Orchestral Tools Benjamin Wallfisch Strings Collections

OrchestralTools BenjaminWallfischStrings recording

Composer Benjamin Wallfisch has established himself as one of Hollywood’s go-to talents, scoring some of the industry’s biggest films of the last decade including Blade Runner 2049 [with Hans Zimmer], IT Parts 1 and 2, The Flash, Shazam!, and many more. His versatility and ability to blend the sounds of the traditional orchestra with modern elements have also made the BAFTA, Grammy, and Emmy-nominated composer a go-to collaborator for some of the biggest names in the business, including Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, and Adele. For his latest project, Wallfisch has partnered with Berlin-based sample library designers Orchestral Tools to create Benjamin Wallfisch Strings, a collection that redefines contemporary sampled strings for professional composers and sets a new standard for realism and expression. The collaboration has also produced a second collection: Stringscapes by Benjamin Wallfisch. This offers a huge range of complex and innovative string textures and effects that explore the experimental side of contemporary scoring.

Both collections are available as a bundle for a special intro price of €699 (€1,048 sold separately). The two collections are both also on sale - the main collection Benjamin Wallfisch Strings for €599 (€799 regularly) and Stringscapes by Benjamin Wallfisch for €179 (regularly €249). All offers end on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. For more information and to purchase, please click here.

“For the longest time, I’ve wanted a tool that captures the magic of what it’s like to stand in front of a string orchestra - and puts that at your fingertips in a digital instrument,” said Wallfisch. “Hendrik and his Orchestral Tools team were open to this crazy idea of really trying to capture as much of the detail of a live recording as possible, and we’re giving people so much control over things that haven’t really been attempted before. With this library, I want people to feel like they’re sitting in front of musicians the whole time.”

OrchestralTools BenjaminWallfischStrings GUI

Challenged by Wallfisch to create the ultimate professional string library for the contemporary composer, Orchestral Tools have crafted the most detailed and realistic string collection they have ever created with an unprecedented level of playability and control. The process began with recording a full string orchestra at the Teldex Scoring Stage in Berlin - already familiar to fans of the Berlin Series and Metropolis Ark collections. Benjamin Wallfisch Strings is unique in its implementation of loopless, long-note sustains. Each note is a performance, recorded at unusually long lengths for a completely consistent and natural sound. In addition to this, Benjamin Wallfisch Strings offers true divisi for all sections, five dynamic layers, and a choice of upbow or downbow strokes, for maximum control and realism. This level of detail demanded hundreds of hours of recording, and Benjamin Wallfisch Strings is a large collection - Orchestral Tools’ most complex project to date. But this exceptional level of detail results in expressive and dynamic instruments that create a feeling of playing strings, not samples. And the Teldex ambience, along with additional immersive mic positions for atmos and special mix options curated by Benjamin Wallfisch, deliver not only Hollywood sound out of the box, but an advanced level of detail for shaping and fine-tuning the mix.

Stringscapes by Benjamin Wallfisch explores the experimental side of contemporary string composition, using a full live string orchestra to create complex textures and effects. The 79 patches of Stringscapes are divided into two distinct categories - evolving acoustic performances and complex processed patches. The evolving acoustic performances are evocative textures played by the live orchestra that unfold over time, creating ethereal moods or eerie atmospheres. The complex processed patches were inspired by Wallfisch’s fondness for blending electronic and orchestral elements together, combining the raw elements of the performances with post-processing to create disturbing horror textures or evocative ambient atmospheres.

“Benjamin Wallfisch Strings is truly a leap ahead for professional string libraries and offers a level of sound quality and expressive control that sets a new standard for sampled instruments,” said Orchestral Tools CEO Hendrik Schwarzer. “We are incredibly proud to partner with Ben on this project and create a compositional tool kit that can elevate contemporary scoring, and inspire Hollywood A-listers just as well as the next generation of composers.”

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