NOVO Strings by Heavyocity

[Muziksculp]

Looks like Strings !

Teaser 1



Teaser 2



Teaser 3

[Jack Weaver]

For their sakes, let's hope it's better than what Output just delivered.

.

[TheUnfinished]

Everybody doing processed strings at the same time? That's Output, Heavyocity and Gothic Instruments.

Who will be the victor?! *cues up WWE style graphics*

[Muziksculp]

I'm hoping this is not another Processed Strings library.

But given Heavyocity's track record it could be just another processed Strings library.

We shall know soon.

[Muziksculp]

Heavyocity NOVO Stirngs (Coming March 30th)

Teaser 3




New Demos :

[Muziksculp]

I like what I hear in the NOVO demos so far.

I wonder what the price of NOVO will be ? and if they will offer a Special Intro. Price ?

[Guy Rowland]

I did take a look at the website - https://www.heavyocity.com/product/NOVO/ - still rather confused as to what this actually, ya know, is. There's talk of loops, some kind of mangling engine, marcos... which all sounds rather flaky, but then they talk about separate up / down bowings for staccatos. So is it a conventional string library with knobs on, or what?

(actually, I'm more than happy to wait a week for the answer...)

[Muziksculp]

I did take a look at the website - https://www.heavyocity.com/product/NOVO/ - still rather confused as to what this actually, ya know, is. There's talk of loops, some kind of mangling engine, marcos... which all sounds rather flaky, but then they talk about separate up / down bowings for staccatos. So is it a conventional string library with knobs on, or what?

(actually, I'm more than happy to wait a week for the answer...)

I'm guessing NOVO will offer both a traditional Strings Library, which will have most of the standard Strings articulations, and then allow you to take it to the mangling, sound-design realm via some unique tools they have included in NOVO.

I might be wrong, but that's my wild guess / initial impression, also listening to the NOVO demos will give you a good hint at what they are all about.

[playz123]

It's out, and it isn't inexpensive.....$549.00! Heavyocity customers get $150 off, but that's still $399 US. Will definitely hold off on this one, until I've heard a lot more from people who buy it.

[Guy Rowland]

Here's that overview I was looking for a couple of weeks ago



Looks pretty good - I guess it's really aimed squarely at the hybrid crowd.

[X-bassist]

Looking forward to users responses, whether it can be used as a traditional string library as well. The $150 off for past customers only lasts until 4/13/17 (2 weeks) so no waiting for their half price sale ($549/2 = $275-150 = $125 = sweeeet!) but I suppose that's expecting far too much in the 1st year of release. An interesting buy at $275 (maybe next Nov black Friday?) but at $399 (or $549!) not so sure. I suppose if I didn't have loads of strings already...

Also, curious to know why their content overview videos go through so little content? There's more about the purging of samples than the actually playing the patches (or snapshots in this case). Weird. After seeing all the videos I still feel like I've only heard a sliver of this 28GB of compressed samples.

[Scoredog]

I don't think they are done with videos yet. You might want to check my mini review on VI.
As far as using it as a traditional library, there are some nice patches but not enough to cover what other companies already have out there.
The library is very clean, the longs are good but no real vibrato to speak of. The legato probably won't get used much if you have another string library. The shorts are just spiccs, they do sound very good and are punchy. So do all the other articulations and the extended technique patches are great. I believe they did a bang up job creating source material for their sound design engine, enough so that they could release a clean string library but, and I may be wrong, the focus is on a modern effected string lib.

[byzantium]

They don't do a whole lot for me, but here is a newish walkthrough of NOVO for interest.

[Muziksculp]

Hi,

NOVO Strings are an interesting, and unique type of strings library. I think it is especially good if you are seeking edgy type of string sounds, and then take them to the next step of sound-design territory. But, I really don't need this type of functionality at this time, maybe I will need this type of strings library and functionality in the future, for the time being I don't. I should also add that I wasn't fond of the cold/edgy sound of the Traditional Strings of this library, I wish they sounded warmer, and more emotional, but that's not what I was hearing.

So ... Instead of buying NOVO Strings, I purchased three Strings Libraries from

Musical Sampling's : Soaring Strings , Adventure Strings, Trailer Strings. These three libraries sounded very good to me when I heard the demos, and watched the walkthrough, and should add a lot of variety, and functionality to my current string libraries collection. Plus, they are quite compact size wise, so they were fast to download, and install.

I'm still eager to hear more feedback from those who went ahead and purchased NOVO Strings, and maybe hear some of their NOVO demos.

Conclusion : I'm very happy with my decision

Cheers,
Muziksculp

[chillbot]

Looking forward to users responses, whether it can be used as a traditional string library as well.

In my opinion, no. However, the high string textures are quite good... I can see myself using them instead of Tundra for that sort of stuff.

But as a synth library it's truly fantastic.

[Bernard]

Thought about this one from Heavyocity long and hard. Decided will get it. Could be more than useful for library work depending on genre.

[Scoredog]

It excels at tension/horror/drama beds etc but decided to see what happens with something more positive.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/317 ... 0Light.aif

I can do a naked version if anyone is interested. Also looked at Dronar which i think I am going to get, you would think it is similar put the approaches are soo different there is very little crossover material oddly, and the price of Dronar is so inexpensive I'll probably pick that up too. The stuff they both do, NOVO sounds a lot better but there is a wealth of articulations in Dronar that make it compelling.The sounds and recordings in NOVO are just a lot warmer, it just feels way more expensive. Dronar in general sounds hollow to my ears in comparison, the recording quality a league below NOVO. It kind of feels like a Porche is NOVO and a Chevy is Dronar but they threw in every gadget and after market device they could think of. Also not everything needs to sound hi fi to be useful.

[X-bassist]

It excels at tension/horror/drama beds etc but decided to see what happens with something more positive.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/317 ... 0Light.aif

I can do a naked version if anyone is interested. Also looked at Dronar which i think I am going to get, you would think it is similar put the approaches are soo different there is very little crossover material oddly, and the price of Dronar is so inexpensive I'll probably pick that up too. The stuff they both do, NOVO sounds a lot better but there is a wealth of articulations in Dronar that make it compelling.The sounds and recordings in NOVO are just a lot warmer, it just feels way more expensive. Dronar in general sounds hollow to my ears in comparison, the recording quality a league below NOVO. It kind of feels like a Porche is NOVO and a Chevy is Dronar but they threw in every gadget and after market device they could think of. Also not everything needs to sound hi fi to be useful.

Sounds great! Wonderful sound between strings and synth, smooth hybrid strings. Daniel James' video is also inspiring, although I could spend hours tweaking all the options. Also don't know that I can update to Kontakt 5.6.6 for this ATM (my entire OS would need an update which might kill my DAW ) but perhaps a future Heavyocity half price sale (next fall?) will convice me to jump in. For now I'm building with what I have.

DJ's inspiring walkthrough:

[X-bassist]

Here's that overview I was looking for a couple of weeks ago

Looks pretty good - I guess it's really aimed squarely at the hybrid crowd.

Perhaps this thread could be retitled as well? Thx.

[Stixman]

This is one special library if your into hybrid really really happy with it 8)

[Muziksculp]

Hi,

So.. Anyone here buy NOVO Strings ?

I'm curious to hear your feedback, opinion, how do you like it, was it up to your expectations, your level of satisfaction, how useful do you think NOVO is to have, its strengths, its weaknesses, ...etc.. etc ..

Thanks,
Muziksculp

[Jaap]

Still doubting here and have till thursday to make up my mind if I want to use the discount. Curious to hear the same thoughts Muziksculp

[Jaap]

Well I decided to pick it up yesterday and it finished downloading overnights and had some time in the evening to mess around with it and jeez... I am deeply impressed to be honest. The soundpalette is so rich and so many many many possibilities that it actually frooze me haha. I had to step away from the computer to let it all sink in.
What I like so far is that the sound of the traditional strings is actually quite nice. I didn't buy it for that and I am good equipped on that end with HS, LASSie and Cinematic Studio Strings, but I am suprised to be honest. It sounds much better then I heard on some videos that I saw, but fair is fair, they wont hold up against the earlier mentioned libraries, but they can be incorporated nicely in any kind underscore, hybrid, trailer or even pop/rock music I think. What I do miss is the fact that you cannot tweak the traditional strings with all the fancy stuff that is in the string designer stuff. You can load those patches of course in the designer itself, but you miss some playability functions then (like the legato or easy keyswitching). I would liked to see some effects like saturation, distortion or the twist and punish functions also been available on those patches. Just a minor thing though.
The string desinger is awesome and just very inspirational to play with (didn't really dive into the loop designer yet). Lovely textures going from warm and mellow to nasty and horribly gritty dark sounding and everything in between. The fact that you can tweak so many things makes that you can create your own sound quite easily and incorporate it in many occassions. For my need it is a great tool in my arsenal for game music and production and trailer music.
For the more common and traditional orchestral music this is not really it, but that is also not what Heavyocity aims for
Just my 2 cents for today!

[Muziksculp]

Well I decided to pick it up yesterday and it finished downloading overnights and had some time in the evening to mess around with it and jeez... I am deeply impressed to be honest. The soundpalette is so rich and so many many many possibilities that it actually frooze me haha. I had to step away from the computer to let it all sink in.
What I like so far is that the sound of the traditional strings is actually quite nice. I didn't buy it for that and I am good equipped on that end with HS, LASSie and Cinematic Studio Strings, but I am suprised to be honest. It sounds much better then I heard on some videos that I saw, but fair is fair, they wont hold up against the earlier mentioned libraries, but they can be incorporated nicely in any kind underscore, hybrid, trailer or even pop/rock music I think. What I do miss is the fact that you cannot tweak the traditional strings with all the fancy stuff that is in the string designer stuff. You can load those patches of course in the designer itself, but you miss some playability functions then (like the legato or easy keyswitching). I would liked to see some effects like saturation, distortion or the twist and punish functions also been available on those patches. Just a minor thing though.
The string desinger is awesome and just very inspirational to play with (didn't really dive into the loop designer yet). Lovely textures going from warm and mellow to nasty and horribly gritty dark sounding and everything in between. The fact that you can tweak so many things makes that you can create your own sound quite easily and incorporate it in many occassions. For my need it is a great tool in my arsenal for game music and production and trailer music.
For the more common and traditional orchestral music this is not really it, but that is also not what Heavyocity aims for
Just my 2 cents for today!

Hi Jaap,

That's very interesting, and helpful feedback about NOVO Strings.

I'm still undecided.

One thing that I was hoping to hear in NOVO Strings, was the natural characteristics of the Strings they recorded at Warner Brothers Stage, with a decent size Strings section, and top of the line recording gear, engineers, ..etc. But the non-processed strings do not sound natural to me. Why ? I have no clue.

Did they modify the original sample files ? Maybe.

But Why do that if they are going to scramble them with other tools like the String Designer / Loop Designer ?

The original recordings could not have had the cold-edgy type sound I hear in the demos that show NOVO strings bare version, i.e. without using the String Designer. imho. it's quiite a bummer, because I'm sure the original recordings they did should sound very nice, and very very useful to have. Unfortunately, they seem to have done something to distort them, or mess them up quite a bit.

If I needed to use some harsh-edgy-modern sounding strings, I think I can try to create them with my current Libraries, and HW Gear. Maybe I'm not well informed here, and maybe something I hear in the future could inspires me, and makes me fall in love with NOVO Strings, and make me buy them, but so far, I need to hear that. Nothing I heard so far convinced me to go forward, and buy NOVO Strings.

Cheers,
Muziksculp

[Muziksculp]

Hi,

I was listening to Tom Hokenborg's aka Junkie XL, score for the movie Brimstone, and was asking myself if a library like NOVO Strings could be used for creating some of the under-score strings in some of the tracks, that build up tension, and have quite an animated unique sound.

Here are some examples :