Cinematic Strings 2.0 Quickstart Guide
To begin using Cinematic Strings, select a patch from the instrument list and either double click or drag it
into Kontakt.
There are 5 patches in version 2.0 of Cinematic Strings. 1st Violins, 2nd Violins, Violas, Cellos and
Basses. Each patch gives you full access to all microphones and articulations within that section.
Selecting Articulations
Selecting articulations can be achieved in 2 ways. You can either assign what are commonly known as
Keyswitches, or use a MIDI CC.
A Keyswitch is a key on the keyboard outside of the playable range of the instrument, with the purpose of
selecting between articulations, or interacting with switches (eg switching legato on or off). By default, we
have used the octave below C1, ie C0 – B0. So while using these default settings, pressing C#0 will
activate Tremolo, and F0 will activate Staccato. Switches like Legato can be switched on and off via G#0
and A0 under the default settings. These settings can easily be changed to fit in with your own working
method. To assign your own Keyswitches to the articulations, simply hold "Shift" and click on any of the
buttons next to any of the articulations.
The other method is to use a MIDI CC to select your articulation. Select "Keyswitch" via the drop down
box on the advanced menu and choose your desired CC.
0 - 10 Arco low position 51 - 60 Run mode 111 - live mode off
116 - Vibrato on
11 - 20 Arco high position 61 - 70 Staccato 112 - legato on
117 - Vibrato off
21 - 30 Tremolo
71 - 80 Marcato 113 - legato ff
118 - Releases on
31 - 40 Halftrill
81 - 90 Pizzicato 114 - Staccato overlay on
119 - Releases off
41 - 50 Wholetrill
110 - live mode on 115 - Staccato overlay off
Articulations can also be switched off to save additional RAM by clicking on the switch to the right-hand
side. Clicking the switch back to the on position reloads the samples for that articulation back into RAM.
You can switch various articulations on and off and resave these Kontakt patches if you'd like to create
your own database of individual patches.
Mixing
The mixer operates just as you'd expect it to. Each fader will control the volume of the microphone listed
below. Microphones can be loaded and unloaded from RAM to save memory if desired. In the patches
provided, the Mix position will load by default – you will know a microphone is loaded when the blue
light beneath the fader is on. If you click on this light, a yellow light will come on to indicate that it is
muted.If you wish to unload a microphone to save RAM, simply hold shift and click on the area where the
2 lights are located below each fader. To load a microphone, click on that same area without holding shift
Legato, chords and vibrato control
Legato transitions are triggered by overlapping 2 sustained notes. Playing a legato note with a velocity of
less than 60 will trigger a standard transition – this will sound without vibrato and smoothly transition to
vibrato. If you'd like a quicker, more direct transition, play the new note with a velocity of 60 or greater –
vibrato will come on faster and it will sound more energetic. This effect is subtle, but useful - practice and
experimentation is key.
Turning legato off via the switch on the main page will disable the monophonic playing mode and allow
you to play chords.
Controlling vibrato intensity in realtime is possible via CC2 by default. You can assign your own CC via
the drop down box on the advanced page.
Playing Position and Short note switch
Upon selecting the arco articulation, you'll notice the "playing position" dial on the right-hand side
displays 2 settings – Low and High. Cinematic Strings features sustains recorded in low and high position.
For example - playing a high position G3 on the violins (G one octave above low G) will be performed on
the G string. This has a much smoother and richer tone than a low position G3, which is played on the D
string – which sounds much brighter. Each have their distinct uses, and we recommend experimenting
with each to gain a better idea of what to expect.
Upon selecting the staccato articulation, the same dial discussed above will now display the labels
"staccatissimo" and "staccato."
Live mode
A big part of the beauty of an orchestra comes from what you might call "natural human energy." The
sound of the combined efforts of 80 odd musicians working together in harmony to create something
emotive. In fast passages, even the best orchestras in the world will go slightly out of tune and time with
each other, and this effect sounds great!
With Live mode, we aimed to capture this natural effect. To use it, play a fast passage in staccatissimo
mode – a fast ostinato, an arpeggio or a run – you decide. Live mode automatically splices custom
samples into the mix which gives the feeling of players slightly missing the beat, being slightly out of tune
– all the sorts of things you'd expect in a hectic musical passage. You can switch it on or off via the switch
on the main page, and adjust the intensity of it via the dial on the advanced page.
Short note lengths
Upon switching to the advanced menu, you'll notice slider bars for controlling the length of your short
notes. These work by shortening the first portion (the attack) of the note if you move the left hand side of
the slider, and the second portion (the release) if you move the right hand side of the slider. This way, you
can create a tighter, snappier sounding staccato, whilst leaving the release trail fairly long. Alternatively
you could shorten them both to create a very short, controlled staccato note.
Staccato overlay and releases
While playing any of the sustain aritculations (arco, tremolo or trills), you can trigger what we call a
“staccato overlay,” which as you might guess, layers a staccato sample over the top of the start of the note.
This can be done by simply playing a note with a velocity of 60 or above. The volume of the overlay
sample will increase depending on the velocity between 60 and 127. This is a useful feature for accenting
notes.
Releases are triggered automatically via our advanced scripting system - which adjusts the volume of all
triggered releases automatically depending on the volume of the current note you are playing and its
position in the passage. We recommend leaving them on for maximum realism, but if you’d like to turn
them off you can, via the switch in the advanced menu.
Reverb
We've included a hall reverb preset which matches the sound of the hall we recorded in. This reverb can
blend nicely with other reverbs, and is low on CPU usage (about 2% on an average computer). Click and
drag to adjust the setting – drag all the way to the bottom to switch it off, control click to reset it to its
default setting of +3dB, which we recommend when using it on its own.