Review: Ostinato Stings by Sonokinetic

Sonokinetic continues to lead the pack with advanced, intelligent phrase-based sample libraries. The developers latest, Ostinato Strings, transforms chords into great sounding rhythmic phrases. The library may just be the developer’s most focused workhorse to date and is awarded an SLR TOP PICK.

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Review: Ostinato Strings from Sonokinetic

Ostinato Strings harnesses the power of continually repeated musical phrases or rhythms into a Kontakt Player Instrument with a very intuitive interface. Sonokinetic‘s new ostinato engine contains a plethora of advanced functionality, but the great sounding string section is what really makes this library such a gem.

Ostinato Strings is available for €99.90 (€120,88 icl VAT) from Sonokinetic

Review created in collaboration with contributor EBRavo.

Thoughts

Ostinato Strings Main Interface

Sonokinetic released Ostinato Strings with the main aim being “The phrase library for complex chords”. The developer is infamous for pushing boundaries in orchestral phrase-based libraries and with Ostinato Strings, have focused down the scope to create an instrument which excels at creating ostinato patterns in real time from users simple chord progressions.

This library is perfect for composers who adventure into rhythmic string patterns, but could also serve as an educational tool. Playback of the instrument is inspiring. Playing chords on the instrument is like commanding an entire string section with surprisingly smooth transitions between chord changes. The library could serve many composers, but for those looking for specific voice leads, the library falls short as you have little control over individual section lines in playback.

This library a is perfect for composers who adventure into rhythmic string patterns.

The library intelligently recognizes a wide array of chords; major, minor, diminished and augmented, as well as half diminished, dominant 7th, major 7th, minor 7th, minor/major7th, sus2, sus4 and 7sus4, all with basic triads and inversions. This is one of the most amazing things about the library as there are very few chordal limitations. Users are free to create ostinatos for nearly any chord they choose. Users also have the ability to select desired inversions or let the software choose the best fit for a progression.

In addition, Ostinato Strings has 5 different chord voicings available: close voicing, wide open four-note voicing, wide open three-note voicing (with harmonic material in bass), wide closed four-note voicing, extended chords and no root in the top chord.

The one and only function in this library is to create rhythmic strings patterns that playback with the users desired chords or chord changes. The phrases were originally recorded at 130BPM with a 52 piece string section, but tempo sync with grace down to half and up to double that metronome marking. With the nimble key switching of different patterns, rhythmic possibilities are vast, and the user interface is very friendly.

Different Rhythm Patterns Available

You can choose if the treble and bass lines are linked. This is indicated on the interface’s bass clef at C# with an arrow (linked) or broken arrow (unlinked). Linking means the same rhythmic pattern is triggered for both treble and bass sample sets. Unlinking allows the user to trigger separate patterns for high and low strings.

When you trigger playback using Ostinato Strings you are actually triggering 3 separate phrases.

When you trigger playback using Ostinato Strings you are actually triggering 3 separate sampled phrases. In the treble clef, you have two separate high phrases (each of two notes) and one phrase in the bass clef (again of two notes). The easiest way to tell wheat notes are being played back is by looking at the notation shown on the left-hand side of the interface.

The first limitation of the instrument becomes obvious at this point, as there is no way to trigger individual single-note ostinatos or control playback by sections. This means you can not playback single lines of the Violin, Viola, Celli or Bass sections. The trade off here is a smaller footprint, a very intuitive interface and a sample set recorded “all in the same room together” that in our opinion, far outweighs this limitation.

Ostinato Strings is one of those rare cases where explaining it in detail is much more complicated that sitting down and using the instrument.

The “A flat” in the bass clef (lower right-hand side) is grayed out, turning off the 2nd sample ostinato playback. The lower treble notes in the top-left are grayed out indicating that those samples are not being played because of this selection.

Writing out the functionality, I hear the words piling on that may start to scare a reader, and this is one of those rare cases where explaining in detail is much more complicated that sitting down and using the instrument itself. We can’t cover all the functionality in the review, but all the official walkthrough videos are posted below so we encourage you to reference them to explore further.

If you’re using the instrument and looking for a way to trigger different functionality, you won’t need to go far to find answers

If you’re using the instrument and looking for a way to trigger different functionality, you won’t need to go far to find answers. Ostinato Strings comes with a manual that is useful and clear and the instrument also it has a great help chart accessible on the interface.

At any point you have questions about navigating the instrument you can click the “i” on the interface which pulls up an information overlay.

Contributor EBravo spent some time reviewing the instrument and found the Harmonic Shift to be the instrument’s big “Hightlight”. I couldn’t agree more!

For me, the highlight is the Harmonic Shift. The Harmonic Shift functions as a “one key “automatic voice leading tool.

Harmonic Shift is triggered via keys switches with green keys from C5 to B5. This shifts smoothly from one chord to the next. For example, you can play a C triad in the blue keys to trigger the desired chord and set your “root chord”. By then pressing the Harmonic Shift key D5, this will playback the 2nd chord degree in the scale.

This is an excellent tool to play a chord progression, being diatonic or not as you can select desired chord progressions as well as alter dedicated chords for each degree of the Harmonic Shift in the panel. – EBravo

Harmonic Shift panel

In the Harmonic Shift panel (above) you can see that the D5 chord has been changed to a Dsus4. All chords for the 12 tone scale can be altered with a simple click of the mouse and new chord selection.

Sonokinetic continues to lead the pack with advanced, intelligent phrase-based sample libraries. Ostinato Strings just may be the developer’s most focused workhorse to date. I am awarded Ostinato Strings an SLR TOP PICK for excellence in it’s sonic playback, ease of use and advancement in virtual orchestral tools.

Facts

The library downloads at 15.5 GB and is a Kontakt player instrument compatible with both the full and free version of Native Instrument’s Kontakt Version 5.1 or higher. It is a Strings section library with 16 & 24-bit options as well as lite version for each.
It has a 4 mic positions for mixing according to your needs, recorded by 52 string players.
It has a turn off samples function for saving RAM and a mini sheet besides the rhythmic patterns that shows us the inversion of the chord being played.

Ostinato Strings is available for €99.90 (€120,88 icl VAT) from Sonokinetic

Demos of Ostinato

Videos of Ostinato