BACKGROUND
As a musician, Miroslav Vitous is best known for his founding of the jazz group, Weather Report. For three years, Mr. Vitous was jazz department head at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. In music production, he’s best known for his orchestral sample library originally priced at $3500 on five (5) CDs. A while back, IK Multimedia licensed this library and re-released it as the Miroslav Philharmonik.

Reduced in price, the original library is available through ILIO Entertainments in several formats, most of which have been discontinued, but several of which can be imported into Kontakt.

Mr. Vitous’ initial entry into orchestral sampling paved the way for other developers particularly with the quality of sound.

Consequently, the announcement that Mr. Vitous was releasing a new string ensemble library created a great deal of excitement in the professional community. Unfortunately, weak demos, which were withdrawn, and other issues have kept the new library from achieving a healthy buzz.

For the record, the critiques I’m making I made a week ago and were forwarded to Mr. Vitous.

1. PRICE
Pricing at US$1399 for a single DVD with 6.5GB of material for the Miroslav Vitous String Ensemble is not competitive within the current marketplace. Currently, you can get the single disk from Big Fish Audio for $999.99 intro.

2. NO LOOPED STRINGS
In the first library, Mr. Vitous had both looped and unlooped strings in the palette. Not so this time with the Long programs. I tested several violin programs for lengths by recording a 30-second 4-part string pad. At 70BPM, Unlooped Longs are about a half note in length. Consequently, you have to retrigger, edit, etc.

Click the link above to hear the two new demos posted at Big Fish. Without looped Longs, or genuinely long Longs (!), a composer is restricted to using this library for medium to brisk tempos, or to cherry-pick the staccatos, pizzicatos, and other short bowings.

I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed I am to write this. The library has a great sound. A lot of money went into producing it. A lot money has gone into distributing it. To ship without looped Longs is just unimaginable to me in this current marketplace.

Unfortunately, the price and the unlooped Longs are the two deal killers for this library today.

3. DOCUMENTATION
Starting on page 16 of the manual is the Content listing all the articulations.

Going through the articulation list shows the high caliber of thinking that’s gone into this library. Unfortunately, Mr. Vitous, or whoever wrote the manual, didn’t bother to clue us in.

To put this into a perspective, Mr. Vitous recorded a large string ensemble of:

24 Violins
14 Violas
12 Cellos
9 Basses

He then recorded a chamber ensemble (his term) consisting of:

14 Violins
8 Violas
5 Cellos
4 Basses

Stating the obvious, no Violins 2. Now, consider some of these terms which are undefined:

Harmony Movements Fast
Harmony Movements Slow
Harmony Movements Lead
Harmony Movements Second Voice
Harmony Movements 2nd Voice Fast
Harmony Movements Slow Dvorak (?)
Harmony Mel. Leads
Det. Melody Lead Kontrapoint
Lead Parsifal Full

Clearly, Mr. Vitous has come up with a very inventive approach - but he doesn’t explain it either verbally or with demos. For example, does Harmony Movements Lead and 2nd Voice mean that the programs have been so edited that Lead is like Violins 1 and 2nd Voice like Violins 2?

Clarity is easily achievable with a new PDF that goes through and explains the concepts and gives suggested approaches.

3. BUILT-IN CRESCENDOS
This is a feature that drove us nuts with the first MV library. I’ve played through enough to know that a lot of programs don’t have it, but it should be marked which ones do. Again, downloadable PDF.

CONCLUSION
Make no mistake, this library does sound good. All honor and kudos for that! But as I see it, there are three deal killers that can be corrected within a few weeks to turn this library into a sales winner.

1. Loop the Longs. Best Service, Big Fish, and some of the other distributors all have download capabilities. No further disk burning required. But this is an absolute. I don’t know any working professional, given the tighter deadline structures we’re under today, who has the time to retrigger/edit, etc.

2. Price - $1399 list for one (1) DVD vs. spending $100 more and doing the pre-order special for Hollywood Strings Diamond? Or spending $300 less and getting LASS? Value to justify this price has yet to be established. The price needs to be lowered - drastically - to make it competitive and a justifiable business purchase.

3. The Documentation - Discovery should be aural. Features should be explained so that you know how to listen and what to listen for when testing the samples. Two-three days of work and you’ve got a new downloadable document that explains the thinking behind the design.

Deal with these three issues and watch the sales take off.

A lot of music retailers would really like to see that happen.

Disclaimer: Alexander Publishing is a Big Fish Audio dealer.

Hollywood Strings is the first string sample library to be recorded in a Los Angeles recording studio, specifically EastWest Studio 1, which prior to being purchased by EastWest, has boasted many a string ensemble being recorded within its walls with Frank Sinatra and others. So the studio HS was recorded in already has a longterm demonstrated track record for achieving a quality string sound.

Consequently, a key feature for HS (Hollywood Strings) is its studio sound vs. the concert hall sound in EW’s Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra.

HS’s studio sound provides composers with another choice as to which string ensemble recorded in which space do we want for the piece we’re working on. I use the word “piece” because it’s too easy to box Hollywood Strings into a specific genre when it has capabilities in virtually any musical genre.

The string ensemble size is 16-14-10-10-7 making it a large orchestral string section. The library has the strings recorded in their seated positions using this stage layout: Vlns 1, Vlns 2, Violas, Cellos with Basses behind the cellos. According to the presentation, Violins 2 are independently recorded.

Divisi for this library has been achieved through a unique mic placement technique (described by co-producer Nick Phoenix in the video presentation) allowing for div a 2.

There are three different methods by which divisi can be achieved in a string section. Per the presentation, it appears the method used by EW is, from the conductor’s position, dividing the strings so that players to the left side of the music stand play the high part while the players on the right side play the low, or inner, part.

In the presentation, Mr. Phoenix used the term first chairs to describe players on the left side of the music stand. The use of the term first chairs should not be confused with that term as used by L.A. Scoring Strings, which refers to the soloist for each section.

It should be noted that according to co-producer Nick Phoenix, Hollywood Strings have modeled muted strings. This means that the sordinos included with Hollywood Strings were not recorded with mutes on the strings. Instead, the Hollywood Strings interface creates a muted string effect. “We recorded real sordinos in HS, but they were only for analysis and comparison to the regular recordings,” explained Mr. Phoenix on the VI-Control.net forum.

Comments on the Overall Presentation
By way of background, on January 6, 2010, members of the press (including myself) received a written invitation to attend a live demonstration of Hollywood Strings on January 13 at the EastWest facilities.

Unfortunately, because of the number of journalists that didn’t come to NAMM this year, that meeting was canceled and replaced with this video presentation, which was made available to both the press and the general public on January 14th. On January 15th, a revised presentation was posted.

Observations and impressions here are from the revised video. Just to restate, the revised video is the only information journalists have at this writing with which to write about Hollywood Strings. Consequently, I’ve posed a number of product feature questions that this first introduction to Hollywood Strings didn’t cover.

After months of waiting for what promises to be a game changing library, I confess, I was somewhat let down by the video presentation  (which EW calls a tutorial). With so much time available before formal product launch, it would have been good for EW to produce, using Keynote or Power Point, a basic 5-10 minute overview that could also be posted on YouTube. Hollywood Strings has a number of features and string bowings not found in other libraries, and its approach to recording with a Decca Tree all point to the need of a presentation modeled along the lines of, The Making of… especially with a product name like Hollywood Strings.

About my Comments on the Hollywood Strings Library
My comments take into account that this is an unfinished library not shipping until mid-February. I look at the video as things to come, understanding that the programming is still being worked on. That HS was originally scheduled to ship on January 13, 2010 and has been deferred until mid-February indicates the immensity of the library.

Remarks are pegged to timings (minutes: seconds) in the revised video presentation.

2:56 - Slur Runs - compelling feature especially with five mic position choices.

3:19 - The dream - load a patch, play chords in the left hand and a melody in the right so that it sounds like finished music. A program is displayed labeled “Tommy Williams” (?). Is this a preset? A custom program? Some explanation is in order. Re: Mr. Phoenix’s comment that the demonstration at this point was on a feature that’s never been done before. This also needs a little explanation. Plenty of composers in the past and present have used a program usually labeled All Strings to quickly knock out a cue with chords in the left hand and the melody/theme in the right hand. So I’m not sure what Mr. Phoenix means when he says, “It’s never been done before,” and then refers to, “unthinkable power.”

4:12 - Celli Legato Monster Patch - If I’m understanding this correctly, what EW has programmed in the Monster Patch is comparable to the concept behind several of the Vienna Instruments programs where all the basic expressive articulations are within a single program (patch), including up bow/down bow in the demonstration.  If I’m understanding this correctly, this is an awesome programming achievement, and I’d like to know if there are equivalent patches for the violins, violas, and basses.

5:43 - Mic positions - Mr. Phoenix used the Cello Legato Monster Patch as the basis for demonstrating the five mic positions. While brief, you certainly see the great options available with this feature. It would have been useful to have a one-sentence explanation for each mic position demonstration to clarify better what you’re hearing, especially for those who are recording novices and unfamiliar with a Decca Tree and how it works.

6:47 - Mic Mixing With Reverb - Impressive. Certainly allows an ease for using HS with other libraries, and certainly with HS alone. Since there are no direct woodwind, brass and percussion libraries recorded to match HS, it would be useful for EW to provide some template setups for QLSO, StormDrum 2, Gypsy, Quantum Leap Pianos, and Ministry of Rock, so that you can have a ready-studio orchestra post-installation built entirely of EW products.

6:58 - Full Strings Patch - This was demonstrated both open and muted. It was performed live at the keyboard by Thomas J. Bergersen, one of the co-producers. Though brief, you get the idea. Quite lovely. However, the program displaying in the browser is Violas Sus RR Omni. So which program was it we were hearing?

8:05 - This is a demonstration of the First and Second Violins in octaves (Vlns 1 - Vlns 2) using what Mr. Phoenix called a Violin Performance Legato. A different group of players were recorded for each of the sections. This combination is most frequently used when Violins 1 are in the Medium through Very High registers with Violins 2 in the register an octave below.  I’m impressed with this demo. String octaves are a major writing technique, and they’re a major technique in film score writing.  This can be a very difficult technique to do with samples, and even though we’ve only heard a little portion, EW seems to have captured this.

9:07 - 2nd Violins Shorts Mod Speed Patch - Mr. Phoenix didn’t say, and I couldn’t tell from listening to the Marcato Shorts if whether the shorts, all activated by the Mod Wheel, are with an arco string program so that on the same patch, you can go back and forth between arco and a particular “short” depending on the melody’s needs. If not, it would certainly be great to have such a program so that you can have a fluid string line on a single track. Least impressed with Staccato-on-Bow in this example. Otherwise, impressive.

10:40 - This demonstration uses multiple programs but only one program displays in the browser, 1st Violin Legato (1). Very good demonstration.

12:58 - Divisi - Good explanation of their recording approach.

15:46 - Measured tremolo - Demonstrated the program and the micing. Good feature.

17:06 - Tremolo controlled by mod wheel. Good.

Audio Demos
There were two audio demos by Mr. Bergersen, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the presentation. The first demo was Hollywood Strings alone and the second was Hollywood Strings mixed in with a full electronic orchestral mix.

My questions really come from the second demo.

Was this HS with only QLSO or was this HS with Mr. Bergersen’s other libraries mixed in? If it’s with QLSO and other PLAY products exclusively, then those having QLSO will see immediately how their investment can be enhanced. If it’s with other libraries mixed in, then we have an excellent example of Hollywood Strings’ blendability. If it’s the latter, it would be most useful to have some explanation of what was used and how the mix was achieved.

Pre-Ordering Considerations
At this writing, Hollywood Strings, listing at $1699 and shipped on a hard drive, can be pre-ordered at a $200 discount off list. As a fellow composer, I believe the question is, “For what you’re writing today and what you think you might be writing in the next year, do you think having Hollywood Strings will add to your ability to earn income? “

If the answer for you is, “yes,” then by all means consider pre-ordering.

Installation - Hollywood Strings Diamond Edition comes on a hard drive that is not to be used for streaming the samples. Fair enough. But what we need to know is can HS can be split over multiple drives? Should the library be spread across a couple of computers?

Other - We need an explanation of what, “multiple finger positions for all sections including open strings,” means and how to use it.

Conclusion
There are two elements to me that are game changers with Hollywood Strings. One is the need to really understand string instrumentation and string arranging/orchestration techniques to fully get the most out of this library. The other is having the instruction to understand how to mix Hollywood Strings alone with the Decca Tree (as demonstrated in the video) and, then applying that knowledge to working with other libraries in your collection.

As composers, we need to realize that this is a musical game change. It strikes me that with Hollywood Strings the emphasis may shift from discussions about editing and envelopes, and endless discussions on eq’ing strings, to the joy of writing and creating, to having the kinds of musical discussions arrangers, orchestrators, and composers typically have with each other.

This is new. And it’s about time.

NOTE: Post publication we found a post on the Soundsonline web site stating that the samples used by Mr. Bergersen in the second demo Hollywood Strings mixed with other libraries.

Peter Lawrence Alexander is the author of the Professional Orchestration series which has been endorsed by winners of the Academy®, Grammy®, Emmy®, BAFTA®, G.A.N.G, Telly®, and AVA Gold® Awards.

I say this with the utmost of seriousness as writer, teacher, and former marketer at the Fortune 500 level.

Notion 3 sports a well designed mixing board by which to mix your virtual scores, insert plug-ins from IK Multimedia (their Classik Studio Reverb and AmplitTube are included), an enhanced orchestral and jazz rock sound set, a lyric tool, and most impressive, the ability to insert VSTi’s (virtual studio instruments) from East West (QLSO PLAY), Garritan Aria, Kontakt, and the Vienna Symphonic Libraries. The new mixing board also enables you to add effects plugins, which is good, because the Notion mixing board lacks an EQ plug-in.

Notion 3 lacks one feature to really compete with Garageband: the ability to record a vocal.

Adding this one feature would enable Notion 3 to be the basis for a beginning recording program at both the high school and collegiate level. And with a $199 street price, Notion is a program many parents and students can afford.

In its new form, complete with mixing board, reverb and guitar amps from IK Multimedia, it’s ready to be the basis of a recording training for virtual recording only. To fulfill this teaching mission, as I already mentioned above, Notion 3 only needs an EQ plug-in and basic effects package (compressor, limiter, etc.) to complete the mix (pun intended) which IK Multimedia already has.

With this brief summation, let’s get a starting look at Notion 3.

WHY NOTION 3 IS A COMPETITOR
The most compelling reason that Notion is a competitor is that Notion 3 recognizes and has setups for VSTi’s (virtual studio instruments) for : EastWest QLSO PLAY, Garritan ARIA, IK Multimedia, Native Instruments Kontakt, and the Vienna Instruments. It’s dual platform (Mac and PC) and is backwardly compatible to OS 10.4 on the Mac and Windows XP on the PC. So at the retail level, there are many bundling opportunities, not to mention the potential for sample developers to license Notion 3 to package their orchestral libraries with.

Second is that Notion 3 notation is a breeze to learn. It’s just much faster to learn than the other notation programs on the market. I can say that as a Sibelius user and as someone who’s written two books on Finale. And because of that, I always thought Notion was more fun to work with.

Third, Notion 3 has cleaned up its act in two critical areas. First, and I can’t believe I’m writing this, Notion 3 finally has both MIDI import and export. Second, it finally has a lyric notation tool. So now, you can actually do lead sheets for copyright filings.

Fourth, Notion 3, like the new GarageBand, shows the guitar fret board, has tablature and the ability to insert guitar fingerboard positions.

All of these features, and others I’m still discovering, make Notion 3 a serious contender in the marketplace.

Let’s take a look at some of these features.

IMPROVED NOTATION

This example is a demo that comes with Notion 3. It’s an avant garde work and as you can see from the graphic, this is pretty serious notation! You wouldn’t expect a notation element this complete in a $199 package, but with Notion 3, it is.

THE MIXING BOARD

This is the mixing board of the same work. Each stave has its own mixer track. There are four inserts per track and four busses. Each fader has its own Peak Meter and dB calibration. Of course, there’s panning, mute and solo.

INSERTS

This is one of the included plug-ins from IK Multimedia, their Classik Studio Reverb. This is a fully programmable reverb. So what you’re seeing is a very complete concept. However, you’re not limited to IK. You can use other audio effect VSTi plug-ins, too.

Consequently, you have a lot of options a fairly luxurious production package for a moderate sum.

FACTORY SOUND SETS
Notion 3, along with its earlier versions, has sample recordings of the London Symphony Orchestra. These have been newly programmed, and they do have a better sound. I would say if you’re just using the included orchestral sound set to give you an idea of what you’re doing, OK. You do get most of the sounds from the earlier Notion packs on a separate DVD.

But on the other hand, the real value (to me) is that Notion 3 works with Kontakt, VSL, Miroslav Philharmonik, and QLSO PLAY. That being the case, since the templates are already setup, then I can just use QLSO, key in my score, and I’m good to go.

OVERALL IMPRESSION
I have to explore more, but I’m really impressed. For professionals, Notion 3 isn’t going to replace Logic or DP. But, if you read music, and you do scoring, I can say that because it’s so quick to key in your scores, that Notion is just restful to use. With QLSO on an iLok, put Notion 3 on a laptop and go away for the weekend.

Now, my caveat emptor is that I haven’t really tried to set up QLSO or other programs inside it, but I know someone who has, and he produced a really nice demo with QLSO + Notion 3 that was most impressive.

The thing about Notion 3 is that it’s truly turnkey. Because VSTi implementation is so important, they should go back through the PDF manual, and redo that chapter by adding more screen shots so that every step is clearly mapped out. Make it as no-brainer as possible.

CONCLUSION
As a fellow entrepreneur, if I had the money, I’d buy the company. Notion Music is finally on the right path. They’ve got a great product. What they need now, is the sales marketing and licensing vision to match and take it to the moon.

For more information see www.notionmusic.com.

Evolve

Fortunately, both the manual and the free updates from the Heavyocity site gives you a list of all the sounds that you should definitely print out and put it into a notebook. Because you have different sounds mapped to both white and black keys, you’ll need to play through them and on the sound sheets, write prose statements to help you define how, when, where you’d use a particular sound.

Evolve is organized into five components each with its own “skin”. Descriptions below are from the Heavyocity web site.

1. Rhythmic Suites - Walls of cinematic percussion, punchy beats, and next-gen tonal elements make up 7 genre-specific loop suites (Dramatic EVOLVED, Dramatic Techtronic, Electro Tech, Industrial Elements, Industrial Grunge, Quirky and Cartoony, Rock Pop, and Tonal Suites.) Over 600 beat sliced loops arranged with an intuitive keymapping system.

2. Stings and Transitions - 5 categories of otherworldly sounds like Uncharted Metals, odd Noise and Buildups, and Atonal Stings, offer distinct new ways to heighten emotional impact. Perfect for adding terrifying sonic punctuation to a film soundtrack or bizarre textures to the breakdown of a pop song.

3. Seq and Arp - Utilizing a custom step-sequence arpeggiator, users can control Velocity, Pan, and Filter on nearly 60 presets, ranging from percussive hits to tweaked pianos. Develop your own groove, or choose one of the 12 factory presets to get started.

4. Percussive Kits - Over 30 modern percussive-type menus and drum-like kits containing sounds gathered from an array of bizarre sources (warehouses, amusement parks, murky stairwells, and more). Whether it’s a massive hit, an ear piercing screech, or a subtle clang, this category provides an enormous variety of sounds for beat production.

5. Tonality and FX - A mashed up array of instruments that stray from the traditional “meat and potatoes”. Including both instruments and pads like Frozen Piano and Lydian Choir Gods, this category will bring an innovative quality to your arrangements.

All of the loops are in 4/4 time and will lock to your sequencer’s tempo.

One thing you’ll need to consider is that all of the sounds are pre-effected. So if you’re using Evolve with an orchestral library, you’ll need to do some reverb matching.

Evolve is the brainchild of two fellow Berklee grads, Dave Fraser and Neil Goldberg, both of whom have nearly a decade’s worth of experience in production and sound design.

Not to be a punster, but you’re literally getting the sound of experience from Dave and Neil and their programming team whose credits include the NFL, Sony, Gillette, Atari, NBC, 2K Marin, MTV, VH1, Sci-Fi Network, NBC and many others.

From this experience and the obvious client need of being able to work quickly, Dave/Neil and Team have developed a program that clearly has a solid quality control design that leads to swift and efficient work flow. As bizarre as this may read, the menus are a joy to work with because they’re laid out in a simple, easy to follow format. And recently, the company gave away a free update that contains hundreds of more sounds, drum loops and MIDI files.

These guys take care of their customers!

Given the tight economy and the heavily competitive environment out there, Heavyocity Evolve, like Symphobia from Project SAM or LASS from AudioBro, is going to give you a serious edge. With so many sounds, you won’t run out of uses any time soon.

List Price: USD $399.00.

Minimum System Requirements:
Mac :
-OS 10.4.X or later
-G4 1.4 GHz or faster
-512 MB RAM or more
-DVD drive

Windows :
-XP SP2 or Vista
-Pentium IV or Athlon 1.4 GHz or faster
-512MB RAM or more
-DVD drive

Plug-in Formats :
AudioUnit, VST, RTAS, DXi and Stand Alone

Powered by the Native Instruments Kontakt Player 2 engine

On July 24, 2009 it began shipping and on July 28th, our review copy arrived.

Because of the importance of this new library, we’ll be doing several reviews on it. In this first part, we’ll start by reviewing what orchestral divisi is and how Andrew Keresztes, composer/developer/programmer of the library, approached its organization.

WHAT’S DIVISI ANYWAY?
Divisi is Italian for divide. With divisi, the strings are divided into smaller sections which allow for both additional vertical harmony parts and coloristic writing, since many orchestral colors are achievable with smaller ensembles within the larger ensemble. Each string section can be divided in two parts (div a 2), three parts (div a three) and four parts (div a four). Of these three techniques, div a 2 is the most common.

Two Methods of Dividing the Strings
There are two ways to divide the strings. Let’s look at the first method. Below, the violins are divided in half by left and right. The Left side of the violins (called the outer violins) play one pitch and the violins to the right (called the inner violins) play the second pitch.

The second method is dividing the strings by front and back. Half the strings in the front play one part and the other half in the back play the second part.

The decision as to how to divide the strings is made by the conductor and the concert master.

APPLICATION TO L.A. SCORING STRINGS
LASS has been recorded with a large string section. Some will say it’s a large “A-list” film orchestra. Others will note that this string section is larger than the standard orchestra string section. From that perspective, I’d define this as a Mahler-sized string section.

Does it make a difference between defining this as a “Mahler-sized” string section vs. film? It does because with such a larger string section, Mahler wrote for:

a. 3-4 flutes
b. 3-4 oboes
c. 3-4 clarinets
d. 3-4 oboes (with English horn as a double)
e. 2-3 bassoons
f. 1 contrabassoon
g. 6-7 French horns
h. 3-4 trumpets
i. 3 trombones and a tuba

Andrew Keresztes recorded LASS using a smaller ensemble within a larger ensemble approach. Because of this, composers, orchestrators, and arrangers can more effectively balance varying sized woodwinds and brass combinations. The chart below tells the beginning story.

LASS has three mini-ensembles within the larger section: C,B and A.

The C-Section, with the exception of the Cellos, is that section divided in half. Sections B and A are individually recorded smaller sections with different musicians, so each has its own personality and sound.

For a full unison section sound, you have the option of either recording with the Full Section, or creating a unison over three tracks with C, B, and A.

Here’s a simple example from Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, The Fairy Garden. In the example below, you’ll see highlighted three places where Ravel divides the Violins 2 and Violas.

While a simple execution with live players, with electronic scoring, it’s not so simple. That’s because to create a divisi “sound”, the libraries used have to match both sonically and with orchestral weighting so that when going from unison to divided parts back to unison, it sounds like the same string section. This is one of LASS’s great benefits. Instead of spending hours or days testing samples and editing to make a simple passage like this work, you just assign the parts across the tracks.

THE JOY OF CHOICE
Because of how Mr. Keresztes recorded LASS, you have the option of creating five smaller ensembles. It has to be said: for now, LASS is the only single library that enables these scoring opportunities.

These alternate ensembles offer commercial opportunity for those in and out of film scoring. For example, record dates with string ensembles will often use a size similar to jazz. In the jazz world, lots of albums have been recorded with a string quartet. In the theatre, Copland’s original orchestration for Appalachian Spring used a double string quartet which can be approximated with LASS. In fact, when LASS is used with the full Kontakt 3.5 program, there are enough instruments licensed from the Vienna Symphonic Library to do a similar sized ensemble. There are also a number of churches that have their own volunteer orchestra with small string section.

Because of how LASS was recorded, a composer can create a realistic sounding track to demonstrate the piece for these smaller ensembles.

SORDINO (MUTED) STRINGS
With the exception of the first chair player (the soloist), LASS has recorded sustained muted strings for each full section, and A, B and C ensemble sections.

SO FAR
I’ve started with this musical approach because so often with sample libraries, the tendency is to immediately jump into the more technical knob tweaking/recording issues without first looking as to what can be produced with a specific library, especially outside the world of film/TV and game scoring.

So let’s start here: with LASS you can record a lot. I can’t say, “anything you want,” because no library on the planet has that many articulations! What I can say is that LASS is not encumbered by the discussion of, “Is LASS for film or is it for classical?”

LASS is for any genre you want to write in.

HOW IT SOUNDS
Compared to other libraries, LASS is a little jolting when you first hear it in your project studio. This is because LASS was recorded on a genuine Hollywood scoring stage. So on first listen, it’s a dryer sound than what you might expect.

So, add a touch of reverb, or use the basic reverb included with either the Kontakt player or Kontakt itself.

The next step is just going through each of the string sections. You can certainly jump in and grab something for a current project. LASS is very fast that way. But, you will do yourself the greater favor by taking the time to learn the sound of each section’s full and smaller ensemble, and then, build some test tracks, in my view, preferably from the symphonic literature and the many John Williams scores out there. The advantage of this more methodical approach is comparing sampled to live, and seeing the changes that come about by manipulating the smaller sections.

This is more than an academic suggestion.

With LASS, you have the genuine opportunity of creating your own string orchestra sound. In other words, a little extra work on your part, and no one is going to listen to your music and say, “Oh, you’re using LASS, too, huh?” That’s because Andrew Keresztes has developed a specific set of tools and features within either Kontakt or the Kontakt player to enable you to customize your sound. To this you can add effective reverb (Altiverb, Lexicon PCM 90s which you can find on eBay) and custom EQ settings.

A little effort will yield a lot for yourself.

If you have several string libraries, you now have the option with LASS of asking and answering, “What kind of string sound do I want for this project?” That is a very serious scoring advantage.

THE MANUAL
As is often said at a baseball game, “You can’t know the players without a program!” This is true for LASS. Mr. Keresztes has created a manual that’s actually readable and highly useful. But more than that, it’s a mandatory read. To get the most out of LASS, you must work with the manual and the controls.

WHAT’S NEXT
In Part 2, I’ll begin benchmarking LASS with specific musical examples that I’ll be posting from Professional Orchestration Volume 2A: Orchestrating the Melody Within the String Section and other works. Where available, you’ll be referenced to YouTube videos of the examples tested.

Because of Sonic Control’s “Consumer Reports” approach, where applicable, the same examples used for LASS will be used with other string libraries so that fair comparisons can be made that you can compare to.

What we’re testing is the out-of-box experience - what you can do now with just what you have in your studio.

BUYING LASS
At present, LASS is sold direct at www.audiobro.com. You can download the PDF manual for pre-review at the Audiobro web site.

Click HERE for video demo.

LINK TO LASS PDF PRE-RELEASE MANUAL

Posting on the VI-Control.net forum, composer/developer, Andrew Keresztes, unveiled more details on LASS, which is rapidly becoming the most awaited library of 2009.

LASS will be released in a Kontakt 3.5 Player. When the 3.5 player is run in standalone on the Mac, it can read as much RAM as in the Mac. On the PC, veteran game composer Ian Livingstone has been beta testing LASS on an Intel Quad 6700 running XP64, 8GB RAM, 36GB Raptor C drive and a 1TB Seagate D drive. Livingstone also tested on Vista and shortly will be testing with Windows 7.

According to his published results, Livingstone was able to load the entire 24-bit library within 6GB of RAM over 4 instances of K3.5 in standalone mode on a dedicated strings computer. Using Plogue Bidule, Livingstone achieved seven VSTi plug-in instances with four ports assigned to LASS and three to other libraries.

Keresztes indicated that they’re close to releasing LASS either in late June or within the first few days of July.

LASS comes with 467 patches. More than 200+ legato patches were created. The program size is about 40GB over 5 double-sided DVDs. Both 16-bit and 24-bit libraries are included in the same package.

Special patches were created that yield 100% real-time speed control of all portamentos and glissandos regardless of the dynamic. Because the Speed Control patches require more RAM, regular, medium, and fast DFD legato patches were created. Patches were also created that don’t include glissandos, or portamentos.

Keresztes also programmed a Vlns II library which includes LASS Real Legato patches.
Also programmed were Ensemble patches: ensemble sustains, spiccatos, staccatos, pizzicatos, tremolos, and a variety of glissando FX patches.

Video demos are planned on release to demonstrate how to use the library. Price has not yet been announced.

Sonic Control will be reviewing LASS shortly after release.

On the first reason, you do get four pianos and there are 35 disks to install, but you only have to install one piano at a time. Otherwise, as has been reported across the web, you’re looking at a 16-hour plus installation time, or an average of four hours per piano installation.

On the second reason, I do have a powerful enough system, however, I slightly fudge it by running the lite version for most cases. But since my piano touch is light to begin with, running with the full version worked out OK inside Logic (vs. in standalone mode).

The size of this library is 135GB (yipes!). On the G5, there are only two hard drives. With all the EastWest libraries I have to review, I simply ran out of space. I corrected that with a 1 terabyte Western Digital MyBook drive pre-formatted for the Mac that I ordered from CDW. The first drive was defective. So was the eSATA cable I ordered to connect the MyBook to a special eSATA interface I installed in the Mac enabling me to connect two more external eSATA drives on my system.

When the replacement drive arrived, CDW had forgotten to include a replacement eSATA cable. Fortunately, MyBook has Firewire so that’s how I connected it to the Mac.

I’ve had the MyBook running for several months and installed several other test libraries. Good news: no problems. And even though it’s connected to the Mac via Firewire, it’s still mighty fast to use.

I installed one of the four pianos, a Bechstein 280. The other three pianos include the Bosendorfer 290, the Steinway D and a Yamaha D7. After I get the next three installed I’ll report back how the total installation went. Overall, one critique for EastWest is that the graphic user interface could be clearer for the installation since part of the data goes to the C Drive while the samples go to the MyBook. This is one place where I felt that Spectrasonic’s Omnisphere manual earned an A+ by describing how to install on an external drive.

Another reason I stopped with one installation is that one of the DVDs needed for the next piano was corrupted. However, EastWest replaced the bad disk in a business day.

My keyboard for testing is an older Yamaha S90.

My opinion so far after the angst of installation - wow.

This brings me to the next reason I haven’t finished installing the other three pianos - I’m having way too much fun on the Bechstein.

Quantum Leap Pianos is a beautiful sounding piano with a touch that on my keyboard literally enables your fingers to dance across the keys. I’ve never said that about any pianos before now. But I compared the QL Pianos Bechstein for playability with several other sampled pianos. Only Hans Adamson’s Virtual Piano came the closest to the Quantum Leap for playability and sound.

When you start playing the Bechstein, the reverb, labeled Ambience, is on. For me, a real test is how well the instrument sounds when the reverb (EW Hall LR) is off. Well, it still sounds just as beautiful, as if you’re playing a “regular” piano in a room.

For each piano there are three different mic positions: close, player and room. You can also change the lid position. Here I do have a critique which is the lack of calibration on the faders. However, I don’t see this as a deal killer because you’re mixing by ear anyway, but if you’re keeping notes on your session (which I do), it’s much easier to write down a numeric position.

Overall, if you’re looking for a really stunning piano sound - consider this. List price is $499. For a lighter version, there’s a Gold version for $349 list.

What’s particularly impressive about Gypsy is the outstanding collection of guitars useful in any style from jazz to country picking. If you needed to financially justify to yourself why you should purchase Gypsy, the guitar collection, along with the solo violin, are enough.

I make this assessment having compared the guitars within Gypsy (see the list below) to that which is available from other libraries including Omnisphere, which also has a very strong collection.

Since I have most all of the solo stringed instrument libraries, including the Solo Strings in the Vienna Instruments, I can attest that there’s not another solo violin like this one.  In fact, the depth of tonal quality reminded me of Howard Shore’s use of the Hardingfele in The Two Towers (LOTR).

What can be produced with this library is quite something. There are no words that can adequately describe it which is why I’ve made Part 1 of this review a musical presentation of the instruments and styles inherently represented within Gypsy.

Here’s a list of the instruments that come with Gypsy.

Fast Overview
Accordion Article - The instrument is sometimes considered a “one-man-band”, as it needs no accompanying instrument; the performer normally plays the melody on buttons or keys on the right-hand manual, and the accompaniment—consisting of bass and pre-set chord buttons—on the left-hand manual.

Campana, Silvestri and Excelsior are all individual accordion makers.

Accordion Links

Bandoneon
The Bandoneon page
From Wikipedia

The Cimbalon
The cimbalon is an amazingly versatile instrument used in film, rock and modern composition including the Hary Janos Suite by Kodaly. One of the great surprises was “discovering” cymbalomist Marius Preda and his Mission Cymbalom proejct. His jazz performing on this instrument are both amazing and inspirational.

The Acoustic Guitars
There are three: classical, flamenco and Spanish steel-stringed guitar.

Classical Guitar
Classical Guitar Article
Classical Guitarist Homepage
Classical Guitar Radio from Sky.FM
Classical Guitar MIDI Archives

Flamenco Guitar
Main Article
Flemenco Guitar Homepage
Flamenco Guitar Transcriptions
Flamenco Guitar Maker

Steel String Acoustic Guitar
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Steel-string_acoustic_guitar

Django Reinhardt
Bio
Wikipedia
Django and Gypsy Jazz

Flamenco Dancing
Flamenco Dance History
Wikipedia

MUSICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Just scanning the links and watching a few videos should demonstrate how much you can produce with Gypsy. Suffice it to say, you can go as deep as you want to go. At the same time, there’s also the great challenge in learning just how to produce effectively with Gypsy.

Because there is so much here, I feel there’s something missing. And it’s the same thing that’s missing in libraries from other companies including Best Service’s Ethno World 4 - the romance of learning and doing.

Gypsy is a library that just cries out for an Apple-styled MacWorld-like presentation visually demonstrating what’s possible and how to get there. This library even has two different “Senorita” dancers and castanets. In your mind’s eye, can’t you just imagine a split screen with the dancer on the left and a keyboardist on the right mimicking the dance pattern!

In the absence of that I’ve tried to do the next best thing.

YOUTUBE VIDEOS
In the absence of the presentation I’ve wished for, below are a number of YouTube videos I researched that give you a basic overview of what’s possible to produce if you go the distance and really get into this library.

Now, is it necessary to learn castanet and flamenco dancing patterns that you can execute on a MIDI keyboard controller? No. But why not!

GYPSY VIOLIN
In watching these videos, you’ll see great close-ups of violin fingering technique. The broad sound of the Violin included in Gypsy enables you to capture many of these playing techniques. An excellent reference is The Strings Position Booklet.

Sandor Lakatos

Sultry Violinist
This is a live club performance. Excellent musicianship.

Vittorio Monti

FLAMENCO GUITAR

BULERIAS RHYTHM

FLEMENCO GUITAR AND DANCE

DJANGO REINHARDT

CIMBALON
Cimbalon in Barcelona

Gypsy Cimbalon Band

Mission Cymbalon

Place St. Henri

Gypsy Violin and Cimbalon in Performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKTEbCxaL6k&feature=related

Bandoneon
Wikipedia

Hungarian Dance #5 Performed on Accordion

Bandoneon and Guitar
This is a button accordion derived from the German Koncertina. It has left and right hand buttons but no keyboard.

Astor Piazzola

Gypsy Jazz Jam With Trombone Solo

Best Trombone Player Ever

GYPSY JAZZ - Guitars and Accordions

FLEMENCO DANCER
Castanet Patterns
Dance Steps
Flemenco Compas
Glossary of Flemenco Terms

COMING IN PART 2
In Part 2, I’ll get more into the mechanics of using EastWest Gypsy.

Logic 8 Explained! comes with 41 tutorials. Like me, Eli organized his training by sections of which he had nine: Intro, Getting to Work, Plug-Ins and Channel Strips, Recording and Editing, Bouncing a Mix and Templates, Logic 8 Basics, Working With Tracks, Tools and Zooming, and FX, Mix and Automate.

Tutorials average about 8 minutes in length.

Now, on the surface, eight minutes doesn’t sound too long, but this is Logic we’re talking about. And Eli packs a lot of usable information in each tutorial. Even if you’ve used Logic for a while, I think there’s a lot to gain from having this video in your library. Like me, Eli also teaches in a procedural manner. That made following his teaching very easy. Having come to Logic from Cubase on the PC, I’ve picked up a fair amount on my own. But with Eli, I learned even more.

I think that’s the mark of a good teacher when the instruction is complete enough that another teacher can write how much they learned from him, and that’s definitely Eli.

This was also the first video instruction I had seen for Logic. My instruction has always been with the printed word. So I gained a real appreciation of how a program of Logic’s depth needs to be taught with video.

There’s an awful lot to remember with Eli’s instruction. So if I had any critique of this volume, it would be that a complementary set of PDFs should be available for download so that the viewer can take notes in an organized fashion.

Certain things you do need to watch over again. But you get to a point that you don’t want to go searching a video to find something you need now. So having a matching set of PDF sheets for note taking would solve that problem so when you need it you just look it up.

One thing I appreciated about the instruction was Eli’s delivery. Some people just have a voice that grates on your ears, and the thought of listening to them for five hours is agony! But Eli has a great voice that’s easy to listen to. So there’s no ear fatigue with his instruction.

If you’re looking to become more of a Logic master, Eli’s teaching really fills in the cracks. I look forward to learning more from him. And so should you!

“Where’s the beginning?” is a thorny question because there’s no data base that I’m aware of which defines how many of the current Logic installs are new to Logic, then, are new to sequencing as a whole, then, are most skipping sequencing and going straight for audio recording. I tested my book, The Street Smart Guide to Logic 8, with two composers converting to Logic from Digital Performer and two teachers one of whom was learning it new for the first time, while the other was migrating upwards from Logic Express. But that’s just one segment. There’s also a who group of users doing remix, hip-hop, straight recording, et al. 

One teaching path is trying to teach both MIDI and audio at the same time. Another is teaching in segments starting with MIDI recording first, and then moving up. I’m in the second group. I like this procedurally driven approach because once you’ve finished teaching sequencing, you’ve finished teaching sequencing. You can now move onto recording live, or working with editing loops, effects, notation, etc. One aspect about this approach is that the reader/student has a sense of accomplishment. They’ve finished Block 1. Now Block 2.

Going Pro With Logic Pro 8 is procedurally driven, which is a good thing. And Jay’s book comes in at a different angle of instruction which is the consultant/problem solution style that’s, fortunately, highly product/problem solution driven in its approach. Which is also a good thing, providing you have the product covered in the book!

I had some of it.

Going Pro With Logic Pro 8 is not a beginners book (whew!). It presumes a basic level of operational knowledge with the program and in several places, with OS 10. It’s reader is someone who has gone beyond the vast array of effects and plug-ins that come with Logic and is now working with 3rd party hardware, effects, and plug-ins.

That would be me. And I don’t mind admitting that since I moved from the PC using Cubase to Logic a while back. So there’s plenty I have to relearn from the viewpoint of how Cubase works vs. Logic, especially in the area of multitimbral setups.

Going Pro With Logic Pro 8 is organized under four chapters and 32 tutorials. As a publisher, I see it as four sections with 32 chapters. But that’s me. The four chapters are:

• Techniques for Customizing
• Techniques for Composing and Editing
• Techniques for Recording and Mixing
• Techniques for Integrating Third-Party Software and Hardware

All four chapters are eminently pragmatic. 

Several tutorials which struck me as being universally appealing (and a good reason to buy the book) are:

#8: Modifying Your Orchestral Template for Score Printout
#9: Advanced Quantize Techniques for Natural Sounding MIDI Parts
#12: Using the Arpeggiator
#18: Plotting Hit Points
#19: Wise Gain Structure Techniques
#21: Creating a Customized Click Track
#26: Using Kontakt 2/3 as a Standalone
#27: Using StormDrum 2 (actually any PLAY library) in Standalone

As I read the forums and look at my own next learning steps, these seem to be the most common issues I personally confront or read about, and Jay has covered them in Going Pro With Logic Pro 8.

I have one disappointment which I wish Jay had dealt with as many are struggling with it, and that’s having a generic tutorial, product-specific independent, explaining how to set up Logic multitimbrally with 3rd party software synths so that each channel strip operates independently for MIDI editing. One tutorial that comes close to this is the one with Spectrasonic’s Stylus RMX, which is a great tutorial if you have Stylus RMX. I don’t. So it seems that the back door implication is that with Kontakt and PLAY it’s best to operate them in stand alone mode. Here, one additional tutorial would have been useful showing how to effectively setup several 3rd party virtual instruments in stand alone mode using the freeware program Soundflower.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR A FIRST TIME AUTHOR
For his very first book, Jay has done an excellent job. His writing demonstrates him to be one of the very few who are gifted in teaching in print. So I hope there’s a second book sometime.

Even so, a few points for author and publisher to consider.

The chief reason I decided to publish the Street Smart Guide to Logic 8 as a PDF is because I could teach using 4-color screen shots. With the PC, you have the luxury of a great screen capture program called SnagIt from Tech Smith where you can shoot for print at 300DPI. But SnagIt isn’t available on the Mac. Grab, which comes with the Mac, and SnapZ, which is a separate purchase, do screen shots at 72DPI. While Logic looks great onscreen and is easy to work with for hours at a time because of its GUI (graphic user interface), screen shots print badly in black and white. Some of the illustrations in the book are just difficult to read. This isn’t Jay’s fault. That’s a Logic issue. But I do think that Cengage (Jay’s publisher) should strongly consider offering a separate PDF version just to provide the color shots.

Having said that, I think that some of the tutorials should have been longer with more screen shots, just because Logic is Logic and the more you see stepped out visually, the easier Logic comes across as being.

Soon I’ll be reviewing the Logic DVD training from Eli Krantzberg and Dave Zangar. Something I picked up from their DVDs and which I saw with my own book, and now here with Jay’s, is that Logic is one of those programs that needs both print and video instruction.

For example, with both Eli and Dave, I thought they needed printed notes to go with their vids. With my book and Jay’s, it was really evident to me that no matter how simple you think you’ve made something to learn in Logic, sometimes watching a video is really needed just so the reader can see that using Logic is easier than the book reads.

So I think Jay and Cengage would be wise in collaborating on a support DVD for Going Pro With Logic Pro 8. I suggest this because people who aren’t pros buy Spectrasonics, PLAY and Kontakt products, and seeing some of these tutorials visualized would be incredibly useful.

For completeness, it would be good to see a Vienna chapter for using the Vienna Instruments and the Vienna Ensemble 3.

OBSERVATION
Because of Mr. Asher’s extensive background in film scoring, there is a book in the wings that Jay would be uniquely qualified to write, and it’s something that could easily be turned into a two-day seminar - Film/TV Scoring With Logic. The information for this book is bubbling within the current text. It would require more basic writing than perhaps Jay is wanting to do, but it would be a guaranteed staple for as long as Logic is published.

SHAMELESS PLUG
Jay is Certified Level 2 Logic Trainer. He knows what he’s doing, too! If you need consulting or help, you can reach him at his web site.

CONCLUSION
If you’re a very beginner learning to work Logic and figuring out what the Environment is, this book isn’t for you. If, however, you’re at the next step and buying third-party programs (including Reason, Recycle and others), then having Going Pro With Logic Pro 8 by your computer would be a very wise decision.