Synchron Duality Strings

Synchron Duality Strings - Uniting the Best of Both Worlds

• Two acoustically isolated string ensembles performing simultaneously at Synchron Stage Vienna

• Large ensemble recorded on the iconic Stage A

• Smaller ensemble recorded in the smaller, dryer Stage B

• Use them in combination or separately

• Available with combined mic options and mixer presets

• Seamlessly blend the large broad ensemble with the closer-miked small ensemble

• Comprehensive collection of articulations

Section Sizes

• Stage A: 14 1st Violins, 12 2nd Violins, 10 Violas, 10 Cellos, 6 Basses

• Stage B: 8 1st Violins, 6 2nd Violins, 5 Violas, 5 Cellos, 3 Basses

A Common Question

What do you do if you want your string ensemble to sound closer, more direct, maybe crispier?

You raise the close-mic faders, which features the section leaders more prominently in your mix. But that pulls unwanted focus toward fewer instruments. You actually want the entire ensemble to be closer, without losing its breadth and depth. So you try layering differently recorded sample libraries, but their performances don’t match, and it’s nearly impossible to create a cohesive result. Wouldn’t it be great to have wet and dry, large and smaller recorded ensembles available in the same player, with recordings of two separate string sections performing in perfect sync?

Two Ensembles, One Limitless Experience

Enter Synchron Duality Strings. Once again, Vienna Symphonic Library is breaking new ground with a unique library that offers unprecedented possibilities. Synchron Duality Strings comprises two string ensembles that were sampled at once, playing in separate rooms at Synchron Stage Vienna. While the larger ensemble played in the famous main hall, Stage A, the smaller ensemble was recorded in the relatively dry Stage B. Both ensembles performed together, with the conductor on the podium in Stage A also directing the ensemble in Stage B via video monitors.

And that’s where the magic happens! With the musicians’ ability to hear each other from different rooms, all musical aspects of every performance are perfectly in sync, such as volume, timbre, vibrato, note length, and phrasing, for every articulation. Thanks to Synchron Stage Vienna’s unique size, flexibility, and technical capabilities, Synchron Duality Strings is the realization of what other library companies can only dream of.

Create your own blend

While the mic setup in Stage A delivers the broad, sought-after string ensemble sound featured in countless movies and TV series, the smaller ensemble in Stage B was recorded with two different sets of microphones, offering bright and dark sounding variants. This unique approach gave Synchron Stage Vienna’s chief engineer, Bernd Mazagg, the ability to create mixer presets with unprecedented flexibility and creative options. It also enables you to customize your own string sound organically and effortlessly within the Synchron Player.

Beyond the wholly different ambiences of the two spaces, the ensembles themselves provide useful contrast. Where the larger ensemble has a fuller, more symphonic sound, the smaller ensemble provides a transparent and clear tonality that adds a certain polish when blended with the larger group. Both ensembles feature Vienna’s best musicians from the renowned Synchron Stage Orchestra, performing at the highest levels of musicality.

Extensive articulations, easily accessible

Articulations include a wide variety of short notes, long notes, various legato variations (normal, agile, slurred, portamento), espressivo, with various attacks and note releases, plus pizzicato, col legno, tremolo variants, fast repetitions, trills, harmonics, glissandos, legato and détaché runs, and much more. In addition to the Synchron Player’s usual articulation switching capabilities, there’s now a new category of preconfigured patches that allows you to switch articulations using key velocity, e.g., between spiccato and staccato, between different attacks of détachés and long notes, between up and down movements of glissandos and runs, etc.

This extensive collection delivers the best of both worlds – a large ambient string ensemble, and a dry chamber-sized ensemble, with 100% matching performances. Regardless of how you use them, in combination or separately, Synchron Duality Strings delivers a magnificent sound with unprecedented flexibility and countless expressive possibilities, from intimate intensity to passionate power, and everything in between.

Microphone Setup - Standard & Full Library

The Standard Library and Full Library of Synchron Duality Strings both include the same articulations. The difference lies in the number of provided microphone positions:

STAGE A

1. Solo Mic (Mono) - Standard & Full Library
2. Mid Mic (L/R) - Standard & Full Library
3. Ribbon Mic (L/R) - Full Library Only
4. Main/Room Mic – Decca Tree Stereo (L/R) - Standard & Full Library
5. Main/Room Mic – Decca Tree Mono (Center) - Standard & Full Library
6. Main Surround – Stereo (L/R) - Full Library Only
7. High Stereo (3D) – Stereo (L/R) - Full Library Only
8. High Surround (3D) – Stereo (L/R) - Full Library Only

STAGE B

1. Dark Mics (L/R) - Standard & Full Library
2. Bright Mics (L/R) - Full Library Only

Library Content

• Standard Library: Samples 328,926 - Download File Size 51.9 GB - Installed File Size 121.2 GB

• Full Library: Samples 603,031 - Download File Size 101.6 GB - Installed File Size 242.3 GB