A collection of professionally recorded strings with multiple articulations and bowings.

EastWest/Quantum Leap's Hollywood Strings virtual instrument gives you a comprehensive collection of string instruments and incredible control over the sound and performance—all supplied on a internal hard drive for easy installation. Choose Mac or PC versions.

Recording of each virtual violin, viola, cello, and double bass on the Hollywood Strings virtual instrument took place with a live orchestra at the famous EastWest Studio 1, the same studio where many Hollywood soundtracks and television themes were recorded. Heading this project were co-producers Doug Rogers, Nick Phoenix, and sound engineer Shawn Murphy.

Joining Rogers and Phoenix as co-producer on Hollywood Strings virtual instrument software is Thomas Bergersen, a highly respected composer and orchestrator, and Phoenix's partner in trailer music company, Two Steps From Hell. His extensive experience in composing for orchestras and with virtual orchestras made him a perfect fit for the project of creating EastWest's Hollywood Strings virtual instrument.

Shawn Murphy is an Academy Award-winning, C.A.S. (Cinema Audio Society), BAFTA, and Emmy award-winning sound engineer who has recorded and mixed the scores for more than 300 feature films including "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," "Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones," "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," "Star Wars: A Musical Journey," "Jurassic Park," "Jurassic Park The Lost World," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "Titanic," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Bourne Ultimatum," "Minority Report," "Saving Private Ryan," "Munich," "The Passion Of The Christ," "X-Men: The Last Stand," "Memoirs of a Geisha," and "Ice Age."

The sound collection on Hollywood Strings gives composers many features not found in other virtual stringed instrument libraries. Finger position is controllable by the user so you can play as far up the strings as you want and get a fuller, more romantic Hollywood sound. Vibrato intensity and extensive dynamics are also user-controllable. Extensive multi-dynamic true legato has been sampled for all sections in three different categories: slurred, portamento, and bow change. This results in exceptional legato performance. The Hollywood Strings virtual stringed instrument has five user-controllable mic positions (to be used as options, not all at the same time) including main pickup (Decca tree), mid pickup, close pickup, surround pickup, and an alternate vintage, circa 1945, RCA ribbon room pickup.

The Hollywood Strings virtual instrument offers unprecedented control over sound and performance, and is a must have compositional tool for serious composers.

EastWest Hollywood Strings Features:

• 44.1kHz 24-bit and 16-bit samples of string instruments
• Five user-controllable optional mic positions
• Supplied on internal hard drive
• Produced by Doug Rogers, Nick Phoenix, and Thomas Bergersen
• Sound Engineer: Shawn Murphy
  
  Articulations
• Multiple finger positions for all sections including open strings
• 3 unique styles of legato interval sampling, including never-before-sampled bow change legato, slurred legato, and portamento sliding legato, sampled at 3, 3 and 2 dynamics respectively, all with speed control
• 5 dynamics of up- and down-bowed sustains
• Multiple vibrato intensities
• Up- and down-bowed notes
• Extensive runs
• Playable runs
• Powerful scripting
• Other articulations:
• Bartók pizzicato
• Col legno
• Detaché
• Flautando
• Harmonics
• Marcato
• Measured tremolo
• On-the-string staccato
• Pizzicato
• Repetitions
• Richochet
• Spiccato
• Staccatissmo
• Staccato
• Sul ponticello tremolo
• Tremolo
• Trills (major and minor)
  
  Instrumentation
• All sections were sampled with wide extended ranges including almost 4 octaves for violins.
• 16 1st Violins (9/7 divisi mode)
• 14 2nd Violins (8/6 divisi mode)
• 10 Violas (6/4 divisi mode)
• 10 Cellos (6/4 divisi mode)
• 7 Basses (4/3 divisi mode)
  
  Recording
• Recorded in the famous EASTWEST STUDIOS 1
• Neve 8078 mixing console
• Meitner ADC converters
• 5 user-mixable microphone positions:
• Main: Decca tree (Neumann M50s) and Brauner VM1 KHE (Klaus Heyne Edition) outriggers
• Mid: Neumann KMi, Neumann KM 254, Sony C37A, Neumann U-47
• Close: AKG C12, Neumann U47, Neumann U67, Nordic Audio Labs NU-47
• Surround: Neumann KM 83
• Alternate Room: Vintage RCA44 Ribbon

An easy way to add high-quality strings to your DAW music creation. Order today!

EastWest Hollywood Strings Specifications:

• Mac Minimum Requirements
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.1GHz or higher
• 4GB RAM
• Mac OS X 10.5 or later
• 7200 RPM or faster (non energy saving) hard drive for sample streaming
• 310GB free hard drive space / iLok Security Key (not supplied)
  
  PC Minimum Requirements
• Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Dual Core 2.1GHz or higher
• 4GB RAM
• Windows XP SP2, Vista, or Windows 7
• Sound card with ASIO drivers
• 7200 RPM or faster (non energy saving) hard drive for sample streaming
• 310GB free hard drive space / iLok Security Key (not supplied)
  
  Mac Recommended System
• Mac Pro Quad-Core Intel Xeon 2.66GHz or higher
• 8GB RAM or more
• 7200 RPM or faster (non energy saving) hard drive for sample streaming
  
  PC Recommended System
• Intel Core 2 Quad or AMD Quad-Core 2.66GHz or higher
• 8GB RAM or more
• 64-bit Windows/Host Sequencer
• 7200 RPM or faster (non energy saving) hard drive for sample streaming
  
  Mac Optimal System
• Mac Pro Eight-Core Intel Xeon 2.26GHz or higher
• 16GB RAM or more
• SSD (Solid State Drive) for optimal sample streaming
  
  PC Optimal System
• Intel Core i7 2.66GHz or higher
• 16GB RAM or more
• 64-bit Windows/Host Sequencer
• SSD (Solid State Drive) for sample streaming
  
  IMPORTANT: Some of the largest patches (in the "Powerful System" folders) can take up to 1GB of RAM to load per mic position, and are intended for systems that meet the recommended specs. "Light" versions of these patches are included for slower systems.
  
  Note:
• The hard drive on which Hollywood Strings ships is a bare (internal) drive. If you don't want to install it to copy the data, it is suggested you purchase a hard drive dock.