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I thought I would have been using this before now but my salesman and Vienna Symphony Library failed to inform me that once you get this product, you still have to buy the dongle. You can transfer the key to your Cubase USB dongle but not until you purchase the Vienna one which leads to confusion, at least I was! It sucks that you must have the Vienna dongle even though you already have one which you will be using after you transfer the key(s); "anger management " needed at this point.

After 2 hours of installing this thing (a 4 DVD collection) and several steps at the internet mothership, I was able to get a sound out of it. I must say it is pleasing to listen to .i didn't figure out midi multimode yet because the GUI is more complicated than what I previously was using.

I hope that by watching the video tutorials they have I can learn this soon.,

Are you sure about having to have the vienna dongle?

I have the solo strings and my keys are on the cubase dongle, I don't have the vienna dongle.


On another note, I like those strings - it is hard to make everything sound like a real player, but one can achieve some nice moments with these libraries don't you think

I tried the Cubase dongle first but it didn't work. There is a secret code you need on the Vienna dongle to get it authorized. After that, you can transfer it to the other dongle.

I only auditioned some flute sounds so far. It sounds superb, also it uses a lot of RAM. I'll be frequently turning it into audio tracks. I will report back here as I learn it further.

Since it is 24 bit, it is a much better buy than East West Symphonic Orchestra which is 16 bit in this price range. the EW version also has natural reverb on every instrument while VSL was recorded dry. Some people like the reverb, I prefer to make my own.

There is no way to sound like a real player no matter who plays this or what developer releases the newest " Ultimate Strings."

The sound of VSL strings are awesome though, one must just record or play the performances that are capable of attaining realistic results.

I cannot stress the importance of listening to Wagner for an idea of the ridiculous talent required just to play his compositions. The extreme amount of dynamics, sheer number of articulations required are staggering.

I have sequenced a few of his works and they are a tutoral in themselves. Of course I can't come near the real talent that Leonard Slatkin can squeeze out of his section players, but this is the ultimate composition tool IMHO. Just learning these scores will better any musician no matter how much facility he / she possesses.

As much as I love jazz, rock, fusion, bluegrass, ragtime, etc. The real masters are guys like Wagner, Debussey, Chopin, Strauss, etc. As they had no sequencer or audio playback device except their extraordinary talent, which is still hard for me to imagine how one could write such masterpieces.

I highly recommend the piece by Wagner called Dawn,.Journey Up The Rhine. It is the most beautiful piece of music I ever heard, and when I close my eyes, the music fills me with such pride, and appreciation. You can actually imagine the sun's first rays reflecting off of the Rhine River. It makes me long to visit the birthplace of my ancestors.

Ride Of The Valkyries is the epitomy of Strings via Wagner.

The Wagner I have heard is very dramatic. I have been listening to Bartok lately.

There is a station which plays modern classical often. It's not like the masters but I like it.


http://www.wnyc.org/

WNYC2

I totally agree with s4l, I've been digging Rachmaninoff's orchestral works lately, and this is breathtaking!!! you really have to listen closely to understand what's going on there! We're here toying with our little stuff -and it's fine- while these dudes were directly connected to the Cosmic Music reservoir , like pipelines from other spheres!! pop music has certain qualities but i always end up listening to those geniuses and i feel like an infant before infinity! I'm fond of choirs too, like the Tallis ensemble and many others...

Excuse my personal intervention on your thread braincell, let us know how you're doing with your library. i'd like to hear some of it!

I played some Wagner the other day - Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin, on a pipe organ at a wedding .

Now that was an awesome axe! Sorry 4 ot

'There is no way to sound like a real player no matter who plays this or what developer releases the newest " Ultimate Strings." '

___
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU_QR_FTt3E

the only one i found on the net but you should listen to all 6 suiten of js bach;
live in a barock concert hall this a spiritual journey you should not miss!!!!!!!!!

good vibes from vienna

The master, indeed, tgstgs. It's hard to let it out like that on a sampled instrument

Eliam, I will not be able to resist posting samples here.

While romplers do not sound the same as the real instruments, they are getting better. In a recent test on the radio show "Soundcheck" at WNYC, experts were asked to identify which recording was fake out of two selections. They were able to pick the real orchestra from the fake one but they were not 100% certain of their choices.

Some stations such as WNYC are starting to play classical music which uses these artificial instruments. As you know, it is difficult and expensive to get live musicians to play your music so this is liberating for classical music.

It is liberating for all of us actually.

I never could really compose my own symphonic string ideas as I didn't have the proper sound until I bought SISS strings, which are well recorded also.

But they don't have near the amount of tricks and articulations that VSL has.

Keep me posted on your discoveries w/ VSL. I have a cheezy cut down version which sounds really nice, but nothing like the Special Edition stuff.

BTW, Bartok's Piano Works are what inspired Keith Emerson ( my very first Piano/Synth/C3 Hammond idol ). Very dark music, so dark it is lovely.

Bartok was a major influence on my favorite idol Robert Fripp. Bartok died a couple of years after Miles Davis began seriously making music. I mixed Davis with Bartok and it sounded quite good actually. Two dark composers.

So far I figured out that of the 2 VST plugins: Vienna Instruments and Vienna Ensemble, Vienna Ensemble is the only clear choice. The other one I guess is for people who don't have the power to load Vienna Ensemble. I wasted time on that. The Vienna Ensemble can also be used as a stand alone but again that is not for us. Almost ready to make music with this!

OT:

I actually was thinking I must be crazy when I did this but a couple of friends agreed it works:

Béla Bartók + Miles Davis

Miles Davis briefly attended Julliard on scholarship. It makes me wonder, did he listen to Bartok?

That is really cool braincell!

Very Cool Indeed.

I am a Miles Davis finatic actually, as he was from my home town and every reed and brass guy I ever worked with always made me learn Miles stuff.

Miles father was a well to do dentist and he was well educated.

Have you listened to Amandla and Bitches Brew yet?

Yes I have Bitches Brew Complete. Joe Zawinul said he thought it sounded bad but that Teo Macero did a lot of alterations to the recordings which made it great. Sections where spliced together and arranged as we would do more easily now with digital editing.

Producer Teo Macero on His Work With Miles Davis:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnStkHmHQoE

just gorgeous how Macero 'fakes' the Miles quotes in the talk

great clip - thanks a lot, Tom

R.I.P. Miles and Josef.

Well, I couldn't help myself, I just bought the VSL Appassionata Strings, and will recieve the Appassionata II upgrade for free.

I enjoy being broke and happy.

I have been wanting to do this as they are the Orchestral kings IMHO. I bought the Steve Vai Guitar sample library and couldn't believe how lame it was. NS forum members are so lost with themselves, I read more than a few guys commenting on the authenticity, etc. I forget that many of these guys have never been on stage or played with a live guitarist. When I told them how bad it sucked many became offended? I'm getting good at that I suppose.

But when it comes to Strings, VSL has made the best, and continues to constantly upgrade, which is mostly my biggest concern.

Braincell,....it's your fault I spent all of my extra cash today.

The video tutorials are deceptive. There is no "Universal Mode" for the "Special Edition". Let me know if you get that. I also hate that support is only by email and I got advice to watch the tutorial instead of an answer to my question!

Many of their customers have spent 5-10k on libraries, and also recieve a direct support number.

It's understandable.

One good thing though, is that they always work great in standalone if there are VST / host issues.