Celestial Strings

Name: Celestial Strings
Author: Vienna Symphonic Library

by Vienna Symphonic Library · Instrument · Free layered string ensemble

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Celestial Strings by Vienna Symphonic Library

A free string ensemble instrument with layered violins I and II, violas, cellos and double basses from the Synchron Stage Orchestra, with several mic positions.

VSL describes a "soft and ethereal" ensemble sound; it is small (1,058 samples, 324 MB) and free with a VSL account.

Best for: Acoustic Instruments. Genres: Ambient & Cinematic.

Keywords: strings, ensemble, dreamy, free, pads, airy, bright, cinematic, lush, sample-based.

What it does

Celestial Strings is a free string pad from Vienna Symphonic Library: one playable patch of a large, soft ensemble played by the Synchron Stage Orchestra. VSL describes the sound as "homogenous and well balanced".

Ensemble: layered 1st and 2nd violins, violas, cellos and double basses combined into a single patch that spans six octaves.
Recording: recorded at Synchron Stage Vienna by its chief recording engineer, Bernd Mazagg.
Mic positions: multiple microphone positions, with output in stereo or surround.
Mixer presets: presets that range from the pure, unprocessed ensemble to lush, airy versions and effect presets.
Hollywood Shimmer: a shimmer effect for a brighter, more ethereal pad.
NKS support: works with Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol and Maschine keyboards.
Size: 1,058 samples.

Celestial Strings was released free in April 2022 and is part of VSL's free instruments bundle. It runs in the Vienna Synchron Player. No version number is given.

Source: Vienna Symphonic Library product page

When to use it

Celestial Strings is the pick when you need a soft, full string bed right away and don't want to build it from separate sections. Compared with BBC Symphony Orchestra Core or Orchestral Tools' Berlin Strings, it has no separate sections or articulation sets, but it is free and small enough to load in seconds. Next to Arturia's Augmented STRINGS, it stays a natural recorded ensemble, with only its mixer and shimmer presets adding processed colour rather than synth layers. As a single ensemble patch it is more like a pad instrument than an orchestral library. Its mic positions and surround output still make it useful in a film mix.

Best for: soft string pads, sustained chords under piano or synths, and quick sketching of a string bed.
Genres: cinematic, ambient, neo-classical and ballads.
Look elsewhere if: you need melodies, articulations like spiccato or pizzicato, or control of each section; BBC Symphony Orchestra Core or Berlin Strings cover that.

Where to buy

Vienna Symphonic Library: Free

Tutorials and reviews

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