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Synth strings a la Vangelis

osterdamus said:
Hi folks,

Listening to Vangelis' Intermezzo... to me this sounds like a deliberate choice of using synth to mimic strings, but not necessarily to make them indistinguishable from the real thing (as opposed to, you know, replicants). Where could one go about finding a library with similar silky string sound?



PS. I have Logic and Komplete Standard but I have admittedly not had the time to investigate all stock sounds.
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Hideaway Studios strings I and Strings II. Love to support small developers! Relatively inexpensive too. Believe they use Loot Audio for their store now And on sale for half off. Can get both collections for around 17 euros, or just buy strings I or II for half that to try.

https://hideawaystudio.net/2013/05/05/hideaway-studio-proudly-presents-the-string-collection/ (Strings)1

Highly recommend all of their stuff.

Scarlet Jerry
 
RogiervG said:
those white boxes above the keyboards are program selectors
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It's interesting that he uses the same symbols for different sounds devised way back in the Nemo Studios days. I'm guessing that these were drawn manually on blank keys rather than being printed out.
 
One of the modules that he has been known to use is the Roland JV1080, which makes me think of Eric Persing (who did many of the patches at the time), which also makes me think of Omnisphere.

Listening to Nocturne once more just now, the way the strings are played reminds me of the combi piano/string patches on my digital piano.
 
shenshen said:
This is a small CS-80 Kontakt library with Blade Runner oriented patches but there are string patches which could get close to what you are looking for with some tweaking: https://pasttofuturereverbs.gumroad.com/l/rnrfL
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Sounds great. Their page states "No external processing or mastering was added to the demos.", but the examples are really wet with reverb. Is this an effect or baked into the samples? (hoping for the former)
 
ScarletJerry said:
Hideaway Studios strings I and Strings II. Love to support small developers! Relatively inexpensive too. Believe they use Loot Audio for their store now And on sale for half off. Can get both collections for around 17 euros, or just buy strings I or II for half that to try.

https://hideawaystudio.net/2013/05/05/hideaway-studio-proudly-presents-the-string-collection/ (Strings)1

Highly recommend all of their stuff.

Scarlet Jerry
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Wow, listened to all the examples and they sound wonderful. Have you used any of these yourself? How was the experience?
 
osterdamus said:
Wow, listened to all the examples and they sound wonderful. Have you used any of these yourself? How was the experience?
Click to expand...
Yes, I own most of the Hideaway Studios libraries. At 50% off for the next day, they are low cost no brainer libraries if you like retro synth stuff and experimental sounds. A highlight from the Strings II collection is a patch called "Percy's Faith" which has a gorgeous synth sordino strings sound. You basically mix up to four different synth strings sounds to make your own combinations, or use the preset patches. If you like synth strings, this is for you.

If you like experimental sounds, check out The Blue Zone. Monopolyphonix has some great Moog patches. I just purchased Synergenesis for some pads and the Pentodian Resonator Choir for retro fake choir sounds that were produced by noise, not voices. Check out the Hideaway Studios Soundcloud page for more demos.

Scarlet Jerry
 
TomislavEP said:
IMO, although some might differ, Vangelis never aimed to create electronic orchestral music as a replica of the real thing, unlike many of the modern composers who are often driven by the idea of "fooling" even the most experienced ears that they're listening to a real orchestra instead of a virtual one. For him, technology was simply the way to satisfy his chosen method of working as a composer who is not classically trained. This is just one of many aspects that makes him one of my strongest influences.

BTW, I'm not 100% sure, but to me, most of the sounds that Vangelis uses on his latest albums sound like those from various keyboards and modules by Roland made in the '90s and perhaps early 2000's. Personally, I find it charming how he never really embraced the use of computers in his work, despite the sonic superiority of modern sample libraries. But in the end, it's all about music and the emotion it conveys; not about tools and methods and endless debates on "realism".
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I definitely agree with this and I also find that one of his many qualities. I often go back to the Blade Runner soundtrack, simply because I find it truly diverse and very good example of storytelling - per track and also across the entire album. The textures continuously impress me, such great mix of modern tech synth and middle eastern references and sound.
 
ScarletJerry said:
Yes, I own most of the Hideaway Studios libraries. At 50% off for the next day, they are low cost no brainer libraries if you like retro synth stuff and experimental sounds. A highlight from the Strings II collection is a patch called "Percy's Faith" which has a gorgeous synth sordino strings sound. You basically mix up to four different synth strings sounds to make your own combinations, or use the preset patches. If you like synth strings, this is for you.

If you like experimental sounds, check out The Blue Zone. Monopolyphonix has some great Moog patches. I just purchased Synergenesis for some pads and the Pentodian Resonator Choir for retro fake choir sounds that were produced by noise, not voices. Check out the Hideaway Studios Soundcloud page for more demos.

Scarlet Jerry
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Thank you pointing me their way. I'm definitely going to pick up the strings, will give the others a go as well. The last part of the Synergenesis demo was wild. Hot dang....
 
re-peat said:
Not on-topic, but related to it: only a few weeks ago, I did a cover design for a new Vangelis compilation album (released on vinyl) for Sony Music The Netherlands.
The reference to the iconic “Spiral” sleeve from 1977 was part of the briefing.

Not my usual or favourite style, this type of design, but I do like painting in Photoshop which is how this image was made.
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Did you delete it? The image does not show. Would love to see that cover... :)
 
That’s strange, André. The image hasn’t been deleted and it’s still visible in the thread as well, even after refreshing and clearing the cache of my computer.

Anyway, if you can’t see it, then you can’t see it of course, so here is https://users.telenet.be/re-peat/SonyNL_VangelisUltimate.jpg (<b><span style="color: rgb(84, 172, 210)">the link to the image’s location</span></b>). I hope this helps.

_
 
re-peat said:
That’s strange, André. The image hasn’t been deleted and it’s still visible in the thread as well, even after refreshing and clearing the cache of my computer.

Anyway, if you can’t see it, then you can’t see it of course, so here is https://users.telenet.be/re-peat/SonyNL_VangelisUltimate.jpg (<b><span style="color: rgb(84, 172, 210)">the link to the image’s location</span></b>). I hope this helps.

_
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Thanks for the image! Wow, it's gorgeous, I'm a fan of your work! :)

Looking forward to it being available. Vangelis has been a long time inspiration for this uneducated musician (me).
 
ScarletJerry said:
Yes, I own most of the Hideaway Studios libraries. At 50% off for the next day, they are low cost no brainer libraries if you like retro synth stuff and experimental sounds. A highlight from the Strings II collection is a patch called "Percy's Faith" which has a gorgeous synth sordino strings sound. You basically mix up to four different synth strings sounds to make your own combinations, or use the preset patches. If you like synth strings, this is for you.

If you like experimental sounds, check out The Blue Zone. Monopolyphonix has some great Moog patches. I just purchased Synergenesis for some pads and the Pentodian Resonator Choir for retro fake choir sounds that were produced by noise, not voices. Check out the Hideaway Studios Soundcloud page for more demos.

Scarlet Jerry
Click to expand...
Ok, so I bought it and I gotta say I'm impressed. Seriously, wow, so many inspiring patches.

My left hand is constantly seeking my dynamics fader, though 😆 I like when the the tone can go from soft / neutral and then open up to be more aggressive as Vangelis himself does at times. My first thought was to add a low pass filter and using that to remove / add any top register buzz, but not sure if that's the right way to go. Have you had any success in achieving that in an efficient way? Inside Kontakt or in your DAW track?
 
osterdamus said:
Ok, so I bought it and I gotta say I'm impressed. Seriously, wow, so many inspiring patches.

My left hand is constantly seeking my dynamics fader, though 😆 I like when the the tone can go from soft / neutral and then open up to be more aggressive as Vangelis himself does at times. My first thought was to add a low pass filter and using that to remove / add any top register buzz, but not sure if that's the right way to go. Have you had any success in achieving that in an efficient way? Inside Kontakt or in your DAW track?
Click to expand...
I generally don't eq synth strings, but there is no reason you can't. One of my favorite real keyboards that I used to own was a Crumar Orchestrator, an I bought these strings to replicate some of that sound. You can also use them to blend with orchestral strings libraries.

One thing about Hideaway studios is that the samples can be long, or "generously long" as they say on the website. Also, if you email the developer, he is very responsive. When he has a sale, the libraries are generally in the $5 to $14 range, so I usually pick up one or two to add to my collection. I feel like I'm touching history because I'm playing the sounds of keyboards that are no longer in existence. Plus @EvilDragon developed the scripts and Stephen Howell of Hollow Sun designed the interfaces for the libraries, so I feel like I'm touching graphic design and Kontakt greatness!

Of course, Stephen Howell is sadly no longer with us, but there are several free synths on his website https://www.hollowsun.com and the paid synths are beautiful as well, dripping with nostalgia!

Scarlet Jerry
 
ScarletJerry said:
I generally don't eq synth strings, but there is no reason you can't. One of my favorite real keyboards that I used to own was a Crumar Orchestrator, an I bought these strings to replicate some of that sound. You can also use them to blend with orchestral strings libraries.

One thing about Hideaway studios is that the samples can be long, or "generously long" as they say on the website. Also, if you email the developer, he is very responsive. When he has a sale, the libraries are generally in the $5 to $14 range, so I usually pick up one or two to add to my collection. I feel like I'm touching history because I'm playing the sounds of keyboards that are no longer in existence. Plus @EvilDragon developed the scripts and Stephen Howell of Hollow Sun designed the interfaces for the libraries, so I feel like I'm touching graphic design and Kontakt greatness!

Of course, Stephen Howell is sadly no longer with us, but there are several free synths on his website https://www.hollowsun.com and the paid synths are beautiful as well, dripping with nostalgia!

Scarlet Jerry
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After some more thought think I’m going the route of simply lowering the layer that has more bite through automaton. This way the entire string synth is not cut off, but only the more aggressive sound is lowered or removed, and brought back in as desired. I think that’ll give a better result. The grit of the ProphetVS in Strings II (I believe, I’m not at the comp right now), my goodness… 😄

I’ll shoot the developer an appreciation mail 👍🏻

Didn’t know about Hollow Sun or Stephen Howell, seemed like a great and respected guy from what I can read on the website.

I own a few orchestral libraries (BBCSO Core, 8Dio Anthology), have you mixed these sounds with such libraries?
 
re-peat said:
That’s strange, André. The image hasn’t been deleted and it’s still visible in the thread as well, even after refreshing and clearing the cache of my computer.

Anyway, if you can’t see it, then you can’t see it of course, so here is https://users.telenet.be/re-peat/SonyNL_VangelisUltimate.jpg (<b><span style="color: rgb(84, 172, 210)">the link to the image’s location</span></b>). I hope this helps.

_
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Yes, this is what I still see today in Chrome, even after clearing my cache:

953e18379a72188b6cde31e7202466de.png

fe7554ce56a26c093531159e211ecc0a.png

HOWEVER it does show well in Firefox. Mystery... something I may need to look into.

Cheers,

Andre
 
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