Today, you’re more likely to hear a virtual string section in any given movie, video game or music production than a real one, as massive multisample libraries running in Kontakt and other engines put a raft of supremely convenient violin, viola, cello and double bass simulations at our beck and call. Here are half a dozen tips and pointers to get you started on the path to faux orchestral excellence.

Get A Great Library…

As with any kind of sampled acoustic instrument, the bigger and more inclusive your sampled string library, the more detailed and realistic the results you’ll be able to achieve with it. Generally speaking, whether you’re after a solo violin or a full orchestral string section, you want as many velocity layers and round robins as possible, and a sizeable selection of articulations – sustain, pizzicato, sordino, marcato, etc – for maximum flexibility. One specific feature worth looking out for is ‘true legato’, which enables smooth note-to-note sustain transitions for amazingly realistic sequences in patches that support it.

Needless to say, the quality of the recordings themselves is also crucial, as are the character of the performances and production. So don’t just blindly throw your money at the first expensive string library you come across – listen to demo tracks, and compare the articulations, technologies and sounds of a range of competitors.

You might be surprised at the sheer variety of sampled strings out there, from the gargantuan likes of Vienna Symphonic Library’s Synchron Strings, Spitfire Audio’s Symphonic Strings and EastWest’s Hollywood Strings, through the streamlined string components of IK Multimedia’s Miroslav Philharmonik 2 and Garritan’s Instant Orchestra, to the clean solo instrumentation of Chris Hein Solo Strings and Embertone Joshua Bell Violin, not to mention all manner of more niche options.

…But Make Sure It’s Also The Right Library

As the libraries referenced suggest, a key consideration in your buying decision is whether to go for a set of section ensembles or individual instruments. Obviously, if you’re building a string quartet, say, or just need a solo violin or cello for a particular project, the answer is clear. For larger-scale orchestral work, on the other hand, think realistically about how comfortable (and, indeed, capable) you’d be layering up separate instruments into groups and, ultimately, a full string section. If the answer is anything other than ‘totally comfortable and fully capable’, you should probably choose an ensemble library – and feel no shame in it whatsoever!

Arranging, composing and mixing string sections from the ground up is quite literally an art form in itself, and while there’s no doubt that piecing together an orchestra at the granular level will yield the most convincing simulation if you put the effort in, the beauty of ensemble libraries is that much of that hard work is done for you.

Of course, many high-end libraries feature both ensembles and individual instruments, so if you’re looking to start simple and develop your string-orientated skills over time, that’s something to think about.

MIDI Matters

You can have the most comprehensive library in the world at your fingertips, but if you don’t get the MIDI data triggering it ‘right’, your sampled strings can’t help but sound overly rigid and mechanical. Ideally, you’ll have the keyboard chops to be able to perform your string section chords and solo lines live, capturing all that essential human variation through natural note placement, velocity fluctuation and manipulation of the mod wheel, which will be pre-assigned for continuous dynamics control in any well thought-out string library.

If you’re programming your MIDI parts by hand, however, you’ll need to actively design such nuances into the ‘performances’, drawing in velocity levels and mod wheel automation. And while section libraries will capture the subtle timing differences between players in the samples themselves, if you’re making your own sections from individual instruments, you’ll want to variably shift the starts and ends of the notes played by each one by a few ticks or milliseconds, so that your musicians don’t all robotically play at exactly the same time.

Sometimes Only The Real Thing Will Do

Although there are some truly stunning solo string libraries on the market, the infinitely complex nature of the instruments they represent can make getting them sounding genuinely like the real deal difficult, depending on the intricacies of the parts in question. Programming an aggregated string section, with its blemish-concealing collectiveness and less acrobatic chordal foundations, is one thing, but flawlessly simulating an exposed soloist is another altogether.

If, then, your orchestral project calls for a soloist playing over the top of a programmed ensemble, why not bring in an actual violinist, violist or cellist to perform that one part? And while they’re there, if you have time, get them to perform a few ‘double tracks’ over the top of the sampled section to which they belong as well, then layer those in to significantly elevate the aural authenticity of your strings overall.

If you don’t have a string player friend to call on, you can always pay a distant muso to record the part(s) for you via Fiverr, StudioPros or any other online session service.

Step Up To The Mics

While the playback instrument powering your sampled string library – Kontakt, Opus, ARIA Player, etc – will host onboard effects such as EQ, compression and reverb, avoiding these in favour of dedicated plugins is generally advised in the interest of quality. This is of particular relevance to reverb, which is hugely important for giving strings the sense of spatial positioning and context that they invariably demand, and thus should be as posh as possible.

However, one feature of most string libraries that shouldn’t be passed over is the ability to balance multiple discretely recorded microphone channels, which can be incredibly helpful at the mixing stage. By adjusting the relative levels of ‘close’, ‘far’, ‘overhead’ and/or other mics, you can dramatically alter the character, ambience and presence of your strings at source.

Get Educated

Finally, as touched on earlier, writing for and arranging strings is a deep and complex subject that schooled orchestral composers spend a great deal of time studying, so you can’t realistically hope to simply load a sample library and conjure up a wholly kosher string section on your first attempt. Happily, though, a little education goes a long way, and unless you’re composing 100% orchestral tracks, understanding the basics – instrument ranges and roles, appropriate articulation deployment, etc – should be enough to empower the confident production of background ensemble parts, cinematic beds and incidental solo lines. Google, as ever, is your friend here.

Share your top sampled string production tips in the comments.