Gigastrings

[Jamesmcwilliams]

Hi,

One thing I need to know before i consider buying GOS http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

I am really after that lush string ensemble sound. For example the track \"entering the stargate\" from the motion picture stargate, could GOS produce that wonderfull rich string theme that you hear just before the guy enters the gate.

Sorry I\'m a bit vague but thats the best example i can think of. http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

[Gulliver]

Hey James,

I\'m not 100% sure about which part of that cue you\'re referring to but it\'s hard to imagine why you wouldn\'t be able to recreate the strings with GoS.. Now, i will confess like the good boy i am: I have not had a chance to work with Gary\'s Strings, but since i\'m somewhat bored tonight i\'ve put together a quick doodling w/ miroslav strings:
http://members.home.com/vstorage1/stargate-entering.mp3 (\"http://members.home.com/vstorage1/stargate-entering.mp3\")

Replacing those strings with GoS will make them sound even better, probably much better, and you will mostly likely do less tenkering. Did i mention i\'m bored tonight? Here\'s another doodling:
http://members.home.com/vstorage1/Mummy2.mp3 (\"http://members.home.com/vstorage1/Mummy2.mp3\")

Hmm.. I was watching the DVD copy of the 13th Warrior a few days before, talk about a crappy film with fun soundtrack:
http://members.home.com/vstorage1/13Warrior1.mp3 (\"http://members.home.com/vstorage1/13Warrior1.mp3\")

One thing that would instantly make that cue sound better would be the GoS violin marcato and staccato samples I\'ve heard with alternating bowing. Would make a big difference..

Anyway, enough of this silliness.

Ciao,
fj



[This message has been edited by Gulliver (edited 11-03-2001).]

[Damon]

Hey Guliver,
Just out of curiosity, which violins did you use on the Mummy 2 demo from Miroslav? Also, did you have to retune them to get them in correct pitch (A-440)? If so, how many cents did you retune them to? I\'d like to layer those with GOS strings to see what happens http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif.
Thanks,
Damon

[This message has been edited by Damon (edited 11-03-2001).]

[Simon Ravn]

Gulliver: Very impressive stuff. However your stargate thingie sounds like an old record going up and down in tempo?!?! http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

[Jamesmcwilliams]

Thanks Gulliver,

You got the right part of the cue http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

The miroslav strings sound flat, just like the advanced orchestra strings I use at the moment, it seems we cannot get powerful sounding strings to sound \"Big\" enough.

I am probably going to buy GOS anyway, but the demo\'s on the GOS website didn\'t blow me away. It was better than AO, but then again... most other strings sets are. http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

It could just be that i need to hear the
GOS strings where i can hear them performing well known cues that showcase how they perfom compositions that would normally kill any other synth strings (in realism terms).

if i hear an accurate performance of the stargate cue i mentioned before... i\'d be ordering GOS A.S.A.P!!! http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

[Simon Ravn]

James, I did a small snippet of that Stargate thingie for you. Only 10 seconds. You can find it at my temporary site at http://62.243.176.228/ (\"http://62.243.176.228/\")

Go to the MP3 section, then click on GOS. I did this fairly quickly without any fancy mixing or anything. All recorded in one take, just -3db at 3khz on the whole mix to take out a little \'harshness\'. In other words: If you really wanted to, you could make it a lot better by finetuning etc. Well read the comment at my site, and let me know what you think of this http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

[Damon]

Again, which violins did you use from Miroslav for the Mummy 2 demo Gulliver? The 23 Vs or a combination, etc.?
I\'d appreciate knowing, and also if you tweaked them in any way.
Simon, your GOS demo of Stargate sounds awesome! What string patches did you use for that from GOS?
Thanks

[This message has been edited by Damon (edited 11-03-2001).]

[Jamesmcwilliams]

Thanks guys,

Simon -
I am impressed, they do sound close to the original, they sound much fuller than other libraries. Am i correct that there is little reverb on this? it still sounds great. the one thing i noticed was that some of the attacks sound a bit synthy.

Well, I think that i will be getting GOS, just as soon as I get enough money, and some decent work. (still in the process of getting a contract sorted with my agent, and the rent refuses to pay itself http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif )

Again,
Thanks for your help!

[Simon Ravn]

James, yes there is reverb. Orchestral music without reverb is like bread without butter (or something) http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

Damon, I used 1st and 2nd violins grand detaches, celli grand detaches, celli, viola and bass EXP sustained versions.

[Damon]

The grand detaches are my favorite on GOS http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif. They\'re so expressive. I\'m still trying to figure out a way to sustain them longer though.

[Simon Ravn]

I have posted the MIDI file too if anyone are interested since this is so pupular these days http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif Not that much going on in it really.

[ursatz]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=\"1\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Simon Ravn:
I have posted the MIDI file too if anyone are interested since this is so pupular these days http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif Not that much going on in it really.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Simon - looks like something unexpected happened - when I looked, in between some mp3\'s there was a bunch of text that looked like part of a directory listing....

[Gulliver]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=\"1\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jamesmcwilliams:
I am probably going to buy GOS anyway, but the demo\'s on the GOS website didn\'t blow me away. It was better than AO, but then again... most other strings sets are. http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

It could just be that i need to hear the
GOS strings where i can hear them performing well known cues that showcase how they perfom compositions that would normally kill any other synth strings (in realism terms).
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There was originally two different versions of that cue, one was from the film and the other from the television series. The track I did was from the television series, which featured different orchestration (smaller violin section). Simon did the film version and it\'s really excellent way to hear why everyone is raving about GOS. Pay attention to the ascending parts of the violin melody, in real life players would have to switch bow fairly aggressivly even though the part is marked legato. The reason being they are playing at fortissmo. With Miroslav strings you have no choice but to repeatedly use the same samples as you go up the scale, in Simon\'s demo you can hear the subtle but important difference with marked bow changes. I\'m guessing in the demo track this was probably done automatically with this maestro tool everyone is talking about. Anyway, the feature is really nice, specially if everything else orchestration wise is solid. Better samples can make a difference but they are only a part of the overall picture. It\'s suprising actually how good some of the older samples sound if the surrounding orchestration is well thoughout.

Regards,
F. Juma.

[Gulliver]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=\"1\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Simon Ravn:
Gulliver: Very impressive stuff. However your stargate thingie sounds like an old record going up and down in tempo?!?! http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Lol.. My keyboarding skills weren\'t up to snuff i guess last night. http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

regards,
fj

[Gulliver]

One more note: I actually think a great way to discover the limitations of the samples you are working with (and also what they are capable of) is to make mockups of orchestral material you already like. I was fed up early on with the quality of some of the older (expensive) libraries. Little by little though I slowly discovered that in some parts I was just not using them right. In other parts it was just the quality of the samples themselves and there was nothing I could do about that. I remember on one project I had only available miroslav and Advanced Orchestra ensembles, talk about flexibility! http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif The pieces i was working on were not that disimilar to parts of James Horner\'s Apollo 13 Soundtrack so to test which samples would work and which wouldn\'t, I made a mockup of a real score. Sounds counterintuitive but it helps.
http://members.home.com/vstorage1/Apollo13.mp3 (\"http://members.home.com/vstorage1/Apollo13.mp3\")

Another simple mockup was from Randy Newman\'s excellent score to Bug\'s Life:
http://members.home.com/vstorage1/bugslife.mp3 (\"http://members.home.com/vstorage1/bugslife.mp3\")


ciao,
fj

[RICARDO BOTTICELLI]

i ordered GOS last monday and i would to listen your version simon.is your site shutdown?

[Simon Ravn]

Ursatz, I can download the file myself here without any problem. Yes you have to use \'Save target as....\' or shift+left mouse click I think. But it works... ? Ricardo, the site is up now again and will be for the next 8 hours or so.

[This message has been edited by Simon Ravn (edited 11-04-2001).]

[Robert Kral]

Simon,

Can\'t download the midi file here either: its just text and there\'s nothing to select.

(Interested to see on the midi file if you extended the grand detaches somehow!)

Your short demo of Stargate really sounds excellent!

[ursatz]

Simon,

Very strange! Following is what I see just above \"Sugary Warfare\"; no midi file in sight. I don\'t know what could cause this, especially if some people are seeing it and you\'re not:

[Edited - I removed the actual text that appeared. I did a \"view source\" on the page, and it seems that the html file is corrupted. In the middle of a table entry a bunch of binary data shows up, and the file ends mid-table.]


[This message has been edited by ursatz (edited 11-04-2001).]

[Damon]

disregard http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/blush.gif

[This message has been edited by Damon (edited 11-04-2001).]

[Simon Ravn]

Ursatz, there is no MIDI file for Sugary Warfare. The only thing I have posted a MIDI file for is Stargate.

Robert, I didn\'t extend them. They are long enough for this.

[This message has been edited by Simon Ravn (edited 11-04-2001).]

[David Govett]

To answer the original question, I think this library can do it. I have been a huge proponent of the Miroslav and AO strings for years and they are decent but this library if used properly can do a whole lot more and be more realistic and expressive. You will need to read the documentation to get the most out of it. I\'ve been playing with the library for the first time for the past week and it is beating almost everything hands down in side by side comparisons.
Later
Dave