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Detailed String Orchestra

It's usually a good sign when you sit down with a new piece of software and the first words out of your mouth are 'wow'. That's just what happened after installing East West's Hollywood Strings Diamond Edition. This powerful virtual instrument truly takes the art of sampled string production to a new level. If you're looking for a top-tier software instrument to recreate strings, this is the one to turn to.

From the violins down to the basses, these string sections have a lovely sound, texture and feel, with a rich, full symphonic sound and an opulent quality that comes from combining great players with a great sound engineer. There's no doubt that the fabulous sound, musical versatility and depth of expression of HS place it in the highest echelon of professional string libraries. If you're serious about orchestral sampling, you won't want to let this impressive strings library pass you by.

Documentation

• Hollywood Strings Gold Manual
• Gold Articulation PDF

Instrumentation

All sections except the Basses were sampled with wide extended ranges including almost 4 octaves for violins.

5 mic positions plus divisi spot mics

• 16 1st Violins (9/7 divisi mode)
• 14 2nd Violins (8/6 divisi mode)
• 10 Violas (6/4 divisi mode)
• 10 Cellos (6/4 divisi mode)
• 7 Basses (4/3 divisi mode)

• Multiple finger positions for all sections including open strings
• 3 unique styles of legato interval sampling, including never-before-sampled bow change legato, slurred legato, and portamento sliding legato, sampled at 3, 3 and 2 dynamics respectively, all with speed control. That's 8 passes of legato intervals, all sampled in long format so each note has time to breathe. Basses only have slurred legato.
• Up- and down-bowed sustains, all at 4 finger positions, at least one full octave on each string:
  • 5 dynamics at non-vibrato
  • 5 dynamics at vibrato
  • 3 dynamics at molto vibrato
• Extensive runs
• Playable runs
• Spiccato runs for violins
• Other articulations:
  • Bartók pizzicato
  • Col legno
  • Detaché up and down bows with finger positions and 4 dynamics
  • Flautando for violins
  • Harmonics for violins
  • Marcato short, 3 dynamics, round-robin x4
  • Marcato long, 3 dynamics, round-robin x4
  • Measured tremolo, 4 dynamics
  • On-the-string staccato, 4 dynamics, round-robin x8
  • Pizzicato, 4 dynamics, round-robin x4
  • Repetitions, 3 dynamics
  • Ricochet, 3 dynamics, round-robin x2
  • Spiccato, 4 dynamics, round-robin x9
  • Staccatissmo, 4 dynamics, round-robin x16
  • Staccato, 4 dynamics, round-robin x9
  • Slurred staccato for violins, 4 dynamics, round-robin x9
  • Sul ponticello tremolo for violas
  • Tremolo, 4 dynamics
  • Trills (major and minor), 3 dynamics
• Sordino effect available for all patches
• Release trails for everything
• Custom Python scripting

From ACADEMY AWARD, C.A.S. (Cinema Audio Society), BAFTA, and EMMY award-winning sound engineer SHAWN MURPHY, who has recorded and mixed the scores for more than 300 feature films including Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: A Musical Journey, Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park The Lost World, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Titanic, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Bourne Ultimatum, Minority Report, Saving Private Ryan, Munich, The Passion Of The Christ, X-Men: The Last Stand, Memoirs of a Geisha and Ice Age; and multiple award-winning EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP virtual (software) instrument producers DOUG ROGERS and NICK PHOENIX; and composer and orchestrator THOMAS BERGERSEN, HOLLYWOOD STRINGS offers unprecedented control over sound and performance, and is a must have compositional tool for serious composers.

EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP announces the debut of its latest release, HOLLYWOOD STRINGS virtual (software) instrument — a collection of 44.1khz 24-bit string instruments with unprecedented control over sound and performance, all supplied on a hard drive (*see conditions below) for ease of installation.

Recording for HOLLYWOOD STRINGS took place at the famous EASTWEST STUDIO 1, the same studio where many Hollywood soundtracks and television themes were recorded with a live orchestra. Heading this project were co-producers DOUG ROGERS, NICK PHOENIX and THOMAS BERGERSEN and sound engineer SHAWN MURPHY.

“Murphy was an obvious choice for this project; who better to obtain that quintessential Hollywood sound other than someone with his credits,” says Rogers. “HOLLYWOOD STRINGS looks to expand on the success we achieved with EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA by providing a perfect large scoring stage sound and a more intimate scoring stage sound with divisi capability.”

“The sound of these virtual strings are as good as it gets,” says Phoenix. “We have one of the top sound engineers in the business, a famous and beautiful sounding recording studio, the most incredible selection of microphones available, the best analog and digital recording equipment, and top Hollywood string players - how could we go wrong?”

“I've used many virtual orchestras over the last decade, including some I developed with other composers, and some I developed myself. With each new development, I got one step closer to my ideal compositional tool.” says Bergersen. “HOLLYWOOD STRINGS includes features that I consider necessary if you want to create realistic orchestral strings on your DAW.”

HOLLYWOOD STRINGS has many groundbreaking features not found in any other collection. Finger position is, for the first time, controllable by the user, so you can play as far up the strings as you want, and get a fuller more romantic Hollywood sound. Vibrato intensity and extensive dynamics are controllable by the user. Extensive multi-dynamic true legato has been sampled for all sections in three different categories: slurred, portamento, and bow change. This results in unsurpassed legato performance that has never been available. HOLLYWOOD STRINGS has five user-controllable mic positions, including main pickup (Decca tree), mid pickup, close pickup, surround pickup, and an alternate vintage circa 1945 RCA ribbon room pickup.

ABOUT HOLLYWOOD STRINGS GOLD EDITION

Hollywood Strings Gold Edition is 16-bit, with one mic positon (mid-tree, no divisi) and all articulations except bow change legato. Upgrades to the Hollywood Strings Diamond Edition will be effortless as all articulations are included in the Gold Edition, and can be done at any time. The Gold Edition is available for purchase via download, and available in DVD format.

ABOUT HOLLYWOOD STRINGS SILVER EDITION

Hollywood Strings Silver Edition is 16-bit, with one mic position (mid-tree, no divisi), and includes an essential set of articulations and instruments with slur legato. Upgrade to Hollywood Strings Gold and Diamond Edition when you need more options. Hollywood Strings Silver Edition is available for download only.

Articulations