Tokyo Scoring Strings 2.0, world-class studio string ensembles.

Hello all! I'm proud to announce the long-awaited release of Tokyo Scoring Strings 2.0, our flagship string ensemble library featuring some of the finest performers in Japan, recorded in the legendary Sound City studio, and produced by Mitsunori Aizawa, one of the country's finest engineers.

Get the complete library now: https://impactsoundworks.com/product...coring-strings

The more affordable, core Essentials version: https://impactsoundworks.com/product...gs-essentials/

The free version: https://impactsoundworks.com/product...g-strings-free

TSS2.0 is a complete reworking of the entire library from the ground-up. We've redone everything from the audio (from the original sessions) to the script engine to create the very best version of this instrument possible.

With this update we have what our team believes is the most playable, versatile, AND easy-to-use string library out there.

Important: THIS IS A 100% FREE UPDATE FOR EXISTING USERS! Existing projects will not be affected or changed to maintain compatibility.

Key Differences & Improvements from TSS1.0 to TSS2.0

* Vastly improved consistency in sample timbre, attack time, and dynamics across the board

* Two brand-new mic mixes in addition to Aizawa's bright and cutting 'Board Mix': lead producer [USER=20576]@Sarah Mancuso[/USER] well-rounded ‘Anima Mix’, and lead software architect [USER=4310]@neblix[/USER] 's more traditional ‘Cinema Mix’

* Stunningly realistic legato transitions using all-original DSP research to smoothly balance and blend between source, transition, and ending notes

* Three brand-new legato articulations: emotional Lyrical legato, super-agile Runs legato, and powerful Marcato legato incorporating adjustable bow noise. This is in addition to the existing Legato Bow, Legato Slur, Porta Bow, and Porta Slur articulations.

* Save a potentially massive amount of CPU and RAM with new dynamic layer and vibrato layer purging, which can be done in just a single click and works seamlessly with existing automation (no bumps or messy crossfades)

* The super playable Smart Attack feature while playing Arco seamlessly shapes and blends short articulations with your playing based on velocity (while modwheel handles dynamics.) This has been carefully tuned to ‘feel’ just right for real-time playing.

* For the Mic Mixer patches, the Close position now uses a much more focused, solo spot mic with less bleed than in TSS1. We’ve also replaced the ‘Room’ and ‘Surround’ positions with the more distinct ‘Side’ (outtrigger) and ‘Rear’ mic signals.

* The already very powerful Poly Legato has now been improved to work seamlessly with sustain pedal changes. You can now play chords in a naturalistic way and get gorgeous smart legato between notes without a second thought.

* A brand-new Ensemble patch featuring entirely new and carefully-balanced samples, which is incredibly inspiring and a joy to play particularly in Poly Legato mode. This is not just a ‘big sustain’ patch. It has 100% articulation parity with all other sections making it completely capable as the ONLY patch you use!

Lookahead 2.0

Our initial, groundbreaking Lookahead system analyzed notes during playback to create more realistic performances. For example, rather than having to set messy off-grid transitions, Lookahead allows you to write 100% quantized notes and get perfectly in-time legato & portamento. And with optional Easy Articulations enabled, you can write intricate parts with lots of articulation switching by only adjusting note length and velocity - no keyswitches needed.

As part of the complete script rewrite, Lookahead 2.0 offers all of the above in a more stable and better-sounding package, along with several new and extremely useful features.

To save CPU, Lookahead now analyzes dynamics used on each note and disables any unused layers on a per-note basis. So, even if you don’t use the aforementioned dynamic/vibrato purge feature above, Lookahead will greatly increase your possible voice count and CPU efficiently.

For greater compatibility across more DAWs and quirky plugin/wrapper setups, you can make use of Short Mode which reduces the Lookahead latency to 300ms, and toggleable UI Parameter Sync which can fix playback situations where CC automation is out-of-sync with your parts.

Complete Content OverviewWorld-class string ensemble recorded in a tight, focused studio space
8 violins 1, 6 violins 2, 4 violas, 3 cellos, 3 basses
Board Mix, Anima Mix, and Cinema Mix patches
Mic Mixer patch offering per-channel control over Close, Decca, Side, and Back positions
Five sustain dynamic layers
Three vibrato types (non-vibrato, regular vibrato, molto vibrato)
Long articulations: Arco, Trills (HT), Trills (WT), Tremolo, Harmonics
Legato articulations: Legato Bow, Legato Slur, Lyrical Legato, Run Legato, Marcato Legato, Portamento Bow, Portamento Slur, Rebow
Release articulations: Release (Natural), Release (Excited), Release (Staccato), Release (Decrescendo), Release (Harmonics)
Short articulations: Sforzando (Long), Sforzando (Short), Decrescendo (Long), Decrescendo (Short), Pizzicato, Staccato, Staccatissimo, Spiccato, Spiccato Secco
Tokyo Scoring Strings Essentials

We realize that not every composer is in a position to afford a flagship string library, and that not everyone needs every single feature it has. That’s why we are debuting Tokyo Scoring Strings Essentials, a much more affordable version of TSS that keeps the vast majority of what makes TSS great - all crucial articulations, features, and sampling depth, plus three sets of mixes.

Mics/Signals: Essentials comes with the Board Mix, Anima Mix, and Cinema Mix patches, and only lacks the Mic Mixer patches with control over the individual mic signals.

Essentials Articulations: Essentials includes Arco (sustains), Tremolo, Natural releases, Legato Bow, Legato Slur, Lyrical Legato, Run Legato, Marcato Legato, Rebow, Pizzicato, Staccato, Staccatissimo, and Spiccato articulations.

For comparison, TSS Full includes the above, plus Trills (HT & WT), Harmonics, Excited releases, Staccato releases, Decrescendo releases, Harmonics releases, Portamento Bow, Portamento Slur, Sforzando Long & Short, Decrescendo Long & Short, and Spiccato Secco.

Otherwise, in terms of dynamic layers, vibrato layers, round robins, script features, and instrument sections, there are no other differences!

Tokyo Scoring Strings Free

If you want to get a taste of the beautiful sound & playability of TSS, we’ll be offering this Kontakt Player-compatible instrument that includes:The versatile Anima Mix
Violins 1 & Cellos sections
3 Arco dynamic layers
Arco, Legato Slur, Rebow, and Natural releases
Smart Attack for Arco, giving you a palette of short articulation on top of your Arco playing
Regular Vibrato
All round robins & script features
Full sampling range!

Library Walkthrough

Pricing & Availability

Tokyo Scoring Strings 2.0 Complete is available now for the introductory price of $349 through October 23rd (MSRP: $449)

Tokyo Scoring Strings Essential is available now for the intro price of $199 (MSRP: $249)

Tokyo Scoring Strings Free is… well, free:)

All three versions run in the free version of Kontakt Player 7.8+ and are fully NKS-compatible.

Update Process

All existing TSS1 customers will (or have already) receive an email reiterating this process in greater detail, but at a high level, here’s how it will work.Open Pulse. Ensure you have 400GB free on the drive where TSS1 is installed.
Update TSS1 in Pulse.
The new patches are installed in a folder alongside your existing instruments folder, called 'Instruments 2.0'
That's it!

Through this approach, 100% of your old projects using TSS1.0 will be completely untouched. The two library versions will live side-by-side.

We chose this approach because of how many fundamental things changed in TSS2.0. While using the same MIDI from a TSS1 project will sound largely similar, it definitely won’t be identical, which (as composers ourselves) we know is not acceptable for archival or ongoing projects.