The Sound Board

Audio Ollie's 'Nashville Scoring Strings' are on sale for $60 through Pulse:

https://pulse.audio/product/nashville-s ... dio-ollie/

The deal lasts until 3rd November 2023.

Pros and cons of the library are known by now. I was tempted to pick them up just for the pizzicati alone. And the direct, dry sound would make the library great to add detail to other strings. I gave up on Dimension Strings for that task because I don't like it's sound signature. Nashville could be a nice substitute.

But then I remembered the work needed just to add the library into my template, and thought better of it. A few years back I wouldn't have hesitated to get a strings library at that pricepoint.

Linos wrote: ↑Oct 28, 2023 1:00 pm (...) I was tempted to pick them up just for the pizzicati alone. (...)

At the time, I toyed with the idea of purchasing the Nashvilles for precisely the same reason. But I didn't go ahead with it either.

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“But then I remembered the work needed just to add the library into my template, and thought better of it. A few years back I wouldn't have hesitated to get a strings library at that pricepoint.”

Linos, THIS I can relate to. What a PITA.

However, listening through there seems to be a pleasing sound to some of the articulations, and at that price point it certainly seems worth the HD space. I’m not buying much these days but I’ll probably go for it and throw in a few arts.

I did... well actually I picked them up some time ago. I like the sound. I am aware of the complaints, but they haven't hampered me. I have no regrets about the purchase, except maybe I should have waited???

As always I would have been interested to hear your opinion Piet.

I am glad you can relate Larry. It's one of the main reasons why I don't buy as many libraries as I used to. I haven't even managed to integrate Cineperc completely into my template. Still, Nashville Scoring Strings stay tempting at that price.

Good to know wst3. I don't have high expectations. Surely there will be something useable in the library that is worth the 60 dollars.

Bought it this morning. 56 euros, I mean, that's a momma-weer-all-creezie-now-price, isn't it? And I don't have the template problem, because I don't do templates.

Haven't dived deep into it yet, but first impressions, after a quick try-out of some of the patches, are, on the whole, quite positive. Default settings with regard to the dynamics need adjusting though, as they make the instruments, especially in the short articulations, sound a little constrained. (But the available parameters to address the issue work very well.)

Also, it sounds to me as if the 43 gig data -- or 22gig, more on that in a second -- is more dedicated to alternative versions of samples than to dynamic-timbral differentiation. Which, I imagine, might cause some disappointment with some people. Those alternative samples can come in quite useful as well though, I don't feel it's a waste of disk space.

I can also see how there might be some customer grumbling due to the fact that those 43 gigs consist of two separate sample pools, one raw and another one denoised. Meaning that the library is, in fact, not 43 gig but closer to 21,5 gig (or thereabouts).

Anyway. What comes out of my speakers here is certainly a good sound. (I much prefer this one to the sound of the Tokyos which, to my ears, gets pretty tiresome pretty quickly.) Design and programming appears to be executed with insight, intelligence and care as well. Useful possibilities with the various mic perspectives too. And I also appreciate the fact that the articulations can be loaded separately so that you don't always have to load big patches if you only need, say, spiccato or pizzicato.

(A little detail about those spicc's: some of the samples have really nice tails. Not room tails, but the sound of the instrument/strings ringing out a bit after the bow has stopped making contact. Not something you hear in most other libraries. And it's a really useful sound, I find.)

So, all in all, mostly positives for me at this early stage. But like I said: I only had the quickest of looks. Could be that I stumble on a few real downers in the coming days. I doubt it though, because what I heard so far is unmistakably the result of a company setting themselves a clearly defined goal and then doing everything that needs to be done to reach it.

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I don’t make enough use of the strings that I have but for $60 I will just buy these and assume I will find use for them.

If one is going to become a collector, at least one should collect at a price that is cost efficient.

I can't argue with the notion that this is worth the asking price and might be a useful addition.

On the other hand, with competing more expensive and probably even more useful products hitting the market (Afflatus Brass and Orchestral Tools' December release, for instance), I'm saving my pennies now.

Best,

Geoff

Thank you for your first impressions Piet. I think I am going to join Larry and you. Even if they don't make it into my template and I'll only use the pizzicati here and there, that's not such a terrible price for that.

Geoff, there's also Black Friday in between. So there are probably more deals coming up. For example, the Chocolate Audio Glissando Harps caught my eye as well. Currently $32 at Audioplugindeal (Type the code TREAT20):

https://audioplugin.deals/product/gliss ... ate-audio/

If you are not fixed on specific libraries, you can build an amazing toolkit for not that much money nowadays.

I grabbed them at this discount thinking they might be nice as an additional layer of strings. I do appreciate that they have a drier, studio sound as well as the "orchestral" option for all articulations.

I honestly cannot imagine ever buying another strings library, no matter how good, unless it comes with paying work for me.

Piet spoke:
" Meaning that the library is, in fact, not 43 gig but closer to 21,5 gig (or thereabouts). "

I've been meaning to see if I really need both sample pools, my guess is not. Saves me 20+ GB of disc space.

Jay - excellent point, and usually my approach, although sometimes I "cheat". Most recent example is Musical Sampling's Hoard Picked Guitar - great sound, and so far very playable. Still probably won't get much use since I prefer to play in my guitar parts

Some time ago I started making a point using all new libraries I bought in at least one track of library music. I guess that's 'cheating' too. In many cases I could probably have used a different library instead and it would have worked as well.

But for a few years now, I have found it difficult to get excited enough about a new library to actually buy it. I think I'll take the plunge with Nashville Scoring Strings. I just have to finish a project first. Once that's done, I hope I haven't forgotten about the purchase.

Linos, if you're still hoping to give the Nashvilles the jobs for which you find the Dimension Strings wanting, I have a feeling you might not be any too pleased either. While I agree that the Dimensions can, timbrally speaking, be something of an acquired taste, they far exceed the Nashvilles in possibilties for variation and texturizing, I find. As I mentioned earlier, the timbral scope of the Nashvilles, while nice, is fairly limited and homogenous.

Just saying, you know.

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Thank you for the heads up Piet. I appreciate it. But not to worry. I'll get the Nashville Scoring Strings simply for the pizzicati. Anything else that I use them for will be just a bonus.

Dimension Strings, for me, are actually an unlearned taste. I used to use them a lot, as you know, for their flexibility and depth of sampling. Over time, I got more and more dissatisfied with the timbre. Now Light and Sound Chamber Strings are my go-to if I want relatively dry chamber strings. Maybe Nashville can be another option for that. And if not, not much lost.

I’m bumping this thread because the deal is back: $59 for 12 more days.

For those who purchased this last year, how useful are you finding the library? I’m still not likely to buy, but I am curious and hope you’re happy with your choice.

Best,

Geoff

Thanks for re-bringing our attention to this deal, Geoff. I meant to get them first time around but got lazy (templates, arrgh.) I think I’ll take a flyer and buy them this time.

I really like them, they are easy to work with, and they sound really good, I do not regret paying a bit more for them. I probably ought to mention that, for me anyway, they do seem a little bit limited in the sorts of tracks where they fit. I believe that is by design.

Bought them this time. Quick take-perfectly nice bread and butter library-good tone, nothing particularly special, still good value for $60. I would have wished for portamento, glisses etc, but again, $60. Pizz’s sound good. Legatos work fine, nice compromise re amount of vibrato.

The ensemble spiccatos annd pizzs are helpful. I like good ensemble patches because I’m often lazy enough to use them for non critical situations.

All in all satisfactory if not revelatory.