Kirk Hunter Studios

skallman · Post by **skallman** » Sun Nov 16, 2014 1:20 am

Saw the new UI of Concert Strings 3 on your Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/KIRK-HUN ... 6966681426

A few questions have already come to mind:

1) Is CS3 a combination of Spotlight Strings and Concert Strings 2 in one comprehensive package with a new User Interface (which I like very much!), or are the samples in CS3 totally new and unique?

2) Will there be an upgrade path for current CS2 and SS owners?

3) Looking at the Articulations Panel, is the Dolce Largo (C1) articulation the same as Adagio (F1) in CS2?

4) Can the keyswitches be changed to resemble the ones in CS2? (I'd hate to go through my compositions and update the keyswitches to use them with CS3 - for the third or fourth time since TVEC2 came out).

More questions to come, I'm sure.

Steve

Chandlerhimself · Post by **Chandlerhimself** » Wed Nov 19, 2014 2:17 am

I'm interested in this too. I really like the interface and the level of control. It seems like spotlight strings taken to the next level. The fact that you can adjust the volume of all the chairs is very innovative and interesting. Also it seems there is a looseness control. Is that related to the randomness of the attacks? I always wanted that feature in spotlight strings. Lastly, are these new samples or a mix or CS2 and spotlight strings. I'm excited about this. I hope we get more info soon.

chibear · Post by **chibear** » Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:02 pm

Wow yes. I'm really impressed with the UI and since I'm a big fan of Spotlight am really excited by this.

There's a few more hidden gems: controlled martele', sul tasto control, complete control of attacks and releases of ALL articulations, the mic stage position and distance controls in 'features' (for early reflections??), ad a 'bone dry' button, assumeably so you can use your own reverb.

My questions would be also if these are new samples, is VelVib the same as Fade in time in SSS or something different?

Chandlerhimself · Post by **Chandlerhimself** » Tue Nov 25, 2014 11:24 am

Below that post shows a violin and it says it will be featured in the new library, so I'm guessing at least some of the samples are new. I'm excited by the new features. The RAM foot print looks small too which I'm happy about. I wonder if the stage position is a reverb or a psychoacoustic filter effect. I hope it's the later because it will make blending much easier. I guess we'll see when demos come out, but I'm really looking forward to this. It seems to have all the features of SSS, but with a smaller RAM footprint and more customization options.

Chandlerhimself · Post by **Chandlerhimself** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 2:33 pm

Looks like we should be getting some info soon. I wonder what force legato is?
https://www.facebook.com/pages/KIRK-HUN ... 6966681426
Hopefully we'll hear more about it before Xmas.

chibear · Post by **chibear** » Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:41 am

Runs & Fills video

Even more amazing than the runs & fills is the sound IMO. Can't wait.

Chandlerhimself · Post by **Chandlerhimself** » Tue Dec 09, 2014 4:18 am

That isn't really a feature I need, but it sounds good. The thing I was most impressed by is the smoothness of the legato. Before I was able to achieve this smoothness, but it was a bit of work. Now with the extra controls it seems much easier. The sound seemed pretty good to me, but I was listening on earbuds, so I can't be sure. I'll check again when I get home. I hope more videos follow. I want to hear explanations about the legato features, the articulations, the vibrato and hear it playing slowly/lyrically. The fast runs sound good and I like how it has a nice smearing effect when played as an ensemble(I'm guessing that's the looseness).

chibear · Post by **chibear** » Tue Dec 09, 2014 5:30 am

For Spotlight I preferred the scripted legato to true legato. I'm interested too how it's going to be implemented. In the video the fill sounded smooth with 'forced legato' on but that was fast notes. Slow will be interesting. Another thing I noticed was the portamento style button is missing. I use that a lot. Hopefully there'll be a controller for the amount of left hand shift so it can be used like the old portamento..

Chandlerhimself · Post by **Chandlerhimself** » Tue Dec 09, 2014 9:24 am

I preferred the scripted legato too, but sometimes the true legato worked better. I believe the portamento was replaced with Interval live. You have concert brass don't you? I believe the effect will be the same, but I'm interested to hear it for myself. I found Interval live worked better than the portamento in SSS, but just be user error on my part.

As I was typing I saw this. This answers a lot of questions. It sounds beautiful slow. The ensemble tone sounds really good in that video. It sounds richer than CS2 and the slides sound good. In the video you can hear the portamento, it looks like he's using the left hand slide button and the sound is wonderful. I'd like to hear the solos, but I can't complain about what I've heard from the ensemble.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p41B18WkyHs

chibear · Post by **chibear** » Tue Dec 09, 2014 2:21 pm

I just listened on my laptop and even here that sounds scary good. I can't wait to hear it on my DAW. I've just finished a new template that is as of now already appearing obsolete as far as strings go. Kirk, if you're monitoring this thread: Brilliant work!! Can we hear some cellos & violas now, pls

Edit: just put it up on my DAW. Astounding! So much so I had to share it with my former symphony colleagues. This is what you get when a musician programs a sample library rather than an engineer. I'll place my order now. WTG Kirk!

chibear · Post by **chibear** » Fri Dec 12, 2014 3:28 pm

It's up on his website "Violins should be shipping by end of December"
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/cs3.html

Chandlerhimself · Post by **Chandlerhimself** » Sat Dec 13, 2014 1:02 pm

That's good in a way. I was worried I'd have to drop a lot of money this month, but maybe we'll be able to buy it in parts for a cheaper price.

Chandlerhimself · Post by **Chandlerhimself** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 9:02 am

http://youtu.be/dECCftFwEHw

Sounds great. The solo and small ensemble sounds pretty good. I can't wait for this to be released.

chibear · Post by **chibear** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 3:17 pm

Me too. Biggest question for me now is if and how much of my banked credit from the last demo contest can be applied to this release..... and if there's going to be another demo contest

chibear · Post by **chibear** » Thu Dec 18, 2014 7:18 pm

Articulations & Playing Styles
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsJW4Lm ... e=youtu.be