I used to avoid Sine since it was very buggy and it crashes a lot, but glad to hear most of it are fixed now. Wonderful piece of music, Anne! Always love your lush string writing 🙂
Love your video. YOU are the reason I began dabbling with Orchestral Tools. I'm so glad I did. Yes, the Sine player can seem weird at first, but once you know your way around it, there is no other. No question, my favorite part is the multi-timbral heaven. Simple and Brilliant. ♥
Great video, again. And such a beautiful theme. For this weird vibratos variations issue, the easiest work-around, I think, is to invert the CC curve of the problematic patches : In Sine, Option tab -> Variations -> Curve -> Lin. Down. Then you can copy-paste with no issue.
Great video. Would love to get a video on track delays sometime. I still have a hard time really setting them right with clicks alone. Any tricks and tips would be appreciated.
Dear Anne thank you soooo much for this video!!! Whole video was wonderful and the very end part was so entertaining, and I contacted OT to find out why they made 99% perfect product and left it with 1% mystery. OT then let me know the workaround for CC2 and said commented on your video too. Now they made this Berlin bundle 100% perfect, I have now no reason not to buy them.... agg......
With all of them combined, from 21 till the end... OH MY!!! It felt like real musicians going for every last drop of emotion they could squeeze out of this section!. You should change the video name to "When a great melody meets a great arrangement and is performed by the greatest combination of libraries " yeah that's too long lol, great job!
Beside of the great comparison (thanks for that!) I must say, I really much enjoy listening to your voice and your english dialect - for whatever reason i like it very much. Greetings from Germany, cheers!
Anne, the first time I heard you talk about layering was back around August. I'm a student with ThinkSpace and I attended your live discussion on this. It then and still is a real eye opener. I really am so glad you shared this technique with everyone. Personally, I also have a truck load of string libraries too. Layering is such an experimental thing, but it has so many benefits. You just need to try different libraries to find which ones work well with each other. All I can say is... You are the queen of layering and just so awesome at it! :) your stringaholic friend, Ryan.
Ha, layering for the win! It's especially rewarding whenever we find combos that work nicely and it allows us to work with color combinations, size combinations, and usually a bit more expression.
Wow, Anne, you are doing do well and even though I can't afford OT libraries and I'm just using Opus Edition. You I always listen to your vudrod and I'm learning so much from you and really take your words to heart. You are DOPE and speak grim your heart. I ant to be able Yi orchestrate life you and one day have three right libraries to work with. Please keep going and keep us in tune. My coffee tip is coming soon to you.
Anne you have yet to write something that I don't fall in love with immediately. Thus far everything you did touched me in some hidden places deep inside. Thank you!
Love your no-fuss attitude from presentation to quality delivery ev-ry-time. That's why you are where you are. Thank you Anna. And hey, Berlin Strings to boot. Jawohl!! 🎉
I always wondered why our opinions on the Berlin series were so different. Now it makes sense, they must have done some work on them over the years. Great video. I am glad to see you're enjoying them now. Berlin Con Sordino Strings blends well with most strings. I use it as a bridge between Berlin Strings and Berlin Symphonic Strings if they ever do not want to play nice together
Yes, there have been horror stories from the early days of SINE but it appears to be stable now. I've worked with it for months and have had no issues.
Your demonstration inspired me to experiment with layering OT strings and feeding it with Scaler2 multi out setting turned on and a range of chord types. Btw I added Berlin Orchestra Berklee solo strings. The end result blew me away. The sound is incredibly cinematic. Gives me a starting point to try out new melody ideas using more unusual chord types. Thank you.
Great Video thank you. I have Metropolis Ark 1 and 5 and some hand picked instruments from Orchestral Tools but I didn't look at Berlin having purchased WAY too many String libraries over the years. What I will say is that having been blown away by Spitfire libraries initially, I now seem to use CSS way more than I thought I would and this seems to support your favourite libraries from some of your other Videos. I still love HZ Strings, I just love the Cellos there is something about them. I am going to have a good listen at this String library but in my template it's ridiculous how many different libraries I have and I only use a couple from each apart from CSS and for action compositions Metropolis Ark. thanks again !
I was expecting that many layers to sound like soup. Very interesting to hear a professional reflect that the samples are getting very close to live (on this piece anyway). Don't think I've ever seen a beer drinking presenter either, very entertaining!
Great review and beautiful piece of music. I've got all of the free Sine instruments and a couple of paid for individual instruments and they are very good indeed.
You're getting 'Krotchety' in your old age )))) smiling )))) I like that cue ) great Stuff ! Very enjoyable and informative )) Thanks Anne-Kathrin, Alll the best !
Thank you for this video Anne-Kathrin. I currently have Berlin Woodwinds and Berlin Percussion and I love them. I have been thinking about these libraries too for a while. After hearing your opinions I started to think that maybe I should start purchasing them, -maybe not all of them in one shot because Orchestral Tools already aware that they are creating high-end products :)-.
This is the most informitave channel I have basically ever found thank you! I was wondering if you could do a video explaining mixing. I basically make my music, adjust the volume levels, and call it a day but when people talk about mixing with eq's and compressors I really get lost. Thanks again!
I'd recommend the channel "In the Mix" and also iZotope's "Learn" tab on their website. Those are great resources to understand concepts and learn how (and why) they are applied.
Being able to buy any sound you like on its own is really great. Perfect when you need a sound for a specific project but don't need another set of things you have 20 times over!
I know I should comment on the libraries but man! what a beautiful & fantastic piece of music you wrote here. I am always amazed at your talent but man are you good or what!!
Hello Anne. Very informative and interesting review. I always love when you do mockups and show layering. I'm always learning. I imagine nowadays you can go like 80% the way using libraries, and the next 20% with an orchestra. Just a guess, as I am not a composer. Thank you. Stay well and happy holidays.
That's a pretty good ratio. You can indeed get really close these days with mockups. I'd say mine usually get between 80-90% of the way and then we get to 100% with live recording and proper mixing. There are still things that sample libraries don't do well and there's still an element of expression that live players will bring to a performance. But I guess it also depends on the kind of music.
Hi Anne, OT Berlin Strings Bundle for everything at 26:34 would be great, though pricey, and you even mentioned it might like burn smoke or something like that on your system, And then a top you added CS on top of that for the Layered insanity!! Wheeww!! Wonder after all that, if i could ask you to compare whether or not Spitfire Strings even stand up in class to OT Berlin Series, /if i should waste my time/money $$ on more Spitfire stuff, -OR- If Instead, I should look at getting some OT Berlin Series strings maybe Symphonic for 1st library from them or other?? Thanks for your advise!! JimP
Love Orchestral Tools and your deep dive videos!. But oh my word the flipped vibrato settings per library drives me insane, but I just flip the value in expression maps or the SINE player's settings (as you're using track per articulation). Can I ask - same approach in putting it in your template as you've discussed before? Have you adjusted any releases here? And also what is your mic mix?
I found your channel among other composers and found yours to be the most concise and to the point. The information you give is easy to absorb. Been binge watching since I found your channel. 😅 Is there a reason you have single notes in your tracks instead of chords? I always see in your project lots and lots of instrument tracks with single notes I them. Is it for having more control when mixing?
Hopefully the Queen of Layering will answer herself; but, unless I've misunderstood you, I think the answer is that the tracks in this case are for string sections that typically only play one note at a time. So, a track of first violins, a track of second violins, a track of violas, and so on. Each of these are instruments that, with the exception of rare doublestopping, only play single notes at a time. I'm not sure of the precise situation here (there seem to be two tracks of violin 1 legato, for instance); but that's the basic reason.
Yes, it would seem Anne writes mostly one note per instrument section, and probably creates additional tracks if she wants divisi. Using individual patches instead of enaemble patches gives the composee control over the orchestration, and it also helps the mix by spreading the sound through out the stereo field, something ensemble patches rarely do well
Very nice. But do not forget the Berlin Sul Tasto which is sublime. Perhaps their darkest timbre. And the Sul ponticello very striking. Too often overlooked. Full libraries in themselves.
So sorry you got sick! I’m just recovering from it myself. Picked it up on a trip to LA in early November. Horrible stuff. I like the realism of the Berlin strings. Everything else you played in this video, except for that very last massive combination, sounded more like a sample library, and less like an orchestra. Just the Berlin strings by themselves were quite satisfying to my ear.
GREAT VIDEO LOVELY PIECE OF MUSIC AND ORCHESTRAL TOOLS ARE SOME OF FINEST STRINGS, I LOVE THE SINE PLAYER VERY STABLE THANKS ANNE BEST WISHES FROM UK ENGLAND PHIL 👍
Great presentation and your orchestral mock-ups sound absolutely stunning! I can totally resonate with your saying that the recording at Abbey Road didn't necessarily sound all that much different/better. The musicians and choirmaster may not like to hear that, but I think you're right there given your example. (Köstritzer is Schwarzbier, b.t.w. and I think I remember it sporting somewhere around 5% alcohol, which is close to "Bockbier", so yeah - potent it is ;-) And great taste on your part there as well)
Nice makeup! You must have spent hours and hours to achieve that look so you can make this video. Don't get me wrong now, I still appreciate your input. You're the man!
2:24 Hey, at least there are many player to choose from 🙂Mic merge in Sine looks like pretty good feature knowing how large can their libs be. 9:08 I wonder which version of BWW Anne prefers. Many like legacy more. It would be interesting to hear her thoughts about Legacy vs Revive Kontakt vs Sine. 9:30 Lovely dynamics. I like standard Berlin the most in the example. It feels more intimate which I think fit nicely with the emotion of this piece. Combined sound great in the second part. 17:15 Speaking of addiction, did you buy any new Liquidsonics reverb? 22:02 8Dio? 29:37 Oh yeah, layer the s#@t out of those strings Anne! 34:58 😁 37:30 Does anybody have a clue if Berlin series will be on sale by the end of the year or if OT said it definitely won't?
I'm listening to this with he ohone speaker and the phone is in a cup foe volume. And that third library was playing. I was thinking how great it sounds. And then you said it to.... I'll have to list to this over studio speakers.
Hello teacher, I would like to ask you, regarding the volume of each string library? Do you leave them the same? Or if it is symphony, do you leave it too high level in volume vs chamber strings, since there are fewer players in the chambers? Example: would you leave the ot berlin symphonic strings higher level in volume than the berlin strings or Berlín con sordino strings? Please, I would love to know your advice, thank you very much and greetings from Spain.
So good! I love it when you push your CPU to its limits by layering a dozen string libraries! 🙃 I 💯 agree OT has fixed all the major bugs in their SINE player since it first came out...and you're right they recorded new content for many of the Berlin libraries they ported from Kontakt. My only nitpick in SINE is when you use multi-timbral parts from different libraries, there is no label on the right as to which library it is, you kind of have to guess by looking at the articulations. For example, is Violin I 🎻 on midi channel 1 Berlin Strings Vln1, Berlin Symphonic Strings Vln1, or Berlin Sordino Strings Vln1? For students, Berklee has curated a paired down version called Berlin Orchestra which includes Winds and Brass and Percussion with just one mic position.
I love the layering as well. More than the Sordino separately actually. Also watched the Claus Family 3 on Dec. 7th in the evening. Lots of beautiful music and it hit me how much music is in there. Great work. Without the music the movie were to be kind of dull because the story is a bit thin, even for a Xmas movie I think. Though I love Decleir as an actor.
Very useful video always Anne! I wondered the same on cc2 as well. Why why? :-) I have those libraries as well. Didn’t work with them yet, but I was wondering if you have worked with the VSL Synchrom strings pro already and would like to know your view on it? Btw I have the VSL libraries as well. :-)
Oh wow! A piece of software that works!?😱🤯😋🙃 I'm so tired of sitting down to do something and spending the whole time trying to figure out what went wrong and what I have to turn off to just get my idea out!😤😭 Edit: your channel is amazing! I'm confused about how I never found it before, but I'm so happy I did🙌
How do you enter notes for your mock-ups? Do you play them in "live" via MIDI keyboard and then copy/paste/edit where appropriate, or do you enter into a notation program and MIDI them over? Or is your method a mix?
I’m not really counting 8Dio because their lineup is 6-4-5-4-3 (which is also a very strange and unbalanced lineup). That’s barely a chamber sized string section, far from a full sized string library. Granted OT Sordino are also not a full sized section but at least closer to 30 players. I do remember LASS having Sordino patches. I don’t recall though if they were recorded Sordino or if it was EQ’d Sordino (like for example Afflatus and some other developers have done).
@@AnneKathrinDernComposer it's a full standalone sordino library with real mutes (I believe it was absorbed into LASS3), and sounds quite pretty in my opinion 😊 thanks for your wonderful content
Would love to know the values you set as negative track delay for Berlin Symphonic Strings, I love that one but barely used it cause CSS workflow with offset is just so much more convenient
For anyone who avoids SINE because of crashes/freezes, it's rock solid -- for me, at least -- these days. It used to seize up with almost every action unless I hosted it in VEPro. Now, I can't remember the last time it crashed even when inserted directly into Cubase.
Dear Anne, thanks again! Very helpful, we have so much to thank you for as a community! The guys did an amazing job and I think it is great to shoot constructive comments, I had the same issue with the counterintuitive nature of the Vib's! you pointed it out for me haha!, also wanted to add that, The sample (audio) we hear when transitioning from non-VIb to Vib with our assigned fader, doesn't transition accordingly, we need to reach Vib zone BEFORE the midi note is played/triggered to hear it. Is it something I have to fix in SINE? Maybe. Might email them, in libraries such as CSS and CSSS this is solved, even if the transition from Sensa-vib to Vib of the sample is not perfect, it is gradual and seamless, not on/off, and does not need to replay the note in your performance to have it. All that said, One of the best Libraries on the market :) Best!
Hello Anne, thanks for putting this up, I'm loving Berlin Strings bundle as much as you do. Are you able to show the mic levels you merge? I love how the merged mix you created for Berlin Strings.
I use Berlin Strings as my main strings library and although I loved the sound and all the details, the overall sound tends to sound a bit too "small". I was hoping to listen to Berlin Strings layered with Berlin Sordino Strings (not the 3 combined) because I think the warmth from the Sordino is going to add more body to the bright quality of Berlin Strings which should result in more lushness to the overall sound without losing any details.
Hi Anne, greetings from your fellow student at the UCLA film scoring program. Do you really have over 300 string libraries or were you just using an expression?
Another wonderful video - as usual. There's never any doubt on the quality and information presented. BTW what type of keyboard do you use? Just curious as I'm in the market for a new one. Thank you! :D
I am using Areia at the moment though I am quite disappointed with the library and want to buy a new one. Since I can only buy one what would you guys recommend to have as a good quality base library
Love your your work! I have a question as to how you get such smooth cc parameters? I write mine in from my midi controller on Cubase and end up with about a million points per inch!! Obviously there can be a lot of issues with that and I spend too much time editing them down with not very satisfactory results.
Here's the thing, I realize this is a video on Berlin Strings , It's certainly worthwhile to have another look at it today because they've made significant improvements to the Berlin Strings library. I have nothing against Orchestral Tools, Berlin Strings libraries or in fact most of their libraries, They have cleaned them up a lot ! They weren't very consistent sounding, lots of inconsistent samples up and down the keyboard early on, but they have come a long way and deserve recognition for their recent work and catalog, very interesting, , what I want to discuss was the layering thing, I'm with you, and find it very interesting exploring layering , but there is another approach which might be interesting to discuss, I am referring to LA SCORING STRINGS 3, their approach , at divisi, and their library and programming on Kontakt, It's most impressive, and clearly a completely different approach. Much more inline with real world use of scoring a string orchestra. Wondered about your thoughts on this? Have you had a chance to try their library? We all have several strings libraries, and I find the LASS3 library and approach very cutting edge. Sine is interesting but doesn't come close to the control that LASS3 has on Kontakt.
Great video Anne-Kathrin... I'm about to dig deeply in the Orchestral Tools. Berlin Strings should be my next library... I just have one question. On your demos, did you made a bit of mixing like EQ and REverb or is it an out of the box sound ?
Hi Anne - thank so much for taking the time to cover the Berlin Strings bundle. Next time you're in Berlin, the beer is on us! 🙏
and next time you're in Berlin the hot chocolate will be on me!
I know this vid was mainly about string libraries, but i really enjoyed listening to your piece over and over. So incredible.
Thank you! ❤
10:10 this entire theme is so beautiful. I love the sound of these strings too, but they mean little without proper usage. Great composition Anne
I absolutely agree. It reminds me some great vintage classic movie compositions.
I used to avoid Sine since it was very buggy and it crashes a lot, but glad to hear most of it are fixed now. Wonderful piece of music, Anne! Always love your lush string writing 🙂
Thank you! And yes, I've heard stories about the early versions of SINE, but I have worked with it for months now and haven't had any issues.
Love your video. YOU are the reason I began dabbling with Orchestral Tools. I'm so glad I did. Yes, the Sine player can seem weird at first, but once you know your way around it, there is no other. No question, my favorite part is the multi-timbral heaven. Simple and Brilliant. ♥
Glad you enjoy Orchestral Tools! I do too - can't wait to dive into more of their products.
Great video, again. And such a beautiful theme.
For this weird vibratos variations issue, the easiest work-around, I think, is to invert the CC curve of the problematic patches :
In Sine, Option tab -> Variations -> Curve -> Lin. Down.
Then you can copy-paste with no issue.
Anne :) thank you for this... omg, the sordino "library,"
soooo musical -you can hear separation and air. Wow!
Yes, I probably love that one the most. 🙂
Thanks thanks for this video and for all I’ve watched . Very helpful !! Plus , nice hair cut !
So much strength and emotion in your creations
Great video. Would love to get a video on track delays sometime. I still have a hard time really setting them right with clicks alone. Any tricks and tips would be appreciated.
Dear Anne thank you soooo much for this video!!! Whole video was wonderful and the very end part was so entertaining, and I contacted OT to find out why they made 99% perfect product and left it with 1% mystery. OT then let me know the workaround for CC2 and said commented on your video too. Now they made this Berlin bundle 100% perfect, I have now no reason not to buy them.... agg......
I think that this is my favorite video so far. Thank you.
Thank you for watching!
I loved this video, especially the “one thing” at the end, with quirky, musical accompaniment. Excellent
Can't let them get away with minor inconsistencies, can we? ;-)
Wow ... the combination of all three OT Berlin Strings are just gorgeous. Love your composition Anne-Kathrin Dern.
This piece of music is gorgeous!!
With all of them combined, from 21 till the end... OH MY!!! It felt like real musicians going for every last drop of emotion they could squeeze out of this section!. You should change the video name to "When a great melody meets a great arrangement and is performed by the greatest combination of libraries " yeah that's too long lol, great job!
Always looking forward to your videos... Very very informative and to the point.... Love every bit of it. Thank you
Thanks for watching!
Beside of the great comparison (thanks for that!) I must say, I really much enjoy listening to your voice and your english dialect - for whatever reason i like it very much. Greetings from Germany, cheers!
Anne, the first time I heard you talk about layering was back around August. I'm a student with ThinkSpace and I attended your live discussion on this. It then and still is a real eye opener. I really am so glad you shared this technique with everyone. Personally, I also have a truck load of string libraries too. Layering is such an experimental thing, but it has so many benefits. You just need to try different libraries to find which ones work well with each other. All I can say is... You are the queen of layering and just so awesome at it! :) your stringaholic friend, Ryan.
Ha, layering for the win! It's especially rewarding whenever we find combos that work nicely and it allows us to work with color combinations, size combinations, and usually a bit more expression.
Wow, Anne, you are doing do well and even though I can't afford OT libraries and I'm just using Opus Edition. You I always listen to your vudrod and I'm learning so much from you and really take your words to heart. You are DOPE and speak grim your heart. I ant to be able Yi orchestrate life you and one day have three right libraries to work with. Please keep going and keep us in tune. My coffee tip is coming soon to you.
So nice Score🥰
Anne you have yet to write something that I don't fall in love with immediately. Thus far everything you did touched me in some hidden places deep inside. Thank you!
Thank you, I really appreciate the kind words!
Delightful sounds indeed. Anne made me chuckle with her French! Great video and insight. Thank you.
Wonderful video! Thank you so much. You make beautiful music!
Thank you!
Great composition
Omg you are so cool and down to earth. Your confidence is so refreshing! Thank you!
Love your no-fuss attitude from presentation to quality delivery ev-ry-time. That's why you are where you are. Thank you Anna. And hey, Berlin Strings to boot. Jawohl!! 🎉
I always wondered why our opinions on the Berlin series were so different. Now it makes sense, they must have done some work on them over the years. Great video. I am glad to see you're enjoying them now. Berlin Con Sordino Strings blends well with most strings. I use it as a bridge between Berlin Strings and Berlin Symphonic Strings if they ever do not want to play nice together
Thank you for this. I avoided the Sine player for a long time. I will revisit it. As always your videos are so informative and educational. Thank you.
Yes, there have been horror stories from the early days of SINE but it appears to be stable now. I've worked with it for months and have had no issues.
Very nice review but OMG!!! What a wonderful composition you used to showcase the libraries.
You should release the soundtrack.
Thank you! 🙂 I don't own the recordings of this soundtrack so I don't have the rights to publish them.
@@AnneKathrinDernComposer that's so sad to hear... isn't anything you could do about that? it's really wonderful music.
I want to try mixing this Berlin string with my BBCSO from Spitfire Audio!
Thanks really insightful video and makes me want go buy some beer and listen again.
Amazing work! Kindly regards from Cologne. René
Appreciate your brilliant mind and talent... thanks for sharing this shootout!
Impressive! Thanks for sharing the layering process! great piece of art! - i thought i was doing hard layering drums :) - have a great time!
Combination Of Berlin Strings and BSS Sounds Perfect.
I quite like the last full combo. I'm just worried that my computer will take off into space if I do this too often. 😅
Your demonstration inspired me to experiment with layering OT strings and feeding it with Scaler2 multi out setting turned on and a range of chord types. Btw I added Berlin Orchestra Berklee solo strings. The end result blew me away. The sound is incredibly cinematic. Gives me a starting point to try out new melody ideas using more unusual chord types. Thank you.
Glad this was helpful! Experimenting with layering is always a ton of fun and very rewarding when we find combos that work really well.
New haircut looks fabulous!
The ability to buy individual instruments is huge.
Great Video thank you. I have Metropolis Ark 1 and 5 and some hand picked instruments from Orchestral Tools but I didn't look at Berlin having purchased WAY too many String libraries over the years. What I will say is that having been blown away by Spitfire libraries initially, I now seem to use CSS way more than I thought I would and this seems to support your favourite libraries from some of your other Videos. I still love HZ Strings, I just love the Cellos there is something about them. I am going to have a good listen at this String library but in my template it's ridiculous how many different libraries I have and I only use a couple from each apart from CSS and for action compositions Metropolis Ark. thanks again !
I was expecting that many layers to sound like soup. Very interesting to hear a professional reflect that the samples are getting very close to live (on this piece anyway). Don't think I've ever seen a beer drinking presenter either, very entertaining!
Great review and beautiful piece of music. I've got all of the free Sine instruments and a couple of paid for individual instruments and they are very good indeed.
I love that intro
this inspired me to layer my string libraries at least for these paddy things....wow that layered sound.
I can listen to this track again and again. so beautiful.
WOW ! Simply Amazing ! Thank you !
You're getting 'Krotchety' in your old age )))) smiling )))) I like that cue ) great Stuff ! Very enjoyable and informative )) Thanks Anne-Kathrin, Alll the best !
Sample developers just need to get off my lawn already… 😂
Beautiful music and a good beer. My wife loves the same beer.
Love the music you wrote
Thank you!
I love your compositions and your talent 👌❤Und dann " Prost 🍻 " 😁😉
Thank you for this video Anne-Kathrin. I currently have Berlin Woodwinds and Berlin Percussion and I love them. I have been thinking about these libraries too for a while. After hearing your opinions I started to think that maybe I should start purchasing them, -maybe not all of them in one shot because Orchestral Tools already aware that they are creating high-end products :)-.
Very good libraries and beautiful music also
This is the most informitave channel I have basically ever found thank you! I was wondering if you could do a video explaining mixing. I basically make my music, adjust the volume levels, and call it a day but when people talk about mixing with eq's and compressors I really get lost. Thanks again!
I'd recommend the channel "In the Mix" and also iZotope's "Learn" tab on their website. Those are great resources to understand concepts and learn how (and why) they are applied.
Being able to buy any sound you like on its own is really great. Perfect when you need a sound for a specific project but don't need another set of things you have 20 times over!
Agreed! 🙂
I know I should comment on the libraries but man! what a beautiful & fantastic piece of music you wrote here. I am always amazed at your talent but man are you good or what!!
Hello Anne. Very informative and interesting review. I always love when you do mockups and show layering. I'm always learning. I imagine nowadays you can go like 80% the way using libraries, and the next 20% with an orchestra. Just a guess, as I am not a composer. Thank you. Stay well and happy holidays.
That's a pretty good ratio. You can indeed get really close these days with mockups. I'd say mine usually get between 80-90% of the way and then we get to 100% with live recording and proper mixing. There are still things that sample libraries don't do well and there's still an element of expression that live players will bring to a performance. But I guess it also depends on the kind of music.
Lovely shootout, thank you Anne-Kathrin! 😲
The only missing part (to call it ULTIMATE) is Berlin Strings Special Bows (Sul Ponticello & Sul Tasto)
Hi Anne, OT Berlin Strings Bundle for everything at 26:34 would be great, though pricey, and you even mentioned it might like burn smoke or something like that on your system, And then a top you added CS on top of that for the Layered insanity!! Wheeww!!
Wonder after all that, if i could ask you to compare whether or not Spitfire Strings even stand up in class to OT Berlin Series, /if i should waste my time/money $$ on more Spitfire stuff, -OR- If Instead, I should look at getting some OT Berlin Series strings maybe Symphonic for 1st library from them or other?? Thanks for your advise!!
JimP
Love Orchestral Tools and your deep dive videos!. But oh my word the flipped vibrato settings per library drives me insane, but I just flip the value in expression maps or the SINE player's settings (as you're using track per articulation).
Can I ask - same approach in putting it in your template as you've discussed before? Have you adjusted any releases here? And also what is your mic mix?
I found your channel among other composers and found yours to be the most concise and to the point. The information you give is easy to absorb. Been binge watching since I found your channel. 😅
Is there a reason you have single notes in your tracks instead of chords? I always see in your project lots and lots of instrument tracks with single notes I them. Is it for having more control when mixing?
Hopefully the Queen of Layering will answer herself; but, unless I've misunderstood you, I think the answer is that the tracks in this case are for string sections that typically only play one note at a time. So, a track of first violins, a track of second violins, a track of violas, and so on. Each of these are instruments that, with the exception of rare doublestopping, only play single notes at a time. I'm not sure of the precise situation here (there seem to be two tracks of violin 1 legato, for instance); but that's the basic reason.
And she is very articulate.
Yes, it would seem Anne writes mostly one note per instrument section, and probably creates additional tracks if she wants divisi. Using individual patches instead of enaemble patches gives the composee control over the orchestration, and it also helps the mix by spreading the sound through out the stereo field, something ensemble patches rarely do well
How is this possible when keep adding a library, but the gain stagin stay the same with other instruments?
Proper bussing is the key so you can adjust volumes on the fly.
Prost zurück (aber Köstritzer? Igitt 😉!) und vielen Dank für das Video! 👍
Awesome video! Thank you! Indeed "Other Developers" have set the bar really low.
That lovely look to camera around 31:00 is a picture.
Very nice. But do not forget the Berlin Sul Tasto which is sublime. Perhaps their darkest timbre. And the Sul ponticello very striking. Too often overlooked. Full libraries in themselves.
Yes! I've also tried out the Special Bows which I liked a lot!
So sorry you got sick! I’m just recovering from it myself. Picked it up on a trip to LA in early November. Horrible stuff.
I like the realism of the Berlin strings. Everything else you played in this video, except for that very last massive combination, sounded more like a sample library, and less like an orchestra. Just the Berlin strings by themselves were quite satisfying to my ear.
GREAT VIDEO LOVELY PIECE OF MUSIC AND ORCHESTRAL TOOLS ARE SOME OF FINEST STRINGS, I LOVE THE SINE PLAYER VERY STABLE THANKS ANNE BEST WISHES FROM UK ENGLAND PHIL 👍
Glad you are feeling better! Always enjoy your frank and real reviews. :)
No one:
Anne: OT actually updates their libraries unlike other manufacturers
Spitfire: ...
👀😳🤐
8Dio…?
*cough cough*
eastwest
*cough cough*
5:09
The EastWest OPUS engine has a purge and load-on-demand function like that!
except... its unstable. and crashes more than kontakt.
Great presentation and your orchestral mock-ups sound absolutely stunning! I can totally resonate with your saying that the recording at Abbey Road didn't necessarily sound all that much different/better. The musicians and choirmaster may not like to hear that, but I think you're right there given your example.
(Köstritzer is Schwarzbier, b.t.w. and I think I remember it sporting somewhere around 5% alcohol, which is close to "Bockbier", so yeah - potent it is ;-) And great taste on your part there as well)
I fell in love with the Sordino Strings. What is it with German Sample program GUIs?
Nice makeup! You must have spent hours and hours to achieve that look so you can make this video. Don't get me wrong now, I still appreciate your input. You're the man!
2:24 Hey, at least there are many player to choose from 🙂Mic merge in Sine looks like pretty good feature knowing how large can their libs be.
9:08 I wonder which version of BWW Anne prefers. Many like legacy more. It would be interesting to hear her thoughts about Legacy vs Revive Kontakt vs Sine.
9:30 Lovely dynamics. I like standard Berlin the most in the example. It feels more intimate which I think fit nicely with the emotion of this piece. Combined sound great in the second part.
17:15 Speaking of addiction, did you buy any new Liquidsonics reverb?
22:02 8Dio?
29:37 Oh yeah, layer the s#@t out of those strings Anne!
34:58 😁
37:30 Does anybody have a clue if Berlin series will be on sale by the end of the year or if OT said it definitely won't?
Hello! Can I ask a question? What's the "1-1" and "1-2" stand for in the BS Vln that you have setup in the template? Thanks!
I'm listening to this with he ohone speaker and the phone is in a cup foe volume. And that third library was playing. I was thinking how great it sounds. And then you said it to.... I'll have to list to this over studio speakers.
Hello teacher, I would like to ask you, regarding the volume of each string library? Do you leave them the same? Or if it is symphony, do you leave it too high level in volume vs chamber strings, since there are fewer players in the chambers?
Example: would you leave the ot berlin symphonic strings higher level in volume than the berlin strings or Berlín con sordino strings? Please, I would love to know your advice, thank you very much and greetings from Spain.
Hmmmm, mein Lieblingsbier!
Köstritzer Schwarzbier -> Schmeckt mir auch sehr gut :)
So good! I love it when you push your CPU to its limits by layering a dozen string libraries! 🙃 I 💯 agree OT has fixed all the major bugs in their SINE player since it first came out...and you're right they recorded new content for many of the Berlin libraries they ported from Kontakt. My only nitpick in SINE is when you use multi-timbral parts from different libraries, there is no label on the right as to which library it is, you kind of have to guess by looking at the articulations. For example, is Violin I 🎻 on midi channel 1 Berlin Strings Vln1, Berlin Symphonic Strings Vln1, or Berlin Sordino Strings Vln1?
For students, Berklee has curated a paired down version called Berlin Orchestra which includes Winds and Brass and Percussion with just one mic position.
I love the layering as well. More than the Sordino separately actually. Also watched the Claus Family 3 on Dec. 7th in the evening. Lots of beautiful music and it hit me how much music is in there. Great work. Without the music the movie were to be kind of dull because the story is a bit thin, even for a Xmas movie I think. Though I love Decleir as an actor.
I have First Chairs and Symphonic Strings. Hard to justify another purchase but Berlin Strings sounds so good!
Very useful video always Anne! I wondered the same on cc2 as well. Why why? :-) I have those libraries as well. Didn’t work with them yet, but I was wondering if you have worked with the VSL Synchrom strings pro already and would like to know your view on it? Btw I have the VSL libraries as well. :-)
Oh wow! A piece of software that works!?😱🤯😋🙃 I'm so tired of sitting down to do something and spending the whole time trying to figure out what went wrong and what I have to turn off to just get my idea out!😤😭
Edit: your channel is amazing! I'm confused about how I never found it before, but I'm so happy I did🙌
Which microphone you suggest for singing ?
How do you enter notes for your mock-ups? Do you play them in "live" via MIDI keyboard and then copy/paste/edit where appropriate, or do you enter into a notation program and MIDI them over? Or is your method a mix?
I've always wondered this as well.
What do you think about Eastwest Opus and Spitfire?
8Dio did a sordino library before - Century Strings Edition Sordino, but I can't say if the quality matches that of OT.
Was thinking same same. But don't know how it holds up against OT.
Audiobro with LASS was probably the very first. And it is a very good library
I’m not really counting 8Dio because their lineup is 6-4-5-4-3 (which is also a very strange and unbalanced lineup). That’s barely a chamber sized string section, far from a full sized string library. Granted OT Sordino are also not a full sized section but at least closer to 30 players. I do remember LASS having Sordino patches. I don’t recall though if they were recorded Sordino or if it was EQ’d Sordino (like for example Afflatus and some other developers have done).
@@AnneKathrinDernComposer it's a full standalone sordino library with real mutes (I believe it was absorbed into LASS3), and sounds quite pretty in my opinion 😊 thanks for your wonderful content
Would love to know the values you set as negative track delay for Berlin Symphonic Strings, I love that one but barely used it cause CSS workflow with offset is just so much more convenient
For anyone who avoids SINE because of crashes/freezes, it's rock solid -- for me, at least -- these days. It used to seize up with almost every action unless I hosted it in VEPro. Now, I can't remember the last time it crashed even when inserted directly into Cubase.
Yes, I've heard some horror stories about the first version when it came out. But it's been 100% stable for me for several months now.
Dear Anne, thanks again! Very helpful, we have so much to thank you for as a community!
The guys did an amazing job and I think it is great to shoot constructive comments, I had the same issue with the counterintuitive nature of the Vib's! you pointed it out for me haha!, also wanted to add that, The sample (audio) we hear when transitioning from non-VIb to Vib with our assigned fader, doesn't transition accordingly, we need to reach Vib zone BEFORE the midi note is played/triggered to hear it.
Is it something I have to fix in SINE? Maybe. Might email them, in libraries such as CSS and CSSS this is solved, even if the transition from Sensa-vib to Vib of the sample is not perfect, it is gradual and seamless, not on/off, and does not need to replay the note in your performance to have it.
All that said, One of the best Libraries on the market :)
Best!
They actually updated it for Sine Player, now legato transitions are much better than Kontakt version
I had a feeling! My taste couldn't have changed this much...
Hello Anne, thanks for putting this up, I'm loving Berlin Strings bundle as much as you do. Are you able to show the mic levels you merge? I love how the merged mix you created for Berlin Strings.
I use Berlin Strings as my main strings library and although I loved the sound and all the details, the overall sound tends to sound a bit too "small". I was hoping to listen to Berlin Strings layered with Berlin Sordino Strings (not the 3 combined) because I think the warmth from the Sordino is going to add more body to the bright quality of Berlin Strings which should result in more lushness to the overall sound without losing any details.
I didn't do that example but yes, I can confirm that the Sordinos layer well with anything (even non-OT libraries).
Hi Anne, greetings from your fellow student at the UCLA film scoring program. Do you really have over 300 string libraries or were you just using an expression?
Another wonderful video - as usual. There's never any doubt on the quality and information presented. BTW what type of keyboard do you use? Just curious as I'm in the market for a new one. Thank you! :D
The tune reminds me of Maria! (Bernstein). 🤔
I am using Areia at the moment though I am quite disappointed with the library and want to buy a new one. Since I can only buy one what would you guys recommend to have as a good quality base library
Cinematic Studio Strings, Berlin Strings (the regular ones) or Pacific
Love your your work! I have a question as to how you get such smooth cc parameters? I write mine in from my midi controller on Cubase and end up with about a million points per inch!! Obviously there can be a lot of issues with that and I spend too much time editing them down with not very satisfactory results.
Here's the thing, I realize this is a video on Berlin Strings , It's certainly worthwhile to have another look at it today because they've made significant improvements to the Berlin Strings library. I have nothing against Orchestral Tools, Berlin Strings libraries or in fact most of their libraries, They have cleaned them up a lot ! They weren't very consistent sounding, lots of inconsistent samples up and down the keyboard early on, but they have come a long way and deserve recognition for their recent work and catalog, very interesting, , what I want to discuss was the layering thing, I'm with you, and find it very interesting exploring layering , but there is another approach which might be interesting to discuss, I am referring to LA SCORING STRINGS 3, their approach , at divisi, and their library and programming on Kontakt, It's most impressive, and clearly a completely different approach. Much more inline with real world use of scoring a string orchestra. Wondered about your thoughts on this? Have you had a chance to try their library? We all have several strings libraries, and I find the LASS3 library and approach very cutting edge. Sine is interesting but doesn't come close to the control that LASS3 has on Kontakt.
Great video Anne-Kathrin... I'm about to dig deeply in the Orchestral Tools. Berlin Strings should be my next library...
I just have one question. On your demos, did you made a bit of mixing like EQ and REverb or is it an out of the box sound ?