M a n u a l

V e r s i o n

1 . 0

w w w . o r c h e s t r a l t o o l s . c o m
The
Berlin
Series

Woodwinds | Brass | Percussion | Strings | Various

About Berlin Strings

When we first recorded at the Teldex Scoring Stage we had no idea of the impact this
would have on the way we approach sampling - and on our product range. Berlin Strings
not only raised the bar for woodwind sampling, but also made us fully realise the
incredible room it was recorded in. A bunch of libraries and recordings later, the idea of
The Berlin Series was born. A full orchestral library in unparalleled depth recorded at
Teldex. We proudly present the next full volume in this series. Berlin Strings aims to be
your go-to string library, bringing the sound of the Teldex Scoring stage to your string
parts.
The string section is unmatched in its expressiveness and versatility. To make intricate
arrangements possible with all the sonic possibilities of the instruments, we went to great
lengths to our knowledge unparalleled in orchestral sampling so far. BST sports a huge
array of short articulations with sometimes more than 20 RRs, deep-sampled legato with
an innovative script adjusting to your playing and of course a large complement of prerecorded runs. All runs are compatible with BST, so you can play woodwind/string runs
in perfect sync. We also again included Playable Runs patches which allow you to play
custom runs.
Soaring strings need a place to do their soaring. We are very happy to once again having
had the chance to return to the Teldex stage in Berlin/ Germany. The large recording
stage looks back on a long tradition of many well known and Grammy award winning
recordings. Famous orchestras, like the Berlin Philharmonics and great film composers
from the USA and Europe trust and love the wide and clear acoustics of this room. One
of the best sounding scoring stages in Europe, this room together with a fantastic
complement of legendary microphones makes Berlin Strings a realization of a long
standing dream.
A big thank you to all of our customers! Only the huge success of our product range
through your loyalty make it possible to embark on creating The Berlin Series. Your
continued support enables us to keep exploring our dreams of innovative sampled
instruments! Stay tuned for new volumes of The Berlin Orchestra.

All the best wishes!

The whole OrchestralTools team

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Berlin Strings 1.0 - Manual

Credits
Produced by OrchestralTools.com
Schwarzer & Mantik GbR

Created and Produced by

Manfred Mantik, Hendrik Schwarzer
Concept, Scripting and Mapping
Hendrik Schwarzer
Mixing / Mastering
Manfred Mantik

Editing

Tuning

Manfred Mantik
Jan Lepold
Gernot Lange
Peter Ulrich
Daniel Wilhelm
Sebastian Zangar
Alexander Ketel
Dennis Schuster

Fernando Aguila Garcia

Tobias Escher
Manfred Mantik
Gabriel Gudenus
Lukas Knbl
Wolfgang Liebig

Quality Assurance

Manual

Jan Lepold

Tobias Escher

Conductor

Recording Engineer

Bernhard Fabuljan

Tom Rubueldt

Recorded at Teldex Berlin

Thanks to all our beta testers!

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Berlin Strings 1.0 - Manual

BST 101
Instrumentation and Recording

Berlin Strings contains all five orchestral string sections, which are divided into patches
containing a single articulation. You will find all of these patches inside the Instruments
folder. The library contains the following sections, as they appear in your instruments
folder:
01. Violins I
02. Violins II
03. Violas
04. Violoncellos
05. Basses
All playable articulations are listed in the articulations chart, available in the
Documentation folder.
The Violins II section is played by different musicians on different instruments, and does
not reuse any existing samples.
You have free choice between four microphone positions, Close, Tree and Surround, as
well as an A/B setup. All Violins I patches have a special Concertmaster position which
you can dial in to your taste to add presence.
These microphone positions are switchable in the GUI. Additionally, all core articulations
have been recorded with multiple velocity layers for realistic dynamics.
All samples have their natural panning.
BST was recorded at the Teldex Scoring Stage Berlin/Germany with high-end Neumann
microphones like the legendary M50 tube microphone.

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Tempo-synchronisation and NIs Time Machine

All pre-recorded runs and figures are synchronized to your host tempo. This marks the
next step in flexibility in professional sampling. For Berlin Strings, we recorded all
tempo-synced runs and figures at different tempos, with the script of the instrument
deciding in realtime upon the sample to use. The chosen sample is then stretched to your
host tempo by means of Time Machine 2 (Close and Room microphone positions) and
Time Machine Pro (Mix).
Note that when using extreme tempos not playable by real musicians, you will hear
artifacts and the playback will not be clear. If you use the auto tempo mode in BST the
script will default to half tempo. A 16th run at 200 bpm is not actually playable in reality there is no recorded sample for this tempo range. The script would then stretch the
fastest available sample too heavily, resulting in a bad sound. The auto tempo feature will
play the run at half your hosts tempo and the result will sound much nicer. Be mindful of
your tempo when writing with runs. Not every run is compatible with every tempo. If
you use the patches in their natural tempo range, meaning: at a speed actually playable by
real strings, you will get the best results.

Runs

To make Berlin Strings seamlessly integrate with our own Orchestral String Runs and
Berlin Strings, the complement of Scale Runs is identical to the complement present in
OSR. This allows you to play runs from both libraries at the same time without timing
issues or note collisions. You can easily double a string run with a flute section - all notes
will sound perfectly together.

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Blending With Other Libraries

We have spent considerable energy on making Berlin Strings fit into your existing
workflow and make it work together effortlessly with other libraries you are using.

1. The right reverb

You can control the amount of room information with the four adjustable microphone
positions in Berlin Strings interface.
More Room = more softness, wideness; More mid = more presence and character; more
Close = more detail.
Using the Close position solely allows you to shape the sound even further by using your
own reverb - at the expense of loosing the natural sound of the Teldex stage.
In general we suggest the use of an unobtrusive final reverb on top of the samples to
blend everything nicely together in a coherent space and to allow for spatial positioning
of instruments within the mix (or, in plain words: to move instruments further back or to
the front in the mix).

2. Volume Control via Kontakt

We have chosen to not normalise the audio samples used in Berlin Strings. This means
that all samples are at their natural volume, making some instrument ranges much quieter
than you may find in other libraries. This is intentional to give you the full dynamic
spectrum. If you want to raise the overall volume of BSTs patches, you can either raise
the volume of individual patches or raise Kontakts master volume slider:

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3. Volume Range Dial

Dynamics is what makes an orchestra sound good. And incidentally, it is
also what makes many mockups sound bad. A piano can be really quiet
and a forte can be really loud, not something in-between. Because there is
a fixed amount of velocity layers in any sample library, it can happen that
a real musician could play that piano part much quieter than your samples
do. On the other hand, having the quietest samples at too low a volume can
make a library hard to use. We thought about this and have a solution: The volume range
dial allows you to set the overall volume range of your instruments between the lowest
and the highest velocity.
Move the dial all to the left and you will have the original dynamics as recorded. Move it
to the far right and the lowest velocities will be very quiet while the highest velocities will
be pretty loud, giving your the full possible dynamic range. By default, this dial is set to
give you some nice dynamic range compared the raw samples while at the same time not
leaving you with almost inaudible low velocities. Experiment with this setting and use it
in your templates to bring out the full dynamic range of your orchestrations! The volume
range feature allows you to blend BST with your other string libraries with ease.

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MIDI CCs used by Berlin Strings

We have taken great care to not clash with your existing MIDI CC allocations for Berlin
Strings. Most CCs used by the library are standard and should work well with your
current setup. Nevertheless, BSTs scripts internally use a number of additional CCs,
which are also available to you as a user in case you want to adjust settings. Most CCs
are user-assignable, so you can change them if you like.
Here is a list of all CCs used by default and their use:
CC 1
The modwheel controls morphing through the velocity layers if the X-Fade mode is
activated on the BST knob. You can change this CC (right-click).
CC 11
All patches have CC 11 (Expression) set to control the general patch volume.
CC 3
This CC controls the vibrato mode (select patches only). This CC is user-assignable.

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GUI Overview
Articulation Patches vs Legato and Trills Orchestrator

BST has four general types of patches with some differences in their GUI:
1. Articulation Patches
2. Legato Patches
3. Trills Orchestrator
4. Runs
These patch types use a similar interface, but have a number of controls unique to
specific patches. This section will describe the common GUI features of these patches in
detail, while additional sections dedicated to the two patch types will show you what
makes them unique.

General GUI

This sections shows you the user interface of the articulation. This is how these patches
look like, with all interface elements labeled:

1. Vibrato Style
2. Concertmaster Mic (Violins I only)
3. Microphone Selectors
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4. BST Knob
5. Volume Range knob
6. Release Samples control
7. Bow Noise control (select patches)
8. Volume Curve
9. Velocity Layers
10. Con Sordino

Microphone Positions

All patches in Berlin Strings have four adjustable microphone positions (plus the
Concertmaster for Violins I). You will find rotary encoders with on/off buttons for all
positions at the bottom of each patch:

If you switch off a position, its samples will be purged from memory. Conversely, as soon
as you switch a position on, the samples will be loaded.

Close
Increase the amount of the Close knob if you want to have a more direct sound with less
response of the room. Raising the volume of the Close mics will also increase the playing
noises made by the musicians, providing added realism for intimate settings.
Tree
The Tree microphones provide a balance between Close and Surround. Use them to add
presence to the sound by allowing some room response on, while still keeping the sound
relatively controlled.
Surround
Increase the amount of the Surround knob if you want to have as much room information
as possible. The reverb will increase while the direct sound decreases.

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A/B
The A/B position features a wide stereo image and is of great use as a supporting
microphone
Concertmaster (Violins I only)
The Violins I have a special concertmaster microphone, which lets you add
the concertmaster (1st violinist) prominently.
Note: You do not need to think about adjusting the mic positions if you do not want to!
When you load any instrument into Kontakt, the microphone knobs will be set to wellbalanced standard positions.

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BST Knob

The BST knob is a key component of using the library. It allows you to select one of two
ways to control the velocity of played notes:
1) Velocity (how hard you press the keys on your MIDI keyboard)
2) X-Fade (lets you control the volume via the modwheel)
Legato and sustained articulations are hardwired to X-Fade (modwheel). Portato uses XFade. Staccato and Staccato Short use Velocity by default because they are much more
easily playable this way.

You can re-assign the CC used for the X-Fade setting by right-clicking on the BST knob
and assigning a new CC by moving your corresponding fader/encoder or whatever input
source you are using.
In the lower third of the BST know, the current velocity layer is displayed. As you morph
through the layers, this value will change to reflect the active layer. If no text is visible,
you are in the middle of two layers. Note that this display represents the actual recorded
samples. So if you have p / mf / f in the display, that not only tells you that there are three
actual layers per note, but also which one is currently active. This is a huge help when
creating realistic mockups because you are told by BST that right now those violas are
playing mf. When the display says mf, what you are hearing is the actual sound of the
violas playing mf, not just a random sample lowered or raised in volume!

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Release Samples

Most patches in Berlin Strings have release samples, which will be triggered when you
release a key. This even includes Staccato and Portato Long patches! Release samples are
switched on by default. You can switch them on or off by pressing the Release Samples
button. The button lights up when release samples are active.
With the Release Volume knob you can control the volume of the
release samples that get triggered when you release a key. Increase the
value of the knob if you want to increase the volume of the release
samples, decrease the value and the volume of the release samples will
decrease.

Bow Noise

All short notes patches as well as sustains have an option to add bow
noise to the samples. Click the bow noise button to activate this feature
and use the knob to dial in the amount of bow noise you want to hear.

Volume Curve and Range

You can adjust the volume curve of a patch directly in the BST interface: Clicking on the
Vol Curve button opens a bar chart where you can set your desired velocity curve by
clicking and dragging in the chart window. Note that this setting is only applied to this
particular instance of the patch, so if you want to permanently change the volume curve
you need to re-save the patch. The volume curve also affects the X-Fade mode using the
modwheel. This means that you can fine-tune the behaviour of the modwheel to allow for
unique dynamic control, for example for creating terraced dynamics.

The Volume Range encoder sets the dynamic range of the patch. You can
find a detailed description of what this control does in the section
Blending With Other Libraries.

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Con Sordino

We integrated a sophosticated Con Sordino simulation in to Berlin

Strings. The CS button switches the sordino effect on and off. You can
assign it to any CC by right-clicking.

Velocity Layer

To free up system resources you can choose which velocity layers of any instrument will
be loaded. This also helps counter phasing issues as well as allows you to just play with a
single layer if your piece requires it.

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Articulation Patches
Berlin Strings has a broad range of articulations across the whole string section. While all
of these patches use the general interface described in the previous section, some have
additional features accessible in the GUI, which will be explained here.

Dynamics

The dynamics patch provides you with a vast complement of prerecorded dynamic notes. The different lengths and dynamics are
controlled by a series of keyswitches. For all one way dynamics (i.e. p to
mf), low velocities will trigger decrescendos, while higher velocities
trigger a crescendo.
The currently selected dynamic is displayed in the instrument interface.
Click the button below to view and change the keyswitch assignments.

Repetitions

BST features recorded 16th note and triplets repetitions. These have been recorded at
multiple tempos and are played in perfect sync to your host tempo by the script. By
default, the script conforms to the host tempo. If you want to adjust the tempo yourself,
set the tempo switch to manual and use the BPM knob to set the tempo.
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Sustains with Vibrato

Most Sustain patches as well as the Playable Runs have

multiple vibrato levels. Depending on the patch, you have
Romantic Vibrato, without Vibrato and Strong Vibrato. Use
the vibrato toggles to switch between the different vibrato
types.
By default, CC3 is assigned to the vibrato styles. You can reassign this to any CC you
wish by changing the value in the CC box.

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Legato Patches
Berlin Strings has true legato (interval sampling) for all sections. To achieve the highest
level of realism and detail, we have recorded every interval up to an octave. That means
you will hear the natural transitions from one note to another. Every true legato patch is
sampled with three dynamic crossfade layers. For Berlin Strings, we improved and vastly
expanded the Adaptive Legato technology introduced in Berlin Woodwinds Expansion B
- Soloists. While you play, the instrument analyses your playing style and adjusts the
transitions automatically

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

A lot of the core interface elements in the legato patches look and feel the same as in the
other articulation patches, but there are some differences. This is how a legato patch
looks, with individual controls numbered and explained in the following section:

Legato Styles
The Adaptive Legato will react to your playing and choose the correct style
automatically. You can see which style is currently used in the Style view left to the BST
knob. Use the solo buttons left of the style panels to force the script to use this particulat
style.
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Vibrato
By default, CC3 switches between romantic vibrato, no vibrato and strong vibrato. These
three vibrato styles use dedicated recorded samples and have not been created by
manipulating existing audio material. You can see which vibrato style is active by looking
at the interface. The highlighted button shows the currently selected style:

If you would like to use a different CC to control the vibrato style, double-click on the
CC number and enter a new one. Make sure not to use any CC already in use.

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Trills Orchestrator Patches

One of the most powerful tools in Berlin Strings is the ergonomically playable Trills
Orchestrator. We say ergonomic because you do not need any keyswitches to change
between different trills, you just play them. Depending on the instrument, you can play
looped trills up to a fifth, one-shot semitone and wholetone trills (just one single trill) as
well as identical sfz trills. Our custom script manages the biggest collection of different
trills and interval tremolos ever created and it is a huge time-saver! Choose the interval to
be trilled between by just pressing the starting and final notes.
Read more about the use and features of the Trills Orchestrator on the following pages.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)

At the right of the GUI you see a helpful tool for your orchestrations: The notation view,
a huge timesaver if you want to notate trills in your written scores. It shows you every
trill you are playing, regardless of the number of notes you play. Just like in all other
instruments, there are three knobs and buttons for the microphone positions: Room,
Close and Mix, as well as a knob for the Release Volume. Last but not least, every Trills
Orchestrator has a Mode Change Function.

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How to play the Trills Orchestrator

We were looking for a way to make this instrument easily playable.

After testing a few options we discovered rolling up the chords is the best and easiest
way to play trills without using keyswitches. All you have to do is press a starting note
and then the final note of your trill and the Trills Orchestrator will trill between these
notes.
The Orchestrator allows you to trill between more than just two notes; flickering chords
are possible and easy to play. Just roll off the whole chord and the Trills Orchestrator
will trill between the notes you are playing. You can trill between up to 20 notes, the
problem is that you will not have enough fingers to do that ;-)
Note
The starting note must always be lower than the final note. While you are playing, the
delay between the start note and the end note can be very short, you can roll up the
chords very quickly. But it is important to always roll them up; pressing two or more
keys at exactly the same time will not work.

The Mode Change Function

Every Trills Orchestrator can run in two different modes:

End Tone = Start Tone

In this mode every final note is automatically a new starting note if you press more than
two keys. For example: When you trill between C and D, the C is your starting note and
the D is your final note. Now you can use the D as another starting note. Just press any
other key, an E for example. Now the Orchestrator trills between C and D and also
between D and E. So the D is automatically a final note as well as a starting note.

Start Tone = Always New

In contrast to the other mode, in this mode you cannot trill between odd numbers of
notes like 3, 5 or 7 for example. Why? Because you cannot use the final note of a trill as a
new starting note.
With the example before: You trill between C and D. If you press E now, the E is your
new starting note. The Orchestrator then waits for an additional note. Now you need to
press one more note, lets say an F. The Orchestrator then trills between C and D, and
between E and F, but not between D and E.
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Note
Just find out which mode is good for your current needs and choose accordingly: If you
want to play flickering chords for example, choose the End Tone = Start Tone mode. If
you want to play two different trills, each between two notes, you should choose the Start
Tone = Always New mode.

Tip
You can blend the sfz trills perfectly with the irregular trills to achieve a sharp attack at
the beginning of a long sustained trill.

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Runs
Berlin Strings puts a strong emphasis on idiomatic string writing. No one will argue that
runs are an important part of what a string section tends to do, so we felt we really
needed to nail that bit. For this reason, you get a large complement of runs to choose
from in the Scale Runs patches and you can play your own runs with the help of the
Runs Transitions patch. Orchestral String Runs was our first commercial library and we
tried out many things to come up with the best sounding and most flexible solution. With
the experience gained in creating OSR and OSR2 and the feedback received from of our
customers, who sent us e-mails with ideas and suggestions, we improved the algorithms
for the runs patches dramatically over the course of many updates. Now we can all use
the best of it in Berlin Strings.

Scale Runs

The Scale Runs patches contain full recorded runs in all major and minor keys. All runs
have been recorded at different speeds and are tempo-synced to your host. Please refer to
the included Scale Runs Chart for information about the different types of runs available.

Scale Runs patches have a toggle that lets you switch between upward
and downwards runs. You can assign this toggle to a MIDI CC by rightclicking on it to control it from within your sequencer.
C0 to B0 on your MIDI keyboard act as keyswitches to switch between keys.

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The tempo mode slider with the auto tempo button is controllable via an
assignable MIDI CC (right click - by now you should know this by heart)
and lets you adjust playback of the samples between half tempo, double
tempo and regular tempo as well as half triplets and double triplets. The
current selection is shown below the slider. As an example, if you have a host
tempo of 200bpm, a 16th run would be way too fast.
Change the setting to half tempo and the run will essentially play as an 8th run.
If you have the auto tempo button switched on, BST will adjust this slider automatically
to find the ideal solution. To control the slider manually, switch off the auto tempo
button.
All Scale Runs use NIs Time Machine Pro to sync to your host tempo, regardless
of the mic position(s) used. This means unrivalled fidelity and complete freedom
in choosing your tempo.

Runs Transitions Patches

The Runs Transitions patches (also called Playable Runs, because that is essentially what
these patches allow you to do) are based on the same technology that powers legato
instruments and use very fast legato transitions between notes. They are available for
both solo instruments and ensembles. We have sampled transitions between notes up to
the interval of a fifth, so you can play runs leaving gaps between notes if you want. Now
it is finally possible to play completely unique runs on a MIDI keyboard and hear the
glue in between individual notes. Just play your run and BST will do the rest!

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