Announcing: Bunker Strings Vol. 2 - contemporary string textures

Bunker Samples is pleased to announce the release of Bunker Strings Vol. 2 - the continuation of the critically acclaimed string texture library that founded Bunker Samples. This is a complete string library focused on textural articulations with violins, violas, cellos, basses and an ensemble patch.

Volume 2 is based on the same principle as Vol. 1, allowing you to control the density of the texture by literally changing ensemble size on the fly with the density slider. To achieve this level of control, every articulation was recorded 3 times with the players in different positions. With the density slider down you are hearing 3 players, 9 at the top. All the long articulations are based around the idea of the players improvising rhythms independent of each other. The result is a texture that grabs the listener's interest, even if you are just holding a long note.

There are 5 "single" and 5 "combi" long articulations:
Super sul tasto pulses - a soft portato played over the fingerboard. Airy and beautiful.
Octave pulses - a louder portato with half the players playing and octave up. Big and bold.
Tremolo bursts normale - short random bursts of tremolo over a sustained note. Endlessly moving.
Tremolo bursts sul pont - Short tremolo bursts Sul Pont over a sustained non Sul Pont note. Edgy and engaging.
Plectrum tremolo - a guitar plectrum tremolo used on strings. Like a pizzicato with an attitude.
Sul tasto pulses into octave pulses
Sul tasto pulses into plectrum tremolo
Sul tasto pulses into bursts normale
Bursts normale into bursts sul pont
Bursts sul pont into plectrum tremolo
The short notes are inspired by Jonny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood, particularly the cue Proven Lands which used guitar plectrums and rhythmic strumming:

Plectrum pizzicato - like a pizzicato, but with a lot more bite and attitude.
Plectrum strum - a non-tonal percussive effect. Great for drive and energy.
Plectrum tremolo - the same as in the longs patch, but integrated into the new articulation switching system.
A new articulation switching system was developed specifically for the shorts in Vol. 2, designed to make it easy to create intricate parts on the fly. When turned on the default articulation is always plectrum pizz, but you can momentarily switch to either strum or tremolo using a hot key or MIDI CC of your choice.

The Auto Fade script cuts down on voice count, and enhances realism by damping ringing notes when a new note is played, like the real instrument. It can also be used creatively to dampen notes by playing a note outside of the instrument's playable range.

Bunker Strings Vol. 2 is available now at an introductory price of $49 until September 30, after which the price goes up to $79. You can also purchase Vol. 1 and 2 together for $89 (full price $138) until the end of the intro sale.

 

Just a week left of the intro pricing folks...

 

Today was going to be the last day you could get Bunker Strings Vol. 2 at intro price, but a couple of things has made me change my mind. One good, and one bad…

The catastrophic malfunction of the buy button…

It simply didn’t work at all for some customers, which was very annoying for them and a total disaster for me. Gumroad tells me it was caused by older versions of some operating systems and browsers, but that they have fixed it now, so please give it another go if you had problems. And if it still doesn’t work, please get in touch.

That’s what Ty Unwin did…

Get in touch, that is. He had problems with the buy button, but we found a solution. Ty is a prolific media composer (just look at his IMDb credits) who has written music for hundreds of films and TV shows, so it was a pleasant surprise to find out he was interested in Bunker Strings. And then, last night a kind customer alerted me to the fact that Ty had talked about Bunker Strings on Sonic Talk, a music and audio video podcast made by Sonicstate.

When I say talked about what I really mean is a glowing recommendation! I won’t tell you what he said here, because it’s almost making me blush, but see for yourself below - it’s only a few minutes, but the whole episode is worth a watch when you have the time!

So I’m extending the sale!

In the show they are talking about the intro pricing of $49 (and $89 for Vol. 1 and 2 together), so if I ended the sale today like planned I would probably disappoint a lot of people who watched Ty’s glowing endorsement and then went to check it out it, only to find the price had gone up. I would like to give those composers a chance to get it at the intro price.

With that in mind - and the now hopefully fully functioning buy button - I’m extending the intro sale for another two weeks!

You now have until Friday October 15 to save on Bunker Strings Vol. 2 and Bunker Strings Complete.

All the best,

Nicolaj

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