Elements

Water. Metal. Glass. Stone.

Some very archaic elements are used here for sound production. This Collection offers exciting instruments such as the bass waterphone, the 5-octave lithophone and the XXL tam-tam. The waterphone is an unusual, evocative instrument with a diameter of 14 inches and is considerably larger than the waterphone used in the Percussion Collection. The more unusual sonic possibilities and a wider variety of colors are achieved by the additional sounding rods, their increased length, the larger opening and a bigger resonating body with more water. The oversized XXL tam-tam, with a diameter of more than 65 inches, was treated with all the tricks of the trade, with a special nod to Stockhausen’s opus “Mikrophonie” and others. It was struck with metal rods, cardboard and jigsaw blades, hit and rubbed with chains, and manhandled with fly swatters, an egg cutter, and even a massaging rod. The bottles contained in this Collection are blown – with articulations such as sustains and flutter tonguing. The Elements Collection also features musical glasses, a glass harmonica and a verrophone.

Elements - Instruments: Bass-Waterphon, XXL Tamtam, Flaschen, Glasglocken, Gläserspiel, Glasharmonika, Verrophon & Lithophon

ARTICULATIONS - Full Library

• Glass instruments: Staccato, portato, sustains, trills, tremolo. Glass harmonica, verrophone and bottles are also played with mallets.
• Lithophone: Left and right hand strokes, muted strokes, tremolos and chord tremolos played with five different mallets. Special effects
• include strokes with fingers and fingernails, bowed notes, and notes played with stones and needles on the sound bars for shatter effects.
• XXL Tam-tam: Single hits (rim and middle), short and long tremolos (open, muted, crescendos & diminuendos), effects.
• Bass Watherphone: Staccato and portato variations, sustains, repetitions, crescendos, tremolos, arpeggios, glissandos, hotrods, wood
• mallets, strokes.

Library Content

• Standard Library: Samples 2.374 | Download Files Size 5,3 GB | Installed File Size 10,9 GB

• Full Library: Samples 8.172 | Download Files Size 5,3 GB | Installed File Size 10,9 GB

 

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Having unleashed their 545GB Symphonic Cube orchestral collection, VSL embark on the second phase of their Vienna Instruments series. Two of the new VI's will ring a bell with VSL followers: Saxophones is an expanded version of the 2004 sound library Saxophones 1, while Elements incorporates the ethereal Glass & Stones, one of the highlights of the company's Horizon series.

Saxophones completes the Vienna saxophone family by adding alto, baritone and bass saxes to the soprano and tenor instruments supplied in Saxophones 1. This 25GB collection was performed single-handedly by Robert Bernhard in VSL's Silent Stage, a controlled room acoustic which suits the saxes' intimate sound. The five instruments perform a huge menu of single-note deliveries, changing dynamic samples and note repetitions as well as fast
octave scales and a comprehensive set of trills and grace notes.

VI's intelligent interval detection software makes legato melody notes join together as nature intended. Sampled at three dynamics, the alto sax's performance legatos sound astonishingly real and can transform simple keyboard melodies into flowing, expressive lines worthy of Wayne Shorter. Now upgraded, the soprano's performance legatos match the high quality of the alto sax. In the full library, there's a choice of vibrato, no-vibrato, marcato and portamento (slide) legatos, the latter producing real played bends which sound far better than anything you can knock up with the pitch wheel.

In the '60s, Tamla Motown producers used to largely confine the baritone sax to honking staccato mini-phrases and the occasional spluttering foghorn-like solo, but the instrument in this collection is capable of far more than that. The rich, attractive timbre of its quiet sustains sounds great in isolation but also blends very nicely with orchestral low winds. The rarely-found bass sax is impressive too; it's an expressive, powerful and surprisingly versatile low-range
instrument which handles bass lines, melodies and even chords with aplomb. But if all you want are those Motown bass licks, the baritone and bass sax's blasting sforzando samples will do nicely.

A new set of growling 'dirty' samples and pitch falls help make these top-quality sax samples suitable for pop, jazz and big-band arrangements as well as orchestral settings. Although Saxophones contains no pre-configured melodic phrases, having such a wealth of lively performance samples under your fingers makes it inexcusable not to program your own. Throughout, Mr. Bernhard plays with commitment and lots of feel, effortlessly covering the emotional
range of these highly versatile and mobile instruments. After performing 58,000 samples the poor chap deserves a holiday - let's hope that VSL bought him some lip salve for Christmas.

The 11GB Elements occupies more of a niche market, but it's a pretty nice niche. The beautiful instruments from Glass & Stones are all here, augmented by several more elemental creations. The largest is an oversized tam tam so tall that Ronnie Corbett could hide inside it. Its small menu of conventional loud hits sound like slow-motion explosions, and it has also been scraped, rubbed, stroked and otherwise molested by a variety of implements, producing a range of mysterious atmospheric noises, suitable for horror film soundtracks and experimental modern music.

Glass & Stones' musical glasses now have alternate samples with an extended range, and also offer mallet hits which reminded me of chiming clocks, toy pianos and Javanese gamelan metallophones. Unfortunately the element of fire is absent, but the liquid world is represented by a fantastic bass waterphone, a mad-sounding contraption that creates a wonderfully spooky set of slithering, other-worldly noises, indeterminate random notes and crazy overtones. A set of blown bottles completes the line-up. Unfortunately, their upper range is rather limited, but hopefully that will be sorted out when someone from VSL next goes to the off-licence. 

The third new Vienna Instrument is the only title in VSL's catalogue not to have been recorded in the Silent Stage, but there's a good reason for that: the instrument is built into the fabric of the Great Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus and it would have been rather inconvenient to move it to another location! Built in 1913, the Konzerthaus organ boasts five manuals and over a hundred stops. The Vienna boys sampled every note of 39, using the organ's retro-fitted MIDI interface to speed up the job. Each note has its own reverb release sample, and although VSL claim the hall acoustic gives the instrument a more defined sound than your average cathedral organ, its reverb tails are still pretty prominent.

The two things I look for first in a pipe organ are a simple flute stop and a big, multi-octave sound to scare the congregation. I found the former quickly enough - 'Bordun 16' and 'Lieblich-Gedakt 16' are both pure, plain flute timbres, which sound lovely on their own, or can be used as building blocks in the construction of more complex sounds. I enjoyed the tremolo effect of 'Unda Maris', which gives it something of the floating quality of a Hammond/Leslie combo, while the brighter, reedier 'Trumpet 16' and 'Krummhorn 8' have a much more triumphant and declamatory tone. If you want to add high frequencies, there are plenty of 4', 2', 'quint' (ie. sounding a fifth higher) and 'mixture' stops, all sounding bright and transparent.

For an instant big organ sound, you can simply select one of the 36 pre-layered multi-stop 'registration' patches, the most massive-sounding of which is the 'Large Principalplenum + Reeds', combining nine different stops. If that apocalyptic racket doesn't put the fear of God into your flock, nothing will! The Konzerthaus Organ is highly playable, extremely versatile and sonically beautiful. The only minor inconvenience is that some bass notes take a while to
develop, so if you want these particular low notes to 'speak' in time with your track, you'll just have to play or sequence them a bit early!

5 STARS  Review: VSL SAXOPHONES, ELEMENTS & KONZERTHAUS ORGAN  Sound on Sound, January 2007

Having unleashed their 545GB Symphonic Cube orchestral collection, VSL embark on the second phase of their Vienna Instruments series. Two of the new VI's will ring a bell with VSL followers: Saxophones is an expanded version of the 2004 sound library Saxophones 1, while Elements incorporates the ethereal Glass & Stones, one of the highlights of the company's Horizon series.

Saxophones completes the Vienna saxophone family by adding alto, baritone and bass saxes to the soprano and tenor instruments supplied in Saxophones 1. This 25GB collection was performed single-handedly by Robert Bernhard in VSL's Silent Stage, a controlled room acoustic which suits the saxes' intimate sound. The five instruments perform a huge menu of single-note deliveries, changing dynamic samples and note repetitions as well as fast
octave scales and a comprehensive set of trills and grace notes.

VI's intelligent interval detection software makes legato melody notes join together as nature intended. Sampled at three dynamics, the alto sax's performance legatos sound astonishingly real and can transform simple keyboard melodies into flowing, expressive lines worthy of Wayne Shorter. Now upgraded, the soprano's performance legatos match the high quality of the alto sax. In the full library, there's a choice of vibrato, no-vibrato, marcato and portamento (slide) legatos, the latter producing real played bends which sound far better than anything you can knock up with the pitch wheel.

In the '60s, Tamla Motown producers used to largely confine the baritone sax to honking staccato mini-phrases and the occasional spluttering foghorn-like solo, but the instrument in this collection is capable of far more than that. The rich, attractive timbre of its quiet sustains sounds great in isolation but also blends very nicely with orchestral low winds. The rarely-found bass sax is impressive too; it's an expressive, powerful and surprisingly versatile low-range
instrument which handles bass lines, melodies and even chords with aplomb. But if all you want are those Motown bass licks, the baritone and bass sax's blasting sforzando samples will do nicely.

A new set of growling 'dirty' samples and pitch falls help make these top-quality sax samples suitable for pop, jazz and big-band arrangements as well as orchestral settings. Although Saxophones contains no pre-configured melodic phrases, having such a wealth of lively performance samples under your fingers makes it inexcusable not to program your own. Throughout, Mr. Bernhard plays with commitment and lots of feel, effortlessly covering the emotional
range of these highly versatile and mobile instruments. After performing 58,000 samples the poor chap deserves a holiday - let's hope that VSL bought him some lip salve for Christmas.

The 11GB Elements occupies more of a niche market, but it's a pretty nice niche. The beautiful instruments from Glass & Stones are all here, augmented by several more elemental creations. The largest is an oversized tam tam so tall that Ronnie Corbett could hide inside it. Its small menu of conventional loud hits sound like slow-motion explosions, and it has also been scraped, rubbed, stroked and otherwise molested by a variety of implements, producing a range of mysterious atmospheric noises, suitable for horror film soundtracks and experimental modern music.

Glass & Stones' musical glasses now have alternate samples with an extended range, and also offer mallet hits which reminded me of chiming clocks, toy pianos and Javanese gamelan metallophones. Unfortunately the element of fire is absent, but the liquid world is represented by a fantastic bass waterphone, a mad-sounding contraption that creates a wonderfully spooky set of slithering, other-worldly noises, indeterminate random notes and crazy overtones. A set of blown bottles completes the line-up. Unfortunately, their upper range is rather limited, but hopefully that will be sorted out when someone from VSL next goes to the off-licence. 

The third new Vienna Instrument is the only title in VSL's catalogue not to have been recorded in the Silent Stage, but there's a good reason for that: the instrument is built into the fabric of the Great Hall of the Vienna Konzerthaus and it would have been rather inconvenient to move it to another location! Built in 1913, the Konzerthaus organ boasts five manuals and over a hundred stops. The Vienna boys sampled every note of 39, using the organ's retro-fitted MIDI interface to speed up the job. Each note has its own reverb release sample, and although VSL claim the hall acoustic gives the instrument a more defined sound than your average cathedral organ, its reverb tails are still pretty prominent.

The two things I look for first in a pipe organ are a simple flute stop and a big, multi-octave sound to scare the congregation. I found the former quickly enough - 'Bordun 16' and 'Lieblich-Gedakt 16' are both pure, plain flute timbres, which sound lovely on their own, or can be used as building blocks in the construction of more complex sounds. I enjoyed the tremolo effect of 'Unda Maris', which gives it something of the floating quality of a Hammond/Leslie combo, while the brighter, reedier 'Trumpet 16' and 'Krummhorn 8' have a much more triumphant and declamatory tone. If you want to add high frequencies, there are plenty of 4', 2', 'quint' (ie. sounding a fifth higher) and 'mixture' stops, all sounding bright and transparent.

For an instant big organ sound, you can simply select one of the 36 pre-layered multi-stop 'registration' patches, the most massive-sounding of which is the 'Large Principalplenum + Reeds', combining nine different stops. If that apocalyptic racket doesn't put the fear of God into your flock, nothing will! The Konzerthaus Organ is highly playable, extremely versatile and sonically beautiful. The only minor inconvenience is that some bass notes take a while to
develop, so if you want these particular low notes to 'speak' in time with your track, you'll just have to play or sequence them a bit early!

5 STARS