STRING FORMATIONS BY FRACTURE SOUNDS

STRING FORMATIONS BY FRACTURE SOUNDS

KK-ACCESS REVIEW

There are certainly no shortages of string sample libraries on the market, although the definitions can often become somewhat blurred between authentic and hybrid in terms of their intended end use.

The common element that both should share, is the need for at least some form of articulation options, which will add to the perception of a more natural sound, which then ultimately delivers much greater interest and movement to the end performance.

When we discuss sample library Articulations, we mean the musical playing techniques that the composer chooses to introduce in order to convey the desired emotions and styles throughout the various passages of the composition.

Most of us will be familiar with sustains, shorts, staccato, pizzicato, tremolo & vibrato, and these will certainly be the minimum prerequisites for any good orchestral library that is endeavouring to convey authenticity.

The exciting and seemingly ever evolving nature of sample library creation has however introduced the possibility to conjure up and develop new articulation variations based on those traditional playing techniques with the help of increased computer power , data storage and advanced processing and manipulation opportunities, which could hitherto only be imagined.

STRING FORMATIONS

String Formations, the very latest library from Fracture Sounds features a number of more unusual playing and bowing techniques for the long sustains that the library is built upon.

This results in a remarkably fluid and animated playing experience, which is ideal for building a strong organic textural bed that will lend itself perfectly for modern film and media scoring.

TECH SPECS

String Formations runs in Kontakt full version 6.7 and higher, or the free Kontakt player equivalent, and is compatible with all versions of Komplete Kontrol.

The library requires 13GB of disk space for installation.

There are four main Kontakt NKI presets which form the underlying foundations for the various elements of the library, these are supported by a further series of individual articulation presets, consisting of 16 Unison Textures, and 7 Chordal Textures.

There is also a collection of 28 NKSN snapshot presets, which reveal some of the more possible atmospheric creations using just the layer blends engine.

DOWNLOAD & INSTALLATION

Download & installation is handled entirely through Native Access 2 after pasting in your post purchase serial number.

Instantiating an instance of Komplete into your DAW will add the product to your factory browser following a Komplete Kontrol auto rescan, it will then be ready for use.

A Full DESCRIPTION OF NKS mappings can be found at the end of the review after the media links section.

ACCESSIBILITY

There are some differences between the Kontakt NKI master presets, however these variations still deliver the important core components for good accessibility.

The Four Layer Blends preset includes a control to toggle the activation of a pre-assigned shuffle keyswitch which is used to randomise the layers, and this is a great way to automatically generate new patches for some instant inspiration, or start points for further editing.

ARTFUL ARTICULATIONS

String Formations is based upon the long sustains played by a small chamber sized string ensemble, consisting of three Violins, 3 Viola & 3 Celli.

Rather than using a single articulation (although this is still possible if required), the multiple playing techniques can be combined and be omni present if desired through the duration of the held notes.

The results of this yield a fluid and natural sounding experience for the end user, courtesy of some innovative Kontakt scripting from the Fracture Sounds team.

UNISON TEXTURES

As an example, with the Unison Textures presets, we can opt to use any or all of the eight available articulations simultaneously, or turn off those we do not need using either the volume control or keyswitches (the location of which can be transposed to your preferred place on your keyboard with an NKS control).

Among the Unison Textures articulations you will find such delights as:

airy sustains, Flowing Sustains, Currents, Blooms, In dispersed Tremolo, Streams, Flurries, & Sporadic Harmonic.

There is also a second Additional Unison Textures preset, which supplements the first with a further series of extra articulations which are:

Turbulent Tremolo, Ripples, Drifts, Droplets, Circulations, Shivers, Short Swells, & Long Swells.

In no particular order, these articulations translate to traditional techniques such as, flautando-, sul
tasto, sul pont, Col legno tratto, tremolo, Swells, & Pizzicato, these intermingle and seamlessly transition themselves in some unique combinations, which can help breathe an immense amount of expression into your music when played accordingly.

Through NKS, each of these articulations offer controls for volume, pan, attack & decay, which assists with the general ebb & flow of your performance.

ATMOSPHERES

Fracture Sound fans will be pleased to know that the excellent atmosphere layers are again an important and integral part of String Formations, with three individual layers being included for use throughout all of the presets.

We are able to select each of the numerous atmospheres for each layer, and mix the levels between each of them, but still no pan controls 🙂

The 16 different atmospheric layers were all derived from the original string samples recorded for the library, and have been meticulously edited to work alongside the natural raw string sounds.

The names might not reveal too much about their sound, but here are some to whet your appetite:

Halo, Light, Swarm, Vast, Canvas, Zephr, Streams, Droplets, Voyage, Drift, Azure, Hazy, Plume, Cascade, Divine, Drizzle, Sirius,

CHORDAL TEXTURES

In another first, Fracture Sounds have developed their Chordal Texture engine, which is featured in the central preset of the same name, and also a further 7 supporting NKI patch variations.

The engine allows users to play the notes of any given chord, and the scripting will intelligently and creatively play the notes in between using the smart mode option.

In addition to smartplay, other modes will permit you to deliberately choose from minor or major 2nd & thirds, or perfect fourths, allowing composers to explore further compositional avenues.

The articulations available in the Chordal Textures preset are:

Flutters, Alternations, Glides, Airy Flutters, Flowing Flutters, Intense Alternations, & Intense Glides.

There are also density controls for the above which can adjust the intensity of the notes between Light, Medium, Heavy & Heavy Plus.

LAYER BLENDS

The Layer Blends engine was first featured in their excellent trails library, and the inclusion in String Formations is also very welcome.

In a nutshell, this preset enables you to tinker around with the three Atmosphere layers in isolation from the main library patches, letting you create any number of your own pad layers, and some of the core string articulations are also included in the layer 1 selection.

Users are able to select each layer, adjust the ADSR on a global basis, apply either a low or high pass filter, change the octave for each layer independently by plus or minus 1 octave, Solo layers, apply lo-fi effects, add a global delay, add reverb (including convolution with a selection of impulse responses) and use the aforementioned shuffle (randomise) keyswitch to generate new layer combinations.

This layer blends preset is a wonderful inclusion, and broadens the usage potential of the library by allowing you to use the atmosphere layers as a kind of creative pad utility in conjunction with other libraries.

To do this, simply instantiate the layers blend preset on a track, then add yourself a second track, perhaps with your favourite piano, arm both of the tracks, and play away to your hearts content!

MICROPHONES

For the Unison & Choral texture presets, there are three microphone positions available, Close, Mid & Far, there is also a perspective control which blends between them.

The Layer Blends do not have microphone positions as such, as these are largely constructed sounds, however the layer blend control lets you mix them, with the zero point relating to layer 1, 50% being layer 2, and 100% being layer 3, anything in between are then blends between the relative layers.

As I always say at this stage of the review, do make a point of checking out the media links for the library at the end of the review, Fracture Sounds have an intuitive walkthrough that demonstrates the many facets of String Formations.

CONCLUSION

String Formations is a more than worthy follow up to Trails, and is also an ideal companion library for that earlier release.

It will happily find a place in your compositions on it’s own, or perhaps very capably extend your existing cinematic strings palette, or could credibly be the start of your cinematic scoring journey by being the means to build a firm foundation for your first ventures into the genre.

Whatever your intended use case, Fracture Sounds have I think once more de livered the goods, successfully squaring the circle in terms of accessibility, excellent sound quality, creative possibilities and value for money.

String Formations can be purchased from the Fracture Sounds website,

Intro Price (Ends Tuesday 18th June): $99, £89, €99

RRP: $149, £129, €149 (inc. VAT)

STRINGS BUNDLE

Trails & String Formations

Available until Tuesday 18th June

$179, £159, €179 (inc. VAT)

String Formations Product Page:

String Formations Walkthrough:

String Formations Trailer:

String Formations Online User Manual:

KOMPLETE KONTROL PLUG-IN EDIT NKS PARAMETER MAPPING

Unison Textures

Page One – Main, Mixer

Knob 1 – Dynamics
Knob 2 – Colour
Knob 3 – Delay
Knob 4 – Reverb
Knob 5 – Raw Volume
Knob 6 – Atmos Layer 1 Volume
Knob 7 – atmos Layer 2 Volume
Knob 8 – Atmos Layer 3 Volume

Page Two -Microphones, Layers

Knob 1 – Close Microphone
Knob 2 – Mid Microphone
Knob 3 Far Microphone
Knob 4 – Perspective
Knob 5 – Layer Source 1 Selection
Knob 6 – Layer Source 2 Selection
Knob 7 – Layer Source 3 Selection
Knob 8 – Intensity

Page Three – Delay Settings

Knob 1 – Delay Time (in beat values)
Knob 2 – Sync On/Off
Knob 3 – Delay type: Modern, Tape
Knob 4 – Feedback
Knob 5 – Saturation
Knob 6 – Damping
Knob 7 & 8 – Unallocated

Page Four – Reverb Settings

Knob 1 – Reverb type: Room, Hall, Shimmer, Convolution
Knob 2 – Size
Knob 3 – Damping
Knob 4 – Modulation
Knob 5 – Impulse Response Selection: Clean Hall, Concert Hall, Big Old Hall, Warm Stage, Scoring Stage, Spring, Small Plate, Medium Plate,
Knob 6 to 8 – Unallocated

Page Five – Settings, Airy Sustains

Knob 1 – Tightness
Knob 2 – Volume Range
Knob 3 – Keyswitch Range
Knob 4 – Delay real
Knob 5 – Airy Sustains Volume
Knob 6 – Airy Sustains Pan
Knob 7 – Attack
Knob 8 – Release

Page Six – Flowing Sustains, Currents

Knob 1 – Flowing Sustains Volume
Knob 2 – Flowing sustains Pan
Knob 3 – Attack
Knob 4 – Release
Knob 5 – Currents Volume
Knob 6 – Currents Pan
Knob 7 – Attack
Knob 8 – release

Page Seven – Blooms, Int Trem

Knobs 1 to 4 – repeated as per previous articulations
Knob 5 to 8 – repeated as per previous articulations

Page Eight – Streams, Flurries

Knob 1 to 4 – repeated as per previous articulations
Knob 5 to 8 – repeated as per previous articulations

Page Nine – Sporadic Harmonic

Knob 1 to 4 – repeated as per previous articulations
Knob 5 to 8 – Unallocated

Additional Unison Textures

Mappings are duplicated as per Unison Textures, with the following articulations replacing those from the original:

Turbulent Trem, Ripples, Drifts, Droplets, Circulations, Shivers, Shorts Swells, Long Swells

Chordal Textures

Page mappings are duplicated from the Unison Textures presets, with substitution of the following articulations, and the addition of the Density & Interval Select Mode pages (as outlined below)

Flutters, Alternations, Glides, Airy Flutters, Flowing Flutters, Intense Alternations, Intense Glides.

Page Nine – Density

Knob 1 to 8 – Density Controls for each of the above articulations

Page Ten – Interval Select

Knob 1 – Mode Selection: Smart, Minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th

Layer Blends

Page One – Main, Envelope

Knob 1 – Layer Blend
Knob 2 – Layer 1 source
Knob 3 – Layer 2 Source
Knob 4 – Layer 3 Source
Knob 5 – Envelope Attack
Knob 6 – Envelope Delay
Knob 7 – Envelope Sustain
Knob 8 – Envelope Release

Page Two – Layer 1, Layer 2, Layer 3, Filter

Knob 1 – Layer 1 Solo
Knob 2 – Layer 1 Octave: plus or minus 1 octave
Knob 3 – Layer 2 Solo
Knob 4 – Layer 2 Octave: plus or minus 1 octave
Knob 5 – Layer 3 solo
Knob 6 – Layer 3 Octave: plus or minus 1 octave
Knob 7 – Low Pass filter
Knob 8 – High pass filter

Page Three – Lo-Fi Settings

Knob 1 – Lo-Fi %
Knob 2 – Saturation
Knob 3 – Age
Knob 4 – Warble
Knob 5 – Hiss
Knob 6 – Mechanical
Knob 7 – Speaker Impulse Response Selection: None, 12 inch, Small, Car Radio, Ambient, Telephone, Boom Box, Cassette, Horn,

Page Four – Delay

Knob 1 – Delay amount
Knob 2 – Type: Modern, Tape
Knob 3 – Time: Beat Values
Knob 4 – Feedback
Knob 5 – Sync On/Off
Knob 6 – Saturation
Knob 7 – Damping
Knob 8 – Unallocated

Page Five – Reverb, Accessibility

Knob 1 – Reverb amount
Knob 2 – Reverb type
Knob3 – size
Knob 4 – Damping
Knob 5 – Modulation
Knob 6 – Impulse Response Selection
Knob 7 – Unallocated
Knob 8 – Accessibility Keyswitch Toggle On/Off (Shuffle/randomisation)

*Note: As specified in the review, there are further presets for other articulations not included above, with the relevant related NKS mappings included.

(c) Chris Ankin

KK-Access.com

21ST May 2024

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About the Author

Based in Buckinghamshire, England, Chris Ankin has worked as a freelance review writer and contributor with articles published in Sound On Sound, Home & Studio Recording and ST Format Magazines.

He has also successfully worked extensively in and around the music, recording, film Soundtrack scoring, Game & media composition, the creative arts, Charitable trusts,publishing, music streaming and property investments since 1982 whilst continuously and deliberately managing to evade any mainstream recognition under his own name by the use of various pseudonyms.

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