With smooth legato, punchy spiccatos, inspiring textural harmonics and con sordino, CSS covers a wide range of the sound palette afforded by a world-class string section. We’ve kept an authentic, human element in the sound, so you’ll feel like you’re at a live session. With this new level of realism, you’ll feel comfortable using CSS without reverb; in fact, we recommend it! All of our demos were created without reverb – all you hear is the natural air captured in the samples.
We used a variety of beautiful ribbon and condenser microphones to record CSS at three distances, which you can combine to create your own unique mix either inside Kontakt or via the newly included output-routing option. Alternatively, you can use our pre-mixed combination of all 3 if you want a great sound with fewer resources. Full and Lite Ensemble patches optimise workflow and are perfect for sketching or filling out a track.
Cinematic Studio Strings is fully compatible with the free Kontakt Player, and will work as a standalone product with no need to purchase additional software. Kontakt Player is available as a separate download from Native Instruments and can be downloaded free of charge by clicking here. CSS is also designed for use with the new exciting range of NKS Keyboards.
“Over the past few years, Cinematic Studio Strings have been slowly pushing all other sample libraries out of my templates. I’m finding myself using CSS exclusively for classical writing — the ability to orchestrate more accurately within Logic means I can write so much more effectively for real players — my single biggest problem with ‘samples’ since I started using them.”
John Powell“CSS is an extremely expressive library, oozing quality with a Hollywood flavour. It has all the essential elements for creating detailed, realistic-sounding string arrangements, and is very quick to learn and easy to use.”
Nick Magnus Sound on Sound
“It is more and more difficult for a new ‘orchestral’ library to up the ante on sound quality and ease of use while elevating realism but somehow, Cinematic Studio Strings does just that.”
Don Bodin Sample Library Review
“Sometimes you need to reach for the tools that get the job done fast. The ease of use of Cinematic Studio Strings makes it one of my go-to libraries for instant results when I am on a deadline.”
Chris Harris Samples Spotlight
“The sound is warm and the legato is lush. The trills programming is brilliant. No mod wheel up or down for major/minor. Simply play the interval you want on the keyboard. Love it!”
Jacob Shea Planet Earth II
“Not only are these some of the best string samples around with an ample supply of critical articulations, but the interface in Kontakt is an epiphany of simplicity and intuitive ease for the busy composer. The price makes them a must for any serious media composer.“
Garry Shyman Bioshock video game series
“This is a truly gorgeous sounding library that is a joy to use. Alex nails workflow with his libraries!”
Danny Lux Grey's Anatomy
(released 30 August 2022)
New videos and MIDI for v1.7 coming soon
Yes, the library is available by direct download, as this is the cheapest and most environmentally friendly way to distribute CSS. And thanks to our Advanced Download Manager, you can be assured you’ll get your library as quickly as your internet connection will allow.
Windows / Mac
Windows 7+ or MacOS 10.10+, Quad Core CPU, 16GB RAM, 48.6GB hard drive space.
(MacOS users: please note that during installation, you must have 125GB free on your system drive)
Keyboard controller with mod wheel required.
Kontakt 5.8.1 or Kontakt Player 5.8.1 or later is also required.
Cinematic Studio Strings should be used with a fully 64-bit system.
All of our libraries run inside the Kontakt sampler (full or free version), and therefore you require a good understanding of how Kontakt works before purchasing any of our libraries. Usually Kontakt is run as a plugin within a DAW such as Cubase or Logic (it runs inside all major DAWs). If you are new to Kontakt you can download the free version (Kontakt Player) here: https://www.native- instruments.com/en/products/ komplete/samplers/kontakt-6- player/. Just download “Komplete Start” and you will get instructions for installing Kontakt Player as well as factory library with 2,000 sounds and 6 GB of content. This is a great way to familiarise yourself with the platform, and once you’re comfortable with how Kontakt integrates into your setup, using our libraries should be a straightforward progression from there.
You should be comfortable with MIDI sequencing and editing, and although our libraries work without a MIDI keyboard, we thoroughly recommend using one. We are a small team and I’m afraid that while we support our products we cannot provide MIDI tutorials and tech support for Kontakt, various DAWs etc. Please inquire via the Support button if you’d like any further clarification – prior to purchase.
There is a detailed installation guide in the email you received at the time of purchase. If you cannot find this email, please check your spam folder to make sure it isn’t there. If you have any further questions regarding installation please send us a support request via the button at the bottom right of this website.
CSS isn’t designed to work with notation software such as Sibelius, Finale or Dorico, etc, and we cannot provide assistance if attempting to use CSS with these programs. The library relies on an intricate keyswitching and expression system which notation programs often don’t support. There are some 3rd party programs which aim to make Kontakt libraries compatible with notation, but we do not officially endorse these efforts.
Latency / Delay: All of the libraries in the Cinematic Studio Series have been designed to maximise realism, especially when playing legato. To achieve this, we incorporated a delay system, whereby each new note you play in a legato phrase will be delayed by up to around 1/4 of a second. This requires practising playing your melodies slightly ahead of the beat, which will become natural after a short while. We feel that it’s worth the effort; this is a fundamental aspect of the library, and will not be changed.
Tuning: Throughout the entire production process of every library we create, great care has been taken to make sure the tuning of each instrument is as realistic as possible. To do this, we left much of the natural performance of each instrument intact. While auto-tuning is always an easy option, we opted instead to tune the entire library manually, by ear, rather than stick rigidly to perfect tuning. It is this focus on realism, combined with simplicity, that makes our libraries stand out from the crowd.
