The CSS Update

All good things. Even though I'm months late to be talking about all this anyway.
Send a one-off donation through via PayPal to [e-mail] to help me make more videos, or grab a copy of that album I released around this time: corypelizzari.bandcamp.com/al...

[@uncle-ed]

Rest in peace Cory. You made the world a better place. Check ya later.

[@DuaneCarltonMerrittmusic]

He died????

[@uncle-ed]

@@DuaneCarltonMerrittmusic Unfortunately yes.

[@Osoch]

WHAAAAAT

[@luisendymion9080]

No way... that's freakin' sad...

[@ridgero]

Miss you, Cory! Rest in peace my friend

[@amphibianaudio]

Thank you for big brain and non-clickabity overviews! This feature of fake divisi is great.

[@thegoodgeneral]

I was JUST looking up a bunch of videos about VSTs. Good timing.

[@w1wang]

It’s so lovely! The sound of the library is amazing

[@yvanroustan4426]

agree with you , a great update ! thank you for your video 😀

[@DPiano]

A life long friend of someone else's, too! I love each of their libraries, once again, thx to Alex and his team. Great series, great efforts and great results coming from talented people like you 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@consonaadversapars]

Thx, you could also do a video on how the new runs work. Cheers!

[@aleksamrkela831]

I'm definitely seeing this update making up for some of the old version's sonic shortcomings. It seems like the spot mics offer better detail for all the sections. But what really steals the show for me is the low end on the basses. It sounds much more focused and deeper than in the original version. Big thumbs up from me! There are also the new and improved runs.

[@AlonsoJoaquinComposer]

Spot mics do have a lot of detail but they are also really harsh and piercing, in real recordings they are rarely ever used in larger sections, in scores you normally hear the main+room setup. Not to mention they are never used on their own with reverb, reverb doesn't simulate acoustics it just adds tail so the results are never goos. Close mics with more distance are much more common. But for general purposes I've noticed the results tend to be better when turning the spot mics off entirely, but they can still add a bit of detail and extra panning when desired

[@aleksamrkela831]

@@AlonsoJoaquinComposer Maybe so, but that's hardly a dealbreaker considering the massive advantages the library has. Plus, harshness can be tamed with plugins or hardware if you know what you're doing. It's not like you're stuck with it once you're done programming. :D

[@michaellaumusic]

So for clarification, by using the Spot mics you can create a divsi section? If so, would it create an issue adding some of the room mics in?

[@MustacheVerra]

I think you've convinced me that 1.7 is indeed better than the previous version.

[@omariuscp]

While I do admire CSS for many years, one thing that I really wish for is a further controlled legato, what if I want to swing far slower instead of relying on a soft binary velocity switch. I’m on the quest for that sort of plug-in if anyone can help.

[@AlonsoJoaquinComposer]

CSS already gives plenty of control, 3 legato speeds (though it's really the same legato samples just timed differently) and portamento, legato is super difficult to program already, more control for the user means less control for the dev over their library. The few libraries with more legato controls usually lack all the performance and fluidity of a good legato like Pacific's or CSS'. Not to mention inconsistent, bumpy, etc. Unless someone figures out how to model the tone of a string section with proper room acoustics we don't really have much choice. When working with VSTS the mockup IS the final performance so that's something I'm personally not willing to give a way for more controls. That said, Performance Samples has a variety of string libraries with very different approaches and performances when it comes to legatos. Con Moto, Vista, Pacific, soon Vista 2 (All amazing btw) so that's probably the best and closest option. Like Dan Worrall once said "More controls doesn't always mean more control" I hope that helps a bit, cheers!

[@HOBBITSODYSSEY]

have you tried Vsl Synchron Strings? Amazing legato , I also like Nashville Scoring String, super playability.

[@AlonsoJoaquinComposer]

@@HOBBITSODYSSEY VSL sounds very decent, the legatos are okay (very great when played very slowly because of how expressive the sustains are) but the performances of medium/fast passages aren't great to my ears, the sustains are beautiful but when the legato invertal comes in sounds a bit flat. I don't think it has very good recordings and space but that's also a problem CSS has. As for NSS, I remember the recordings being quite good but when looking at the legatos and overall scripting/polish CSS seemed like the better choice. Sadly CSS is so damn difficult to mix, not just to blend with other libraries but to mix on its own. It's a huge challenge because you are dealing with the bad recordings on one side (no close mics, just spot mics which arent' really used in real life film score recordings), but also the studio where it was recorded (Trackdown) is relatively small, so despite having a nice tail compared to other drier studios it has a lot of frequency buildup, too much frecuency buildup everywhere. To the point where you need a serious amount of dynamic EQ bands and mid/side processing which I'm not a big fan of, not when I have to do so for every note at least. So yeah despite there being dozens of string libraries it's very hard to find a really good string library that has good performances, good recordings and good scripting

[@HOBBITSODYSSEY]

@@AlonsoJoaquinComposer Its all down to personal preference, the way you write and work might not suit others, I agree the trick is to find the library that makes a pleasure to work with, I find Vsl Synchron spectacular, in my case I never had a problem with the legatos or anything, but that's just my personal preference, I recently got Nashville Scoring Strings and wow, different technique , takes time to adjust to a new library, every library has a learning curve, hopefully one day you will find one that satisfies you in ways that you want. all the best.

[@AlonsoJoaquinComposer]

@@HOBBITSODYSSEY Oh of course, that's why I used terms such as "imo" "personally" and "to my ears" I wasn't trying to state such things as facts cuz I thought it was obvious this is my personal opinion. That said, I'm a big fan of Performance Samples' approach. Very good recordings that sound like a real raw session, but like they say PS is not for purists, they are not the most isolated and sterile recordings ever, sometimes with not a lot of noise reduction but I prefer it that way as they just work with everything. They are also sampled from real phrases in a musical context, this is mostly obvious when playing short repetitions but I'm surprised not a lot of devs are doing this. I think the biggest problem people tend to have with PS is the fact that their libraries are very specific when it comes to articulations, however they are very deeply sampled, in Pacific Strings for example you get about 7-10 dynamic layers for sustains on average, with crazy good release samples and it just sounds so alive man, so good. I'm also a big fan of what Alex Wallbank has been doing with the Cinematic Studio Series but yeah the recordings are a bit too dodgy and overall requires much more work

[@CarlosEstella]

How do you download the update? Thanks

[@CarlosEstella]

I unsubscribe because you don't know how to answer, useless!!!!

[@MichaelPilipp]

Du kannst Spot 1 und Spot 2 als echtes Stereo benutzen (Spot 1 nach rechts drehen, Spot 2 nach links)

[@Harrysound]

Doesn’t the new kontakt logo suck …really bad

[@timbecker6873]

your Sound is mono....

[@Midrule]

you didn't watch the video lol

[@CoryPelizzari]

@@Midrule Those darn spot mics, recording everything in mono. The vocal mics too. Tsk tsk.

[@mikec2660]

sounds flat and outdated !

[@Reactor10k]

Because no reverb...?

[@AlonsoJoaquinComposer]

Because he's only using spot mics

[@Reactor10k]

And no reverb.

[@cesmcmyth]

yes, say that when someone comes offer you a stradivarius for free. Tell him, I don't want it. Outdated 300 years old shit.

[@mikec2660]

@@cesmcmyth CSS doesn't even come close to the level of ingenuity of a Stradivarius ! Besides CSS never have sales and they've been riding on this library far to long !