Soft String Soloists
Inspired by the signature Scandinavian string sound that has become a staple in modern drama soundtracks, Soft String Soloists features a trio of violin, viola, and cello, performing at a softer dynamic to evoke a more emotive and intimate tone.
As composers, we often find ourselves reaching for solo strings when scoring emotive or subtle scenes. However, we noticed a gap: many of the string libraries out there are recorded with a more prominent and virtuosic tone, which soars above the orchestra but doesn't lend itself to softer and more intimate compositions.
To address this, we created Soft String Soloists, a versatile legato library inspired by the popular “Scandi String” sound that has become a hallmark of neo-classical music and contemporary drama scoring.
Soft String Soloists features solo violin, viola, and cello, utilising our Smart Legato engine, first introduced with Brass Band Soloists, for ultra-realistic playback and an exceptional level of control. Each instrument offers two stunning legato types (standard and portamento), along with an array of long, short, and swelled articulations typical of the genre.
Recorded in a traditional string quartet layout in the hall at Nave Studios, the library provides full control over mix, offering close, mid and far microphone positions, allowing users to achieve anything from an intimate to a spacious, ambient sound. With our innovative Instrument Placement feature, each instrument can be positioned anywhere within the hall layout, enabling the instruments to be placed in different ensemble configurations, as well as a centre stereo option, ensuring easy integration with other libraries in your collection.
Sophisticated Controls
As with Brass Band Soloists, this library also benefits from our innovative Smart Legato engine and Instrument Placement options, making the task of composing less about technical adjustments and more about creativity.
In Smart Mode, the instrument automatically analyses incoming MIDI notes and selects the ideal transition length, ensuring smooth playback without further editing, all while delivering an authentically expressive sound.
The realism of this feature is driven by latency: by delaying the audible output, the engine can 'look ahead' and adjust the performance in real time. The higher the latency, the more naturally the instrument responds. The latency figure shown in the legato settings is accurate, allowing you to compensate with the negative track delay function in your DAW, ensuring perfect timing as long as your MIDI is quantised. This allows you to focus more on composing, while the instrument takes care of the finer details.
The Scandi Style
We recorded these Solo Strings in the distinctive “Scandi String” style, known for its airy, delicate dynamics that reveal the softer, more fragile side of stringed instruments. This style has become the signature sound of many contemporary neoclassical works.
What sets this sound apart is its profound emotional depth. By capturing the performers' nuanced expressions, each sample resonates with a human touch that makes this library a joy to explore and play with.
Spatial Placement
As with many of our other libraries, we have created production-ready mixes from the array of microphones used in the session. The close signal allows for a super intimate and up-front sound, whilst the far mics introduce a more dispersed sound.
Instrument Placement offers three flexible options. The first, “In-Situ,” places each instrument in the natural positions of a traditional string quartet. For more creative control, our innovative Custom Position feature lets you place any instrument anywhere on the stage – further back, closer to the front, or even opposite its original position. This allows you to double instruments across different positions to expand the ensemble or place them in the centre of the stage for solo compositions.
We've also included a Centre Stereo option for those who want to minimise natural panning from the “In-Situ” setup. This makes it easy to use your DAW's reverb and panning tools to blend the instrument seamlessly with other libraries, giving you maximum control over the final sound.
Instruments
We were delighted to have once again collaborated with our first chair players from the chamber ensemble behind String Formations: Andra Vornicu (Violin), Rebecca Stubbs (Viola), and Matthew Phillips (Cello). With their exceptional talent and growing experience in sampling with us, we have fostered a strong, collaborative relationship, bringing a unique synergy to the creation of sounds in this library.
<!--spoiler_text-->Legato (Standard)
Sustained notes with legato intervals and multiple round-robin same-note repeats.
Legato (Portamento)
Longer transitions that glide expressively between each note, triggered by using a lower velocity when transitioning to a new note.
Sustain
Sustained long notes with a soft and delicate tone.
Harmonics
Sustained long notes produced by lightly pressing on the string to produce an airy harmonic, sounding an octave above the performed note.
Sustain (Slow)
Long notes where the players perform a slow attack and slower release to offer a more emotive sustain option.
Gesture
A short note with added vibrato as the player swells into the note for added emotional depth.
Gestures (Cello)
A shorter Gesture than the Violin and Viola without vibrato, and a longer Gesture with vibrato.
Swell (Short)
A short swell with a quick crescendo and diminuendo, peaking at mf.
Swell (Medium)
Slightly longer than the short swell available on Violin and Viola.
Swell (Long)
A longer swell, with a bow-change in the middle.<!--spoiler_text_end--><!--/dle_spoiler-->
Features
- Includes solo violin, viola, and cello
- 9 articulations per instrument (27 in total), including two types of legato
- 3 microphone positions (close, mid, far)
- Advanced Smart Legato performance engine
- Flexible instrument placement (In Situ, Custom Position, and Stereo Centre)
- Recommended 16GB RAM, 8 Core Processor, Store on SSD
- Full NKS support – works with Komplete Kontrol hardware
- 36GB download size (NCW compressed from a 58GB sample pool)
- Download through Native Access
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