Sonic Implants 
Symphonic Strings Collection Mini
SoundFont Format

Introduction

Remembering the 80's when I played a Moog Opus 3, which at that time was a major source for string, brass and organ sounds, I never could have realized the influence technology would have on the music I produce today. I watched as the Synergy and Fairlight came and went and then came the monster Synclavier that cost a staggering $500,000, what was a young composer to do? Fast forward to today. A FedEx truck delivers a large box whose contents held something not to have been imagined a few years ago.

Sonic Implants was my first introduction into high quality SoundFonts for Creative Labs soundcards. Early on I started with their guitar and piano collections but then found myself eventually using just about all they had. It seemed they really had a passion to give the user detail and playability with their sounds and it really shows. I sent a message a few years ago to Jennifer Hruska the president of Sonic Implants suggesting they do a high quality string library for SoundFont users, she said that one was in the works.

The Collection

Sonic Implants Symphonic Strings Collection is the fulfillment of many months of preparation and hard work. First introduced as a library for use with Tascam's Gigastudio spanning 20 CDs containing a multitude of various articulations, ensembles, effects and section sounds. Most of us do not have a Gigastudio system available to use such a library and the cost of such a vast collection is often out of the reach for the average composer/musician. This is where the Symphonic Strings Collection Mini comes in.

The Mini collection comes in the same beautiful presentation album as its larger sibling but with 4 CDs instead of 20. Much care was made in selecting the sounds included in the mini collection as to include the sounds most users would utilize without sacrificing the completeness of the set. Great effort was made to reduce the size of the individual presets to assist those with memory and/or computer performance limitations.

The programs range in size from 17MB for the Spiccato program, 38MB for the 1st Violins Con Sordino to the Ensembles, which require from 118MB(Ensemble Legato) up to 140MB(Ensemble Pizzicato). A good rule of thumb though is to install as much memory you can into your machine to give everything room to breathe and function correctly.

The four CDs are divided into the various sections and ensembles. CD1 contains 1st and 2nd Violins, CD2 Violas and Cellos, CD3 Basses, Ensembles are split between CD3 and CD4. All of the files take up around 2.6 gigabytes of hard drive space. The package also contains two valuable manuals (no PDF files here) describing the collection, recording techniques and a breakdown of all the preset information for each section.

This is not just a collection of waveforms but performances. You are not just triggering a series of notes but playing back high quality recordings of players from the prestigious Boston Pops and Boston Ballet Orchestras, possibly some of the very players John Williams conducted during his tenure with "The Pops".

I use Cakewalk's SONAR XL now in version 4.0.2 along with LiveUpdate's LiveSynth Pro SoundFont player. This allows you to playback SoundFonts without the need for a Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! or Audigy sound card. You are free to use the other Creative Labs cards but as I stated earlier make sure you have plenty of free memory available.

The problem with early hardware synth modules and samplers was a lack of memory with the whole orchestra crammed into 8 or 16 megabytes of memory. Needless to say that this is no longer a limitation and really allows for tremendous expression and detail when you do not have these constraints.

The Sound

This is really what counts. After hearing string sounds coming from just about every sample or synth source I can tell you what an amazing experience it was when I first loaded up the Con Sordino Ensemble set. When I played the first chord it was very rich and warm. I have what you might call an orchestra in my head. When I am selecting sounds for a project it seems sometimes the sounds are playing you instead of the other way around and that is the case here. The sounds really allow you to play and inspire you as you are constructing a part.

I then went to listening to the 1st and 2nd violin programs. After playing around with them some I noticed something coming to the surface; a real intimate, tender sound. This is definitely a result of the skill of the players as well as the direction of the production staff.

The other instruments share the same graceful detail and presence allowing you to do a sketch of a part by using the Ensemble presets then going back and splitting out the parts and utilizing the individual sections. This always provides for a more realistic and convincing string rendering.

Too many times I catch myself falling into the keyboard string players trap of laying all my fingers into an ensemble and really not getting the most out of the part. Having this collection challenges you to go places with your parts and causes you to rethink the way you create and produce.

The sounds really fit in well with other parts in your production and do not seem to want to take center stage but give the sense of presence and support when being used along side the other tracks in your arrangement.

Articulations

Again the team has provided a great selection of articulations to choose from. A string section is very dynamic and having various playing styles helps in creating very convincing string arrangements

Below are some definitions of the articulations included, which have been paraphrased from the manual.

Legato: A sustaining tone played with a smooth fluid motion of the bow. There are two velocity layers with the first with light vibrato and the second with a little more vibrato and a faster attack.

Con-Sordino: Similar to Legato but with a different tone color. The intimate sound of this tone comes from the use of a string mute. You are given two velocity layers instead of the three found in the larger version of the library.

Tremolo: You are presented with two different types of Tremolo for each section.

Tremolo Ordinaire: This would be considered the more traditional type of tremolo as it is produced by a rapid succession of up and down bowing.

Tremolo Sul Ponticello: Gives you a very dramatic tremolo sound as it is played very close to the bridge of the instrument providing a harsher tone.

Trills: Here you are presented with two varieties of trills for each section.

Half Step Trills: Tones with a rapid movement between notes at a half-step interval

Half Step Trills: Tones with a rapid movement between notes at a whole-step interval

Pizzicato/Staccato/Spiccato: These articulations are great for playing short or fast sections in your arrangement.

Pizzicato: This is a tone created by the player plucking the strings instead of bowing them. You are presented with three velocity layers.

Staccato: This is a short bowing technique giving a nice accent.

Spiccato: This another short bowing technique but instead of a short push or pull with the bow it is more of a bounce of the bow on the string yielding a shorter note duration.

With this particular set you are given a varied number of velocity levels. This is extremely important, as you are not just triggering the same sample. Some sample libraries will use the same sample and apply filters controlled by velocity to give the sound a different tone. Having the extra layers adds to the effective creation of a believable part.

Programs

Gigastudio, HALion and some other soft samplers utilize a very complicated way of accessing large libraries directly from your hard drive. This gives them the capability of having multiple playing styles for instance available all at the same time. SoundFont technology is limited in this respect as you realistically can only play one patch or program at a time per midi channel.

The team at Sonic Implants has done a superb job of adapting the programs in the SoundFont Mini library to overcome these limitations as much as possible. Each Section program has several presets that cover some of the different playing styles or tones you need to generate a great sounding part.

For instance the Legato string sections have six different program presets to cover different variations. The presets they include range from various slow attacks to faster and more pronounced ones.

In my experiments I set up different tracks within SONAR to accommodate two different legato string lines with different attacks. I used a slower variation where the string line provided more of a bed or pad and switched to the other track when a faster attack was required for a run or transition. You see this throughout all of the programs in the library.

The team is to be commended for also including programs for both the 1st and 2nd violin sections. The programs use a completely different set of samples recorded by players who would normally play in the 1st or 2nd sections, this is the key to achieving a unique tone and character. When they are used together for instance in a unison string line this creates richness to the sound as you are not just doubling the part but bringing new character to it by adding the personality of the 2nd section. You also can use the 1st section for the main lines and the 2nd to fill in the harmonies. It can be compared to singing all the parts yourself or enlisting the help of other vocalists to sing the different parts. This is truly a more effective way of creating very full sounding parts.

Conclusion:

This collection is "Mini" in name only as you really have a great arsenal of articulations, programs and presets to cover the majority of situation you may encounter as a composer or arranger.

I congratulate Jennifer and her team at Sonic Implants for taking up this challenge. From the moment you open the CD album you know that you are holding something special, not just a box of CDs but a tremendous tool to bring the music you make to life. I also thank them for not forgetting those who might not have access to the high end Giga systems by offering the MINI collection in the SoundFont format. This one consideration in itself in my opinion is a major breakthrough for the SoundFont technology, pushing it to the next level and beyond what the creators of the specification even expected.

If you have always dreamed as I have to have beautiful playable strings under you fingers this is your opportunity to wake up and start creating the music you have been dreaming about.

Symphonic Strings MINI SoundFont format
Price: $449.00
Contact:
www.sonicimplants.com
Sonic Network, Inc. 
(888)769-3788