Cinematic Studio Strings 1.7 - audio examples and general discussion

[Spid]

Maybe I'm completely wrong here, but when I upgraded to 1.7, I reopened my Template that still had 1.5 and when I wanted to test, Kontakt was asking for some sample files, I had to point again to the right folder, but then it loaded but it was indicating a "script error" message in the bottom... probably not loaded correctly. I removed the library and reloaded again and then it was fine. So maybe by loading an old project, it doesn't load properly the new 1.7 and maybe there's a script error...

As said, it's just pure speculation, I'm not a script expert here... I just saw the message, unload, reload and it was gone, so I thought about it when reading your comments.

I hope it could help

 

[muk]

Beautiful. And part of what's keeping it bright and airy, is the arrangement - I too have been learning to keep it all out of the muddy range, especially with CSS, because that lovely CSS warmth and fullness can come at a price if not careful. Good four/five part harmonies are essential, with lots of space between bass line and rest of instruments. This sounds so lovely, great control of the dynamics to really tug those heart strings.

Thank you liquidlino. Dynamics are a very good point. I feel CSS reacts very nicely to cc1 changes. Feels very natural to me, and that makes CSS extremely playable. This helps a lot in achieving a good sounding mockup.

Gorgeous !

Thank you @jules, I appreciate it!

 

[Stardog24]

So two things. First of all re: loading up 1.5, I've had huge success just dragging the instrument nki's from the file browser. Had both 1.7 and 1.5 running simultaneously in Logic with no dramas at all. Heaps easier than renaming, and I now have both versions sitting side by side in my template.

Also, in the sake of fairness, I did that thing that Alex keeps telling us not to do in reverse and ran the piece I wrote in 1.7 through 1.5. Ouch.

1.5
View attachment StringActionThing-OLD.mp3

1.7
View attachment StringActionThing.mp3

 

[Vladimir Bulaev]

And so, using the sustain pedal(CC 64), this unpleasant glitch with the break of legato disappears. But as soon as the pedal is turned off, the legato breaks again, only in places of faster performance. I hope Alex can fix it. Since the slow legato itself seems to work well, but only with a sustain pedal.

CSS 1.7 Legato Speed Slow + pedal sustain(CC 64)
View attachment CSS 1.7 legato slow_02+sus pedal.mp3

 

[Instrugramm]

I'm still waiting with the download, from the examples I heard so far, I prefered 1.5 but I will stay open minded until I fiddled with 1.7 myself. In any case I feel like having both will probably be the way to go, shorts definitely profit from being clearer sounding while the slightly muffled 1.5 legato is still among the best in the business.
Great work Alex, I congratulate you on the release!

 

[Scamper]

There is a suspicion that something is broken in the script and this should not be the case.

Ah, now I see what you mean with the legato label on the interface, that shortly disappears during the transition.
I get this too and the legato bug, but it only appears with the expressive mode, using slow legato transitions in quick succession. Not the most common combination, but I also hope this can be fixed.

 

[RogiervG]

Here's a quick and simplified version done in one take (strings only) to get an idea what it sounds like with CSS.

just to clarify: this is solely css 1.7, or is there another library in play?

 

[jooba]

Damn... I feel so privileged now to download it in 20mn with my 2Gbps Fiber, I almost forgot what it was on slow lines.

I wish everyone could access to fast internet, it makes not only life easier, but it opens the door to more connectivity, more streaming, more download, all that in the same time. I very often watch something in streaming while downloading libraries, while someone else might be playing games and the internet doesn't move the needle, it's rock solid... It definitely changed my life since I'm 24/7 on the internet. And luckily internet here in France is quite cheap in comparison to what I was paying the US... it's like 40 or 45 bucks a month for the 2Gbps Fiber. As said, I feel very privileged.

I have also Fiber in Belgium but it's limited to 1Gbps. But I'm happy with that speed.
Nice demo's here. Thanks for that.

 

[Sovereign]

just to clarify: this is solely css 1.7, or is there another library in play?

Just 1.7.

 

[TomaeusD]

A couple things I've run into so far @Alex W:

There's a sample glitch in both ensemble patches of 1.7 for A0 where the release of the basses takes from the cellos of C1.

CSS 1.7 Ensemble Bass Release
View attachment CSS1_7-ensembleglitch.mp3

CSS 1.5 Ensemble Bass Release
View attachment CSS1_5-ensembleglitch.mp3

And not necessarily a bug, but the marcato patch now requires CC1 modulation to get any velocity dynamics for the spiccato overlay.

CSS 1.5 Marcato Fanfare
View attachment CSS1_5-fanfaretest.mp3

CSS 1.7 Marcato Fanfare
View attachment CSS1_7-fanfaretest.mp3

No midi swapping. I'll definitely be keeping 1.5 for writing this sort of stuff (and for the old tone and legato) unless 1.7+ gets an additional "Beefy Spiccato Overlay" button for those added dynamics and ease of play. But I wouldn't anticipate changes to how standard marcato works in 1.7 because my guess is the lack of spiccato dynamics in velocity (and spiccato doesn't engage with a quick legato) is what allows the runs to blend so well.

Besides these things, I'm seriously loving 1.7. Alex and team should be proud of what's been accomplished here!

 

[Tremendouz]

Here's another one, if someone still has 1.5 and wants to run it through my crappy MIDI for another unfair comparison but reversed (1.7 MIDI to 1.5 and not vice versa).

I already took care of moving the legato on/off keyswitch to where it was in 1.5. Default mics. Expressive/Advanced legato.

EDIT: In 1.7, porta velocity threshold is 10 so adjust that if needed

 

[Henrik B. Jensen]

Here's another one, if someone still has 1.5 and wants to run it through my crappy MIDI for another unfair comparison but reversed (1.7 MIDI to 1.5 and not vice versa).

I already took care of moving the legato on/off keyswitch to where it was in 1.5. Default mics. Expressive/Advanced legato.

Beautiful!

 

[muziksculp]

This might be useful for those who want to keep, and use both CSS 1.5 and 1.7

 

[Batrawi]

@TomaeusD @Vladimir Bulaev thx for spotting these bugs, I hope you've reported those to CS support as well assuming Alex may likely miss them here with too much goin' on between both threads

 

[Juulu]

Ok. Finally had a chance to properly sit down and play with it.

Nothing particularly polished, but had a play with a lot of the new features. The new mixing opportunities are excellent. You can bring a lot more focus to an ostinato with those spot mics.

Maybe too much focus. Dunno. Just playing.

This also has a touch of seventh heaven over the top of it and some eq.

That was awesome! Can I ask what mix settings you used? I really like the sound, especially the low-string shorts.

 

[AceAudioHQ]

Damn... I feel so privileged now to download it in 20mn with my 2Gbps Fiber, I almost forgot what it was on slow lines.

I used to have a fast connection when I still lived in an apartment building in the city, but after I moved into the forest my only options are 4G and 5G connections, I have a 200mbps 4G connection at the moment, at daytime it’s anything from 12 to 20mbps, at night it’s a bit faster, from 28 to 35mbps. The fastest 5G you can get here is 600mbps but it needs a more expensive antenna installation and costs way more to use.

I’m actually ok with the slow internet, except when I have to download large libraries, or UVI updates (since their updates are always the whole library again instead of a single small file with the fix like with real companies) and It would be nice if I paid for a 30mbps connection since that’s the max speed I can get here but the service provider of course bills me the full amount.

 

[Igor Sena]

A direct comparison between the original CSS out of the box, vs v1.7 out of the box. No tweaking applied, it's both the exact same midi data:


CSS original

View attachment Emotional Strings CSS original.mp3



CSS v1.7

View attachment Emotional Strings CSS v1.7.mp3

Beautiful work. You had me almost crying (not joking). Well done!

 

[Igor Sena]

I often layer other strings libs with CSS! As mentioned CSSS has been the no-brainer layering lib, but I also often layer with Adagio/Agitato if I need shorts with more bite or schmaltzier legatos. I also really love the sound of Tokyo Scoring Strings violins layered with CSS, for a little more intimacy and detail.

For example - CSS (previous version, not 1.7) is the backbone of the strings here, but I'm also layering in Adagio shorts, Agitato Violin legatos and Agitato Cello con sord legatos on some exposed passages, TSS violin 1 layered in to add air to a few of the melodic phrases in the first half, etc. There's even some CS2 pizz layered in there!

Would love to see the reverb processing you used there. Great job!

 

[rlundv]

Hey, could anyone help me test this:

Set dynamics control to CC2 on vi, vii and va and play a three note chord with notes assigned accordingly, that goes from 0-127. Use non-vib.

In my setup v2 kicks in at a higher volume from around 0-5 and then is balanced out when reaching 100.

Can anyone recreate this difference in their setup? I'm trying to use 1.7 with Divisimate, and when doing three-note chords like this, the volume-difference is very noticeable in the most quiet dynamic layer.

 

[Igor Sena]

Ok. Finally had a chance to properly sit down and play with it.

Nothing particularly polished, but had a play with a lot of the new features. The new mixing opportunities are excellent. You can bring a lot more focus to an ostinato with those spot mics.

Maybe too much focus. Dunno. Just playing.

This also has a touch of seventh heaven over the top of it and some eq.

Awesome! I dig those shorts =)