Pacific Strings was worth the wait.

In this video, I share my experience with Pacific Ensemble Strings by Performance Samples. A symphonic strings library that was worth waiting for.
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00:00​​​​ One Strings library to rule them all...
00:06 Quick Facts: Pacific Strings
00:45 Many articulations, some are missing
01:24 User Interface: No design award, but...
04:39 Sound: Why noise is good
06:22 Evaluation: Is Pacific Strings for you?
07:07 Pacific has 3 potential dealbreakers
09:24 Pacific fulfills these 4 expectations
09:56 Pricing & Freebie
10:19 Demo: Pacific only
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_____________________________________________________________________
Attributions
Pacific Strings Demos:
Remember This Life - Jasper Blunk
Pre-Alpha Legato 15m Romantic Speed Write - Jasper Blunk
15-minute Legato Speedwrite - Jasper Blunk
Horse and Chariot - Jasper Blunk
Legato Violins Improv Test - Jasper Blunk
The Stars in Her Eyes - Jasper Blunk
Description tags: pacific ensemble strings, performance samples
Thanks For Watching!
Hashtags: #stringslibrary #pacificstrings #performancesamples

[@KevinKuschel]

I wanted Pacific Strings to be 4 things: 1. simple to use (user-interface, settings) 2. symphonic allrounder (“bread-and-butter”) 3. easy workflow (on grid = on time, playable marcato patch for sketching) 4. Performance Samples’ secret sauce for a lively orchestral sound For me, it fulfills these expectations spectacularly. Will it fulfill your expectations? Let's see: Searching for aspects that might make it not perfect for you specifically, look out for the following caveats: - Pacific is a bit noisier than many - Pacific can’t do everything (e.g. no dedicated Staccato patch) - No second violins Pacific Strings' simplicity comes with certain compromises. Personally, I take these compromises any day, knowing how easily and effectively I can produce music with Pacific. Maybe you won’t. Form your opinion, what’s important to you in a strings library, and what you can live without. Hope this is a small helpful overview ❤

[@personalpass]

Always love your demos ! We can hear that you worked hard ☀️

[@ChrisMuellerMusic]

Great review and top notch video quality as always. Thanks Kevin!

[@jmmm2703]

The sound is powerful! I like how you present those energetic short notes in the sound examples.

[@LouieTaylorMusic]

I love how much you obviously care about helping us understand the library. Your pinned comment is testament to that, a quick overview of information that you didn't need to provide but shows us everything we need to know in a nutshell. Same with the opening of the video. This is all succeeded by a great demo and walkthrough. Thanks so much and keep it up! Also love how the demo show cases most of the articulations and dynamic layers really well. So, thanks for that. A lot of people just show case a nice mellow string piece for this library and I really needed to see how it performed at it's dynamic piece.

[@KevinKuschel]

thank you :)

[@ricgus3]

Amazing video Kevin and easy one of the coolest demo track you done so far! Great work! ❤

[@KevinKuschel]

Thank you, Rickard!

[@ritchxmusic]

Oh man, love that piece you composed on the end. Proves that this can handle some rough stuff and not just purely romantic. I love the sound of this, sounds real

[@Audiotecamusic]

thumbs up for the intro of the video i was not expecting it xD

[@AlexSonicsMusic]

Great video for a lovely library. It is now my main library, covering 90 % of my needs. I usually layer it with Vista, because , NOIZZE:)

[@MaxiGoethling]

I love working with pacific so much it feels like it was made "for me", it's a similar revelation as it was with the first time using CSS.

[@5ammy13]

I love the blend of both too. CSS has very nice, tight shorts, and love the mod wheel changing the shorts lengths. Pacific has that liveliness that you don't get from conventionally sampled strings. So combining both is just so perfect.

[@seanmalroy]

Thanks for posting this and letting me know about Pacific strings. Never heard of these people before. There is something about the marcato and also repeated notes that is incredibly lifelike, the way the vibrato is still strong/musical, without having to be in the swell of a legato passage. and I haven’t found it anywhere else. Like you said, it breathes with life! :) I just got audio bro’s MSS and it is very cool. But I think this has it beat in terms of workflow and the sound of specific phrasing elements. Cool video!

[@KevinKuschel]

Thanks! :)

[@ethan_livingstone_music]

Awesome video

[@KevinKuschel]

Thanks, Ethan!

[@5ammy13]

This is the best string library I've ever heard. I would definitely never ever recommend it as a composer's first string library. But I would say it adds so much if you already own a string library, this makes an excellent second purchase. The tone is just so beautiful. It truly sounds like a real string section and Jasper Blunk's performance based sampling just works so well. Can't wait for Pacific Brass, however a little bummed that it only comes with 2 Horns. Hope that changes.

[@BenBerkenboschMusic]

Unfortunately the brass won't be as comprehensive as the strings. But the 2 horns is not really an issue, since it matters more how they record/sample it. 12 horns don't have to sound larger than 4 horns for instance with samples, because this doesn't translate the same way as with live instruments. But also vice versa, it's possible to get more details out of a larger string section for instance. This is something that Jasper explained, and it made a lot of sense to me. So I do have faith in that they will sound good. Excited to see it at least.

[@5ammy13]

Yeah. I do think however with brass, and especially horns, having 4 horns is a minimum for it to sound like a Horn ensemble. 2 Horns sounds too thin no matter what, but it would help when playing polyphonically. I wish they had one 4/6 horns patch as well. I luckily have Caspian and the Angry Brass Pro libraries so if I do need a 6 Horn patch I'll reach for those among other things. But yes I wished Pacific Brass was as detailed and comprehensive as the strings too. I would have thought JB would think of Pacific Brass as the replacement to Caspian Brass, given that they have discontinued Caspian. I really love Caspian, but I only wished it had round robins for the trombones and horns. And Angry Brass is great but can't not as dynamic as Caspian.

[@GabePlaysYT]

I know patience is a virtue, but dang do I hope the other sections come out soon. This sounds more realistic than any library I've ever heard

[@kineticstishi]

He's back!

[@KevinKuschel]

Aww yeah!

[@ridgero]

Kevin, du bist echt ein toller Typ, ich mag deinen Channel sehr. Danke für deine super Videos! Hab sofort abonniert, muss mal deinen Discord Channel joinen :)

[@KevinKuschel]

Hey, danke dir!

[@alexmusicalexandredore8941]

Sounds like a great string library. I bought CSS a few months ago and am a bit bothered by latency issues. I wanted to know if this library offered the possibility to play live without latency or to play quantized parts in DAW without latency. Especially with the legato parts. You just have to switch to "Live" mode if I understood correctly? Thank you for your answer.

[@snarf1504]

9:10 You can load multiple articulations on different midi channels and use a Kontakt script to switch between them via keyswitches. Make a preset and voila. This has the benefit of mixing flexibility over single keyswitch patches. For Studio One users it is even simpler, since sound variations can be triggered by midi channels too.

[@KevinKuschel]

Oooohh gotta try MIDI channels by Sound Variations. Thanks!

[@snarf1504]

@@KevinKuschel You're welcome! Nice video, Kev :)

[@5ammy13]

@@KevinKuschel I believe the script Snarf is talking about is Flexrouter? It's a Kontakt script that you can load and combine multiple instruments within one Kontakt instance. @Snarf, are you thinking of another script perhaps?

[@mariusrincu8612]

bine frumosule multumesc 😋

[@cigalunaire5188]

Hi man, thx for this video, I miss understood how you did to get a 2nd violon enemble ? If you could help me, it wouldbe nice^^. Thank again.

[@scottfoster3643]

Ok CSS quit making excuses about your latency. I am jumping ship and switching to this as the sound is more lively and I won't have to deal with the buzz kill of not being able to play in real time and having to edit every performance to get the timing correct. Thanks for a great review.

[@jviolin]

I agree!

[@AnatolianPiano]

I Agree.

[@DJKLProductions]

"Pacific Strings" corresponds exactly to the philosophy of Performance Samples: "not for purists". I am non-binary in that sense, because I am both a purist and not, or something in between, but it always depends on the situation. However, since I currently own many string libraries, or libraries that also contain string patches, I will not buy "Pacific Strings" for the time being. My collection is complete for the moment, but I won't lose sight of this library and will keep it in mind. Thank you for presenting the library in the best quality as usual! I like your reviews and presentations because they are very structured and not chaotic. Those long videos where every conceivable articulation of every instrument is shown are good, but with them there is always (long) improvisation, which can be really tough. That's why I really like your crisp, entertaining videos! You cought me back then with your videos on the five personalities of the Metropolis Ark series. I've only been a subscriber to your channel since today, but you caught my eye, ear or both at the time.

[@saimaxstudios6902]

Bro please make tutorials like how to write trailer tracks 😟

[@kennethjackson4858]

I don't have a string library and hearing about CCS and makes it harder to choose. Put it seems it is for cinematic music. I only have Opus.

[@kineticstishi]

Hey, Have you tried the Orchestra Complete 3, Just wanted to hear your thoughts on it as an All in One Orchestral library since they added a dedicated woodwinds library into it

[@KevinKuschel]

Sorry, I don't have it.

[@5ammy13]

Hey, I have some experience with The Orchestra. It's a great sketching tool for me. The sound is great, but not right there for production. It can work as a great layering library. The midi patterns and the arranger within The Orchestra is great to learn how different sections work together and different orchestration techniques. I would not buy it as my first library if I intend to use it for final production. But if you're someone whose music gets recorded live then I don't see a problem with getting The Orchestra. I would recommend Nucleus from Audio Imperia, Hollywood Orchestra Opus Edition, or if you can afford it, Berlin Orchestra by Orchestral Tools. BBCSO Core is great too but the Brass can be a little lacking. Also please get these libraries only on sale. Don't get libraries on full price, ever...

[@JD-ls6ex]

Hard to say it's for you or not. The usual reccommended Nucleus and such are all good, but let me make a case for the Orchestra as well. The orchestra has much more content than Nucleus, like MUCH more. Much more articulations. It comes with the engine with many presets and the ability to make your own. And then you are able to export the midi to other instruments. The brass is the high point for me of the orchestra. I also have Cinebrass 12 horn and 8dio century brass. I reach for the Orchestra most of the time. Maybe I have bad taste, who knows. Because it doesn't have as many round robins as the previous ones and so on .. But I just really really like the sound. And after they added the performance legato, I will only reach for it more :) But other than that. The sound quality is higher from many of the competitors. So .. The positives of The Orchestra: Very light on resources, lots of content, engine that will be useful even when you upgrade to individual section libraries, so your purchase won't end up JUST being a sketching tool .. However, it's also an amazing sketching tool, could argue the best one there is. Also it keeps beeing updated and expanded upon, not just with new content, but also improving excisting content. The negative: Not the most high quality samples, but that's a positive at the same time, since it means it's light on resources. No best answer, it all depends on your needs.

[@MusicGeology]

I haven't heard anything better than ProjectSam's Symphobia samples for string orchestra, have you tried them?

[@micwarren21]

Does it have key switches for articulations?

[@KevinKuschel]

No, single patches only

[@stepitup23]

that intro xD

[@AshrafElziftawiMusic]

This or cinematic studio strings? 🤔

[@MaxiGoethling]

Both, CSS is better in the lower dynamics, Pacific is better in the higher layers and more energetic pieces.

[@IngoGarza]

CSS is more versatile I would say. Pacific sounds nice tho. It all depends on what you already have.

[@5ammy13]

Hey Ash, I have both and if I had to choose only 1 and I didn't have a Strings library, then CSS. But if you can get both, I would highly recommend it. Since you already have many String libraries, I think getting Pacific would add a lot to your choice. The best way I can define Pacific is "live". Sounds really lively and flowy, like you're listening to a real string section in front of you. Great addition to your palette.

[@AshrafElziftawiMusic]

@@5ammy13 hey Sammy, thank u so much for ur lengthy reply. Much appreciated. I'll definitely add it to my palette now

[@tomorrett]

That 'legato' sounds like a portamento to me. Did he play the wrong articulation? I don't think I could use a library with legato like that.

[@5ammy13]

So the legato is a lot more portomento when played on higher dynamics. But when the mod wheel is not pushed right to max, it's quite a nice legato that can work for agile passages too. They have upto 5 dynamic layers, and staying on the highest one all the time isn't advisable.

[@KevinKuschel]

Definitely ramped up that mod wheel a bit much in that violin legato clip. I just retested and the lower dynamics are much tamer with the gliding. Sorry for that!

[@tomorrett]

@@5ammy13 Ah right. Cool. I subsequently got the impression from the Blakus review that the level of portamento is determined by how hard you hit the key, not the dynamics say on the mod wheel.

[@5ammy13]

@@tomorrett in a lot of ways I would have liked that. That would also mean control over the legato choice which would make this library all that more amazing. But have to make do for this one. But the sound is super gorgeous and I'm willing to live with this little niggle. I bought this library on vacation and I can't wait to get back and play around with it more and write a demo 😁

[@itslucasduh]

the lack of a fingered legato is a dealbreaker :( the library is nearly perfect otherwise

[@cachelesssociety5187]

“Fingered legato” is a term used by some developers (like Spitfire) to indicate notes under the same bow direction. It is considered equivalent of “slurred legato”, because this is usually notated with a slur in scores (and this is how VSL calls this articulation). Okay - thanks for the info - I had to look it up.

[@jviolin]

I got Cinematic Studio Strings but I am running into major issues with latency. They don’t offer refunds, so I am stuck with CSS but wish I would have tried something else such as this library.

[@AnatolianPiano]

CSS's legato transitions are much better. But as you said, it has many problems. (Lag, hum) Try using it and loving it anyway.

[@cachelesssociety5187]

@@AnatolianPiano I didn't buy it yet. hum u say?

[@TheYongqi]

10:33 LMAO

[@dafingaz]

Polished Pop Productions

[@KevinKuschel]

Go rap about some #polishedpopproductions 🔥

[@dafingaz]

@@KevinKuschel 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@5ammy13]

Plentiful Probably Popular Polished Pop Productions

[@dafingaz]

@@5ammy13 Bars! LOL

[@davidk3872]

1106

[@DrGameTazo]

Prefer CSS