Virtual strings that are as good as it gets with unprecedented control over sound and performance.

The EASTWEST Hollywood Strings Platinum Edition is a collection of 44.1khz 24-bit string instruments with unprecedented control over sound and performance, all supplied on a hard drive for ease of installation.

Recording for Hollywood Strings took place at the famous EASTWEST STUDIO 1, the same studio where many Hollywood soundtracks and television themes were recorded with a live orchestra. Heading this project were co-producers Doug Rogers, Nick Phoenix and Thomas Bergersen and sound engineer Shawn Murphy.

Joining Rogers and Phoenix as co-producer on Hollywood Strings 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 multi award-winning team of Rogers and Phoenix.

"Murphy was an obvious choice for this project; who better to obtain that quintessential Hollywood sound other than someone with his credits," says Rogers. "Hollywood Strings looks to expand on the success we achieved with EASTWEST Symphonic Orchestra by providing a perfect large scoring stage sound and a more intimate scoring stage sound with divisi capability."

"The sound of these virtual strings are as good as it gets," says Phoenix. "We have one of the top sound engineers in the business, a famous and beautiful sounding recording studio, the most incredible selection of microphones available, the best analog and digital recording equipment, and top Hollywood string players - how could we go wrong?"

"I've used many virtual orchestras over the last decade, including some I developed with other composers, and some I developed myself. With each new development, I got one step closer to my ideal compositional tool." says Bergersen. "Hollywood Strings includes features that I consider necessary if you want to create realistic orchestral strings on your DAW."

Hollywood Strings has many groundbreaking features not found in any other collection. Finger position is, for the first time, 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 controllable by the user. Extensive multi-dynamic true legato has been sampled for all sections in three different categories: slurred, portamento, and bow change. This results in unsurpassed legato performance that has never been available. Hollywood Strings has five user-controllable mic positions, including main pickup (Decca tree), mid pickup, close pickup, surround pickup, and an alternate vintage circa 1945 RCA ribbon room pickup.

Recording
• Recorded in the famous EASTWEST STUDIOS 1
• Neve 8078 mixing console
• Meitner ADC converters
• 5 user-mixable microphone positions (use as sound options):
• 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
• Convolution reverbs include new impulses from Quantum Leap Spaces. These include soundstages and halls from Southern California.

All sections except the Basses were sampled with wide extended ranges including almost 4 octaves for violins.
5 mic positions plus divisi spot mics
• 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)

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. That's 8 passes of legato intervals, all sampled in long format so each note has time to breath. Basses only have slurred legato.
• Up- and down-bowed sustains, all at 4 finger positions, at least one full octave on each string:
• 5 dynamics at non-vibrato
• 5 dynamics at vibrato
• 3 dynamics at molto vibrato
• Extensive runs
• Playable runs
• Spiccato runs for violins
• Other articulations:
• Bartók pizzicato
• Col legno
• Detaché up and down bows with finger positions and 4 dynamics
• Flautando for violins
• Harmonics for violins
• Marcato short, 3 dynamics, round-robin x4
• Marcato long, 3 dynamics, round-robin x4
• Measured tremolo, 4 dynamics
• On-the-string staccato, 4 dynamics, round-robin x8
• Pizzicato, 4 dynamics, round-robin x4
• Repetitions, 3 dynamics
• Ricochet, 3 dynamics, round-robin x2
• Spiccato, 4 dynamics, round-robin x9
• Staccatissmo, 4 dynamics, round-robin x16
• Staccato, 4 dynamics, round-robin x9
• Slurred staccato for violins, 4 dynamics, round-robin x9
• Sul ponticello tremolo for violas
• Tremolo, 4 dynamics
• Trills (major and minor), 3 dynamics Sordino effect available for all patches
• Release trails for everything
• Custom Python scripting

EastWest Hollywood Strings Platinum Edition Features:

• All articulations and bowings
• Includes five user-controllable optional mic positions
• 44.1kHz 24-bit and 16-bit samples
• Supplied on hard drive

Make your compositions sound as realistic as possible. Order today.

EastWest Hollywood Strings Platinum Edition Specifications:

• Specifications and system requirements
• 310GB free hard drive space / iLok Security Key (not supplied, see sku # 241800)
  
  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
  
  MAC recommended system
• Mac Pro Quad-Core Intel Xeon 2.66GHz or higher
• 8GB RAM or more
• SSD (Solid State Drive) for sample streaming
• (SSD adapters are available for Mac Pro at MAX Upgrades and other online resellers)
  
  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
  
  PC recommended system
• Intel Core 2 Quad or AMD Quad-Core 2.66GHz or higher
• 8GB RAM or more
• 64-bit Windows/Host Sequencer
• Sound card with ASIO drivers
• 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.