Glass Strings, the latest release from The Crow Hill Company, is positioned as a “definitive string library” designed to simplify and inspire the work of media composers. With an affordable price tag of £199, it promises to deliver organic performances, vivid textures, and a streamlined workflow for professionals and aspiring composers alike. Unlike traditional orchestral libraries, Glass Strings takes a bold, minimalist approach, stripping away some conventional features to focus on speed, creativity, and ease of use.
But does it live up to its ambitious claims? Can it truly serve as an all-encompassing string library for media composers, or is it more of a niche tool in a crowded market? The Crow Hill Company kindly provided us with a review copy of Glass Strings, so let’s explore its features, sound, and practical application to find out.
OVERVIEW
Glass Strings is a compact, meticulously crafted sample library tailored for composers seeking a balance between immediacy and versatility. It features a small quintet band of string players from the Scottish Session Orchestra to bring out the intricate artistic details. Rather than sticking to the traditional orchestral layout of separate sections—violins, violas, cellos, and basses—The Crow Hill Company opted for a unified ensemble recorded together. This decision enhances cohesion and simplicity, aligning perfectly with the needs of today’s media composers who have to work under tight deadlines
Let‘s take a look at the libraries most important features:
Gestures: Pre-orchestrated phrases that breathe organic life into compositions.
Motors: Loopable, rhythmic patterns synced to your DAW’s tempo, ideal for driving textures.
Microphone Positions: Close, Wide, and Ambient, with intuitive mixing options to shape your soundstage.
Signature Features:
The Glass Control, a groundbreaking tool for harmonic manipulation. It allows composers to emphasize or suppress fundamental frequencies, transforming the string sound from clear and silky to dark and resonant. This innovative feature defines the library’s unique character and versatility.
The Bass Control, which adds a rich, lower octave played by the basses, subtly reinforcing the ensemble’s sound for added depth and weight.
Presets tailored for various use cases, such as cinematic “Hollywood” mixes, intimate “Honest” mixes, and even experimental “Outer Space” settings.
Many of the creative decisions behind Glass Strings reflect the practical needs of a working media composer. This is no coincidence, as The Crow Hill Company’s founder, Christian Henson, has years of experience scoring high-profile projects across various media, such as the darkly comedic anthology series Inside No. 9, ITV‘s romantic dramedy series Significant Other, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, for which he composed a couple of tracks alongside his brother, Joe Henson.
Henson’s no-nonsense approach is evident throughout the library. For instance, the decision to leave out a dedicated legato patch has sparked plenty of discussion among composers. While some might see this as a drawback, others argue that the expressive articulations and natural performance dynamics compensate for its absence. In practice, this choice encourages composers to focus on the bigger picture—getting ideas down quickly and creating music that feels alive.
Glass Strings clearly isn’t trying to replace a full-blown orchestral library. Instead, it seems to be designed to keep you writing and inspired, with tools that are immediate, intuitive, and rooted in real-world compositional workflows.
USER INTERFACE
The user interface of Glass Strings is clean, efficient, and designed with speed in mind. All of the library’s features and controls are laid out on a single page, making it easy to access everything you need without jumping between tabs or menus. This streamlined approach ensures that you can stay focused on composing while still having powerful tools at your fingertips.
One of the standout features is the Glass Control, which manipulates the harmonic structure of the strings. With this tool, you can emphasize or suppress the fundamental frequency, transforming the tone from bright and shimmering to dark and resonant. Alongside this, the Timbre Control adjusts the intensity and color of the articulations, while the Expression Control lets you fine-tune the overall volume dynamics for subtle or dramatic changes. Together, these controls provide a high level of expressiveness without complicating the workflow.
Glass Strings – User Interface
To further shape your sound, the interface offers intuitive sliders for blending the three microphone positions: Close, Wide, and Ambient. This allows you to craft anything from intimate solo textures to cinematic, wide-screen ensembles. Additionally, there are four dedicated reverb algorithms, including a granular pitch-shifting reverb, which add depth and character to your compositions.
Rounding out the interface are simple yet effective tools for quickly adjusting stereo width, applying mono filtering to the low end, and even introducing subtle room tone from the recording space. While these features are straightforward, they add significant polish to your final sound, ensuring it sits well in any mix.
The clean and minimalist visual style reflects TCHC’s consistent focus on accessibility, a design philosophy evident in their previous libraries like String Murmurations and The Vertical Piano. This simplicity doesn’t compromise functionality; instead, it enhances the experience, keeping all the powerful tools you need at your fingertips while maintaining an uncluttered workspace.
Everything about the interface feels tailored for composers who value immediacy and flexibility. It provides powerful controls for shaping your sound while keeping the workflow fast and intuitive.
THE SOUND OF GLASS STRINGS
The sound of Glass Strings is where the library truly shines. Every note played by the ensemble is imbued with a sense of life and detail that sets it apart from many traditional string libraries. This was achieved by recording the players in a way that allowed subtle variations in performance—each musician interpreting the note slightly differently. The result is a sound that feels organic, with an expressive human quality that adds depth and richness to your compositions.
A key tool for shaping this sound is the Glass Control, which lets you manipulate the harmonic structure of the strings. By boosting or reducing the fundamental frequency and its harmonics, you can transform the tone of the ensemble, making it brighter and more glassy or darker and more resonant. This flexibility is very helpful for tailoring the sound to fit your arrangement or scene, whether you’re scoring a tender moment or a tense buildup.
Click on the button to load the content from soundcloud.com.
The library also provides a broad range of articulations, each with its own distinct character. A standout is the Free Bowing articulation, which creates wonderfully evolving textures that feel alive. The players were instructed to bow freely, resulting in performances that are constantly shifting and rich in subtle detail, especially when playing chords. These textures are perfect for adding intrigue or tension to a piece, especially in underscoring or ambient settings.
On the other hand, the Spiccato articulation brings sharp, aggressive attacks that are ideal for high-energy passages. Its punchy nature makes it a go-to for rhythmic ostinatos, but be aware that when playing very fast lines, it can sound a little sloppy. A bit of quantization can tighten things up and ensure precision without losing the articulation’s natural bite.
The Sul Ponticello articulation is another gem, producing an eerie, metallic timbre by bowing near the bridge. This is perfect for creating tension or a sense of unease, especially in thriller or horror contexts. In contrast, the Harmonics offer ethereal, glassy tones that are hauntingly beautiful and perfect for softer, more introspective moments.
For even quicker results, Glass Strings includes several pre-designed mixes. These mixes, such as “Hollywood,” “Honest,” and “Media,” not only provide tailored sonic profiles but also feature different sets of pre-loaded articulations. This allows you to dive straight into composing, with a palette of articulations already selected to match the tone and scope of your arrangement. Whether you need a wide, cinematic texture or a more intimate, dry sound, these mixes make it easy to find the right starting point.
The Gestures and Motors are another highlight of the library. The gestures are pre-orchestrated string phrases that can instantly inject life and movement into your compositions. These are particularly useful for building tension or creating dynamic, evolving textures without having to program every note manually. Meanwhile, the motors offer loopable rhythmic patterns that sync seamlessly to your DAW’s tempo. They excel at providing driving momentum or subtle pulsations, making them ideal for underscoring, thrillers, or procedural scenes.
While the ensemble has an undeniably orchestral and cinematic quality, its tone leans slightly towards a colder, more Nordic aesthetic. This gives it a modern, almost Scandinavian drama vibe—perfect for moody and introspective scoring. However, this characteristic may not appeal to everyone, particularly if you’re looking for a warmer, more traditional string sound.
GLASS STRINGS IN PRACTICE
Glass Strings is clearly designed to meet the demands of media composers who prioritize efficiency and inspiration. Its simplicity makes it an excellent tool for fast-paced workflows, where tight deadlines often leave little room for intricate orchestration. By combining all string sections into a single, unified ensemble, the library allows composers to focus on storytelling and emotional impact rather than getting bogged down in technical details.
One of the benefits of Glass Strings’ chamber-sized ensemble is that it allows for chordal accompaniments without the perceived number of players skyrocketing, as it might with a symphonic ensemble patch. This makes it particularly useful for intimate, focused arrangements, where keeping the ensemble’s size manageable is crucial for maintaining clarity and emotional authenticity.
The Gestures and Motors stand out as creative tools that go beyond the typical sample library offerings. Gestures bring vivid, organic performances to your compositions, providing instant movement and emotion with minimal effort. These pre-orchestrated phrases are a great way to add complexity and life to a piece quickly. However, their pre-designed nature can be a double-edged sword, similar to loops or pre-recorded phrases. While they’re undeniably useful for adding depth, composers who rely heavily on them may find that their work starts to sound similar to others using the same library, especially if it becomes widely adopted among the media composer community. That said, thoughtful use of gestures—blended with original material—can ensure your music retains its individuality while benefiting from the richness they provide.
Motors, on the other hand, deliver rhythmic textures that sync effortlessly to your DAW’s tempo, making them ideal for underscoring or creating tension. These loopable patterns are particularly effective for scenes requiring driving energy or evolving textures, and they encourage creative experimentation with tempo and arrangement.
Since their inception, The Crow Hill Company has built a reputation for setting high expectations with their products, and Glass Strings is no exception. This aligns with a broader trend among today’s sample library brands, where buzzwords like “game-changing,” “definitive,” and “groundbreaking” are frequently – and somewhat inflationary – used. While such claims can sometimes feel exaggerated, Glass Strings largely delivers on its promises. It’s not trying to replace a full orchestral string library—it doesn’t need to. Instead, it excels as a versatile, workhorse tool for composers who need to create compelling music quickly and effectively.
CONCLUSION
At £199, Glass Strings delivers exceptional value for a string library that is both versatile and inspiring. It’s not designed to replace a full orchestral library, but rather to complement one, offering a streamlined, intuitive tool for media composers who need to create music quickly and effectively. Its focus on immediacy and expression, combined with unique features like the Glass Control and Gestures& Motors, makes it a standout option for those working in film, TV, and game scoring.
The library’s small ensemble size, combined with pre-designed mixes and articulations, ensures that you can create anything from subtle, intimate textures to bold cinematic arrangements without overloading your mix. Whether you’re sketching ideas, adding a touch of realism to a mockup, or building the core of your score, Glass Strings adapts effortlessly to your needs.
We found that contrary to TCHC’s bold marketing, GlassStrings isn’t really aiming to be the “ultimate” string library in the traditional sense. Instead, it’s built to address the real-world challenges of media composition: tight deadlines, high output demands, and the need for inspiration at a moment’s notice. Its simplicity, combined with its focus on usability and unique sonic palette, sets it apart in a crowded market.
For the price, GlassStrings is a worthwhile investment for media composers and producers alike. It won’t cover every possible use case, but for those looking for a reliable and creative workhorse, this library delivers far more than its modest price tag suggests. We would be excited to see The Crow Hill Company expand on this concept, perhaps applying GlassStrings’ intuitive design to other orchestral sections in the future.
Glass Strings, the latest release from The Crow Hill Company, is positioned as a “definitive string library” designed to simplify and inspire the work of media composers. With an affordable price tag of £199, it promises to deliver organic performances, vivid textures, and a streamlined workflow for professionals and aspiring composers alike. Unlike traditional orchestral libraries, Glass Strings takes a bold, minimalist approach, stripping away some conventional features to focus on speed, creativity, and ease of use.
But does it live up to its ambitious claims? Can it truly serve as an all-encompassing string library for media composers, or is it more of a niche tool in a crowded market? The Crow Hill Company kindly provided us with a review copy of Glass Strings, so let’s explore its features, sound, and practical application to find out.
OVERVIEW
Glass Strings is a compact, meticulously crafted sample library tailored for composers seeking a balance between immediacy and versatility. It features a small quintet band of string players from the Scottish Session Orchestra to bring out the intricate artistic details. Rather than sticking to the traditional orchestral layout of separate sections—violins, violas, cellos, and basses—The Crow Hill Company opted for a unified ensemble recorded together. This decision enhances cohesion and simplicity, aligning perfectly with the needs of today’s media composers who have to work under tight deadlines
Let‘s take a look at the libraries most important features:
Many of the creative decisions behind Glass Strings reflect the practical needs of a working media composer. This is no coincidence, as The Crow Hill Company’s founder, Christian Henson, has years of experience scoring high-profile projects across various media, such as the darkly comedic anthology series Inside No. 9, ITV‘s romantic dramedy series Significant Other, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, for which he composed a couple of tracks alongside his brother, Joe Henson.
Henson’s no-nonsense approach is evident throughout the library. For instance, the decision to leave out a dedicated legato patch has sparked plenty of discussion among composers. While some might see this as a drawback, others argue that the expressive articulations and natural performance dynamics compensate for its absence. In practice, this choice encourages composers to focus on the bigger picture—getting ideas down quickly and creating music that feels alive.
Glass Strings clearly isn’t trying to replace a full-blown orchestral library. Instead, it seems to be designed to keep you writing and inspired, with tools that are immediate, intuitive, and rooted in real-world compositional workflows.
USER INTERFACE
The user interface of Glass Strings is clean, efficient, and designed with speed in mind. All of the library’s features and controls are laid out on a single page, making it easy to access everything you need without jumping between tabs or menus. This streamlined approach ensures that you can stay focused on composing while still having powerful tools at your fingertips.
One of the standout features is the Glass Control, which manipulates the harmonic structure of the strings. With this tool, you can emphasize or suppress the fundamental frequency, transforming the tone from bright and shimmering to dark and resonant. Alongside this, the Timbre Control adjusts the intensity and color of the articulations, while the Expression Control lets you fine-tune the overall volume dynamics for subtle or dramatic changes. Together, these controls provide a high level of expressiveness without complicating the workflow.
To further shape your sound, the interface offers intuitive sliders for blending the three microphone positions: Close, Wide, and Ambient. This allows you to craft anything from intimate solo textures to cinematic, wide-screen ensembles. Additionally, there are four dedicated reverb algorithms, including a granular pitch-shifting reverb, which add depth and character to your compositions.
Rounding out the interface are simple yet effective tools for quickly adjusting stereo width, applying mono filtering to the low end, and even introducing subtle room tone from the recording space. While these features are straightforward, they add significant polish to your final sound, ensuring it sits well in any mix.
The clean and minimalist visual style reflects TCHC’s consistent focus on accessibility, a design philosophy evident in their previous libraries like String Murmurations and The Vertical Piano. This simplicity doesn’t compromise functionality; instead, it enhances the experience, keeping all the powerful tools you need at your fingertips while maintaining an uncluttered workspace.
Everything about the interface feels tailored for composers who value immediacy and flexibility. It provides powerful controls for shaping your sound while keeping the workflow fast and intuitive.
THE SOUND OF GLASS STRINGS
The sound of Glass Strings is where the library truly shines. Every note played by the ensemble is imbued with a sense of life and detail that sets it apart from many traditional string libraries. This was achieved by recording the players in a way that allowed subtle variations in performance—each musician interpreting the note slightly differently. The result is a sound that feels organic, with an expressive human quality that adds depth and richness to your compositions.
A key tool for shaping this sound is the Glass Control, which lets you manipulate the harmonic structure of the strings. By boosting or reducing the fundamental frequency and its harmonics, you can transform the tone of the ensemble, making it brighter and more glassy or darker and more resonant. This flexibility is very helpful for tailoring the sound to fit your arrangement or scene, whether you’re scoring a tender moment or a tense buildup.
Click on the button to load the content from soundcloud.com.
Load content
The library also provides a broad range of articulations, each with its own distinct character. A standout is the Free Bowing articulation, which creates wonderfully evolving textures that feel alive. The players were instructed to bow freely, resulting in performances that are constantly shifting and rich in subtle detail, especially when playing chords. These textures are perfect for adding intrigue or tension to a piece, especially in underscoring or ambient settings.
On the other hand, the Spiccato articulation brings sharp, aggressive attacks that are ideal for high-energy passages. Its punchy nature makes it a go-to for rhythmic ostinatos, but be aware that when playing very fast lines, it can sound a little sloppy. A bit of quantization can tighten things up and ensure precision without losing the articulation’s natural bite.
The Sul Ponticello articulation is another gem, producing an eerie, metallic timbre by bowing near the bridge. This is perfect for creating tension or a sense of unease, especially in thriller or horror contexts. In contrast, the Harmonics offer ethereal, glassy tones that are hauntingly beautiful and perfect for softer, more introspective moments.
For even quicker results, Glass Strings includes several pre-designed mixes. These mixes, such as “Hollywood,” “Honest,” and “Media,” not only provide tailored sonic profiles but also feature different sets of pre-loaded articulations. This allows you to dive straight into composing, with a palette of articulations already selected to match the tone and scope of your arrangement. Whether you need a wide, cinematic texture or a more intimate, dry sound, these mixes make it easy to find the right starting point.
The Gestures and Motors are another highlight of the library. The gestures are pre-orchestrated string phrases that can instantly inject life and movement into your compositions. These are particularly useful for building tension or creating dynamic, evolving textures without having to program every note manually. Meanwhile, the motors offer loopable rhythmic patterns that sync seamlessly to your DAW’s tempo. They excel at providing driving momentum or subtle pulsations, making them ideal for underscoring, thrillers, or procedural scenes.
While the ensemble has an undeniably orchestral and cinematic quality, its tone leans slightly towards a colder, more Nordic aesthetic. This gives it a modern, almost Scandinavian drama vibe—perfect for moody and introspective scoring. However, this characteristic may not appeal to everyone, particularly if you’re looking for a warmer, more traditional string sound.
GLASS STRINGS IN PRACTICE
Glass Strings is clearly designed to meet the demands of media composers who prioritize efficiency and inspiration. Its simplicity makes it an excellent tool for fast-paced workflows, where tight deadlines often leave little room for intricate orchestration. By combining all string sections into a single, unified ensemble, the library allows composers to focus on storytelling and emotional impact rather than getting bogged down in technical details.
One of the benefits of Glass Strings’ chamber-sized ensemble is that it allows for chordal accompaniments without the perceived number of players skyrocketing, as it might with a symphonic ensemble patch. This makes it particularly useful for intimate, focused arrangements, where keeping the ensemble’s size manageable is crucial for maintaining clarity and emotional authenticity.
The Gestures and Motors stand out as creative tools that go beyond the typical sample library offerings. Gestures bring vivid, organic performances to your compositions, providing instant movement and emotion with minimal effort. These pre-orchestrated phrases are a great way to add complexity and life to a piece quickly. However, their pre-designed nature can be a double-edged sword, similar to loops or pre-recorded phrases. While they’re undeniably useful for adding depth, composers who rely heavily on them may find that their work starts to sound similar to others using the same library, especially if it becomes widely adopted among the media composer community. That said, thoughtful use of gestures—blended with original material—can ensure your music retains its individuality while benefiting from the richness they provide.
Motors, on the other hand, deliver rhythmic textures that sync effortlessly to your DAW’s tempo, making them ideal for underscoring or creating tension. These loopable patterns are particularly effective for scenes requiring driving energy or evolving textures, and they encourage creative experimentation with tempo and arrangement.
Since their inception, The Crow Hill Company has built a reputation for setting high expectations with their products, and Glass Strings is no exception. This aligns with a broader trend among today’s sample library brands, where buzzwords like “game-changing,” “definitive,” and “groundbreaking” are frequently – and somewhat inflationary – used. While such claims can sometimes feel exaggerated, Glass Strings largely delivers on its promises. It’s not trying to replace a full orchestral string library—it doesn’t need to. Instead, it excels as a versatile, workhorse tool for composers who need to create compelling music quickly and effectively.
CONCLUSION
At £199, Glass Strings delivers exceptional value for a string library that is both versatile and inspiring. It’s not designed to replace a full orchestral library, but rather to complement one, offering a streamlined, intuitive tool for media composers who need to create music quickly and effectively. Its focus on immediacy and expression, combined with unique features like the Glass Control and Gestures & Motors, makes it a standout option for those working in film, TV, and game scoring.
The library’s small ensemble size, combined with pre-designed mixes and articulations, ensures that you can create anything from subtle, intimate textures to bold cinematic arrangements without overloading your mix. Whether you’re sketching ideas, adding a touch of realism to a mockup, or building the core of your score, Glass Strings adapts effortlessly to your needs.
We found that contrary to TCHC’s bold marketing, Glass Strings isn’t really aiming to be the “ultimate” string library in the traditional sense. Instead, it’s built to address the real-world challenges of media composition: tight deadlines, high output demands, and the need for inspiration at a moment’s notice. Its simplicity, combined with its focus on usability and unique sonic palette, sets it apart in a crowded market.
For the price, Glass Strings is a worthwhile investment for media composers and producers alike. It won’t cover every possible use case, but for those looking for a reliable and creative workhorse, this library delivers far more than its modest price tag suggests. We would be excited to see The Crow Hill Company expand on this concept, perhaps applying Glass Strings’ intuitive design to other orchestral sections in the future.
Glass Strings is available for £199 through The Crow Hill Company‘s online shop.
RECOMMENDED: 9/10
GLASS STRINGS – VIDEO WALKTHROUGH
By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.
Learn more
Load video
GLASS STRINGS – DEEP DIVE
By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.
Learn more
Load video
Share this: