FAQs

What’s the difference between this library and the first two Fluid Shorts libraries?

This library is recorded in a different room than the first two – it’s recorded in the same room as Vista II, the original Vista, Oceania I/II/III, and the upcoming Voyage libraries, among others… Fluid Shorts I had three dynamics and one rep speed, Fluid Shorts II had one dynamic but multiple rep speeds, and Fluid Shorts III has 16 dynamics and one rep speed. The ensemble sizes in Fluid Shorts III are also larger than the first two. There are soloist patches on this library as well, which explore a new type of performance-sourced rep approach. There are also lite full strings patches.

Articulations

Ensemble Patches

I recorded the ensemble shorts in this library in a very similar fashion to the shorts patches in Pacific Ensemble Strings and Fluid Shorts I. It’s pretty typical repetition-based shorts sampling, albeit in dryer room than the aforementioned libraries. The dryer aspect, along with some script-based functionality happening behind the scenes (it’s nothing fancy, basically just attack slope adjusting automatically to playing [you can read more about it on the Pacific Ensemble Strings DETAILS page, if you scroll down the page]), does help with some reduction in the “pre-note ambience” effect (there are many different phrases/words for this, but for the sake of this write-up, I’m calling it that). There are 16 dynamics recorded. While that sounds like a lot on paper, I’ll let you decide how much it helps in this case. I generally feel that sampling a lot of dynamics can help with shorts, but it’s not the entire story, and the technique used is more important.

Soloist Patches

I didn’t plan on recording soloist patches when I first thought of doing Fluid Shorts III, but I had fun with these. My favorites are the bass and cello staccatissimos. These get pretty dynamic as well (up to 10 dynamics). These actually aren’t recorded with traditional repetition-based shorts sampling (like the ensemble patches). It’s a new sampling approach (still sequence/performance-based, but not quite as straightforward) that I developed during Voyage sessions in 2020. There are aspects of sympathetic resonance in the approach. To me it sounds more lively than traditional repetition-based shorts sampling, at least for arco string shorts. It also has the benefit of less “fundamental” frequency during the “pre-note ambience” portion of the sample — although to what degree is subjective. They can definitely still sound quirky (“cut out” from a performance) and don’t have “clean” attacks, so please feel free to check out the demo freebie to help you evaluate. You’ll likely see more of this type of arco string shorts sampling from me with libraries released after this one.

Bonus Content

Lite Full Strings Patches. These are stacked patches, using samples from the recordings of the individual sections/soloists (they are not new, original tutti recordings — just so you’re aware). They are baked together to manage voice count, and they fade between the registers. These are lightweight patches which are fine for sketching, but they lack the nuance of the dedicated patches.

Microphones

CL: close mics (the closest mics, these were setup per section and can be panned around naturally)

SC: section mics (also “close” mics, but farther away than the above – these were also setup per section)

DC: decca tree (recorded as LCR – stage mics)

OR: outrigger mics (recorded as LR on the left and right of decca out on the sides – stage mics)

Library Limitations

Below lies a fairly extensive write-up of various issues with the library. There’s obviously a lot of subjectivity with all this, but I tried to think of various points about the library that may not work for potential customers. In no particular order:

Noise

The noise reduction on this library is on the lighter side. It is more focused on incidental noise (like chair scrapes or various anomalies during the sample decays/tails) rather than noise floor reduction. That said, I’d argue that this isn’t a super noisy room. Obviously though, if you turn up the really low dynamics, you will hear a lot more noise floor.

Articulations / Performances

Noise/harmonics in the performances. It’s generally more audible on the higher dynamics. This is less present for the ensemble patches. It’s more audible on the soloists, particularly the cello and bass, and not necessarily just in the highest dynamics. You’ll sometimes hear slight “ghosts” of other pitches when playing a given pitch, esp. on the soloist patches (like bass soloists). There’s an aspect of sympathetic resonance with this new shorts sampling approach and this effect is par for the course and generally not something I see as an issue that needs surgical spot fixes in my post-pro. Check out the solo cello in the demo freebie and it may give you a better idea of this. This can definitely happen on bass/basses too, even with normal repetition sampling approaches.

Pre-note ambience. It’s fairly optimized for this library, but I’m still including a section on it. If you aren’t sure what I’m referring to, here’s a background on what it is: when note attacks are recorded in some sort of repetition, like for the shorts in this library, there can be some level of hearing the “ghost” of the previous note during the attack (when you play a note), even if the volume envelope curve is linear or concave. Of course, having a concave linear curve has downsides, especially on shorts patches where you can lose cohesion in a sequence. In any case, this issue is minimal in this library. But even though it is minimal, it is still subtly present – more on the ensemble patches than the soloist patches I’d say (because of the new approach for the soloists not having as much of the “fundamental” pitch during the “pre-note ambience. There are some controls and functionality to adjust it to your preference, like the sample offset and the controls on the “A” page. Just keep in mind that there is a trade-off. If you want really clean attacks you may end up with a disconnected, less cohesive sound. The defaults in the patches are generally what I thought sounded pretty good (striking a balance, if you will), and you can adjust it from there. 

Dynamic crossfades are layered for the soloists (the dynamics fade into each other, so it’s perhaps not a super “strict/pure” approach in that sense). I’d say that it generally helps the approach, but it might make things sound a tad more “chamber-y.”

No 2nd violins.

DAW / Technical

Voice count can add up with this library because of the number of dynamic layers. For improved performance, I would suggest an SSD to be on the safer side.

Sample offset defaults to 100 ms. This might seem like a lot for some users but you can change it. You can go anywhere between 20 and 140 ms. 

* * *

All details and/or pricing subject to change, at any time, for any reason, in Performance Samples LLC’s sole discretion, in each instance. Qualification for loyalty pricing subject to verification by Performance Samples LLC, in each instance.

* * *

This freebie consists of a few, limited patches from Fluid Shorts III. The patches are:

1. Fluid Shorts III – 6 Cellos – Spiccatos DEMO FREEBIE (limited register: E1 through G3 – C3 being middle C)
2. Fluid Shorts III – Solo Bass – Staccatissimos DEMO FREEBIE (limited register: C0 through B0)
3. Fluid Shorts III – Solo Cello – Staccatissimos DEMO FREEBIE (no register limits – the full register)
4. A basic multi combining #2 and #3 above for easy playing.

As far as differences between these patches and the patches in the full library, differences may include:

1. These patches just have one mic position (a mic mix), whereas the full library has multiple mics (close, section, decca, and outriggers). The mic mixer isn’t in the full version, and was just created for the sake of the demo freebie to cut down on download size and server cost.
2. There may be some changes to GUI, samples, programming, etc before release (since these patches were released before the complete finalization of the library.

I hope these give you a better idea of the full library and help you make a decision. Enjoy! -JB

* 48kHz / 24bit
* NCW-compressed, ~1.15 GB total
* Built for Kontakt 6.7.1 and above – FULL, RETAIL VERSION OF KONTAKT REQUIRED (NOT KONTAKT PLAYER)
* Download via Continuata

Please note that, like all other PS products, you can generate manual links (direct HTTP links) by inserting the download code you receive on the Continuata Manual Links Generation webpage. In fact I would suggest this by default with this demo freebie in case issues come up with the download.

Performance Samples freebies can be used for commercial musical work — there are zero limitations in this regard — the freebies adhere to the same EULA that the paid products do.