Cremona Quartet: Review + Mockup Test!

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Hey friends! In today's library review, let's dive into E-instruments' Cremona Quartet, and see how these beautiful instruments come together in this library. Please enjoy!
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[@WinItReigns]

Can you do a video, 2 years later, on how you utilize this library. What youve gained, learned, and developed after a period of a couple years gone by😊

[@Nicoladen1]

I love the Cremona quartet, and I love you. Very pleased to see you reviewed this library! Big thanks to you!

[@marLamaDeo]

I’ve been looking forward to this since I saw these instruments on your kontakt 😃

[@ChristopherSiu]

Haha!

[@BCRilakuma]

In the virtuoso mode, you can use the pitch bend to change the articulation to staccato😁 and the vibrato intensity can be controlled by CC😁

[@jakobestioko]

how???

[@Harrysound]

I discovered these last night and was very impressed. Coming from CSSS the playability is very welcome. If there was a full string library to this standard and ease of use I think it would do very well indeed

[@ChristopherSiu]

100%!

[@Markrspooner]

Great walk through Chris! I have this but not really played with it yet, so need a reminder how great it sounds and how payable it is

[@ChristopherSiu]

My pleasure!

[@conforzo]

This library is great for Baroque-like music. Very few libraries sound good without vibrato but this holds up

[@charliemcgrain]

Excellent review. many thanks.

[@ChristopherSiu]

My pleasure!

[@grailgnosticism2342]

great review of a rather expensive library, but pretty much a must for classical Quartet writing When you played sul pont on cello, I thought it might be nice to write a duet with flute with that articulation, just an idea. I can only afford London Solo Strings, which sounds quite brutal, sadly.

[@giuseppedaizzole7025]

Great video..thanks for sharing!!

[@ChristopherSiu]

Thanks for watching!

[@dafingaz]

Nice!

[@danieltan3147]

Nice one

[@Thechasepc]

Thank you for the review! I have spitfire solo strings and the back bowing on sustained notes comes too soon. I was wondering if this was an issue with this library?

[@MrBegdan]

nice

[@laurieknapp5264]

Have you tried Spitfire Solo strings, and if so, how does Cremona Quartet compare in terms of sound and control options?

[@toddfrombethesda6963]

He doesn’t buy spitfire.

[@ErikOtte]

Thank you very much for your input! Most informative. There are many appealing features in this library. In the quartet mockup however there are quite some small intonation issues: not really out of tune, but there isn't a real cohesive internal intonation (key signature wise, if I may say so) between the players. Is there a chance to use the pitchwheel for customizing here and there? In some libraires the pitchwheel has been de-activated and in this case I would be out of the match here.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Thanks Erik. That I’m not sure about. I’d email e-instruments directly and ask!

[@ilove101311]

How is this library compared to Joshua Bell, Bohemian, and Chris Hein? Or any other recommendations? To me the sound the legato patch in Tina Guo is unbeatable but it's very limited in range and it has a very long attack. And I'm always not a fan of SWAM series which are not fully sample based libraries.

[@martin-raison-music-composer]

Hello, did you figure out by any chance how to adjust the decay of notes of those patch in kontat? I can't manage to do it . :/ A particular case I need to do that is to shorten the decay of a low pizzicato notes played by the cello. The notes are long and resonnate for a too long time. Thanks!

[@makers_lab]

Sounds very nice in general. The portamento / position shifting was a bit iffy though when you were playing it early on in the video. Wondering if you can specify what strings are played with the positions control. With libraries such as Joshua Bell you sometimes get lucky based on the value of other settings, but you can't explicitly force notes to be played on a certain string as is necessary or would be ideal sometimes.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Hey Nick, just read over the manual. So you can choose between High or Low fingering positions, so they'll play high or low strings respectively where possible, or choose the 'Smart' option, which chooses for you. You can also force open strings where possible.

[@makers_lab]

@@ChristopherSiu thanks Christopher, those are both nice features.

[@kimchisushi5489]

I know this video is 3 years old but can I request for a walkthrough of the demo? Or if there are any videos realated to string quartet please let me know

[@SecondTierSound]

Thank you Chris! Native Instruments have great interfaces, but there is often something that is a little off. I mean, in this case, the samples are very nice, but when the vibrato comes in /changes, and/or the legato kicks in there are quite a lot of problems. I can't really put my finger on it exactly what it is, but there is some kind of phasing, and it doesn't sound very real. I wonder if the transitions are "too perfect" making it sound unnatural. It is a shame, because everything else is good, but this little thing makes me a lot less interested in the library. It is a good thing if it is easier to work with than for example JB though. Cheers!

[@ChristopherSiu]

I can hear what you mean! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[@apocryphal_man]

I noticed the issues are mainly in the stereo field. It keeps shifting in an unsettling way, especially with headphones. I assume there are phase alignment issues (on top of some other things).

[@WanMenBen]

Is it possible to remove the reverb?

[@jcrod9467]

What do you think about First Chairs from Orquestal Tools instead of Cremona Quartet? 🤔

[@ChristopherSiu]

I don't own First Chairs, so unfortunately can't comment on it.

[@Nicoladen1]

Hey, I watched every single video about this library and was very intrigued. However, upon browsing some forum posts I've come to see alot of criticism regarding the sound and tone of these instruments. Alot of people seem to dislike the bright sound and even uninstalled the library as a whole because others are way better. I'm curious... when you need to grab a solo string library, is this still one you go for? Would you say it's worth getting still? If you have a favorite solo string library, which would that be? Thank you! Edit: I'm contemplating upgrading to the Komplete 13 Ultimate collectors edition for 499. I'd get the Cremona quartet aswell as 700 extra GB of other awesome plugins, sounds and sample libraries. But this quartet was the main selling point for me, and after having read all these bad reviews I'm unsure wether I wanna make that investment. Have you ever checked out Best Service's Emotional Cello btw?

[@ChristopherSiu]

Hi there! I'd say my favourite is still CSSS, followed by Tableau Solo Strings.

[@davidsprouse151]

I vote vsl. There are some cool scripting tricks with this one, the vibrato bugs me.

[@joeljohansson6097]

Anyone has a recommendation for a cheaper and lighter string quartet that would work in a pop ballad background? Preferrably with at least some definition/intimacy. (I have GPO5, but that's a bit too "cheap". 8dio intimate strings is a bit too heavy also.)

[@bernardoramirez6062]

Hey man, great video!!!, I have one question, I've just acquired the library but it always crashes, what did you do to make the library run so smoothly?, I'm running the library on an I Mac from 2019, with macOS Big Sur

[@ChristopherSiu]

Hey Bernardo, sorry I've got no idea! I'd contact the company directly to double check.

[@bernardoramirez6062]

@@ChristopherSiu wow you're a really cool dude, I didn't expect you would respond so fast, thanks!!!

[@unexpected8166]

I'd love to buy this libary but my wallet has other opinions... Thats why I was wandering if there are cheaper alternatives (maybe under 100 bucks) which you could take a look at or suggest? Thanks and keep it up.

[@ChristopherSiu]

For a quality library, I think this library and CSSS are both great choices. Spitfire also has offerings but they're more expensive as well.

[@enderep12]

Hey Chris, love your content. How'd you say the violins here compare to Joshua Bell Violin? Are they in the same ballpark or nah?

[@ChristopherSiu]

Good question. I feel like JB is infinitely more flexible, but I tend to get overwhelmed by the amount of tweaking that's possible in that library, although it does sound fantastic and very lively. These will get the job done relatively quickly without too much fuss.

[@MamaSymphonia]

@@ChristopherSiu That's exactly what I want. I too was a little surprised at how... *complex* JB is. Especially considering many of Embertone's instruments are the closest you can get to truly plug-n-play. Cremona seems like a nice balance between functionality and playability.

[@HyperNova137]

I'd like to see a comparison with 8Dio's new Studio Series Deep Solo strings... Just picked up the violin the other day with their huge November sale going on, but haven't gotten around to trying it out yet. So far I feel like the Cremona sounds just a bit lifeless compared to the Joshua Bell violin, but the latter also feels a bit thin in some instances... Judging by the demos, it seems like the 8Dio might be a nice fit in between the two -- plus its ridiculously cheap if you catch it during the sale.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Don't have those myself!

[@now_im_here3661]

i got in on that sale last week. I wanted that violin, but that, the viola and the cello of the same series are exempt from the sale.

[@HyperNova137]

@@now_im_here3661 yeah, that kinda disappointed me too, but the violin was just enough to bump up my cart total so i could get the Ostinato Strings for free... Wouldve gotten all 3 of them if they were included in the sale. Still, its a good enough deal that I cant really complain!

[@alansommer]

Am I gonna need lots of knobs, expression midi pedal, or anything complex to be able to play all the features? I got a Alesys Key q49 which is very simple, only a pitch, a volume and an expression knobs. Can you help me with that info? Thank you, love your channel!

[@ChristopherSiu]

Hey Alan, I personally perform my lines in only using the keyboard and my modwheel, and input any additional MIDI CC's in afterwards. No need to go fancy!

[@alansommer]

@@ChristopherSiu Those CC#s are the ones I get scared of and I can't provide with my key. I need to be able to use all features without programming my simple as hell keyboard.... Am I gonna be able to do that....? Do you know?

[@ChristopherSiu]

People draw in CC’s all the time! I usually map dynamics/expression/vibrato to the modwheel, and add in additional CCs as needed by drawing. Easy peasy

[@alansommer]

@@ChristopherSiu I know. But as my keyboard is really simple I always a hard time remapping Ccs I'm not great with technology, so I need to know if that Stradivari thing can be fully used with. My little only vol and expression knobs. :)

[@ChristopherSiu]

I almost always believe the answer is yes, no matter what midi controller you have. The real question is really ‘do I need this library, and what will it offer me that my current offerings cannot?’

[@derivaproducciones5583]

Do you think its same level as OT tableau or Spitfire Abbey road two? thanks .

[@ChristopherSiu]

Not in my opinion! But again it's a different sound than what I'm usually after.

[@derivaproducciones5583]

@@ChristopherSiu Thanks!!

[@MamaSymphonia]

Sounds great o.o I've been considering this library because, even though I love the languid passion of CSSS, that library isn't the best for the type of music I usually work with (classical covers of game music). I hadn't heard of this brand up until now actually!

[@ChristopherSiu]

Agreed!

[@antames]

Thanks for the review. The legato doesn't seem to sound realistic with these patches which is a shame. The demo by NI looked really promising. Ah well.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Thanks for watching Anton!

[@citizenworld8094]

Thank you for this. I have come to the conclusion that this quartet can be excellent but you really need to know how to write and orchestrate to use it to its fullest. If not, then the criticisms of the naysayers are valid. No library can be perfect - it's impossible including CSSS which to my ears are just as good/bad as Cremona. (It's a pity how SA try to convince us that one doesn't need to know how to orchestrate to be a film composer. It's a damn musical lie and this quartet proves my point). One has to hear the composition in their head first before the samples inspire or better still start at the piano/keyboard. This quartet is amazing but only after you know how to apply it and that takes learning and knowledge which no distributor or library maker is gonna tell you or show you. They make money from selling products not from teaching

[@ChristopherSiu]

Appreciate the thoughts!

[@grahammcrae4277]

Hello, Citizen. Couldn’t agree more. Is there anyway I could hear something you’ve done with this library? I mean I hear the bones of what could be an amazing sound experience but it’s being played.. ‘out of the box’ if you will. Have you done anything with it? Anything sharable? I’m guessing you like it? Also, how big is the library, space wise??

[@citizenworld8094]

@@grahammcrae4277 Hi Graham, I only purchased the whole Library recently and am preparing a string quartet piece which I'll be happy to share with you when it is finished. However most of the composition is in "the programming". The libraries are a few of GB each and can be RAM/CPU hungry. I found out early that if you can manipulate the Vibrato rate and modulation level, you're onto a good start but it's tedious, that said, it's a better track in the end.

[@grahammcrae4277]

Citizen World I’m kinda used to programming strings, insofar as I do it a lot. I THINK I’d be prepared. One complaint I’ve come across is that they’re a little brittle/brash sounding.. your thoughts? I’m thinking I’d hear some evidence of that in the numerous demos.. maybe the complaint was that they might not sit with other string orchestras, which I can live with. I actually really like that they might hold a unique sound space. As far as the size! It was really shocking.. I’m in need of a new ssd so I’m thinking of going for a 1 tb ssd. Samsung for only $149… they’ve come down a LOT. So I’m honestly not needing to hear your piece, though I’d love to! I am mostly interested in what your impressions are? Do you like the sound? Are you getting used to the programming part? Are you familiar with the Joshua Bell violin? Comparison?? Thanks for getting back to me, btw!

[@mikeraz594]

Not good not bad

[@Progmium]

I own this library. I do not like the out-of-the-box sound. Not very engaging overall. Very thin sounding. The articulations also do not sound cohesive. It is as if each articulation is played on a different day, by a different players, different mic, room, etc. Very distracting when switching between them in the middle of a performance. I highly recommend the Emotional cello, violin, and viola from Best Service. They are far more authentic sounding and with more articulation options.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Thanks for sharing!