LASS (String Library) -"Sneak Peak" Teaser and UPDATE

[Thonex]

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know LASS is still alive and well . First I want to thank all of you for your interest and patience. I’ve been getting lots of enthusiastic emails asking about demos and “when this library will be released” and “how does it sound”... etc...etc. I tried to answer all emails and if any of you want to be on the LASS email list, you can go to LA scoring strings — Contact and just send an email saying: “Put me on the list” (or similar). This way I can keep you up-to-date on LASS’s status.

I’m still on target to get LASS released in the second Quarter of 09. Some of you may (or may not) know that I’m a full time composer... and because of existing client obligations, some of my scheduling is out of my hands... but I’m committed to devoting any time I’m not scoring to finishing this library... and I’m close. Unfortunately, (or fortunately... however you want to see it) I have a movie coming up and I’ll have to go underground for about 3 weeks. The good news is, I have a terrific team of Beta Testers (all of whom are great composers in their own right)... and one of them...Colin O’Malley... just happened to write a wonderful composition that really illustrates LASS’s ability to play expressive, melodic, divisi, and lyrical string lines – one of the most difficult things for a string library to achieve.

For the full concept behind the library... visit: Welcome to LA scoring strings

Here is a teaser:

She Was a Fair Lass (by Colin O’Malley)



All the strings on this piece are entirely LASS... mostly using Real Legato patches. With Real Legato, you can play the lines in real-time and achieve legato, portamento and glissando by adjusting velocity at which you play. You have full control of dynamics with the Mod_Wheel. There were no Key Switches in this entire demo. It's important to understand that all LASS Real Legato patches are more like virtual instruments as opposed to "patches". They react to "how" you play... all of the swells and dynamics are controllable in real time. The same applies to the legatos, portamentos anf glissandos.

If you go to HERE, you can see exactly what patches were used in this teaser. Note the use of divisi patches (legato ensembles A,B,C) to create a realistic and balanced expressive sound. Also, because of LASS’s unique Acu-Fade approach to patches (a new approach to cross-fading dynamic layers avoiding the smearing and buildup of the other dynamic layers), you’ll hear all the detail in the sound and an accurate number of players... even as their dynamics are manipulated real-time via the mod-wheel. In essence, the dreaded “cross-fade player-build-up sound” is avoided.

Another thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet (because it was literally developed 3 days ago) is a new type of articulation we’re going to call Lyrical Legato. It’s that elusive sound somewhere between a clean legato and a portamento. (Great... more programming... LOL)

Lastly, this demo was written using the latest “beta” patches... although very good, they are not the final release patches.

Stay tuned for other demos down the road... action, epic and others.

Thanks again for all your kind emails and now... to get back to looping......


Andrew K

[noiseflaw]

Oh Yeah!

Fab, Brilliant. Really vibey, smooth with real character and personality - which is sorely lacking in some Libraries.

Looking forward.

They sound so Listenable, wow. Great demo piece too.

Can't wait!

I keep adding to this post after replaying the demo.

Cor Blimey Gov, I think you have a Winner.

Well Done.


• Back again - Bloody Heck I can't get over how lovely that demo sounds.

[LOU AU]

Beautiful! Very natural sounding from first transient through release and tail. You found a new way of looking at size and controllability. I didn't think I needed yet another string library, but I was wrong. This one breathes and has emotion with out going over the top. So when is it out and what is it going to set me back?!
Great job.
Lou

[The MPCist]

Sounds good so far!

Question: Will users be able to vary the speed/expressiveness of vibrato?

[Thonex]

Originally Posted by The MPCist

Sounds good so far!

Question: Will users be able to vary the speed/expressiveness of vibrato?

Thanks MPCist :-)

That's a good question, but before I answer, I want to share some observations about how strings and vibrato behave. Vibrato (like portamento) is a personal form of expression that's unique (like a signature) to each player. But there are definite characteristics that are shared amongst different players. For vibrato, a player's vibrato speed is fairly constant no matter what tempo the piece is at. However, it's amount (not speed) increases as the player goes from ppp to fff . If you (for example) ask a violinist to play molto espressivo con vibrato at ppp.... there will hardly be any vibrato.... even though you said con vibrato. However...the louder the dynamic the more exaggerated the vibrato (but not the speed.. just the amount)... and at fff the vibrato is very pronounced.

So... to answer your question, on the Real Legato patches (for example) you can go from ppp with almost no vibrato to fff with lots of vibrato and everything in between.

With LASS there is no way to change the speed of the vibrato... but to me that simply doesn't sound natural. I recorded the players playing at 'their' natural vibrato speed.

Hope this makes sense.

Cheers,

AK

[matucha]

very very nice!

[wildpark]

nice how can we become a beta tester !?

[Silver Sonya]

Elegant sound. Cost?

- c

[Thonex]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

With regards to beta testers, I think I'm set for now. I've had my team since over a year now (yes... it's been that long ).

With regards to price, that is still being determined... but I think I can fairly safely say it will NOT be over $1500 USD.

Cheers,

Andrew K

[jamwerks]

Sounds great. And at $1500 I think that you'll have lots of customers!

[noiseflaw]

$1500

Question is can I afford NOT to have this library?

No!

[Silver Sonya]

. .

[jayman]

Now, I can't wait for this library. Wish it were here TODAY.

[Thonex]

Originally Posted by jayman

Now, I can't wait for this library. Wish it were here TODAY.

LOL.... yeah... me too.... me more than anyone... I wish I was done with the programming... [heads back to programming... ]

[jayman]

Andrew, if the samples were playable at this point (seems like they are), would you consider selling a pre-release, or I guess sort of a paid beta release? I would love to get my hands on this before the middle of the year, and would pay to do so. If I could purchase in its existing state knowing that I would have the complete version upon release, that would be great.

Anyway, just a thought!

[BigJunk]

I really need a string library.. this one sounds great although I'll have to start saving up

Junk

[Thonex]

Originally Posted by jayman

Andrew, if the samples were playable at this point (seems like they are), would you consider selling a pre-release, or I guess sort of a paid beta release? I would love to get my hands on this before the middle of the year, and would pay to do so. If I could purchase in its existing state knowing that I would have the complete version upon release, that would be great.

Anyway, just a thought!

Hi Jayman,

You are actually not the first person to ask me this. Unfortunately, I cannot release my WIP (work in progress) library to anyone except the beta testers. I am flattered and truly appreciate your offer. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear... but thanks so much for asking. Hang in there... I'm a composer too... so I know what it's like to hear something and wait for it.

Just hang in there a little longer.

Cheers,

Andrew K

[The MPCist]

Originally Posted by Thonex

With LASS there is no way to change the speed of the vibrato... but to me that simply doesn't sound natural. I recorded the players playing at 'their' natural vibrato speed.

Hope this makes sense.

Cheers,

AK

Thanks for the reply, Thonex. I understand that being a cellist myself but string players also vary their vibrato speed according to different songs so that was my question (although I didn't quite word it right). Let me put it another way:

Say I have a few songs I wante to program strings on. One song's bpm is 68 and the other ones vary from bpm 70 - 90. Would it be possible to have vibrato variations so that they fit the bpm of different songs as opposed to one type for all?

Not a bit deal but just thought it might be something to look into....

[Thonex]

Originally Posted by The MPCist

Say I have a few songs I wante to program strings on. One song's bpm is 68 and the other ones vary from bpm 70 - 90. Would it be possible to have vibrato variations so that they fit the bpm of different songs as opposed to one type for all?

Not a bit deal but just thought it might be something to look into....

From a technical standpoint, yes, it's possible to change the tempos of the vibratos. In Kontakt you'd have to change the Instrument playback mode to Time Machine. From there, you could assign (say) a pitch bend wheel to change the tempo of the vibratos without changing the pitch. But I'm not sure about the audio fidelity of the playback at that point. Everything is a compromise in sampling.

Cheers,

Andrew K

[jayman]

Originally Posted by Thonex

Hi Jayman,

You are actually not the first person to ask me this. Unfortunately, I cannot release my WIP (work in progress) library to anyone except the beta testers. I am flattered and truly appreciate your offer. I know this isn't what you wanted to hear... but thanks so much for asking. Hang in there... I'm a composer too... so I know what it's like to hear something and wait for it.

Just hang in there a little longer.

Cheers,

Andrew K

It was worth a try!!!

[kosi]

Beautiful sound, congratulations !

I buy it, just tell me when.

2 questions:
- Is the reverb already in the samples ? I hope, theres not so much on them...

- Are the long samples looped ? (I hope so)

The demo is also very nice !

[Thonex]

Originally Posted by kosi

Beautiful sound, congratulations !

I buy it, just tell me when.

2 questions:
- Is the reverb already in the samples ? I hope, theres not so much on them...

- Are the long samples looped ? (I hope so)

The demo is also very nice !

Thanks for the kind words.

The reverb on the demo is a Todd AO impluse from Altiverb. The bare samples have "air" but not reverb. They were recorded on a scoring stage... not a hall. This allows you to add the reverb you want.

Yes, the samples are looped.

Cheers,

Andrew K

[kosi]

Hey Andrew, that's supergood news.

I could need them right now...

I think, I'm not alone, when I tell you that everybody wants to listen to more demo material, maybe some different style or even better, some single staves etc.

and as we're here on GS, do you have some details bout the recording sessions ?
What pres, mics, converters etc.

keep on doing your good work !

[Thonex]

Originally Posted by kosi

Hey Andrew, that's supergood news.

I could need them right now...

I think, I'm not alone, when I tell you that everybody wants to listen to more demo material, maybe some different style or even better, some single staves etc.

and as we're here on GS, do you have some details bout the recording sessions ?
What pres, mics, converters etc.

keep on doing your good work !

I'll post some single patch demos eventually... I think it's important to show them exposed.. but more importantly... how easy it is to play live.

Insofar as recording techniques... I can't spill the beans... but I will say this... We had over 13 mics set up for the sections... including ORTF, Coincident, A/B pPair, Decca Tree... we used both large diaphragm and pencil mics... as well as tube and solid state. We only ended up needing 4 mics at the end

All the mic pres were premium mic pres and we went diect to HD... no console except to monitor.

Reading what I just wrote sounds silly because it's so general... but I didn't want to "just not answer you"... but safe to say we employed the same tried and true micing techniques you would use in a real scoring situation.. keeping a close eye on being able to pan the final mix.

Cheers,

Andrew K

[Koed]

Best strings I've heard in ages.
Really excited about this. Hope that they're easy to play.

[mixerguy]

Originally Posted by Thonex

.......... The bare samples have "air" but not reverb. They were recorded on a scoring stage... not a hall. This allows you to add the reverb you want.....

Andrew K

Cooll!!!!

[Thonex]

Originally Posted by Koed

Best strings I've heard in ages.
Really excited about this. Hope that they're easy to play.

Thanks for the kind words.

Yes.. a lot of time and effort went into design the patches so they actually perform like a virtual instrument as opposed to a "patch". They are easy to play... and a lot of fun to play.. which is also important

Cheers,

Andrew K

[pigcat]

Just a question, is the samples EQ'ed? Generally I really like how the strings sounded but I was a bit concerned about the violins are not beefy enough for ballads and RnB etc.

I'd really, really love to hear some demo that show how the library sound like without any processing.

[kosi]

Originally Posted by Thonex

I'll post some single patch demos eventually... I think it's important to show them exposed.. but more importantly... how easy it is to play live.

Insofar as recording techniques... I can't spill the beans... but I will say this... We had over 13 mics set up for the sections... including ORTF, Coincident, A/B pPair, Decca Tree... we used both large diaphragm and pencil mics... as well as tube and solid state. We only ended up needing 4 mics at the end

All the mic pres were premium mic pres and we went diect to HD... no console except to monitor.

Reading what I just wrote sounds silly because it's so general... but I didn't want to "just not answer you"... but safe to say we employed the same tried and true micing techniques you would use in a real scoring situation.. keeping a close eye on being able to pan the final mix.

Cheers,

Andrew K

Never mind, thanks alot for the info !

kosi

[Thonex]

Originally Posted by pigcat

Just a question, is the samples EQ'ed? Generally I really like how the strings sounded but I was a bit concerned about the violins are not beefy enough for ballads and RnB etc.

I'd really, really love to hear some demo that show how the library sound like without any processing.

Hi there,

The samples are not EQed. The engineer did an amazing job... to mix the strings, all we had to do was adjust levels and pan to match the "conductor" overhead mics.

Now... Colin's demo was EQed to taste. He was going after that "Thomas Newman" Shawshank Redemption sound... I'll quote what he said on another thread:

Originally Posted by Colin

Guys,

I just thought I'd mention a few things I found working with these on the teaser demo. The sound is very malleable. I both wrote and mixed this demo against Thomas Newman, Shawshank. Talk is cheap and the proof is ultimately in the demos, but I know other larger string sounds will be achieved successfully with this library. It's the sort of thing that can blend well with the other libraries we use. Both intimate and epic.

Also working with the different divisis is an entirely different experience. I was constantly swapping them around, and each one sings differently on the melodies etc. They all have unique character. I didn't always think literally. Sometimes 4 violins on the melody and the solo violin balanced really well with the 8 violin divisi on the lower harmony. I think everyone will be very happy with the flexibility of 4,4,8,1 (don't forget the first chair solo instruments).

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Andrew K