Arctic Strings v1.0 Manual

8/17/2019 Arctic Strings v1.0 Manual

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Cinematic and Atmospheric String Library

Arctic Strings is a cinematic string library designed from the ground up for realistic,

easy to use sustained strings. It features flexible scripted legato and portamento/

glissando. A big part of Arctic Strings is the beautiful and expansive GUI that aims toinspire you as you play.

Created by Sam Windell

www.frozenplain.com

Version 1.0

http://www.frozenplain.com/http://www.frozenplain.com/


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This page contains the essential controls for setting up the sound. I thin that the visuals of a sample library are often

a great inspiration for the music. !or Arctic Strings, I have aimed to create a beautiful ethereal, icy atmosphere. "ou

#ill notice the night sy light up #ith the impressive aurora borealis as you play.

REVERB

Arctic Strings comes #ith a built in convolution reverb effect. There are a selection of impulse responses for you to

choose from a drop do#n menu. The impulses mared $!%$ are unusual reverb effects, #hile the $&'$ are real

emulations of halls and room.

$&everb (ix$ determines the mix of #et/ dry signal. !or a )**+ dry sound, pull the slider left, and right for )**+ #et.

Impulse menu here you can choose the I& of the reverb.

ENVELOPE

The envelope allo#s you to shape the attac and release of the strings. This is only active #hen legato is turned off.

Simply grab one of the #hite circles and pull right or left to change the shape.

HARMONISE

"ou can easily create beautiful string harmonies using these controls. The harmonies #ill also #or #ith the legato

and portamento buttons on.

The $harmonise$ menu can be turned on #ith the ad-acent button. This #ill then automatically create the harmony

you have chosen above the note you play.

To mae the harmony more musical, you can loc the notes to a ey and scale. Any outofey note #ill -ump to the

nearest iney note.

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!NAMICS

The dynamics slider crossfades bet#een a soft piano sample to a forte. This is set to ) by default, to change it,

right clic the slider and select $'earn (I0I $, then move the controller you #ant it to be.

LE"A#O

Arctic strings has an incredibly advanced customisable legato engine. "ou can set up eys#itches and s and changethe legato speed on the settings page. As #ell as this, you can use various parameters such as your playing speed and

note interval to dynamically change the legato. The sound #ill be good to go out of the box, but if you are interested

you can access these controls on the settings page. The button is green #hen legato is on, and grey #hen not.

POR#AMEN#O

The portamento engine is an extension of the legato engine that can be t#eaed in the settings page. It is capable of

doing portamento and also slo# glissando. It #ors by creating 1 ne# voices that play for the transition and slide the

pitch bet#een the notes. The portamento is only functional #hen legato is on.

ISPLA!

The grey box at the bottom #ill sho# the readout of the last moved control.

SE##IN"S

This button s#itches bet#een the main page, and the settings page

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This page is for the advanced controls of the legato and portamento engine. It is also the place #here you can set up

eys#itches.

MONI#OR

This is a simple table that sho#s you your current velocity, playing speed and note. The playing speed is arbitrary

number from ) to )23, smaller numbers indicate that you are playing fast. This monitor is useful for setting up lines

in the modulation matrix.

LE"A#O #IME

This is the time of the legato transition in ms. 4igher values mean that your current note #ill tae longer to transition

into the ne# note. A speed of about 5*ms is normal.

POR#A #IME

Speed of portamento transition in ms. 6hen porta is on, it taes the players time to slide up the necs of their

instruments, so a value of 7**ms is more appropriate. This time can be modulated using the matrix.

8elo# the main slider, there is a small #hite bar, this represents the actual value of the control. If you are using the

modulation matrix, it is useful to see the actual value that is outputted.

SAMPLE O$$SE#

This slider offsets the start time of the sample. 'arger values #ill push the start time further into the sound. This

slider can almost #or as an $attac$, if you #ant a slo# attac then set a lo# sample offset value. If you #ant a sharp

attac, move the slider to the right.

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The modulation matrix is a system that allo#s easy assignment of modulation. It consists of 9 lines, each can be a

different modulation. The modulation matrix #ill most commonly be used to assign s, eys#itches or velocities.

The system is :uite intuitive and is therefore accessible to every level of user. The controls #ill rearrange themselves

to display only #hat is necessary. The best #ay to get a grip of this tool is to -ust experiment #ith it; 4o#ever, I shall

explain ho# it #ors here.

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Standard

The standard pattern #ill loo lie this=

This happens #hen a continuous source @something that produces a number bet#een ) and )23 e.g. velocity or modulates a continuous destination @something that receives a value bet#een ) and )** e.g. offset or porta time.

The first 2 numbers are the minimum and maximum of the source. These set the range that you #ant to use for

modulation. Any inputs out of this range #ill be ignored. This is useful for if you don$t #ant linear modulation, you

can set up 2 lines to create a different contour. !or most situations you #ill #ant to use the full range of of the source

) to )23.

The second set of numbers are the minimum and maximum for the destination. In other #ords, ho# much intensity

the modulation #ill have. To help you see #hat is going on, you can loo at the #hite bars beneath the legato time,

porta time and sample offset sliders. This bar sho#s the actual value of the slider after modulation. The sliders set

the start point, any modulation #ill be added onto that. I #ill use the values in the screenshot above to explain ho#

the intensity #ors.

At source value ) the intensity #ill be )

At source value )23 the intensity #ill be )**

In other #ords=

At the minimum source value the intensity #ill e:ual the minimum destination value

At the maximum source value the intensity #ill e:ual the maximum destination value

4ere is an example of ho# you might set up a modulation using 2 lines=

4ere ) #ill modulate the offset very fast for the first half, an slo#ly for the second half.

ODULATION ATRIX


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B%tton

The button pattern #ill loo lie this=

This happens #hen a continuous source modulates a button. A button can either be ?> or ?!! so to modulate it #eneed to set a value and choose #hether inputs above or belo# it should turn the button on.

The $force$ menu is only relevant if you are using multiple sources to modify the button @velocity A>0 cc for

example, and should be set to !orce 8oth for all other scenarios.

'ets use this example to explain the !orce menu= you #ant to have an interval of an octave @)2 or more to al#ays

turn the porta ?& a velocity belo# B*. o# if #e choose force on, only the $on$ #ill be forced, the $off$ #ill have nothing done to it. In other #ords, If you

play an interval above )2 the button #ill be forced on. An interval belo# #ill not change the button, it #ill be on/ off

depending on the velocity from the line before.

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&eys'itch

The Eeys#itch pattern #ill loo lie this=

The eys#itch is very simple to use. The note assigned to $on$ #ill turn the button on, the note assigned to $off$ #illturn the button off.

Specia(

The special pattern #ill loo lie this=

These controls -ust -ust have ) percentage control. 4ere is a list of the available options=● Celocity Colume ho# much velocity should effect the volume. If you do not set a value the velocity #ill be *.● 'egato &elease add a special release to the legato transitions so the old note taes longer to fade out. If this

special control is not present on the mod matrix the legato #ill transition lie normal.● 'egato Col 0ip add a dip in volume for the legato transition. There is no volume dip by default.● 0ynamics Colume the amount volume should be affected by the dynamics slider. 0efault is 5*+.

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Dressing the small arro# button on the left belo# the matrix #ill sho# the controls for the portamento pitch curves.

This #as originally something that I used in development. I have included it in the interface because there are

perhaps some advanced users that #ill find it useful.

4?6 T4< D?&TA(T? 6?&ES

6ith legato ?> and porta ?!!, if you overlap 2 notes the volume of the older note #ill crossfade out and the volume

of the ne# note #ill crossfade in. >o# #ith both legato and porta ?>, the same thing #ill happen but for the

duration of the transition 1 ne# voices #ill be generated, and the pitches of them #ill slide. This means that for the

transition time there are 9 voices @) old note F 1 temporary voices F ) ne# note.

6hen a real string ensemble do glissando or portamento, the players are not exactly in sync. This creates a $slur$ in

the pitch as they all slide at slightly different rates. To emulate this, the 1 extra voices are created, each to represent

a real player sliding the note at a different rate.

"ou may no# see the lin bet#een this and the 9 pitch curves. The x axis is time, from time* to time)**. The y

axis is pitch, from *old pitch to )**ne# pitch

?ne other point #orth mentioning is that pitch curves ) to 7 #or slightly differently to curves H to 9. urves ) to 7

are voices that crossfade do#n to silence, at time* they are loud and at time)** they are silent. urves H to 9

crossfade up from silence, at time* they are silent and at time)** they are loud.

The $curve set$ menu is used to store 2 sets of curves. Any changes you mae to the curves #ill be stored #ith that

set. Using the mod matrix you can s#itch bet#een these sets of curves.

PORTA NTO PITCH CURV S (ADVANC D)

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Arctic Strings v1.0 Manual