Soliste: Are Sampled Strings Dead? – Sounds and Presets
Plus sounds for ODC 2800, Omnisphere and a Soundbox Freebie
The dominance of sampling has seen physical models of acoustic instruments struggle to compete, but does Expressive E’s Soliste signal a turning tide?
In the 1990s, physical modelling promised so much, but its cost and complexity meant that it was far more affordable to use detailed samples to recreate acoustic instruments as faithfully as possible. However, recent developments in modelling and expressive controllers may signal the beginning of the end for sampling.
Sounds and Presets
Soliste by Expressive E
I understand that this release from Expressive E isn’t truly typical fodder for this column, but one might perceive Soliste as a sound library for their Osmose instrument, so on that count alone, I think it warrants coverage here.
Physical modelling promised much, but for numerous reasons, most obviously the high cost of hardware and, conversely, the low cost of software, sampling of acoustic instruments always won the day when trying to deliver the sound and performance of such things.
We seemed happy with keyswitching and terabytes of data, huge download times and stacks of hard-drives. But maybe now the tide is slowly turning as both physical modelling becomes cheaper than samples, and the dawn of truly expressive keyboards is finally here.
Expressive E are now turning their hand to both instruments and controllers with the launch of its Soliste collection. Primarily aimed at Osmose, its superb and hugely expressive MPE keyboard controller, Soliste is a collection of the four main string instruments in an orchestra: Violin, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass.
And what a job they have done. The connection between player and instrument is far closer in terms of replicating the actions of a violinist or cellist than we have ever been and the models themselves seem to have shed what was left of that tiny element of synthetic quality to their sound.
Soliste sounds incredible, and whilst it isn’t capable of reproducing an entire orchestral string section on its own, it doesn’t sound far off to me. I don’t think we will be ditching our copies of BBC SO or Vienna just yet, but we can’t be too far away now, especially with AI being implemented more and more, for better or for worse.
For now, Soliste provides four incredibly well modelled instruments that, when paired with a controller with the expressivity of Osmose, deliver something that allows players to capture the nuance and detail far easier than was previously possible.
Soliste isn’t limited to Osmose, either. It should work well with most MPE controllers, as evidenced in their videos, but there is obviously a strong connection between Soliste and Osmose. You can buy all four instruments as a bundle, or individually, from our affiliate partner and all are currently offered at time-limited introductory prices.
Of course, powerful and expressive, physically modelled acoustic instruments have been around for some time, with SWAM already making incredible content, but competition is healthy, and the obvious benefits of a company developing both the instruments and controller cannot be ignored.
More information on Soliste, Osmose and other MPE instruments and controllers can be found at the Expressive E website here.
Centennial Sounds for Cherry Audio ODC 2800 by James Dyson
Last week saw the launch of Cherry Audio’s latest instrument plugin, ODC 2800. Despite the ARP Odyssey already having numerous hardware and software recreations, the Cherry Audio version pulls out all the stops and delivers all three major revisions, festooned with more bells and whistles than a Sunday afternoon Morris Dancing contest!
As always, the instrument itself comes packed with over 300 presets by some great sound designers, including regular contributor James Dyson. And, once again, James’ prolific nature has yielded an extra preset pack of 100 extra patches for this great plugin.
James says that this pack explores ODC 2800’s more atmospheric side, and he’s not wrong. There are some great sounds in here, spanning all the main categories and all taking advantage of the synth’s effects and performance features.
As usual, you can grab this sound pack directly from Cherry Audio for just $9.99, and whilst you’re there, why not leave a donation to the Alan R Pearlman Foundation? Alan would be celebrating his centennial year this year, hence the name of this pack, and the Foundation does amazing work in keeping his legacy alive, helmed by his amazing daughter, Dina Pearlman-Ifil.
J3PO Omnisphere OB Tribute Patches
Some people might tell you that Omnisphere has everything. They’d not be wrong, to be honest, jam-packed as it is and seen by many as the ultimate synth toolkit. But we can always want a little more, and in the case of this pack, we’re getting some superb Oberheim sounds for it!
Created by well-respected sound designer J3PO, the OB Tribute patch collection contains 50 new patches that pay homage to instruments such as the OB-X, OB-Xa, OB-8, OB-6, TVS and Matrix 12. Using components within Omnisphere that were Oberheim in nature, J3PO also took some custom samples from his own Oberheim collection.
J3PO has a long association with Oberheim instruments and this love and affection clearly comes across in this collection. So if you think your Omnisphere experience has been lacking some Oberheim-style grunt, then you really ought to grab this!
OB Tribute can be bought directly from J3PO’s website for $24.99.
Drift – Free Soundbox for Audiomodern Soundbox by Sonora Cinematic
Audiomodern’s Soundbox concept is a really sweet one. Create a powerful, sample-based engine and user interface and give it to people for free and then entice them in with some free libraries and, if they enjoy the experience, make some bigger libraries available for a modest price. What’s not to like?
So, when someone comes along with another free library, the deal just gets sweeter still! We’ve featured Sonora Cinematic here before, and it was during the sessions for a new orchestral project that Drift came into existence.
Drift, as it happens, is a very apt title, as many of the sounds featured within are organic and evolving textures with which you can make some very cool, atmospheric sounds. Whether you’re making cinematic soundtracks, ambient or downtempo tunes, Drift is well worth checking out.
Better still, it is completely free of charge and makes great use of the Soundbox engine, with its extensive sound manipulation tools and MPE compatibility. Drift is free of charge, so long as you don’t mind signing up for their newsletter, all of which you can do right here.
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One response to “Soliste: Are Sampled Strings Dead? – Sounds and Presets”
The Osmose string demo simply illustrates that one single key is still no match for the multiple axes of expression a string instrument offers. Not to mention that wobbling your finger from side to side doesn’t even come close to emulating natural string vibrato. Violin and cello vibrato is usually MUCH broader that that demo, and I can only assume that it is restricted so much because it introduces pitch instability inadvertently.
SWAM sounds far better, imho, even from a conventional keyboard.