Synchron Duality Strings (colors)

Name: Synchron Duality Strings (colors)
Price: 218 USD
Author: Vienna Symphonic Library

by Vienna Symphonic Library · Instrument · Flautando and ponticello string library

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Synchron Duality Strings (colors) by Vienna Symphonic Library

Synchron Duality Strings (colors) adds flautando and ponticello playing to the Duality Strings ensembles, for tones from soft and airy to glassy and metallic.

Both techniques get shorts, longs, legato, tremolo and trills for the 52-player and 27-player sections; the Standard Library is €195 (about $221.42).

Best for: Acoustic Instruments, Sound Design. Genres: Ambient & Cinematic, Jazz, Acoustic & Classical.

Keywords: strings, airy, ensemble, monophonic, glassy, cinematic, eerie, film & game audio, metallic, pads, sound design, standalone app, subtle, textures.

What it does

Colors is a Duality Strings library built around just two bowing positions: flautando, played over the fingerboard for a soft, airy tone, and sul ponticello, played near the bridge for a sharp, glassy one. VSL pitches it as "a kaleidoscope of colors and subtle timbres".

Two ensembles at once: a 52-player Stage A orchestra (14/12/10/10/6) and a 27-player Stage B chamber section (8/6/5/5/3), recorded simultaneously on Vienna's Synchron Stage and usable together or apart.
Short notes: ponticello spiccato and détaché, and flautando détaché, with normal, marcato and soft variants and a choice of bold or agile attack.
Long notes: ponticello poco vibrato and flautando poco and molto vibrato sustains, with normal, fast or sforzato attacks.
Legato, tremolo and trills: flautando performance legato (normal or slurred, two vibrato strengths), ponticello and flautando tremolo, and flautando trills from minor seconds to major thirds.
Stage A mics: Solo, Mid, Ribbon, Decca Tree main (stereo plus mono centre), Main Surround and two sets of 3D height mics.
Stage B mics: a Dark and a Bright stereo pair for the smaller, drier room.

It is a standalone library that plays in the Vienna Synchron Player. The Standard Library has 83,400 samples and the Full Library has 149,156 samples. There is no trial, but audio demos are on the product page.

Source: Vienna Symphonic Library product page

When to use it

Colors is the pick when you want the soft and glassy ends of string colour as a playable, deep instrument rather than a few extra patches. Compared with a full string library such as Berlin Strings or BBC Symphony Orchestra Core, it gives up the standard articulations entirely but covers flautando and ponticello in far more detail, with legato, tremolo, trills and multi-dynamic shorts. Its two simultaneously recorded ensembles also let you switch from a big symphonic section to a drier chamber sound within one library. It pairs naturally with the main Duality Strings, though it does not need it.

Best for: eerie textures, airy pads, tense underscore and coloristic writing in film and game scores.
Genres: cinematic, ambient and contemporary classical.
Look elsewhere if: you need normal string articulations; a full library like Berlin Strings or BBC Symphony Orchestra Core covers those.
Tip: crossfade between flautando and ponticello on held notes to move the tone from feathery to hard and glassy, as Sound On Sound suggests.

What producers say

Sound On Sound saw it as a strong source of timbral variety; there are few user reviews so far.

Sound On Sound (Dave Stewart, October 2024) praised the flautando legatos, "which the violas perform beautifully", the tremolos, trills and "biting ponticello spiccatos".
Bonus patch: the same review singled out the Tutti Pianissimo Colors patch, with the 52-player ensemble in octaves, as "a wonderful big symphonic string sound".
Criticisms: none of substance; the reviewer's only grumble was the American spelling of the name.

Sound On Sound review

Where to buy

Best Service: $218
Vienna Symphonic Library: $221.42 (Listed at €195 (Standard Library); converted at €1 = $1.1355 (ECB rate, 29 Sep 2026))
PluginFox: $358

Tutorials and reviews

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