Hi,

I play the violin and wants to have a realistic sounding string section in my songs. I'm not satisfied with for instance Dim pros string articulation that is way to monotonous and lame and I was wondering if I can record one myself?

I have before at most recorded 3-4 unison takes and blend them together. They don't sound even close to a string orchestra. Maybe if I record in different parts and much more takes (and tweak them differently with tiny changes in EQ and pan), f.i. 10 takes vln I, 10 takes vln2, 10 takes viola (I don't have any but can play it as a darker 3rd vln), and 10 takes cello (I actually have one but don't play it as good as the vln)?

Can the computer handle 40 tracks of string recording simultanously and will it sound like a string orchestra or a guy playing at the same d*mn violin 30 times? Maybe I can blend in some synth strings playing the same parts to fattening up the sound?

Have anyone tried this or similar on his/her own?
Do you think it will work or do you have a better idea how to make a really realistic sounding string section?


regards,
Leizer

What your wanting to hear is the sound of a full string section that contains violins, violas, cellos and double basses. It can be done but requires a bit of work.

You need more specialist VST's like AAS String Studio that can do very good emulations of all the stringed family of instruments. If you start to double up and do some unison overdubs you can get those patches sound realistic. (eg 4 or 5 double bass overdubs, and 8 or so cello and viola overdubs all in unison but played individually) It is important to adjust LFO speeds etc for vibratos for each overdub. They articulate well and can be set to respond to a lot of your playing too.

Any expensive VST instrument just devoted to string sections would also be a great support for the violin overdubs you may want to do. It is a matter of what you have to get to supplement your instrument that is important.

I have used AAS to do nice double bass, cello and viola parts. My wife plays violin and viola so I am lucky there. For violin the ear gravitates to the highest notes in voicings so do the top two or three parts with the violin. This combined with some very real sounding VST's will sound very good. Also there are many synths and samplers that have beautiful massed stringed sections and these can be dropped in behind at low level adding to the overall depth of the string sound. You need a few tools to pull out big fat sounding realistic string sections.

A string quartet is handy to have access to. My wife played in one and they rehearsed in my studio. I was able to write out some parts and arrangements and get them to play over the music while on headphones. You can overdub a string quartet 3 times and you will get a fat sounding string section after that. I got them playing different parts in the overdubs too and some unisons to fatten things out. They were fantastic readers so it only took a few minutes to do each overdub. I got many takes down fast.

Nice synth patches doing string sections behind overdubbed string quartets sounds pretty nice and fat too. Some hardware synths excel in this area Kurzweil being one of them.

Or...... you can spend the money to get something like Kontakt which has "sections" in it..... trumpet, cello, violin, and a bunch of others..... plus of course the solo instruments.  They already did the hard work and sampled the instruments in sections for you. 

I'll bet EWQL also has sections in it.... my light version has string sections IIRC.

Jeff makes a good point..... I'd try a solo violin with some reverb to smooth it out with a string pad behind it. It might give the fullness you are looking with tools you already have and very little extra work..... you can clone the midi track and add the pad. 

Time or money? Which will it be? 

I believe layering the real recordings with samples is supposedly a pretty common one. Never had the opportunity to try it myself though unfortunately. Jeff is certainly correct in that that big full string sound will consist of the whole shebang - Double Bass, Cello, Viola, Violin.

How are you recording? Close miced in a deadened room? The close mic sound (if that's what you're doing) might just be too engrained in the recording so it just doesn't sound right. I'm just thinking out loud here. I don't really know, but might be worth considering how you're recording this. A big string orchestra is recorded in a big room with primarily far mics and maybe closer spot mics for lead sections, but only to emphasise and not be the primary source. A typical studio or bedroom sound is exactly the opposite of this. Maybe some more experienced guys would care to elaborate on this area.

Matt brings up a good point about the ambience that a string section is often in and this is larger spaces usually.

I like working with some nice convolution reverbs to add a sense of space to the sound as well. LiquidSonics Reverberate has got some nice string section rooms in it but many good convolution reverbs in most DAW's are up to the job easily.

If you are overdubbing violins and string sections in closer deader rooms then be prepared to add some nicer ambient spaces later.

Thanks Jeff, Guitarhacker and Matt for your comments!

I got some nice idea how I will try to approach the next string project. Actually my old Roland JV-2080 got some nice string sounds and if I mix some them with some real recordings it could be the way to go.

I play in a string quartet from time to time so maybe I can talk them into recording some of my stuff. =)

Matt: Yes, I record close miced in a deadened room. I dont have any good acoustic studio, though, so I have to try find a fitting ambient reverb (I have only used sonitus but maybe perfect space is better for this?).

You gave some nice suggestions of string VSTs, but I think I try to manage with whats in SONAR and my Rolandsynth to begin with. Those EWQL orchestras sound fantastic though... :p

Yep, def get onto perfect space. It should do much better reverb than you'll get from sonitus. I have personally never liked the sound of the sonitus verb at all...

Did you upgrade to X2? Breverb is good too.

Also you may have received the DSF symphonic strings? If you have them, they would be great to use as well.

mattplaysguitar


Yep, def get onto perfect space. It should do much better reverb than you'll get from sonitus. I have personally never liked the sound of the sonitus verb at all...

Did you upgrade to X2? Breverb is good too.

Also you may have received the DSF symphonic strings? If you have them, they would be great to use as well.

No I didnt upgrade to X2. I felt X1 working nice for me now after some minor issues and getting X2 could be to start over again. I maybe upgrade in a year or so when they have fixed most of the bugs.

Well you'll still have the Garitan Pocket Orchestra in Dimension Pro. Wouldn't hurt to have a play with that and see if the sounds are any good for you.

I upgraded now to get on the deal and to get the extra strings but I'm half way through an album and will stick with X1 for that. But any new or non serious projects do in X2 so I can assess the stability for me. Not had an issue so far.  But I figured using the two in parallel was the best way. Just move 100% to X2 once I feel I've given it a good running in with no major issues. Anywho, too late for that now!

mattplaysguitar


Well you'll still have the Garitan Pocket Orchestra in Dimension Pro. Wouldn't hurt to have a play with that and see if the sounds are any good for you.

I will try that out, thanks! My brother who is a dedicated Finale user (score notation prog) likes and uses Garitan.