Berlin Strings Review
Barb Magario
So, in a period filled with numerous string library releases, does Berlin Symphonic Strings live up to the standard set by its predecessor? And is it a relevant library in 2021? We were kindly provided with a review copy to find out.
The proclaimed goal of this new library is to offer wide cinematic, larger-than-life string recordings, and to open up possibilities in terms of playability, most notably with the introduction of 3 types of legatos. Here is a quick overview of the patches included:
Berlin Symphonic Strings exclusively runs in the SINE player. As with their previous SINE releases, this gives Orchestral Tools the ability to offer individual instruments of a product separately. This is a huge advantage for composers who want to stagger their purchases over time, or just simply are missing one particular instrument of a string section.
For this review, we used the most recent version of SINE v1.0.5 which is required in order to run Berlin Symphonic Strings. The new version also features important fixes over the previous versions. All the usual features and controls of SINE are, of course, present in Berlin Symphonic Strings: the possibility to activate legato for any articulation; precise control over round robins; easy ADSR settings and a new function, the so-called legato speed zones. These legato speed zones provide composers with a choice of different types of legatos depending on the speed at which they play. This choice is particularly useful for transitioning from sweeping melodic lines into agile figures like a run for example.
Going through the articulations, Orchestral Tools gives composers a lot of flexibility and decided to include 3 types of sustained attacks. The soft sustain, combined with the lower dynamics, is one of my favorites, giving the strings a sense of delicacy and emotional vulnerability. It fits superbly with choral and minimalist works. The immediate attack sustain is useful for punctuating musical phrases with distinct downstrokes. As for the accented sustain, it is well-suited for adventurous and heroic statements, reminiscent of what we could find in Metropolis Ark 4, albeit with far greater section sizes.
Adding to the versatility of the library, these sustains were also recorded with both subtle and expressive vibrato. In practice, the subtle vibrato is almost a non-vib recording, which can be particularly useful for textures. The expressive vibrato is more romantic in its approach, although not being completely molto-vibrato neither. This is always a matter of taste, but I personally prefer this design choice, especially for larger string sections, as being stuck with a heavy-vibrato recording only is far more limiting. Composers wanting an extra sense of vibrato could always layer another library, Berlin Strings being the obvious candidate, as it includes a pronounced strong vibrato, also recorded at the renowned Teldex stage.
One of the key selling points of Berlin Symphonic Strings is the presence of 3 legato types. The library allows users to combine any legato type with any patch. First, we find the traditional Melodic Legato. This one is well-suited for leading statements and melodies, especially since the library has a beautiful tone that is very apparent in its long articulations. In our tests, we got the impression that the legato transitions for the Violas and Celli were slightly more pronounced than the Violin sections.
Orchestral Tools also wanted to tackle a longstanding issue exclusive to the sampling world, something that is usually very trivial in real orchestral recordings: creating convincing ostinato lines. To this end, the Pattern Legato, comprised of 3 round robins, is their answer to craft these intricate inner motifs.
Finally, and in the same logic, Orchestral Tools wanted to offer a solution to craft rapid motifs, and included a Rapid Legato. When used in combination with sustains, this legato is useful for agile statements in melodies, creating a blurred type of transition. When used with the rapid legato patch, which is partly based on spiccatos, they can be used effectively for runs.
Trills and tremolos are also included and feature expression options comparable to the sustains. As of note, SINE allows you to morph 2 articulations together, by using its poly-switching function. When using dynamics, it is then possible to gradually morph from a sustain to a tremolo for example. The amount and variety of short articulations are refreshing and constitute another huge strength of this library. There is an excellent consistency in the programming and editing of the samples, and with 4 dynamic layers, they allow for varied, expressive phrasing, and fast workflow. A great selection throughout!
All in all, these main articulations should cover most needs. Our only regret was the absence of Harmonics, which are often put to good use for pedal notes and atmosphere beds, and are quite commonly used in string writing.
Berlin Symphonic Strings features 7 microphone positions. Besides the usual selection, which makes the library easily compatible with its predecessors, Orchestral Tools notably added Leader and Outrigger microphone mixes. The former adds focus, particularly useful for such large sections, and the latter adds a sense of width. All in all, the selection of microphones represents a good compromise between usefulness and hard drive occupancy.
The tone of Berlin Symphonic Strings is probably one of its major strengths, it is truly beautiful. The library has a vivid, bright sound signature. Given the size of the sections, we were pleasantly surprised that the recordings were so clear, and almost silky in nature.
When layering with other string libraries, the library was instantly able to add a sense of brilliance to the mix, on top of its inherent width. Composers familiar with the sound of the Teldex scoring stage will definitely recognize the quality of the room, having a reasonable tail length. As it is, the library is perfectly usable in a cinematic context without the need of using any additional reverb. Our tests, which involved an algorithmic reverb (VSS3), Seventh Heaven Professional, and Cinematic Rooms led to very satisfying results, too.
That would open up exciting possibilities given the experience they have acquired now. Will they adapt some concepts from their recent textural products to a symphonic string section? Given how textural work has grown in importance these past few years and has become (maybe more than ever before?) an essential part of media composing, this could be a possibility as well.
Finally, and this is more of a widespread problem in the sampling world, given the number of options the library offers, I wish Orchestral Tools would have included at least a short manual. Concepts such as legatos types, the ability to combine any type of legato with any patch, even those already named after a particular type of legato, would benefit from a short written explanation. Nothing that a few isolated tests cannot decipher though.
Capable of rendering from the most emotional phrases to the most powerful musical statements, its versatility is a great asset. It also makes for a great companion to the modern sound of Junkie XL Brass.
Priced competitively, Berlin Symphonic Strings is a great option to consider for composers in the market for a large cinematic and vivid-sounding library. The fact that its instruments are available to buy as separate sections represent another huge advantage in terms of purchasing options.
Orchestral Tools and Berklee College of Music have collaborated to create a core orchestral library, Berlin Orchestra, that is accessible to students and emerging composers alike. The library features instruments from each section of the orchestra including woodwinds, brass, percussion, strings and solo strings.
The library includes instruments from a full symphony orchestra at a more affordable price while still retaining the high quality and renowned sound of Orchestral Tools Berlin Series samples. For reference, Berlin Series Berlin Strings alone is $984.
Berlin Orchestra contains samples of high-quality instruments in various articulations as well as natural homogenous balancing between sections and the orchestra which already creates for a great-sounding mix (without getting to the mix yet).
Note: This pack is great for starting out and contains up to 8 articulations for each sample, however seasoned professionals likely will look elsewhere (perhaps the other libraries in the Berlin Series) for a more broad expansion of articulations available.
High-quality samples are what composers look for when purchasing libraries and Berlin Orchestra leaves an impression on composers serious about starting and growing their orchestral library. The great news is that you might not need to shop for samples anytime soon as the core orchestral sounds have you covered for years to come.
Once you load up samples, the player automatically sets key switches for different articulations which can be a huge time-saver (and note that these key switches can be adjusted or set to MIDI channels).
One of the first things I noticed when I loaded up a sample was the position in the sound space. It made sense because of the one microphone position that a flute sample would be panned slightly to the right (where they sit in a traditional orchestral set-up).
The woodwind patches are of high-quality, I was really impressed by the sound and clarity of the patches. If you have read any of my previous reviews, I favor clear-sounding samples. This is no exception. There is no stage noise in the recording which makes for a favorable mixing situation.
The woodwinds sound great as they are out of the box with little to no MIDI programming done. This is perfect for composers learning about DAWs and how to mock up as the samples alone already sound good.
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