How to make strings to sound very "stereo"?

[smcoptyltd]

I mean strings sounding directly from left and right channel. Not from the center. I want to have a hole in the center of the mix to have a room for vocals, snare or kick
I want to have full control in panning.
I've tried to record strings on both channels separately and after setting panning to the max L & R, sounded not bad but still not 100% L and 100% R.

Any ideas?

[CCash]

Separate takes L and R?

[joy4u]

for a 100 % L + R, no center you should have the strings totally out of phase, So to avoid this using the 2 techniques toghether can give good results:
two takes + Qsound

[snoopy]

WHat I end up doing is taking a mono string sound, copying it to another track, then nudging one of the tracks (panning L&R). The amount of nudge depends on how big a hole you want, but remember to check the mix in mono so you don't get any phase problems.

If you have an opertunity do have the string part played twice, of course that is always better.

[dBHEAD]

I do exactly what snoopy does. However, owing to the Haas Effect, you'll find that the strings seem to come heavily from the side which is first (the side that wasn't nudged) EVEN IF THE TRACKS ARE AT THE EXACT SAME VOLUME. If you want both sides to sound even, the delayed track has to be louder than the one which wasn't delayed, and this will usually mean the delayed track has to be 6 to 10 dB above the non-delayed track.

You can increase the volume of the delayed track, decrease the volume of the non-delayed track, or a combination of both.

[mike connelly]

Record the strings with spaced omnis, to get the hole in the middle just space the pair further apart.

Mike

[Rams Boy]

2 completely different string patches on a keyboard, hard panned.
Live strings: First pass pan L, Second pass try moving the mics or the players, maybe different EQ,pan R.

[Steve MacMillan]

Try sending your strings panned hard into two stereo auxes. Add time adjusters to both auxes. Use the first aux panned hard left and right as your main string return. On the second aux flip the phase on the time adjuster, set both panpots to center and sneak the level up from off until you get the desired hole in the middle.

sm