String Sample Library- Suggestions Requested!

[tubeman]

Hi all, I was asked to create some sort of sample library of viola, violin, and cello (tracked separately) tones, to pad various tracks that need extra "girth" to thicken up strings. Basically I have access to a great room for about 24 hours. I'm not a midi expert by any means, so I'm wondering what would be the most useable combinations to cover as much as possible in order of importance?

I was thinking, with every chromatic note, record:

first - whole notes with no vibrato, fast vibrato, slow vibrato, delayed vibrato, sharp attack, and swells into each note. every note in half/first and third positions when possible.

What I'm not sure about (I'm not a midi expert), is...how many tempos should each sample be recorded at, so time-stretching/shrinking is not too detrimental to the tones, and would work with my time constraints? or should they just be as long as possible?

second - quarter notes in various styles in combinations of single, 2, 4, and 8 quarter notes

third - eighth note pads in various styles in combinations of 2, 4, and 8 eighths

etc. any more suggestions before I undergo this project? the more i think about it, the more i think that doing just one instrument makes sense.

[drBill]

Originally Posted by tubeman

Hi all, I was asked to create some sort of sample library of viola, violin, and cello (tracked separately) tones, to pad various tracks that need extra "girth" to thicken up strings. Basically I have access to a great room for about 24 hours. I'm not a midi expert by any means, so I'm wondering what would be the most useable combinations to cover as much as possible in order of importance?

I was thinking, with every chromatic note, record:

first - whole notes with no vibrato, fast vibrato, slow vibrato, delayed vibrato, sharp attack, and swells into each note. every note in half/first and third positions when possible.

What I'm not sure about (I'm not a midi expert), is...how many tempos should each sample be recorded at, so time-stretching/shrinking is not too detrimental to the tones, and would work with my time constraints? or should they just be as long as possible?

second - quarter notes in various styles in combinations of single, 2, 4, and 8 quarter notes

third - eighth note pads in various styles in combinations of 2, 4, and 8 eighths

etc. any more suggestions before I undergo this project? the more i think about it, the more i think that doing just one instrument makes sense.

You're talking about a huge, huge, mammoth undertaking. You might be able to record it in 24 hours, but expect a couple of months on your sampler (that's IF you're a midi expert) to get a product that is probably not even comparable with Sonic Implants, Vienna, etc. libraries. Re-think this a bit and do some research as to what's already out there.

On the other hand, if they're paying you by the hours....go for it!!

PS - my experience with midi strings underneath the real deal is less than good. It doesn't really work great. OK, but more strings is always better. There are always tuning issues with what you suggest, and it's virtually impossible to get the articulations to match without LOTS of midi programming.

All this is based on section playing. If you're talking about solo instruments, then what you suggest won't really work. The beauty of a quartet or trio will be destroyed by the sampled strings underneath it. It will sound like a large clunky octet. (not a good sound IMO)

[ssaudio]

2 months?

2 years, more like