Announced for several months, the "Strings Essentials" and the Complete Classical Collection are finally on the market, in version of VST Instrument, the latest creatures in chronological order by Peter Siedlaczek, creator of historical libraries in the field of orchestral sampling such as Advanced Orchestra, Smart Violins and Orchestral Colors.
String Essentials:
The bookstore (Fig.1) is also proposed in response to the most recent products such as the Miroslav Philharmonik of IK Multimedia, the Garritan Personal Orchestra, but above all the East West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra, by virtue of its triple microphone recording available (dry, normal and ambient) and the numerous programming inventions. The multiple microphone pickup in the libraries, which so far has perhaps seen its maximum expression with the EWLQSO Platinum (even if strictly speaking Project Sam had already applied it to its excellent orchestral winds), allows to obtain a placement effect in the ambience and spatiality without using reverbs, but simply by dosing and mixing the sound of reverberated patches with dry ones. The greater the presence of ambient sound, the farther away the sound source is perceived. The aim is to obtain a result as realistic as possible, avoiding the inevitable artifacts related to artificial reverberation (also present in impulse reverbs, in the opinion of the writer). The art of applying reverb correctly and effectively, in fact, is the prerogative of a select few and requires a large number of parameters to consider.
What is presented:
The product comes in a standard DVD case, complete with three discs and two manuals, all in a distinctive bright red color (Fig 2). The library runs on the Native Instruments Kontakt player and the installation is present only on the first of the three DVDs available, while for the following it is necessary to manually copy the "files" to the destination folder (the "files" containing the sounds are in the format .nks, old acquaintance of the Virtual Instruments market). The installation does not present difficulties, even if quite long, thanks also to the experience acquired by Native Instruments in the creation of “players” for sample libraries. The player is copy protected with the now traditional activation system (if not activated the product works only for 30 days), we take the opportunity to pleasantly see how Native Instruments has not yet resorted to the hardware key (dongle), cross of so many computer music users. The minimum system required is PC Pentium 500 MHz, 1 Gb of Ram and 10 Gb of disk space for the "library". The recommended one is a Pentium IV 2.8 Ghz or higher, 2 Gb of Ram. For the Mac a dual processor G4 or G5, 1 Gb of Ram and Mac OS 10.2.6 or later is required. Streaming to Hard disk seems effective and able to work even with memory allocations of less than 2 gigabytes. The version we test in this article is for PC and the test is carried out on a Music Daw 2 computer with Pentium 4 processor at 3.4 Ghz, 2 Giga Ram, 2 HD 7200 RPM and RME Fireface 800 sound card. A pair of Genelec model 1032 and PMC TB2S-A were used as monitor speakers.
First approach to sounds:
The first surprise we receive when reading the number of "patches" contained in the library just after installation. Very few at first glance, especially when compared with the numerous competitors, so generous in the lists and variations available (Fig 3). The choice therefore proves to be that of providing a few "patches" but more complete for use as much as possible in "real time" through activation with "keyswitch". The advantage is that you have at your fingertips, for example, most of the articulations available for violins or violas in one preset. The cons is represented by the considerable weight in terms of megabytes (or better gigabytes) of the “presets” themselves. The “light” section comes to the aid (up to a certain point) of the unfortunate owner of a not particularly performing computer, but is only available for “normal” miking. The sounds are overall well in tune, some small problems of the old Akai and Giga version Advanced Orchestra are now largely overcome already from the release of the Extended Version.
The arches:
The library offers a complete set of sections for violins, violas, cellos and double basses. There are no tools only. Instead, a section of "full strings" is inserted for a more practical and faster use in contexts, for example, not exclusively orchestral. The strings are present with the following presets: Main Setup (sort of all-encompassing patch of considerable weight), Staccato (with additional "falls" in the case of violins, for "disco" use), Special Patches (repetitions, glissandi, "variable lenght ”or“ variable length ”) and Runs (scales) in different tempos and keys. The timbre, let's say it right away, is very pleasant, but particularly similar to that of Advanced Orchestra, so much so that it makes you think of a remix of the individual microphone shots of the original recordings. The tone has a great breath and does not weigh on the mid frequencies. The timbre could ideally be placed between the lightness of the sound of Halion Strings II Edition and the expressiveness of libraries such as the Sonic Implants of Boston and the Miroslav Philharmonik with which it shares its “European” origin. In our opinion, cellos are particularly effective, often difficult to render in a context of sampling. The “ambient” version of the sounds is not particularly rich in reverb (on the contrary, for example of the EWQLSO Platinum), probably due to the type of room used for the recording. With the Miroslav the library shares the "European" and Classical oriented sound, even if perhaps it does not reach the "romantic" heights of Vitous' creature, while with the Sonic Implants it shares an overall balance and a position in the mix "always in its place ”, Able to leave room for other tools. In this it contrasts with a "Hollywood" and particularly American library such as the East West Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra, whose strings tend to "widen" more in the mix, with a vocation for combining with "heavy" percussive sounds, compendium typical of today's action cinema (see among all Graeme Revell or Marco Beltrami).
Presets and programming:
Programming solutions are admittedly the dominant feature of this product. It is certainly possible to see in the choices made the influence that an “ultra programmed” library like the Garritan Personal Orchestra has had, especially in terms of “real time” solutions. The common feature of almost all "patches" is the commendable assignment of the main envelope and expression parameters to "controllers". So, for example, in many presets it is possible to control the attack and the release using controllers 21 and 22. The "release" control is little adopted in other libraries, but offers the advantage of adjusting the sound release differently when playing they play phrases with quick passages and longer held notes. It would, for example, have been a valuable addition to a library like the Halion Strings Edition, which has some issues on note releases. To get to know the Strings Essentials programming in depth, let's upload a “main setup” patch for violins. The first key, C0, activates the articulation of long sustains, with three dynamic layers. Balanced tone, very close to that of Advanced Orchestra and the aforementioned Halion SE. The expression controller 20 (note, in most cases, it is the controller 11 that is called "expression") is adopted as a "switch" to activate "auto crescendo" or "crossfade" functions, depending on its position. In our opinion it is a useful solution, even if a little cumbersome to use "live" as it requires a triple crossing (keyswitch + ctrl 20 + ctrl 1). The C # 0 key activates the “legate-portamento” mode. The quality of the legate and portamento effect is not comparable to that of a Vienna Symphonic Library, 
as it is more the result of a programming work on sounds than of a real recording of the transitions from note to note, characteristic of the Viennese bookshop. The following keys activate in order: tremolo, trills, pizzicati, "short notes" of different lengths, detached, falls and scales ("runs"). Also in this case the controllers allow to condition the execution and to alternate techniques in real time. Arriving at the last key “keyswitch”, something immediately catches the eye: the library has no deaf. The choice appears strange to say the least, both due to the fact that the deaf ones are commonly and widely used in all musical genres that require the presence of a string section, and to the awareness that Siedlaczek has certainly recorded the deaf ones, having inserted them both in the original edition and in the '97 update of his Advanced Orchestra, among other things offering a timbre that, in the opinion of the writer, is one of the most playable and balanced ever in the panorama of "mute" strings and second only to unsurpassed sordini of the Bostonian Sonic Implants Symphonic Strings (Fig 4). Continuing in listening to the presets, the presence of the so-called "repetitions" is interesting, a term borrowed also in this case from Vsl to indicate "patches" that allow you to repeatedly play one or more notes at fast times, without this translating into a unnatural "midi" effect. It must be said that, although in general the detachments recorded by Siedlaczek are of good quality, in this case the repetition is not entirely convincing, failing to separate and distinguish the different shots of the bow, which often provide an unrealistic "machine gun" effect. It is not excluded, however, that thanks to the use of the Kontakt player, Best Service will be able to release “patches” dedicated to repetitions of better quality at a later time. As for the remaining “patches” it is important to mention the control of the tempo on the “runs”, useful to synchronize the scales as much as possible with the tempo of the composition.
Conclusions:
The virtual instrument "Strings Essentials" is presented in a slightly "heavier" capacity in terms of memory used compared to the colleagues Halion Strings Edition and Philharmonik Miroslav, but it has, on the other hand, the ability of the Kontakt player to withstand loads of HD streaming of a certain importance. In a scenario dominated by “all in one” orchestras, Best Service presents itself with an offer that might seem risky, because it is limited to the strings section only, even if with many programming solutions. The overall quality of the sounds is of a good level, even if in some situations it appears a bit “already heard”. To further merit of the Strings Essentials it should be noted that the strings present are particularly well suited for use in contexts that are not exclusively classic or "Hollywood", but do an excellent job on pop, electronic and even rock songs, thanks to the aforementioned ability not to invade the stereo "field" and to place itself in a measured way in most of the mixes in which it is used. As in the case of Siedlaczek's “Smart Violins”, it should also be noted the positive presence of typically “disco” effects, so rare in the virtual instruments market. Some sounds can be improved, especially in terms of programming, and it is likely that Best Service will release some "updates" to download soon. A discreet mystery, however, is the absence of deaf people, a decision that is difficult to justify in a 15 gigabytes library, mostly dedicated entirely to strings. The aforementioned choice of the Kontakt player, if on the one hand it removes the user from all the "handy" features of the Kompakt player (effects and filters among all), it is however acceptable above all in consideration of the greater programming skills that Kontakt offers compared to its brother minor. Furthermore, filters and effects could be considered not so relevant that they significantly affect the choice. After all, it is easy to apply reverbs and equalization directly on the audio tracks generated with the “bounce” during the mixing phase, even more so if they are good quality impulses.
Complete Classical Collection:
Also in this case the product comes in a standard DVD case, complete with 2 discs and two manuals, all of a characteristic purple color. The library runs on the Native Instruments Kontakt player and the installation is present only on the first of the two DVDs available, while for the next one, also in this case, it is necessary to manually copy the "files" to the destination folder. For the rest, the required system is similar to that of String Essentials.
Approach to sounds:
The Strings Essentials also comes bundled with the Complete Orchestral Collection (Fig 5). The latter represents a complete historical collection of Peter Siedlaczek's productions. Reprogrammed and inserted in a Kontakt player, the Complete Collection contains some of the great "bestsellers" in the history of the Polish developer: Advanced Orchestra (the very famous orchestra, also accompanied by the subsequent Update '97 which introduced new sounds), an authentic "Swiss Army knife" of composer for virtual orchestra (owns strings, fine woods, brass and percussion), Smart Violins (library of violin "performances" such as Scales, "falls" for the record and effects, all in different tempos). Advanced Choirs (library of choirs, perhaps a little dated, but still with many notable features, with more than one hundred voices of male, female, morph, cluster choirs as well as single tenor, altos and sopranos effects). Total piano (acoustic pianos including a good Boesendorfer, while the other pianos are perhaps slightly dated by the current standard, but useful for computers with limited memory) and the historic Orchestral Colors, library of orchestral "performances" performed in full as " intro ”,“ endings ”,“ hits ”, orchestral atmospheres and effects, to be played simply by pressing a button. Finally we are given an X Bonus Tracx, (Fig 6) where we are given other four families of sounds with the various subfamilies: Instruments (Church Organ, Harpsicord, Gong, Mixed percussion etc), Nature FX (Country, Rain Forest, Word, ...), Orchestral Moods (Drama Phrase, Ghost Phrase , ...), Synth Ambiente (Athmospheric, Introsphera, Mmmhpad, ...). Of all these bonuses, perhaps the one that struck me most was Word from the Nature FX family. It is nothing very original, but there are voices coupled with "grooves" such as "Hearth of Africa", which are still very current and easily placed in various musical genres.
Conclusions:
For the amount of material provided and the fact that a large part of it is still current, the Complete Collection probably represents an authentic "bargain", in particular considering the price at which it is offered and the fact that the complex of proposed sounds is reprogrammed. partly and integrated in an intuitive and stable player like Kontakt. Products like Advanced Orchestra full and Smart Violins, just to name a couple, never fail to be useful, and have respectable sounds. Furthermore, imported into the “full” version of Kontakt, many sounds will reveal new and unexpected qualities thanks also to the new “scripts” offered for Kontakt 2, capable of generating legate, portamento and repetition effects, just to name a few.
USEFUL NEWS:
String Essentials:
Producer: Best service
Model: String Essentials
Website: www.bestservice.de
Distributor: www.midiware.com
Price: Euro 300 + VAT
Producer: Best service
Complete Classical Collection:
Model: Complete Classical Collection
Website: www.bestservice.de
Distributor: www.midiware.com
Price: Euro 215,00 + VAT
