Kirk Hunter Studios

KirkHunter · Post by **KirkHunter** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 8:30 pm

Yes, demos will be created for all versions at some point. Right now, obviously, all of the video demos are done with the LS version.

Chandlerhimself · Post by **Chandlerhimself** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 1:48 am

The newest update really helped with the CPU usage. I'm looking forward to getting the rest of the instruments and hoping there will be a good upgrade path for Spotlight string owners. Nice work.

KirkHunter · Post by **KirkHunter** » Wed Jan 14, 2015 1:53 am

Glad the update was better for you. I'm working on CPU stuff as we speak, though this library will currently be quite large that way. New and fun vibratos for the soloists are coming as well. Stay tuned. It's almost there!

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 12:41 am

Well, I really wanted to like and eventually purchase Concert Strings 3 based on what I saw on your videos, but the demo version is nothing like what's on the videos or in the PDF. I can't get more than 3 or 4 notes to play at a time and sometimes not even that many. I can't tell what's on or off and since the demo doesn't match the PDF, I'm only guessing. I tried hitting buttons to see what goes on and off such as with tremolo but to o avail. Sometimes when it's white it works and other times when it's grayed out it still works.

I'm sure the full product, from what I've heard, is excellent, but without being able to adequately demo it, I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on this one.

You might want to consider giving prospective customers a better demo to try, even if it's disabled permanently after 1 day of installation. Certainly there has to be a better way than this. Other synth VST makers have figured out excellent demo methods. This one can use some improvement.

Please take this in the spirit in which it is intended as I really wanted to like this library.

KirkHunter · Post by **KirkHunter** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 4:31 pm

So far, the demo has worked for everyone if their system can handle it. (Which is why, for the most part, the demo was even made.) Screenshots and specific issues would be helpful for me to get you up and running on it.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 5:30 pm

KirkHunter wrote:So far, the demo has worked for everyone if their system can handle it. (Which is why, for the most part, the demo was even made.) Screenshots and specific issues would be helpful for me to get you up and running on it.

I'm quite sure my system isn't the problem. I am running Windows 7 64 bit. I3 processor and 16 gig of RAM. I currently run EWQL Hollywood Strings and their other libraries with no problem. I can run up to 50 instances of one of the most CPU intensive synths on the market without a problem. This is a stripped down 1 gig demo. How much power can it possibly take?

If you look at the screen prints in the PDF it looks nothing like those. It's almost like it's a completely different product. The GUI is white and gray. I'm assuming the parameters that are grayed mean inactive and the white means active. Choosing Ensemble and one solo violinist, per the PDF, I can still not generate more than 4 note chords and sometimes the bottom bass note will actually cut off all the other notes and I end up with just the one note.

What makes the process even more frustrating is that every 5 minutes I have to reload the product.

I'm sure the fully functional product is great but under these conditions I'm just going to move on and continue my search.

KirkHunter · Post by **KirkHunter** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 6:15 pm

Once again, some screenshots of what you're getting vs. what's in the pdf would help. Also, make sure you fully understand that polyphony is governed by whether or not you are using the "Force Legato" feature or not.
http://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/CS3_Instructions.pdf

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 6:40 pm

Okay, here's what I did because in the initial install I was getting file missing errors which I assumed was because it was just a demo. So I re-unzipped everything and reinstalled and now the GUI does look like in the PDF.

So I will retest this to see if I get different results and then if there are things I'm not sure about, as far as the response I get, I'll ask. I have made a note about the Force Legato and will check that on and off.

I think we will do much better now that the entire demo seems to have loaded.

I will let you know how it goes.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:10 pm

Well, all I can say is what a difference having a fully functioning demo makes. Not sure why the initial install didn't work right but this one is perfect.

Went through the entire thing.

Here are my questions.

1) Which of these versions is currently available?

1. LS - “Lite Samples”
The soloists are recorded using different instruments. Various ensemble players use
the same samples as the soloists, but are detuned so as to avoid any phasing issues.

2. FS - “Full Samples”
All players are recorded from different instruments.

2) Is the complete product for violins, violas, celli and bass available?

3) I see there are 5 Editions. Is Edition 5 available yet and is it complete.

4) What are the differences between the violins, violas, celli and basses? Reason i am asking is that each instrument is played differently. While violin sections can and do sometimes play chords, celli and bass almost never do. In fact, I can't even think of one piece off the top of my head where they do. So I'm assuming the layout for celli and bass is slightly different. As there is no demo for these, where can we go to see what these "products" entail? Is there a PDF similar to the violins?

That's about it. Was very impressed with what I heard. Especially love the divisi and loosen entrances. Gives it an extra little bit of realism that I don't get out of my EWQL libraries.

KirkHunter · Post by **KirkHunter** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 8:17 pm

1) Which of these versions is currently available?
Violins only (ED 5 LS)

2) Is the complete product for violins, violas, celli and bass available?
Not yet, but SOON.

3) I see there are 5 Editions. Is Edition 5 available yet and is it complete.
ED 5 (LS) is indeed available for the violins. But JUST the violins right now. All the others soon.

4) What are the differences between the violins, violas, celli and basses?
So far, it's mostly about the section size, and tweaking the "playability" for each. There are indeed lots of pieces which require divisi among all of the sections separately. But you certainly don't have to play (or use) chords if you don't want to. That's the beauty..the option is yours. As the library is completed, anyone who has the free demo and certainly those who have the purchased version, will be pointed to updates. That will include any updates to the pdf and any additional demos that should be created.

Chandlerhimself · Post by **Chandlerhimself** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 5:35 am

I'm happy that it looks like this is almost complete. I DLed the cello demo a few weeks ago and it sounds great. The only thing was the vibrato set up. The vibrato was very bombastic at the initial set up. It was at around 50, but it was much more vibrato than I would ever use. Of course after turning it down it was fine, but it might be better to decrease the range a little. The exciter was a really nice addition. At first when I saw it I was a bit skeptical, but when I used it I realized it might be really useful for aggressive spiccato passages. I hope this will be added to some of the other instruments too.

The only other thing is the left hand shift on the violins. There seems to be a hiccup at the start of the note if the velocity it slow. I didn't notice it with the cellos(I'll check again later). The portamento is fairly smooth, but the left hand shift has a strange sound at the beginning that keeps it from being subtle.

Besides those 2 things everything sounds great. I'm very excited about the release of CS3.

chibear · Post by **chibear** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:23 pm

The only thing was the vibrato set up. The vibrato was very bombastic at the initial set up. It was at around 50, but it was much more vibrato than I would ever use. Of course after turning it down it was fine, but it might be better to decrease the range a little.

Kirk has heard that at least once before

I think that's why he introduced the Light Vibrato instrument in the cellos. I still want to turn intensity down though, which, unlike other available libs, is easily doable in CS3.

Haven't noticed the left hand shift issue, but haven't played with it all that much either. what I have noticed is that each playback is slightly different (articulations are harder, softer, some notes are slurred into harder, etc so kind of like working with a real player) so in final mixdown I will have to do 'takes' on my stems of solo instruments. I just experienced the same with the solo horn in a project using CS2. The product was much better than anything else I had, but I produced 3 stems before I really liked it

KirkHunter · Post by **KirkHunter** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:43 pm

Regarding the vibrato, I wanted to make sure that all kinds of music requiring differing amounts of vibrato intensity, speed and delay would be able to be performed.

The "hiccup" for L. Hand shift on the violins is a bit intentional. To me, it sounds more "human" that way. When I do shifts like that, many times it does indeed have that "hiccup" sound to it. In the future, I amy add certain sub-styles like Russian slide or French slide to the Portamento.

Vardaro · Post by **Vardaro** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 7:57 pm

I haven' t tried very hard yet on CS3, but in my classical playing I often start a slide on, say the first finger, and halfway up jump to the new finger in the new position. Some call this a "classical" slide as opposed to the "gypsy" slide (cf Heifetz) which starts halfway up and scoops into the new position. I suppose I could place "ghost" notes with zero volume between the main notes to start (gypsy) or stop (classic) slides...

palestrina7 · Post by **palestrina7** » Tue Feb 24, 2015 10:04 pm

Hey everybody.
Has any user posted an mp3 demo file of CS3?
I don't see anything on SC or on other audio file sites yet. If anybody has a demo, I for one would love to hear it!