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Pacific Strings - user demo thread

Stevie said:
Pacific Strings: all melody lines
Chord Trems and Ostinati: Modern Scoring Strings
Runs: CSS

View attachment Enchanted Love.mp3
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Hi Stevie, that sounds amazing. Since you already made one demotrack for MSS (back when it came out) I'd be interested if you could share some tips how you tame MSS.
(I basically stopped using it more or less since I find it always needs a lot of extra work to make this library sound good.)
 
Living Fossil said:
Hi Stevie, that sounds amazing. Since you already made one demotrack for MSS (back when it came out) I'd be interested if you could share some tips how you tame MSS.
(I basically stopped using it more or less since I find it always needs a lot of extra work to make this library sound good.)
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Thanks a lot!

I gotta confess, that I pretty much use it as it is out of the box. I might disable the full mix and switch to the room mics and add some send reverb. But that's pretty much it!
Maybe you can elaborate on what your main issues are, maybe I can help.
 
Stevie said:
I gotta confess, that I pretty much use it as it is out of the box. I might disable the full mix and switch to the room mics and add some send reverb. But that's pretty much it!
Maybe you can elaborate on what your main issues are, maybe I can help.
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My main issue were some negative aspects of the sound, those nasty resonances (of the room where the lib was recorded) as well as the phaseyness of the articulations that use Kontakt's time machine.
While I used MSS in lots of projects, I always thought the sound per se has something off-putting.
Usually I could resolve these issues with (dynamic) EQs, Soothe 2 and similar tools once a cue was finished (I never had solutions that would work in a general way), but it made the work process an unpleasant one.
Specially when the string lines were exposed and not doubled with other instrument families.
 
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What I do with pretty much all libraries: after having tried it out extensively, I pick the gems of a library and use it explicitly for that purpose. Having said that, it's very hard to beat Pacific / Vista for THAT soaring string sound.

I regard it like that: when I need to quickly get the job done, I'd rather reach out for something established. Another good example would be the short / measured strings from CSS. I always use them for shorts because I know what the result will be and that it will make me happy. Of course there are exceptions... sometimes, for whatever reason, an established library doesn't work the way I want. For example: some string runs work really well with CSS but some don't. Then I will dive into another library and get surprised, because I would never have used library X for that purpose.

Now to MSS: what I do sometimes (and usually forget) is deactivate the applied EQ in the Mixer page and do my own EQing. However, I really like the EQ when playing the trems and the ostinati. In my piece, I literally only added some reverb to MSS and there is Blyss on the master output with a slight boost on the low and high end, which gives it more body.
 
Stevie said:
Now to MSS: what I do sometimes (and usually forget) is deactivate the applied EQ in the Mixer page and do my own EQing. However, I really like the EQ when playing the trems and the ostinati. In my piece, I literally only added some reverb to MSS and there is Blyss on the master output with a slight boost on the low and high end, which gives it more body.
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Thanks a lot for your answer!
Maybe I should give MSS another try one day...but I think you obviously just do a pretty great job (indeed, your MSS demo was more or less the one that made me buy the library, since it sounded great [interestingly I've heard the things that annoy me in all other demos...]. :)
Right now, I'm just pretty amazed by Pacific (in tandem with Vista and Nashville) and lately I used the old 8io Adagio for layering (the shorts are great as well as the legato, as long as it's mixed with another library).
CSS is among the libs that I think sound pretty great whenever I use it (I haven't updated to the newer version yet), but I don't use very often because the inconsistent delay of the legato notes.
 
well, at least for now, here are some mock-ups of film music i love, done over the last few months to test my pacific-based template

all the strings in these are pacific aside from the solo violin in the first, which is solos of the sea violin a

also bear in mind this is a template, not out of the box, and in some cases i've dramatically changed the seating of the strings, added room tone etc., with other tweaks to microphones, eq, and reverb

this is just how *i* want pacific to sound

View attachment 1.mp3
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View attachment 5.mp3
View attachment 6.mp3
 
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annatar said:
well, at least for now, here are some mock-ups of film music i love, done over the last few months to test my pacific-based template

all the strings in these are pacific aside from the solo violin in the first, which is solos of the sea violin a

also bear in mind this is a template, not out of the box, and in some cases i've dramatically changed the seating of the strings, added room tone etc., with other tweaks to microphones, eq, and reverb

this is just how *i* want pacific to sound

View attachment 1.mp3
View attachment 2.mp3
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View attachment 4.mp3
View attachment 5.mp3
View attachment 6.mp3
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I loved it. Also loved your attention to good expression.

Can I ask what the other libraries you generally use? Only ask because it blends very nicely so curious what most naturally went with Pacific. Though it feels like Pacific is versatile in its ability to blend to others.

I have Pacific but just haven't had the chance to use it much (kids, work etc)
 
I like music said:
I loved it. Also loved your attention to good expression.

Can I ask what the other libraries you generally use? Only ask because it blends very nicely so curious what most naturally went with Pacific. Though it feels like Pacific is versatile in its ability to blend to others.

I have Pacific but just haven't had the chance to use it much (kids, work etc)
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hi, i think the specifics of the libraries don't matter much when it comes to "blending" as long as the ensemble and room sizes correspond pretty closely and you can probably even fudge that a little

similarity of mic setups is also quite important; because pacific is just the close mics and the somewhat blurred AB pair it takes a little maneuvering to get it to sit as you'd expect with a more typical tree-based setup but yeah that does also make it more flexible in a way? that sort of left/right signal sounds less weird when adjusted than something like an LCR tree would in my opinion but idk

mostly though it's just a matter of balance, panning, and a little EQ, much more than using this or that specific library, and all these tests are how i've been fine tuning all that

some strings will do that stuff for you much easier out of the box, but given the edge pacific has on all the competition when it comes to almost every other aspect, it seems well worth it to have to make those sonic adjustments, compared to something which sounds beautiful at loading but has other shortcomings you can't mitigate much, if at all

i think the finished pacific orchestra will be very hard to beat as the foundation for a template filled out with whatever other large orchestra stuff one is inclined to use, and i'm still unsure of what exactly i want to pick for that filling out. these tests bode well for what i'm currently using but i can't help wondering what i'm missing out on, what silly headaches could be lessened by going elsewhere
 
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annatar said:
well, at least for now, here are some mock-ups of film music i love, done over the last few months to test my pacific-based template

all the strings in these are pacific aside from the solo violin in the first, which is solos of the sea violin a

also bear in mind this is a template, not out of the box, and in some cases i've dramatically changed the seating of the strings, added room tone etc., with other tweaks to microphones, eq, and reverb

this is just how *i* want pacific to sound

View attachment 1.mp3
View attachment 2.mp3
View attachment 3.mp3
View attachment 4.mp3
View attachment 5.mp3
View attachment 6.mp3
Click to expand...
Your mock ups sounds very good, rich and espresive. Thank you for sharing.
 
Living Fossil said:
Thanks a lot for your answer!
Maybe I should give MSS another try one day...but I think you obviously just do a pretty great job (indeed, your MSS demo was more or less the one that made me buy the library, since it sounded great [interestingly I've heard the things that annoy me in all other demos...]. :)
Right now, I'm just pretty amazed by Pacific (in tandem with Vista and Nashville) and lately I used the old 8io Adagio for layering (the shorts are great as well as the legato, as long as it's mixed with another library).
CSS is among the libs that I think sound pretty great whenever I use it (I haven't updated to the newer version yet), but I don't use very often because the inconsistent delay of the legato notes.
Click to expand...
Thanks man! One last MSS tip and then I will shut up since it's all about Pacific here...
Use the legato patch and play chords to slide/glide from one chord into another: magic and only works with MSS! ;)
 
annatar said:
well, at least for now, here are some mock-ups of film music i love, done over the last few months to test my pacific-based template

all the strings in these are pacific aside from the solo violin in the first, which is solos of the sea violin a

also bear in mind this is a template, not out of the box, and in some cases i've dramatically changed the seating of the strings, added room tone etc., with other tweaks to microphones, eq, and reverb

this is just how *i* want pacific to sound

View attachment 1.mp3
View attachment 2.mp3
View attachment 3.mp3
View attachment 4.mp3
View attachment 5.mp3
View attachment 6.mp3
Click to expand...
This is some fantastic work. Last example shows why rebows are so important to sample.

Side note, I know the music from 2, 3 & 4 (Shawshank Redemption and LotR respectively), but what are the others? Especially 5 and 6 sound familiar but I can't place them. First one has to be Hans Zimmer, right?
 
Snarf said:
This is some fantastic work. Last example shows why rebows are so important to sample.

Side note, I know the music from 2, 3 & 4 (Shawshank Redemption and LotR respectively), but what are the others? Especially 5 and 6 sound familiar but I can't place them. First one has to be Hans Zimmer, right?
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Good old Horner/Braveheart. One of my favourite motifs in there. Especially the very last track of the film. I don't think anyone could have done those last 7 minutes as well as Horner did.

 
annatar said:
well, at least for now, here are some mock-ups of film music i love, done over the last few months to test my pacific-based template

all the strings in these are pacific aside from the solo violin in the first, which is solos of the sea violin a

also bear in mind this is a template, not out of the box, and in some cases i've dramatically changed the seating of the strings, added room tone etc., with other tweaks to microphones, eq, and reverb

this is just how *i* want pacific to sound

View attachment 1.mp3
View attachment 2.mp3
View attachment 3.mp3
View attachment 4.mp3
View attachment 5.mp3
View attachment 6.mp3
Click to expand...
Hi @annatar


Superb mockups here, very organic and well programmed, congratulations!

I personally find your mockup of "Balin's tomb / Dwarrowdelf" especially impressive. Could you please tell us a little more about the use of Pacific Strings in the latter (pan/EQ ? Inversion of the cello and violin sections 2 as in the original OST or did you keep the "classic" positioning of the string sections of the orchestra?).

Those brass and choirs also sound fantastic... what libraries are used here (it looks like Caspian and Oceania but I might be completely wrong)?

Thank you in advance!
 
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Snarf said:
This is some fantastic work. Last example shows why rebows are so important to sample.

Side note, I know the music from 2, 3 & 4 (Shawshank Redemption and LotR respectively), but what are the others? Especially 5 and 6 sound familiar but I can't place them. First one has to be Hans Zimmer, right?
Click to expand...
as you've been told by others, 5 and 6 are from horner's braveheart. the first is from angels & demons by hans, the track "science and religion", missing the synth/percussion stuff because i was too lazy to recreate those elements

EricValette said:
I personally find your mockup of "Balin's tomb / Dwarrowdelf" especially impressive. Could you please tell us a little more about the use of Pacific Strings in the latter (pan/EQ ? Inversion of the cello and violin sections 2 as in the original OST or did you keep the "classic" positioning of the string sections of the orchestra?).
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yeah the strings for the shore and zimmer stuff use that different seating. the others use a variant of the same template but with the traditional seating. as for eq, well, imitating a passage and doing match eq between your version and the original can be illuminating if approached responsibly

EricValette said:
hose brass and choirs also sound fantastic... what libraries are used here (it looks like Caspian and Oceania but I might be completely wrong)?
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chorus for all the choral stuff. brass is a mix but no caspian in these (great for some stuff though)

uhh, finally, regarding what the audio embedding process on this site does to quality:

giphy.gif
 
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