got Cinematic Strings 2 but DFD overload
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 8:52 am
I got Cinematic Strings 2 with their black friday special ($319!) and am generally pleased with the sound and playability.. but now I have to get DFD performing well. It's sort of a new thing for me since I've always resorted to using smaller libraries that don't rely heavily on DFD. (like my piano is pianoteq, and orchestra was Synful)
I've got the library residing on an external USB3 drive with a read speed of (check picture).. I've always assumed that HD read speeds were now fast enough to efficiently do DFD, but I guess not. The throughput of USB3 should be fast enough, no? I'm wondering if then SSD is the way to go. Or if external is simply not faster enough, I need to get an internal drive just for this? That's sort of crazy, given that people have been doing this DFD stuff for so long, I've always assumed that it actually works without too much work..
RAM wise I'm doing okay.. if any DFD gurus out there have some pointers it's be greatly appreciated.
As for Cinematic Strings, here are my initial impressions:
1. Sounds very mild. Silky and cinematic, but quite mild. Great for lyrical passages. Will need to add a "first chair" kind of sample to really make a section lead. But otherwise blends in very well if used with the whole orchestra.
2. Staccato layering on legato (64+ velocity on legato triggers staccato attack sample) makes for easy switching between legato and staccato emphasis.. but the legato samples come out much louder than the staccato samples.. I'm assuming the staccato samples are there to add a bit more definition to the attack, and not so much be used on their own to make staccato runs, etc, but that's how I see its benefit.
3. On the mix mic channel, dry is not dry. The release samples are totally wet, so even if you turn off the built in hall reverb, the release samples create a long tail. It's a nice tail, and probably doesn't matter since I won't be using them super dry anyway, but not being able to get them dry sort of limits application. I think for "real" dry, I can use the close mic channel, but haven't messed around with the mic channels since I can't even stream 1 channel right.
4. Can't do good divisi. Of course, that's really a limitation of sampling. I know some libraries can do it, or do it via specific patches.. but divisi was one of the "automatic" things of Synful, so I never really had to avoid it, so it's a bit of an adjustment. I usually do divisi with viola and cello. (which I'm not sure if you're supposed to do, but I do it anyway) Basically, each section is just 1 voice. So it's back to classic 4 voice writing + bass.
5. That said, octave unison of violin 1 and violin 2 sounds super dramatic. I could never get that to sound right with Synful.
6. Mod wheel control quickly takes you to full velocity. I'll just need to get used to it. I quickly found myself just blasting 100% on every part.
But for $319, this was a very good buy. I can probably overlay a bit of Synful's solo instruments to give it some extra definition, or add in a couple of Synful players, and also get a bit of fast attack grit from Synful if needed. It's a juggling act. But first, I need to get DFD to work right before I can use this.
I've got the library residing on an external USB3 drive with a read speed of (check picture).. I've always assumed that HD read speeds were now fast enough to efficiently do DFD, but I guess not. The throughput of USB3 should be fast enough, no? I'm wondering if then SSD is the way to go. Or if external is simply not faster enough, I need to get an internal drive just for this? That's sort of crazy, given that people have been doing this DFD stuff for so long, I've always assumed that it actually works without too much work..
RAM wise I'm doing okay.. if any DFD gurus out there have some pointers it's be greatly appreciated.
As for Cinematic Strings, here are my initial impressions:
1. Sounds very mild. Silky and cinematic, but quite mild. Great for lyrical passages. Will need to add a "first chair" kind of sample to really make a section lead. But otherwise blends in very well if used with the whole orchestra.
2. Staccato layering on legato (64+ velocity on legato triggers staccato attack sample) makes for easy switching between legato and staccato emphasis.. but the legato samples come out much louder than the staccato samples.. I'm assuming the staccato samples are there to add a bit more definition to the attack, and not so much be used on their own to make staccato runs, etc, but that's how I see its benefit.
3. On the mix mic channel, dry is not dry. The release samples are totally wet, so even if you turn off the built in hall reverb, the release samples create a long tail. It's a nice tail, and probably doesn't matter since I won't be using them super dry anyway, but not being able to get them dry sort of limits application. I think for "real" dry, I can use the close mic channel, but haven't messed around with the mic channels since I can't even stream 1 channel right.
4. Can't do good divisi. Of course, that's really a limitation of sampling. I know some libraries can do it, or do it via specific patches.. but divisi was one of the "automatic" things of Synful, so I never really had to avoid it, so it's a bit of an adjustment. I usually do divisi with viola and cello. (which I'm not sure if you're supposed to do, but I do it anyway) Basically, each section is just 1 voice. So it's back to classic 4 voice writing + bass.
5. That said, octave unison of violin 1 and violin 2 sounds super dramatic. I could never get that to sound right with Synful.
6. Mod wheel control quickly takes you to full velocity. I'll just need to get used to it. I quickly found myself just blasting 100% on every part.
But for $319, this was a very good buy. I can probably overlay a bit of Synful's solo instruments to give it some extra definition, or add in a couple of Synful players, and also get a bit of fast attack grit from Synful if needed. It's a juggling act. But first, I need to get DFD to work right before I can use this.
