RIFFS plug-ins... SRP: £299.00
Contact: Native Instruments
www.nativeinstruments.com/ sessionstringspro
When it comes to string section sample libraries I think it is fair to say that the vast majority are geared towards large symphonic sections that are great for classical music and Hollywood-type soundtracks but can sound a little too big and lush for pop productions. Users requiring something a little less full often benefit from the more astringent nature of a smaller string section. Session Strings Pro is designed to offer all the detailed velocity and articulation of a large orchestral sample library whilst utilizing a much smaller string section based around nearly 50 gigabytes of raw sample data featuring four separately captured eleven piece string sections (four Violins, three Violas, two ‘Cellos and two Basses). In common with all recent Native Instruments sample libraries, Session Strings Pro is designed to run within either Native Instruments own Kontakt or (free of charge) Kontakt Player which almost guarantees a solid and slick
operating interface that will work within all the major platforms and plug-in formats. The aforementioned samples are compressed down to a more manageable 32 gigabytes which any modern machine should be able to accommodate. Installing a library of this size is always going to take some time but a bit of patience is all that’s required.
In Use
An elegant user-friendy interface guaranteed with NI’s Kontakt Player…
42 pickup
As a plug-in instrument, the elegant Kontakt Player based interface means that navigating and editing the available parameters feels very easy. The 48 gigabytes of raw 24-bit stereo sample data from sampling expert Thomas Koritke greatly expands on the original library. The four sections offer a choice of traditional and modern instrument placements at two distances allowing for a tighter pop sound or something a little more ambient. The instrument placement groupds individual instruments together, i.e. all violins together, all violas together and so on meaning that you could end up with all the basses all one side of your mix and all the violins on the other. However, these days it is much more usual to place bass instruments in the middle, and so the contemporary setups position the double basses in the middle with equal numbers of the higher register instruments on either side, meaning that the violins feature equally on the periphery of both the left and right speakers making the whole section much easier to incorporate into a modern, busy mix. To enhance the realism of the instruments Session Strings utilizes proper release samples (the sound of the instrument after you have stopped bowing) as well as ‘round-robin’ sample techniques. This basically means that playing the same note repeatedly will not trigger the same sample repeatedly, just like a real string player who never actually plays the same thing twice. Believe me, on rapid repeated notes it can make a huge difference! The instruments are sampled at up to four velocity levels and feature up to 22 different playing articulations including a new ‘trill’ setting. You will recognise these effects and I promise that you will be using them to add realism to your own arrangements in no time: utilising the pitch falls at the end of a string line is a disco classic! Session Strings Pro also now includes a separate
baby
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS SESSION STRINGS PRO
This high quality sample library from Native Instruments aims to put a string in your step… Words: D.P. Wilson
control for Bow Noise, which can help force your section to really push its way to the front if necessary. I also like the facility to perform the different instrument parts of the section separately, meaning that you don’t have to have every instrument following the same part, which is often the way to go for more sparse-sounding string arrangements.
As the technical icing on the cake, Session Strings also utilises Kontakt’s scripting tools allowing for fully customisable preset rhythmic phrases, meaning you can hold down a chord and Session Strings (rhythmically at least) does the rest. There are helpful presets too including some fabulous Vintage Soul (think Motown) and Disco sounds!
And the sounds themselves… Well I’ve left the best to last! Quite simply they sound wonderful! Bright, clear and well sampled with a clean and unfussy quality you won’t find in bigger orchestras. Think George Martin’s arrangements for the Beatles, think Chic, think Oasis. Session Strings Pro can handle all of these and sit exactly where you want in the mix, you can really here the ‘cellists digging in to those strings! It can do lush too, stick it on any pop ballad and it’ll give you all the emotion and melancholy without sounding schmaltzy! Any classical composers looking for something a little more baroque will also be delighted with the sounds on offer. PM
SHOULD I BUY ONE? As someone who has often shied away from using string libraries in the past due to their unsuitability for my own music; Native Instrument’s Session Strings Pro has been a bit of a godsend. Gone are the days of trying to shoe-horn a fi fty piece Hollywood string section swathed in reverb into a sparse pop arrangement. For anyone producing music from 1960’s pop to soul to disco and even Hip-Hop styles Session Strings Pro should be a perfect fi t.
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