Orchestral Tools: Berlin Solo Strings Sample Library

Throughout its nearly 20-year history, Orchestral Tools has established itself as one of the premier voices in orchestral and cinematic sample libraries. I’ve always viewed them as one of the “basic food group” companies for any composer’s tool kit. From the large ensembles of the Berlin and Metropolis Ark collection to the intricate textures of TIME and the Fabrik series to the Chinese palette of Phoenix Orchestra, Orchestral Tools’ lineup alone could likely help a composer get any given score across the finish line. The sample library market is a crowded space, with most or all of the low-hanging fruit having long since been picked multiple times over. Sample libraries – specifically orchestral sample libraries – are fighting over smaller and smaller niches and applications. Case in point: Berlin Solo Strings is Orchestral Tools’ second solo strings library, following Berlin Strings First Chairs.

Generally speaking, the purpose of a given solo strings library can be used somewhere along a four-box grid: On one axis, (1) their intended purpose is either primarily as companions to larger ensembles or (2) as true solo instruments that exist on their own; on the other axis, (3) they are generally either slow and expressive (with better tone), or (4) responsive and easy to play (with worse tone). Most solo libraries fall squarely into one of those four boxes; few are able to cross over to another box, let alone all four. As Orchestral Tools says, the older Berlin Strings First Chairs library is intended to “add definition to your string ensembles,” and it does so quite well – I view it as essentially an extension of Berlin Strings’ close mics. It’s a great example of a library that fits into the “companion to larger ensembles/slower but good tone” category.

However, the new Berlin Solo Strings library might be the first library of its kind to check multiple boxes. Where Berlin First Chairs’ tone is spicey, Solo Strings is wonderfully warm and intimate. Where First Chairs’ attack is a touch soupy (and thus can sound a little synthy if played on its own), Solo Strings’ attack is extremely realistic – provided one learns to play the library correctly. My first impression was that its attack was almost too fast, but after digging into the library’s comprehensive walkthrough video, I learned how to control it almost entirely via velocity.

Similarly, while I was initially put off by the extremely dramatic vibrato of the first patch, Expressive Sustains, digging into the Cinematic and Sul Tasto patches gave me the same warm tone and easy playability, with a progressively more subtle and down-to-earth vibrato. With time, I was able to make the library sing. That said, I do have some minor complaints. I would prefer direct vibrato control via a MIDI CC, as having essentially three vibrato “presets” between the Expressive, Cinematic, and Sul Tasto patches isn’t quite enough for me – though, the Evolving Vib patches of the aforementioned categories help to mitigate that, at the expense of more time spent programming MIDI. On that note, due to the incredible control at one’s fingertips and the number of articulations, ironically, one often needs to focus both on their performance and MIDI editing after the fact. It can be difficult to get note transitions exactly right, but doing so is required to reach maximum expression and realism, especially if the library is being used on its own. That said, the potential realism that can be achieved is quite stunning, so the effort is worth it.

The lack of a bass instrument is an obvious oversight; if you need that, First Chairs is the only solo strings library in Orchestral Tools’ catalog that provides it. Overall, though, Orchestral Tools may have hit this out of the park too well, as I actually prefer the new Berlin Solo Strings library to add definition to the Berlin Strings ensembles instead of Berlin Strings First Chairs. The library works incredibly well for quartet pieces and can easily achieve long, expressive sounds comparable to, say, Cinesamples’ Tina Guo Acoustic Cello Legato library while also providing the agility of a library such as Virharmonic’s Bohemian Violin, all while sounding extremely nuanced and realistic. Berlin Solo Strings truly bridges all four boxes, is an incredibly solid addition to the Orchestral Tools lineup, and is a step forward for solo strings sample libraries in general.