INTIMATE VIOLIN
“IREMIA”
SOFT SOLO TEXTURES
$99
Please note: requires the full version of NI Kontakt 6 or later.
Iremia (Greek): tranquility, peace, serenity. quietness.
Intimate Violin is a solo texture library unlike any other. It’s hyper focused on only the softest side of a solo violin, because when you play really, really quiet all the details and imperfections in the sound really come to the foreground. To capture all these minute sonic details, we had to get close – really close, which is why Intimate Violin was recorded no fewer than 10 microphones, one of them positioned inside the violin itself. The result is a solo violin tecxture library that is incredibly beautiful, warm, intimate and detailed – a sound that pulls you in and whispers in your ear. Iremia is perfect for ambient underscore or Scandi Noir scoring or indeed any time you need an instrument that quietly, but persistently tugs on the heart strings.
The Iremia solo strings series is based on the idea that it is the tiny, barely audible details and imperfections in the sound that creates a deep sense of intimacy and humanity in a sound – and the softer you play, the more these imperfections stand out.
The Iremia series also features Intimate Viola and Intimate Cello, which are identical in concept, articulations, microphones and GUI. The whole series is available in an attractively priced bundle, which is perhaps the ultimate toolkit to get that contemporary Scandi Noir string sound.
FULL WALKTHROUGH
IN ACTION
Audio demos
Reverie
Touch (contextual)
Touch (naked)
Violin Reverie (contextual)
Remembering (Contextual)
Remembering (Naked)
Solemn Skye
What users are saying
“There’s not anything else like these libraries that I’ve found, and I have way more than 20 string libraries. They are lovely, delicate, very intimate.”
“Intimate Violin continues what Intimate Viola started, vistas of lush violin textures, mellifluous flutters, undulations, soundscapes and effects – it works for me both as a stand alone and as a glue in making those soft, modern strings textures that are now so common in media composition work together between different string libraries.”
“Every library that Nicolaj produces is done with great attention to detail and the results always impress.”
“These sounds are an inspiration engine. The bow and vibrato pulses sound amazing layered with normal sustains, I got great results adding them to another library’s string ensemble patch to add some movement. They feel really vivid and alive…With their vivid, human and intimate textures, the Intimate Viola and Cello are certain to provide inspiration.”
“It’s wonderfully fragile with a fantastic array of delicate textures, but versatile too. It’ll be getting daily use from me.”
“Intimate Violin continues the textural journey started with Intimate Viola and Cello – featuring the same expressive articulations, rich mic options, and Bunker Samples’ signature inside mic. I love these raw, modern pianissimo-to-piano sustained textures that push the limits of traditional string recording.”
“The IREMIA series finally includes a violin. The ‘Super Close’ microphone position, in particular, gives my work a sense of intimacy and fragility. This very fragility is a major feature of this library, and it’s what draws me into a special world.”
For someone like me, who can’t get enough of studio based detailed brushstrokes for my pallette, these are unmatched. The Viola and Cello are very firmly in “you can pry them from my cold dead daw” territory, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone who is interested in a broad string pallette, and needs to create emotional beds at solo/small chamber ensemble size.
TLDR: If you have the slightest interest in detail captured beautifully, in a manner that has you sitting on the bridge, then these are not only beautiful, but the only game in town.”
What you’ll get
Engaging sustains
Despite the focus on quiet sounds, Iremia is highly playable, designed to express your musical ideas with ease, thanks to extended controls of the dynamic response of the instrument.
Moving textures
Of course all the textures come in both con sordino and normale variations, and you even have the option of smoothly crossfading between the two, something that would be impossible to do in real life, but is highly expressive.
Organic swells
Starting from barely audible, crescendoing to a peak, before fading to silence, the swells in Iremia opens up endless creative possibilities. You get three different variations: normale, con sordino and con sordino tremolo. All of them come in 4,3,2 and 1 seconds length, and with the Time Machine Pro patch you can even change the length of these.
SHAPE YOUR SOUND
When you play really, really soft on a string instrument, it brings all the microscopic details and human imperfections in the sound to the forefront, but you need to get very close to capture these incredibly soft sounds. That’s why we recorded Iremia with five different mic positions, three of which are close.
- Inside: A small omnidirectional microphone floated inside the body of the instrument itself. Adds body and a surprising amount of detail.
- Super Close: Two Aston mics pointed directly at the bow contact point for incredible detail.
- Close: A more traditional close perspective a bit further away, made up of a Neumann U87 and two MK184. A very warm and balanced sound.
- Mid: A pair of AKG 414s in the middle of the room for depth and cohesion.
- Far: Two Telefunken M60 at the back of the room for even more spaciousness and width.
To further explore the softest end of the dynamic spectrum, every sound in Iremia was recorded both with and without mute, and with the crossfade patch you can even seamlessly crossfade between muted and normal, something that is impossible to do in real life, but makes for an incredibly expressive virtual instrument.
Easy to use
Spend your time writing music, not trying to figure out what all the knobs and sliders do. The interface of Intimate Violin is simple to use, but hides advanced features under the surface.
The excellent Replika delay and a convolution reverb is built in, and you can send individual amounts to the FX from each microphone channel. Great for adding a background sheen, while keeping one of the close mics dry and up front.
You can also align all sample starts to that of the inside mic for instantly darker and fuller sound, and the dynamics slider has full controls for simulated dynamics, range and velocity control built in, giving you total control over how the instrument responds to your playing.
The Iremia bundle
All three instruments in The Iremia series share the same concept, recording technique, articulations, microphone perspectives and GUI, so they fit together and complement each other perfectly. This bundle is the perfect toolkit for achieving that fragile Scandi Noir string sound popularised by artists such as Olafur Arnalds, Johan Jóhann Jóhannsson and Max Richter.
Good to know
- 3415 samples
- 13.6 GB uncompressed size
- 7.49 Lossless compressed size (installed size)
- 48 total articulations
- 5 patches
- REQUIRES THE FULL VERSION OF KONTAKT 6.7.1 OR LATER – NOT THE FREE KONTAKT PLAYER.
Additional features
- Align sample start – phase aligns all mic perspectives to the inside mic for a darker tone without the need for EQ.
- Movable key-switches.
- Option to display key switch note names directly on the GUI.
- Purge microphone channels from memory with the mute button.
- Extended simulated dynamics.
- Full control over the dynamic range – make the instrumnet react the way you want it to.
- Fully adjustable velocity control.
- Per mic stereo width and pan controls.
- Per mic Delay and Reverb sends.
- Route each mic directly to Kontakt’s discrete outputs, so you can process them individually in your DAW.
Core articulations
Sustains
- Sustains Normale ppp
- Sustains Normale pp
- Sustains Normale p
- Sustains CS ppp
- Sustains CS pp
- Sustains CS p
- Sustains Super CS ppp
- Sustains Super CS pp
- Sustains Super CS p
- Harmonics CS
- Harmonics Normale
TEXTURES
- Bow pulses CS
- Bow pulses Normale
- Vibrato pulses CS
- Vibrato pulses Normale
- Random Rebow CS
- Random Rebow Normale
- Tremolo bursts CS
- Tremolo bursts Normale
- Tremolo fluctuations CS
- Tremolo fluctuations Normale
SWELLS
- Swells Normale 4sec
- Swells CS 4sec
- Swells Trem CS 4sec
- Swells Normale 3sec
- Swells CS 3sec
- Swells Trem CS 3sec
- Swells Normale 2sec
- Swells CS 2sec
- Swells Trem CS 2sec
- Swells Normale 1sec
- Swells CS 1sec
- Swells Trem CS 1sec
*) All swells included as Time Machine Pro patches as well, which can be time stretched.
Crossfade articulations
Sustains
- Dynamic Sustains Normale (X-fade ppp-pp-p)
- Dynamic Sustains CS (X-fade ppp-pp-p)
- Dynamic Sustains Super CS (X-fade ppp-pp-p)
- Sustains ppp CS into Normale
- Sustains pp CS into Normale
- Sustains p Con Sordino into Normale
- Sustains ppp Super CS into CS
- Sustains pp Super CS into CS
- Sustains p Super CS into CS
- Harmonics CS into Normale
TEXTURES
- Bow pulses CS into Normale
- Vibrato pulses CS into Normale
- Random Rebow CS into Normale
- Tremolo bursts CS into Normale
- Tremolo fluctuations CS into Normale
GET IT ALL
Get every single library made by Bunker Samples, including a pre-order of the upcoming Intimate Violin "Iremia" - you save $175!
$485
Please note: requires the full version of NI Kontakt 6 or later.
What YOU'LL GET...
