Two Ensembles, Two Rooms, One Limitless Experience

Synchron Duality Strings comprises two string ensembles that were sampled at once, playing in separate rooms at Synchron Stage Vienna. While the larger ensemble played in the famous main hall, Stage A, the smaller ensemble was recorded in the relatively dry Stage B. Both ensembles performed together, with the conductor on the podium in Stage A also directing the ensemble in Stage B via video monitors.

INTRODUCING SYNCHRON DUALITY STRINGS!

A Common Question – What do you do if you want your string ensemble to sound closer, more direct, maybe crispier? You raise the close-mic faders, which features the section leaders more prominently in your mix. But that pulls unwanted focus toward fewer instruments. You actually want the entire ensemble to be closer, without losing its breadth and depth. So you try layering differently recorded sample libraries, but their performances don’t match, and it’s nearly impossible to create a cohesive result. Wouldn’t it be great to have wet and dry, large and smaller recorded ensembles available in the same player, with recordings of two separate string sections performing in perfect sync?

A Unique Solution – Enter Synchron Duality Strings. Once again, Vienna Symphonic Library is breaking new ground with a unique library that offers unprecedented possibilities. Synchron Duality Strings comprises two string ensembles that were sampled at once, playing in separate rooms at Synchron Stage Vienna. While the larger ensemble played in the famous main hall, Stage A, the smaller ensemble was recorded in the relatively dry Stage B. Both ensembles performed together, with the conductor on the podium in Stage A also directing the ensemble in Stage B via video monitors.

And that’s where the magic happens! With the musicians’ ability to hear each other from different rooms, all musical aspects of every performance are perfectly in sync, such as volume, timbre, vibrato, note length, and phrasing, for every articulation. Thanks to Synchron Stage Vienna’s unique size, flexibility, and technical capabilities, Synchron Duality Strings is the realization of what other library companies can only dream of.

Synchron Duality Strings Overview:

• Two acoustically isolated string ensembles performing simultaneously at Synchron Stage Vienna
• Large ensemble recorded on the iconic Stage A (14 1st Violins, 12 2nd Violins, 10 Violas, 10 Cellos, 6 Basses)
• Smaller ensemble recorded in the smaller, dryer Stage B (8 1st Violins, 6 2nd Violins, 5 Violas, 5 Cellos, 3 Basses)
• Use them in combination or separately
• Available with combined mic options and mixer presets
• Seamlessly blend the large broad ensemble with the closer-miked small ensemble
• Comprehensive collection of articulations

Create Your Own Blend

While the mic setup in Stage A delivers the broad, sought-after string ensemble sound featured in countless movies and TV series, the smaller ensemble in Stage B was recorded with two different sets of microphones, offering bright and dark sounding variants. This unique approach gave Synchron Stage Vienna’s chief engineer, Bernd Mazagg, the ability to create mixer presets with unprecedented flexibility and creative options. It also enables you to customize your own string sound organically and effortlessly within the Synchron Player.

Dual Personalities

Beyond the wholly different ambiences of the two spaces, the ensembles themselves provide useful contrast. Where the larger ensemble has a fuller, more symphonic sound, the smaller ensemble provides a transparent and clear tonality that adds a certain polish when blended with the larger group. Both ensembles feature Vienna’s best musicians from the renowned Synchron Stage Orchestra, performing at the highest levels of musicality.

Extensive Articulations, Easily Accessible

Articulations include a wide variety of short notes, long notes, various legato variations (normal, agile, slurred, portamento), espressivo, with various attacks and note releases, plus pizzicato, col legno, tremolo variants, fast repetitions, trills, harmonics, glissandos, legato and détaché runs, and much more. In addition to the Synchron Player’s usual articulation switching capabilities, there’s now a new category of preconfigured patches that allows you to switch articulations using key velocity, e.g., between spiccato and staccato, between different attacks of détachés and long notes, between up and down movements of glissandos and runs, etc.

This extensive collection delivers the best of both worlds – a large ambient string ensemble, and a dry chamber-sized ensemble, with 100% matching performances. Regardless of how you use them, in combination or separately, Synchron Duality Strings delivers a magnificent sound with unprecedented flexibility and countless expressive possibilities, from intimate intensity to passionate power, and everything in between.

ARTICULATION GROUP	ARTICULATIONS
Short notes	Spiccato normal and tight Staccato Détaché normal, marcato, soft All with bold and agile attack variants
Long notes	Sustains with soft and strong vibrato, normal/soft/fast/sfz attack Espressivo Swell All with normal, soft, and very soft release
Performance legato	Legato normal and agile, soft/strong vibrato and espressivo (normal only), normal/fast/sfz attack Slurred legato, soft/strong vibrato and espressivo, normal/fast/sfz attack Portamento, soft/strong vibrato and espressivo, normal/fast/sfz attack All with normal, soft, and very soft release
Tremolo	Tremolo fast and slow, normal/legato/slurred transitions, with normal, fast, and sfz attack Crossfading combinations slow X fast, sus X fast Measured tremolo, 120/130/140/160/180 BPM, normal/legato/slurred/cut transitions
Trills	Trills, minor 2nd to major 3rd, normal/legato/slurred transitions
Pizzicato	Pizzicato, bold and agile Snap pizzicato Col legno, bold and agile
Harmonics	Sustained, normal and fast attack Tremolo, normal and fast attack Staccato, bold and agile Crossfading combinations harmonics sus X trem, long sus X harmonics sus, trem X harmonics trem
Glissandos	Glissandos normal and tremolo, fast and slow Octave, fifth, and major 2nd Up and down
Runs	Legato and détaché runs Octave, fifth, third (key and modal) Up and down