentation included is the serial number required for installation, a 32 page 'liner notes' booklet and an equally long Instrument List and Controller Assignments booklet. The Instrument List and Controller Assignment will be the most important part of this packaging - past the sounds themselves - once you get through playing with all the presets and need to start orchestrating your next composition. This gives you the needed resources for the various articulations.

This is all well and fine, but the question is HOW THE HELL DOES IT SOUND?

It sounds great and it sounds as realistic as listening to just about any recorded orchestra. The sounds were recorded by award-winning engineers with as few steps in the recording chain as possible to keep the signals as clean as possible. Mics are all high end (B&K Schoeps, Neumann) and are fed into a 24 Bit/48Khz recorder.

Some will obviously complain about the 48Khz. Personally, the complaints need to go unheeded; too many folks play the numbers game. In this field, the bit rate has much more to do with the sound than the Hertz. 24 Bit capture will theoretically give one 144 dB of volume over the 96 dB that 16 Bit allows for. Currently, Gigasampler only allows for 16 bit playback but careful editing of the 24 bit recordings before dithering and subsequent programming of the samples within the individual patches will retain most characteristics and the related quality associated with this bit rate. It's not a job for the faint of heart, but it's known that Ms. Hruska, as well as several of her current staff members, have been able to squeeze an entire orchestra into 8 Megs of compressed ROM for a well respected synthesizer that has been used as orchestral reinforcement for many top name acts.

Update: David Fox, formerly the mouthpiece of Kurzweil Music Systems and now head of the marketing effort within Sonic Implants, informed us that Gigasampler 3 should be supporting 24 bit recordings and SI is prepared to offer upgrades to current owners of the product (pricing for upgrade currently unavailable). Several other ports are underway that wil also allow for native usage of the 24-bit encoding without any dithering.

Violins

The Violins segment is comprised of the first and second sections. Why would you need two sections, you ask. For realism my friend. As mentioned in Rimsky-Korsakov's Principles of Orchestration, "If there is any surplus of strength, it must be on the side of the first violins, as they must be heard distinctly on account of the important part they play in the harmonic scheme". Generally comprised of a slightly larger ensemble than the second, these possess a more powerful tone. The second section simply does not stand out quite as prominently. They, while not lesser members, simply do not have the strength of the first and in some ways over compensate within their playing.

Take a look at this chart denoting the standard orchestral arrangement.

	Full Orchestra	Medium Orchestra	Small Orchestra	Symphonic String Collection
Violin I	16	12	8	8
Violin II	14	10	6	6
Viola	12	8	4	6
Cello	10	6	3	5
Bass	8-10	4-6	2-3	4

In the scope of the SSC, this means 2 less desks than that of the first. As with a real orchestra this is about right.

The chart above gives the equivalent players in this collection. As you can see from this, the SSC falls somewhere between a small orchestra and a medium with the low end supported a little more than the high in the standard balance. Also of note, while the individual notes may be on the smallish side, when played polyphonically you may end up emulating a MUCH larger orchestra than would be economically possible within the real world. As a composer whom uses larger chordings, I would have personally preferred smaller sections. Maybe instead of 8 players simultaneously, 2 groups of 4 to allow for the same lush sound without the phasing that would be immediately recognizable by doubling up on the patch. In reality, would one hear the difference? No. In fact, few virtual composers will even need to note this "limitation" as the larger work will just enhance the sound.

Within each of these sections, several variations are included. Legatos, Legatos Espressivo, Tremolo Ordinaire, Tremolo Sul Ponticello, Half and Whole Step Trills, Mutes (Con Solino), Staccato, Pizzacato, Col Legno, Harmonics and Sound Effects.

Take a look at SI's Articulation's page for more details on the definitions of these. Most of these articulations come with release samples as well. Release samples add to the realism by capturing the sound of natural reverbs within the hall as well as other associated noises. If you are working on a budget computer or a version of GS that cannot handle a lot of polyphony, NoRelease articulations are also provided to use fewer resources.

The Listening Room -- Violin

First then Second -- this is a demonstration of the differences in sound between 1st and 2nd violin using the Legato patches from both. Note the smoothness of action between legato notes. To make up for the subtle difference in volume, one must play into the keys triggering slightly more blunted expression.

Violin 1 Con Sordino -- the muted tones allow for a darker, more mournful feel than that of the legato.

Legato Down Bow -- a demonstration of the down bowing techniques as captured by SI. Patches include both Down Bowing as well as Up Bows articulated to be switched in various methods from mod positioning to control setups. While not as elegant as the Gigastring's Maestro Tools, this allows for precise entry when using a sequencer to score. For live play, I could imagine using a foot switch to provide binary control over up or down strokes.

Expressive 3 Layer -- note the slow dedicated vibrato in this patch. Very film score-ish.

The Viola

The Viola is a slightly larger instrument than the violin extending downward in scale. Nuf said. It is treated with the same quality recordings and instruments as the Violin. Lets take a listen to these recordings.

The Listening Room -- Viola.

Viola Con Sordino -- Again muted and mournful to the ear. Listen as the instrument swells and slightly opens. Beautiful. Well not the playing, but the sound.

Whole Step Trill -- A cluster of notes. Notice the alignment of the sound. The trill is played very uniformly from note to note. Letting off at the end demonstrates the release samples.

Half Step Trill -- the smaller sister the whole note.

Expressive -- Like the violin, but just a tad more body.

Tremelo -- a close relative of the Trill, but volume not pitch. The tremolo stays uniform just the same.

Cello

As we progress down the range, the violoncello has always been my favorite of the instrument. Dark and mysterious, but far more flexible than the bass. Acrobatics are not within reach of this instrument but it can still jump over the hurdles.

Listening Room -- Cello

Staccato Down -- Short menacing the bow grates against the strings.

Pizzicato -- almost the opposite of the staccato. Light and delicate. Pizzicato is presented in several forms here: Loose, Tight and with Snaps. These are all different effects to give the composer more room to play with. Tight is presented here.

Legato Down -- again, smooth as it should be.

Expressive -- like Legato, slower more deliberate.

Included with each instrument are a series of effects native to each instrument.

Harmonics -- playing the harmonics in a random downward manner makes for great Halloween compositions.

Finger Tones -- thumps across the body of the instrument. If we could get a few shouts from the players, we could have pieced together an instant Kronos Quartet-type sound but for a larger audience.

Bowed Tailpieces -- Otherworldly.

Bass

The lowest end of the orchestra. While aurally the clumsiest portion of any orchestra, its main function is to anchor the rest of the instruments. It is one of the hardest to represent accurately in recordings because seated near an orchestra pit, one can almost feel the sound before hearing it. Sonic Implants does a good job of capturing this. The representation is almost not of sound, but of physical imagery of massive beasts.

Listening Room -- Bass

Expressive -- listen to the depths of this massive stringed instrument. A heard of buffalo rests for the night.

Legato -- this example starts off with deep grating as we approach the lowest ends of the instrument. A whale mourns for lost love.

Pizzicato -- An elephant tip toeing across your living room.

Staccato -- A bear perfects his attack techniques in solitude.

Ensemble

Bringing it all together is the Ensemble. Comprised from the bass to the violin, the ensemble covers the gamut. This is where most novice composers' usage will be as it allows for one contiguous patch to extend through out the range without drop off.

The Listening Room -- Ensemble

Pizzicato -- Like the others, but a fuller representation. Notice the snap on the higher velocity levels.

Tremolo Ordinare -- Standard tremolo. Sounds great.

Tremolo Sul Ponicello -- closer to the bridge for an edgier sound.

Spiccato -- The bow is bounced slightly to give a short staccato type sound, but in a different feel.

Espressivo -- this is a nice smooth sound, but it allows for demonstration of some of the weaker artifacting of Gigasampler. The velocity levels near the 18 second mark were deliberately left in to show how this a very small space of velocity levels can sometimes jump to the next multisample velocity grouping with no warning. If playing live, I would suggest pared down articulations of the patches to ensure no jarring movement. Luckily, SI provides several velocity groupings for most patches.

Legato -- This is a very film score-ish patch. It is easy on the fingers and swells are not out of reach for even just the 10 fingered amongst us.

Conclusions

At $1,295 standard this is an expensive piece of equipment in itself. But is it worth it? That depends. What are your plans and goals? To record realistic string sections? To score films? To finish your MFA in composition? These are realistic uses of this. Are you a hobbyist or someone that takes this kind of work seriously? A hobbyist might be better served by picking up SI's Mini option or the Soundfont version (shipping estimated at time of publishing to be one week). For folks with other requirements, both Kontakt and EXS are planned for release within the next 2 to 3 months.

Someone that needs this kind of work should definitely not hold off for the release of the smaller sets and head out immediately and buy this. The samples are top notch as are the rest of the production on this work.

There honestly isn't much wrong with these sounds that can be explained easily. They are well recorded and while I could want for more articulations and items to be available, such as the desire to have enough polyphony to record each and every instrument separately so as to build the orchestra to the exact size and groupings of your specifications -- as well as the ability to pay for something that may take thousands of man hours to record and produce, these are not absolutely necessary for most musicians. We all have dreams.

Wish List

The final item I would want to make mention is that these are Ensemble strings. If you want to record solos in the same acoustic space as the Symphonic Strings Collection, you are out of luck. These are solely symphonic in nature. I've had to resort to using other manufacturers' solo strings for this purpose -- and with good success although on critical listens, it's obvious that they were recorded elsewhere.

Moved back a little into the mix and we can work with this. A little closer to the front, and the most sow eared individual will hear this. Nevertheless, over the last several years as the soloists have taken up self-imposed rock star status and attitude, one can hear solo instruments recorded on separate sound stages on even the most prestigious recordings.

My only wish for this product would be a companion product with the same articulations and acoustic space but targetted at the solo instruments. No other company in this same class has released a library that tackles both Ensemble and Solo and I think there is a market for this. Just a suggestion, but as I mentioned, my 3rd party solos work well in a pinch.

Demo Recording Notes -- all sounds were recorded directly in Gigasampler on the PC and edited in Peak on the Mac. Conversion to MP3 was done through iTunes at a rate of 196kbps.

As a final bonus, Logic Forums Moderator David "Monsdrum" Mondrup presents us with a unique remix of the recordings provided : SSC - Remix.