Vienna Instruments - Orchestral Strings II from
Vienna Symphonic is a sample-based virtual instrument, featuring a Cello Ensemble (8 players) and Bass Ensemble (6 players.) The leading voices of the two string sections are Argentinian Rubén Dubrovsky, founder of the Vienna Bach Consort and Martin Deuring, an internationally active solo bassist and founding member of the chamber music ensemble "Ensemble Plus."
The articulations of the Cello and Double Bass Ensembles correspond to those of the Vienna Instruments Orchestral Strings I. Playing styles includes fast Interval Performances in legato, marcato and spiccato styles, Performance Trills, "harsh," spiccato and pizzicato Repetition Performances, plus artificial harmonics as well as various ponticello articulations, that is, tones played near the bridge.
Both ensembles' tonal ranges are extended with the Cellos' staccatos and sustains now extending up to A5 and the Double Basses up to G4.
The Vienna Instruments user interface is clearly arranged and includes pre-configured patches for immediate playability with no learning curve. The interface uses a powerful proprietary streaming audio engine that can load up to 3,456 articulations (patches) on one MIDI channel.
Load times are extremely low and 64 stereo voices per instance can stream from the hard disc. A RAM optimizing utilities clears unused samples out of RAM. Users can easily create their own instruments, using "drag and drop" functionality, and the instrument provides the ability for velocity crossfades and release control to be switched on or off in real time.