

VSL libraries are powered by the Vienna Instruments sample player, which features a large, user–configurable patch–switching matrix and intelligent performance detection of legato intervals, note repetitions and playing speed. Since 2002 the company have churned out over two million samples and countless instruments, winning a reputation for musical depth, detail and precision.

We’ll start with Vienna Symphonic Library, the world’s most prolific developer of orchestral sample libraries. In order to make effective comparisons, single–instrument libraries which don’t comprise the whole strings family are excluded. We’ve also included all–in–one symphonic products which feature strings along with other orchestral instruments. This round-up focuses on stand–alone strings libraries dating from 2002 onwards, most of which incorporate ‘interval legatos’ and round robins (see the ‘Legato Revolution’ box for an explanation of these terms). We hope our analysis will help you decide which orchestral strings library is best suited to your music and budget! The majority of these titles have received in–depth SOS reviews, which can be read online via the links in the ‘SOS Reviews’ box. To throw some light on the subject, we’ve compiled a selection of the current sample libraries and virtual instruments which feature orchestral strings, and analysed their contents and characteristics. As a result, deciding which library to buy can be a bewildering experience, and (as with all commodities) it’s sometimes difficult to separate fact from advertising hyperbole. While these format shifts have greatly inconvenienced some users, they’ve done nothing to stem the flow of new strings sample libraries, a product line which has proliferated in recent years.
#KONTAKT 4 SESSION STRINGS SOFTWARE#
Gigastudio is now defunct, a software success story turned sour nowadays, sample developers tend to favour the ubiquitous Kontakt sampler format, or they use proprietary player software which works only with their products. The ’90s saw a steady trickle of Akai–format orchestral libraries, but with the advent of the PC–based Gigastudio in 2000, the trickle turned into a torrent. When Miroslav Vitous released his Symphonic Orchestra Samples CDs in 1993, no–one could have predicted the avalanche of similar products that was to follow. The quality and variety of orchestral string libraries continues to grow.
