Best Service Chris Hein Solo Viola EXtended

You receive over 20,000 samples, up to 38 articulations, four different legato transitions as well as extensive phase-alignment of all samples to guarantee smooth inaudible crossfades of up to eight velocity layers. This feature-set allows the creation of unparalleled, authentic viola-arrangements on a computer.

This library benefits from producer Chris Hein’s 30 years spanning experience in the field of sampling and library production, resulting in a product offering highest versatility, configurability and practical use.

Chris Hein – Solo Viola EXtended is a bundle of three fantastically sounding Solo Viola Instruments, all with a unique sound and played by professional studio musicians. All instruments were recorded with great care and detail. Their virtual counterparts had been further optimized for playability and performance (EX instruments), thus saving your computer resources and still granting you access to all required articulations for authentic performances.

The following instruments are included:

• VLA1 Solo Viola
• VLA2 Canadian Viola as EX-instrument
• VLA3 French Viola as EX-instrument

Chris Hein – Solo Viola EXtended delivers outstanding, detailed and highly expressive results as a solo instrument or as part of an ensemble – in all relevant genres ranging from classical music and film scores to gypsy-jazz, folk and pop ballads.

And there is even more: Chris Hein – Solo Viola EXtended provides sound-designers, composers of film- and game soundtracks and experimental musicians with special effect-sounds and uncommon articulations with exceptional dynamics, such as flautando, flageolets and ponticello. Therefore, the pitch range of the virtual instrument was expanded in comparison to the original violin. The special effect sounds are further supported by the internal tenfold DSP-effects-rack. Feel free to create complex sound clusters, dense atmospheres and surreal sonic worlds out of a single violin for incredible moments of suspense.

By using the Ensemble Maker, the solo instrument can easily be turned into an ensemble with the advantage of all available articulations. Or use Chris Hein’s ensemble Multis with predefined stereo imaging and fine detuning for an intense ensemble effect.

Chris Hein – Solo Viola EXtended equally satisfies demanding string instrument enthusiasts as well as composers who not only expect excellent samples, but also comprehensive details, a wide range of articulations and a versatile adaption to their preferred workflow.

On one hand, the instrument offers an extensive set of samples, with every articulation mapped on your keyboard. On the other hand it can also run in a low memory consuming mode, due to its modular concept and its significantly reduced variations, resulting in faster loading times.

By using the clean start configuration, the instrument is initially loaded in a sustain variation. Further articulations and functions can simply be added at any time if needed. That way you can work on compact and mobile systems with a lot less memory available just as fluently and efficiently.

Chris Hein – Solo Viola EXtended reproduces the sound of internationally renowned violinist Naomi Binder and her excellent instrument. Thanks to her incredible hearing and unprecedented precision, paired with artistic discipline and routine, it was possible to accurately capture the viola across its full pitch range (up to G5) in all its dynamic facets from most gentle to loudest tones.
	Naomi Binder plays the violin and viola in classical concerts as well as in crossover projects. In numerous solo performances in the Cologne Arena, Dortmund Philharmonic Hall and many other venues in Austria and Japan, she enchants the audience with her virtuosity, empathy and a broad musical range, varying from classical music to pop and jazz.

As with all his productions, Chris Hein decided to go for close mic’ing in a dry recording environment. Combined with the twin impulse response based reverberation sections, the intentional dry sound of the library allows adapting and fitting the instrument perfectly into variable contexts. Dedicated convolution engines for the instrument’s body and the room itself allow creating nearly arbitrary acoustic environments ranging from intimate closeness to large concert halls. In difference to the fixed acoustics of several competitive products, Chris Hein – Solo Viola EXtended is sonically exceptionally variable and additionally easy to combine with almost any other library available.

Unique functions

Perfect dynamic transitions thanks to phase alignment

Over a research period of several months, all samples had been fully aligned in phase. Accordingly, the instrument offers perfect, seamless transitions of dynamic layers without sonic degradation.

Unique combination of short and long notes

The combination of long and short notes is a major problem in sample-libraries that often fail to deliver authentically sounding results. With real musical instruments, the note length often influences the attack behavior as well as the note end. Chris Hein – Solo Viola EXtended addresses these aspects by its “Note Head Designer” which we significantly expanded for this library. It offers a selection of 102 attack shapes. This allows calling up twelve matching short sample variations (Shorts) along with each sustain-articulation. These shorts not only offer the corresponding correct attack-behavior but also a note-end that perfectly matches the note length.

These user-defined selections of short-note-variations are available in eight dynamic layers each and can be combined with the corresponding sustained phases, leading to astonishingly realistic results that cannot be achieved using random round-robin based selections. Of course, the shorts are also available as individual articulations.

Articulations Overview
True Legato

Chris Hein – Solo Viola offers true legato in up to four dynamic layers for short and long note variations. The corresponding in-depth recordings and edits result in unexpected realistic sounds with perfect note-transitions. At the same time, it is possible to combine these realistic combinations with additional artificial inserted legatos.

Library extend

The performance-data of Chris Hein – Solo Viola directly reflect the immense investment in recordings and configuration possibilities. The instrument builds upon almost 10,000 single samples, 38 articulations and up to eight dynamic layers. This makes the library one the most in-depth sampled violins currently available.

The custom-tailored user-interface of the Kontakt Player not only offers numerous functions to adapt the library’s sound character and articulations but also provides immense configuration choices to live up to specific demands and workflows. At the same time, due to pre-programmed key-switch-presets at the lower part of the keyboard, the library can also be effectively played without any need for deep edits. Thanks to four “Dynamic Modes”, the “Note-Head Designer”, “Key-Vibrato”, “Hot-Keys” and the revolutionary concept of articulation-presets, the user-interface will give you the impression to really play this instrument live.

Compatible with Kontakt or Free Kontakt Player 5.5.2 or newer
Library size ~ 4GB