CINEMATIC STUDIO WOODWINDS

User Manual

GUI / Main Screen 2

Reverb and Mixer 2
Articulation Matrix & Key switch assignment 2
Articulation-specific controls 2
Long Note Articulations 3
Sustains / Legato 3
Legato speed 3
Marcato 4
Repeated Notes 5
Other Long Note Articulations 5
Trills 5
Flutter Tongue (Flutes, Alto Flute and Piccolo only) 5
Short Notes 6
Repetitions, Staccatissimo, Staccato and Sfz 6
Short Note Delay 6
Additional Functions 7
Config Screen 7
Velocity Sensitive Key Switches 7
Key Switch CC 8
 GUI / Main Screen

The GUI is divided into three main sections. On the left is the mixer and reverb dial, in
the middle is the articulation matrix, and on the right hand side there is a space for
special functions to pop up, depending on what articulation is currently selected.

Reverb and Mixer

CSW was recorded in the beautiful Trackdown Scoring Stage in Sydney. We wanted to
preserve all of its tone and punchy character, and so we made sure to incorporate a
multi mic mixer that allows you to sculpt your own ideal sound. We also included a hall
style reverb preset, which can be configured by clicking on the reverb dial itself and
dragging left or right.

The mixer features five selectable channels. By default the “Mix” channel is active
when you load a patch. This channel is a pre-baked stereo mix of all four microphone
distances, which allows you to get the full studio sound at 1/4 of the RAM & CPU
usage. I recommend using this channel for most of your composing needs. However, if
you want extra control over the ambience and close detail, you can load in the
individual channels by clicking on the little power button icon below each fader:
Each channel can be routed to a specific output within Kontakt by clicking on
the small triangle icon beneath the text below each fader. For more information
on how to configure routing in Kontakt, please click here

Please note: it is not possible to activate both the Mix channel and any of the other
channels simultaneously. If you activate the Close channel, then Mix will automatically
deactivate, and vice versa. Deactivating a channel will unload it from RAM.

Articulation Matrix & Key switch assignment

The articulation matrix is made up of the square tiles in the centre of the GUI, and the
orange highlighted tile displays the currently selected articulation. The key switch
currently in use for each articulation is displayed in the top left of each tile. To change
the key switch assignment of an articulation, hold the shift key and click on its tile, and
then press the new desired key. The same functionality applies to the Legato switch.
Shift+click on either of them, and then press your new desired key to reassign key
switches. Unneeded articulations can be removed from memory by holding Alt and
clicking on the articulation tile.

Articulation-specific controls

Staccato, Repetitions, Marcato and Measured Reps all feature additional controls that
will pop up on the right hand side of the GUI when selected. These will be covered in
more detail in the following section.
 Long Note Articulations

Sustains / Legato

The Sustains in CSW were sampled in three dynamics, from pp to ff (controlled via the
mod wheel CC1), and feature a wide expressive dynamic range, perfect for adding
expressive melodies and textures to any piece. As with any of the long-note
articulations, you can enable the Legato switch to play monophonic legato lines, or
disable it to play chords. Additionally, velocity determines the attack of the note: 0-64
triggers a normal attack, 65-127 will trigger a more immediate sounding accented
attack. The difference is subtle, but it allows for more control over your phrasing. The
same is true when you hold the sustain pedal and trigger the same note twice.

Arguably the make-or-break aspect of any modern orchestral library is how musical
and expressive the legato engine is. We spared no expense in creating the legato
system for Cinematic Studio Woodwinds. This meant sampling three distinct dynamics
of legato. Each dynamic of legato transition was sampled in long-form, which means
there is no x-fading or trickery going on behind the scenes. Every time you play a new
note, you’re hearing an actual performance by musicians, not a tricky script trying to
approximate what that sounds like. The musicians we worked with were incredibly
perfectionistic - the whole process was incredibly taxing for all involved, and we spent
over 200 hours in the studio to record everything. Play a few notes though, and you’ll
hear it was time well spent.

Legato speed

In CSW, there are two articulations that allow you to play connected legato lines:
Sustain and Marcato. More on this below, but first, the rationale behind our legato
design philosophy is as follows:

When a musician transitions from one note to another, there is a subtle timbral and
dynamic shift as the players prepare for the new note. This effect can be heard while
listening to a solo bassoon or a group of french horns, and is a crucial factor in
creating a realistic sounding performance with samples. CSW has been programmed
to include these subtle swells before each new triggered legato note, and the end
result is a smooth, expressive sound. In practical terms, this means there is a delay
whenever you trigger a new legato note in any CSW instrument. If you prefer to play
with no discernible delay, you can choose the Low Latency mode, which may be less
realistic than the Expressive mode for certain passages, but easier to play, especially
for agile passages.

The amount of delay is determined by the velocity at which you play each new legato
note. There are three velocity zones in Expressive mode: 0-64, 65-100, and 101-127,
which correspond to three legato speeds respectively: Slow, Medium and Fast, as
pictured below.
 Slow has the most delay, (approx. 220ms), medium is much more immediate sounding
(approx. 130ms), while fast feels almost instant (approx 90ms). There’s not a huge
practical difference between medium and fast, and they can often be used
interchangeably. I recommend getting a sense of how each instrument responds, and
with a bit of practice, playing smooth connected lines should feel natural and intuitive.
The velocity ranges themselves are large, which means you generally need to press
the key softly to trigger a normal expressive legato, and
moderately hard to trigger a more immediate-sounding
faster transition. There is no gradual increase of speed
within any one range, so whether you hit a key with a
velocity of 20 or 58, you will be triggering the same
standard transition in both cases. I encourage you to
practice hitting each range, while observing the legato
speed indicator on the GUI for visual feedback.

And again, Low latency mode is easier to play, especially when starting out with the
library. Low latency mode only has two delays Medium, which is around 90ms, and
Fast which is about 70ms.

Low Latency legato velocity zones:

Expressive legato velocity zones:

Marcato

The Marcato articulation can also be used to play legato lines, but is geared to a more
aggressive, assertive playing style - perfect for heroic melody lines or dramatic action
cues. If you have the Repetition overlay setting switched on, any new note triggered
will also trigger a repetition sample on top, which is a great way to accent notes during
a melody.
Repeated Notes

Another powerful feature of the Cinematic Studio Series is the ability to perform a re-
articulation of the same note. This is done by holding the sustain pedal and playing
the same note twice. Again, instead of a scripted emulation, you’re actually hearing a
sampled performance. In the case of strings it was achieved by the players performing
a re-bowing of the same note. For brass and woodwinds, it is a re-tonguing of the
same note. All instruments in the CSS range include this feature, across multiple
dynamics and with 3 x Round Robins.

Chords

Disabling the Legato switch enables the playing

of chords, and also causes the envelope
configuration panel to appear. This allows easy
setting of the fade-in and fade-out times of
your chords. Control + click returns each dial to
its default setting.

Other Long Note Articulations

Trills

Trills in CSW are activated by pressing two keys simultaneously. Play two notes a half
tone apart to trigger a halftone trill, or a whole tone apart to trigger a whole tone trill.
The two notes themselves must be triggered at precisely the same time as each other
or the trill wont trigger - make sure the notes are no more than 25ms apart. The trill
itself will continue to hold for as long as any one of the two keys pressed is still held.
Switching Legato on or off allows playing of either monophonic legato or chords.

Flutter Tongue (Flutes, Alto Flute and Piccolo only)

Flutter tongue sustains were sampled in two dynamics: p and f. Same as with all the
long note articulations, dynamics are controlled via the mod wheel, and switching
Legato on or off allows playing of either monophonic legato or chords.

Note: all of the long note articulations will remember their own attack and release
envelope settings independently of one another.
 Short Notes

Repetitions, Staccatissimo, Staccato and Sfz

CSW features 4 distinct short note types ranging

from short, energetic repetitions to long, powerfully
accented sforzando notes. These can be selected
via the mod wheel (CC1) by default. Right click on
the selector to change the CC assignment for this
switch. By utilising the mod wheel while performing
a passage, it’s possible to create interesting and
varied rhythmic passages.

Short Note Delay

Please note that there is a short delay of approximately 60ms from the beginning of
the short note samples to their “rhythmic peak.” We left this in the samples
intentionally as we believe this adds a significant degree of realism, and most
importantly, it ensures that the timing across all short note types is consistent. So
make sure you account for this when quantising short note tracks, either by applying a
negative 60ms delay to the whole track, or moving the the notes back manually.
 Additional Functions

Config Screen

The Config screen can be accessed via the cog icon in the top right corner of the GUI.
Here you can change the CC assignment for Key switch CC (explained below),
Velocity X-Fade and Volume.

Velocity Sensitive Key Switches

Many of the key switches in CSW are velocity sensitive. This means that the velocity at
which the key switch itself is pressed will trigger additional actions. For example, the
Staccato key switch is velocity sensitive; if you press it at a velocity of 0-32,
Repetitions will be active upon changing to it; 33-64 will select Staccatissimo, and so
on (refer to the chart below). Another example is the Legato key switch. Pressing it at
a velocity of 0-64 switches them off, 65-127 switches them on. A full list of velocity
specific key switch functions is as follows:

Key Switch Velocity & Function

Sustain 0-64: Low Latency legato 65-127: Expressive legato

Staccato 0-32: Repetitions 33-64: Staccatissimo 65-96: Staccato 97-127: Sfz

Marcato 0-64: Repetition Overlay Off 65-127: Repetition Overlay On

Legato 0-64: Legato Off 65-127: Legato On

Key Switch CC

Any of the functions within CSS that can be triggered via key switches can also be
triggered via a single CC: the Key switch CC. This is set to CC58 by default, and can
be changed via the Config screen. Moving this CC to any of the values listed in the
table below will activate their associated functions.

CC Value Function

0-5 Sustain (Low latency legato)

6-10 Sustain (Expressive legato)

11-15 Repetitions

16-20 Staccatissimo

21-25 Staccato

26-30 Sfz

46-50 Trills

51-55 Flutter Tongue (Flutes only)

61-65 Measured repetitions

66-70 Marcato without overlay

71-75 Marcato with overlay

76-80 Legato On

81-85 Legato Off

Choosing whether to use key switches or the key switch CC is a matter of personal
taste. Key switches are generally easier to access, and simply require pressing /
recording the appropriate keys within your sequence. However if you decide to
transpose a piece, you’ll need to be careful not to transpose any of these recorded
key switch notes along with your melody. This is something you won't need to worry
about if you’re using the key switch CC. Another benefit of using the key switch CC is
that as long as your sequencer’s MIDI chase function is enabled, you’ll be able to start
playing from halfway through your sequence, as opposed to having to skip back to
earlier in the sequence where the key switch notes were recorded.