The best Pizzicato Strings out there?

[Scamper]

For the more polished sound of recordings, I quite like what I got from layering Berlin Strings First Chairs a few times:

The First Chairs do sound great too. Now I'm curious about the rest of the Berlin Series.

The Loegria example sounds really nice. Probably my favourite out of the bunch. I prefer it over Spitfire Chamber Strings in this example. Maybe I'll get the Originals Intimate Strings just for this pizzicato. @Scamper, are close and tree mics enough for this sound, or did you use other signals from Loegria here?

True, after listening back, Loegria might become my favorite for the really delicate low dynamic pizzicatos. And good news, I only have Originals Intimate Strings, so Close and Tree is all you need for that sound.

I guess for Loegria, it's fine like this, but for Albion Legacy and Originals Epic Strings, there is a difference unfortunately. With Epic Strings, you get the Close + "Room" mic, which will result in wetter and muddier mixes, than what you can get with the CTAO from Albion Legacy.

 

[muk]

And good news, I only have Originals Intimate Strings, so Close and Tree is all you need for that sound.

Good to know, thanks! Too bad that it's only one patch and you don't have control over individual sections.

 

[WhiteNoiz]

I expected the SF ones to be the best here... Maybe the Performance Samples ones... Mostly because of the room and their way of sampling. I'm in the team that likes kinda loose, noisy, blooming pizz. Not ultra clean, on-grid, defined attack ones (pre-roll provides a certain groove). Not that those are "bad" per se, I just feel that pizz is by its nature a very playful articulation, so I appreciate some chaos and movement in it.

re-peat's example has that "oomph", like hearing the room react and resonate. Everything bouncing around. And basses have that weight and air ( ) to them. And you get some of that pluckiness, squeekiness in the highs.

For the more polished sound of recordings, I quite like what I got from layering Berlin Strings First Chairs a few times:

That sounds rather good and similar to the bespoke one. Reps are nice, too.

Attached two examples from HO and one with BBC. HO showcases the difference with the pre-roll in the sample and BBC just has that sweet, roomy bounciness I mentioned above.

 

[Markus Kohlprath]

Albion Loegria (or Originals Intimate Strings) is also really good in my highly subjective opinion.

The best on my super highly subjective opinion. And available again!

And thanks for the hint to Bunker Strings 2. Got them quite a while ago but wasn't aware of the plectrum pizz articulation.

 

[Mrted]

The Loegria example sounds really nice. Probably my favourite out of the bunch. I prefer it over Spitfire Chamber Strings in this example. Maybe I'll get the Originals Intimate Strings just for this pizzicato. @Scamper, are close and tree mics enough for this sound, or did you use other signals from Loegria here?

Piet's example with the Spitfire Bespoke strings is fabulous too. For me this sounds the most like an orchestra in a concert hall. It's less polished and more fragile sounding than the other examples, and that's exactly how pizzicati sound like in reality.

For the more polished sound of recordings, I quite like what I got from layering Berlin Strings First Chairs a few times:

View attachment Encore BFC Strings.mp3

It's quite transparent, and I do like the sense of room you get.

What patch are used in the audio ? I like the sound ! only 1st chair of each section ?

 

[muk]

What patch are used in the audio ? I like the sound ! only 1st chair of each section ?

It's Orchestral Tools First Chairs library. This one:

Berlin Strings First Chairs

Add depth and detail to your arrangements with the principals of Berlin Strings First Chairs: Violin I, violin II, viola, cello, and double bass. These hand-picked specialists will add definition to your string ensembles, making melodies sing. And they also work beautifully as a string quintet...

www.orchestraltools.com

I layered the solo violin six times to approximate the sound of a chamber strings ensemble, the viola four times I think, and the cello three times? I don't remember the specifics, but I can look them up if you'd like to know.

I posted about them here, together with a few pizzicato examples from other libraries:

Dry vs wet libraries - some thoughts and examples - added Sonokinetic OS to the comparison

****************************************************** Edit 22.12.2021: Let me add Sonokinetic Orchestral Strings to the examples. I find them to bring something new to the table that none of the other libraries have: Sonokinetic OS 'focused' mix Sonokinetic OS wide mix To my ears...

vi-control.net

 

[Ben Bytehugger]

I tend to come back to HZS and/or SCS. Perfect match between extra "oomph" and definition. And they are easy to layer if you want that AIR Sound.
Altough HZS is a little bit overpriced only for pizz

 

[Kerryman]

A while ago I made a video comparing the short articulations from various string libraries - but there was one articulation I skipped and it may just be the most important one of them all: Pizzicato. So here I am again, this time with a bunch more string libraries, for a dedicated Pizzicato comparison video, because that's without a doubt the exact thing the world needs right now



The lineup: Afflatus Strings, Cinematic Studio Strings, Pacific Ensemble Strings, Hollywood Strings, Session Strings Pro, Tokyo Scoring Strings, CineStrings Core, Albion One, The Orchestra, Abbey Road One Orchestral Foundations and Nucleus

As always, feel free to let me know your thoughts, questions, feedback and/or video requests!

Did you include Hollywood Strings II (released on 25th April)? I think it would be an important addition to any Pizzicato strings comparison. I'm using them in a new composition for a TV cues album and find them incredibly lifelike.

 

[Mrted]

Guys I'm doing Dramedy right now and for that style Albion Legacy Ensemble patch (as suggested by Scamper above) is just great ! Except when pushing velocity, attack become less "tight" ... And I agree Berlin first chair and new Hollywood Strings II (which I didn't test) sound good too.

 

[Laurin Lenschow]

Did you include Hollywood Strings II (released on 25th April)? I think it would be an important addition to any Pizzicato strings comparison. I'm using them in a new composition for a TV cues album and find them incredibly lifelike.

The video is nine months old, and (as you pointed out) Hollywood Strings II was released just recently, so there would have been no way for me to include it in this comparison. I also didn't buy HWS II (yet?), but if you think it's a worthy contender please do feel free to post an example of your own here!

 

[mikrokosmiko]

When I started composing with VST, the Studio orchestra by Spitfire was my first acquisition. Since then I have invested in several libraries by Spitfire and OT. Yet, the people who I work for keep preferring the f****** Studio strings:

 

[Kerryman]

The video is nine months old, and (as you pointed out) Hollywood Strings II was released just recently, so there would have been no way for me to include it in this comparison. I also didn't buy HWS II (yet?), but if you think it's a worthy contender please do feel free to post an example of your own here!

I am using them, but on an album of cues for TV documentaries which is not released, and I can't share the tracks until then.

I'm no expert of VI sound comparisons (I've not heard that many, TBH), but I really do like the HS 2 pizzicato sound. I didn't buy it, either. I have EW Composer Cloud (Opus).