Orchestral Tools Berlin Solo Strings

The latest addition to Orchestral Tools’ Berlin series of sample libraries shines the spotlight on the soloists.

String sample library veterans Orchestral Tools add to their flagship Berlin Series with Berlin Solo Strings (BSS for short). Comprising four soloists (cello, viola, and two violins), BSS was recorded, as with the other instruments in the series, at the renowned Teldex Scoring Stage in Berlin.

The question a newbie might immediately ask is: ‘Isn’t Berlin Strings First Chairs also a solo instruments library?’ Yes, it is. So how is this different? The short answer: greater number of articulations; no double bass; and the instruments in BSS are designed to perform solo parts, while First Chairs is meant primarily for layering with larger ensembles, although it also works as a string quintet.

The other question that comes to mind, for those of us that like having a manual to refer to while exploring a new library, is: ‘Where is it?’ The bad news is that there doesn’t appear to be one; the good news is that you can cobble one together from the Helpdesk section of the OT website. Download the PDFs that explain each section of OT’s Sine player and you have everything you need to get started. Speaking of Sine Player, BSS runs in the latest version, either standalone or in a DAW, in VST, VST3, AU and AAX formats, with 24‑bit/48kHz patches and a total file size of 168GB of samples (68GB compressed SINEarc format).

Overview

The patches for each instrument come in three styles: Expressive, Cinematic and Sul Tasto, each designed for a specific mood, ranging from in‑the‑spotlight leads to in‑the‑background accompaniments. Articulations are grouped into two categories: Longs and Shorts (sustains, marcatos, staccato, spiccato, pizzicato); and Dynamics and Ornaments (swells, repetitions, tremolo, trills). For added texture we have harmonics and sul ponticello stylings.

With one exception — only Violin I has marcato harmonics — all the instruments contain the same articulations, in the same order. This not only makes things well organised for keyswitching, but also lets you quickly audition parts on different instruments. For instance, if you want to hear what it’s like to have the cello play the top line instead of a violin, it’s an easy switch (and back, if you don’t like it).

Legato & Sustains

BSS puts a special focus on legato and equips each of the three styles listed above with its own legato approach. As a result, the slurs, runs and portamento for Expressive, Cinematic, and Sul Tasto blend with the tone of the sample being played.

The legatos lie in different ‘speed zones’ and are triggered automatically by speed of playing.During my early experiments with the library, I found that some transitions sounded louder than others unless I focused on hitting the key with exactly the right amount of pressure. This was fixed by tweaking the legato volume slider, which smoothed the transitions across the board.

Legato is available for most articulations where, to quote OT, “it makes sense” (so don’t go looking for it in the spiccato patch). It is automatically active for the most part, but in some cases you have to manually turn it on, like with the Expressive Sustains Evolving Vib patch in Violin I, whose legato remains inactive until the option is selected in the menu on the bottom right. The sustains come in the following variations: immediate, accented or soft attack, and evolving vibrato, all of which are distinct enough that you can easily hear the difference.

Other Articulations

While several BSS demos showcase soaring lyrical lines and mellow melodic phrases, I found the library particularly well suited to playing energetic, rhythmic pieces — using more of the Shorts articulations, in effect. Drama, thriller, horror and other genres that draw from the darker side of the musical palette will be well served by BSS.

You can work with multiple articulations per instrument in Poly mode, switching between them either by MIDI CC or keyboard velocity.

Take the Violin Marcato Longs, for example: turn the volume slider up to full range to make use of the four recorded dynamic layers (pp, mp, f, ff) and you can have fun playing expressive, sharp, stabbing Hermannesque chords.

Swells (especially the Mid and Short), lend themselves to some lovely minor and diminished chords, and by ‘lovely’ I mean appropriately tense and foreboding. Combine a Cm or Cdim on the Violin II Swells Short with effects like Logic’s Creeping Filter in Delay Designer, for an impactful horror film trailer moment.

Repetitions, with the three reps variation, is especially dramatic and brings to mind a chugging string section à la the finale of ‘November Rain’ after everything is swept away in a flood and even the roses don’t make it. I can almost hear Slash’s wailing guitar solo over the part I hurriedly put together. Top notch.

When I first explored the staccato patches, I jabbed away at the keyboard enthusiastically, but it didn’t seem to make a difference to the dynamics — all the notes sounded at the same intensity. They responded to key velocity when I made adjustments to the volume range slider and turned it all the way up for full dynamic range. I don’t know if this is the case for all composers, but, especially with staccato parts, it feels like their intensity needs to mirror how hard or softly you hit the keys, or else you might as well program them in, instead of playing the part.

Dynamics & Vibrato

A dedicated Dynamics tab for each patch contains the following controls: Niente, Soft Low Layer (makes volume changes to the lowest dynamic layer first before fading in the next layer), and Cut Off Filter. When Niente is enabled, “the lowest dynamic setting (usually CC1 or key velocity at 0) will cause the instrument to be completely silent. Use this setting when using your instruments with a breath or wind controller”. It worked well on a patch like FX Sustain Harmonics, where you turn Niente on and use CC1 to gradually dial in the note, effectively heightening the suspense and letting the tension of the harmonic slowly drip into your piece.

Vibrato has an outsized effect on expression: too much and it sounds overwrought, too little and it sounds flat. While BSS does offer variations in vibrato, there is no way to control it via CC. According to OT: “The idea is that you decide how much vibrato (or ‘passione’) you want, and then use the appropriate mood/voice. ie. Expressive, Cinematic, and Sul Tasto. It’s that way by design with the overall goal of delivering the most realistic sound possible.” With a virtual instrument, it isn’t even about realism at this point, it’s about whether the existing vibrato matches the feeling you’re going for. I decided to build my pieces around the vibrato available. No use micromanaging; might as well work with what you have and what you have with BSS is a lot.

Mic Positions

Each instrument offers seven mic positions to choose from, ranging from the spot mics for the driest and most direct sound; the standard Tree array; to Immersive F (front overhead speakers in a 7.1.4 setup) and M (back overhead speakers for 7.1.4). Most of the instruments were recorded with two spot mics: Spot 1 has the open sound of a large‑diaphragm capacitor mic, while Spot 2 brings the warmth of a ribbon mic. The cello was recorded with a third spot mic, “placed in front of the bridge to get some extra bite”, according to the literature.

Mic positions can be downloaded individually — great for disk space, and since the mic positions are independent, deleting one after the fact doesn’t affect the others.

Here’s where personal preference really kicks in. In a library featuring soloists, you do want detail; you want the parts to stand out, so a certain brightness to the sound should be acceptable. Some people might be okay with the tone of the library as is, but to my ears, it was a little too bright. Could it intentionally be this way to help it cut through a mix? That is definitely a possibility.

The spot mic samples on their own were direct and clear as promised, with the down side being that playing noises and, in some cases, artefacts are fairly audible, becoming even more pronounced when you turn up the volume on quieter patches like Sul Tasto. I stuck with a mix of the spot and the Tree to soften things up.

Once you dial in the levels on your selected mic positions and achieve a sound you like, you can use the Mic Merge feature to merge the mix down to a single, new stereo position, thereby reducing the load on system resources.

The Instruments

Violins I & II

The sound of the violins is a matter of taste, and right out of the box, the higher registers are bright bordering on shrill for me. However, it’s nothing that some mic selection and EQ can’t fix. Add a hint of reverb and the sharpness disappears entirely.

Like with the other instruments, the Expressive patches are significantly louder than the Cinematic and Sul Tasto. I would have liked a more normalised sound across patches, but I wonder if, again, that’s a matter of personal preference. Sul Tasto, by its very nature, is meant to be quiet and mellow, but the difference was a little startling the first time I heard it.

There are some inconsistencies. In the Violin I Spiccato patch, some notes are crunchier than others. The sound — like a scratchy click — might be a playing noise, and is most heard on B2, C3 and C#3. Because of the round robin, it doesn’t appear on every instance of the note if you repeat it, but it is definitely present. I consider these inconsistencies to be quirks of the library, and choose to lean into them to make the performance more human.

The style that stands out among the violin patches is Cinematic Sustains Evolving Vibrato. The performance you can put together is so moving, even mediocre keyboard skills can’t get in the way of the pure emotion it can generate. As a test, play something like the melody of the old folk song ‘Red River Valley’. Goosebumps!

Viola

The viola has a beautiful rich tone and does well in lyrical, emotional passages as well as tense, jittery ones. The Cinematic Sustains patch is particularly beautiful and I can imagine it playing some wonderfully strong, supportive middle lines.

Cello

The cello does a stellar job of adding gravitas and warmth to the proceedings and it really shines when the melodies need an extra hit of emotion. The spot mic on the cello sounds the best of all the spots in the library; leaving it in the mix allows you to hear how the body of the specific instrument used shapes the tone of the sound. There are some oddities though, like the Sul Tasto Sustains Soft patch, which contains almost brush‑like breathy attacks on several notes.

BSS is an ambitious library, aiming to provide an arsenal of solo string playing styles for composers to write with.

Conclusion

BSS is an ambitious library, aiming to provide an arsenal of solo string playing styles for composers to write with. I have come to think of working with recorded sample libraries as a form of remixing — you’re working with samples, not a live player, so get ready to roll up your sleeves and do some editing after laying down your composition. As long as the recordings are good quality, and the tone of the instruments is evocative (and mostly close to the real thing), I prefer to treat timing issues, minor glitches and performance inconsistencies as things to be fixed in post. BSS isn’t perfect, but it provides you with tools that span a vast emotional range — from tenderness to terror. You can do a lot with that.