[basschair]

Originally posted by Roy Howell:
This is to those of you who even use strings occasionally...
Most of the keyboardists I've known reach for their own tried and true method to achieve good, realistic sounding strings, for both lush and staccato type strings.
What I've been doing for a while now, is recording Midi strings to Audio, which gives me more control. But, even my Midi source is limited in string sounds, and I'm always looking to improve.
It's understood that nothing can perfectly replace real strings, but I've also heard some excellent substitutes.
So what all's out there now, and what do you engineers and producers do for strings these days?

Thanks, Roy

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Hey Roy

When you listen to a string orchestra, you'll notice that not everyone is in tune, and the vibrato is not always even. That's what gives the string groups a nice, warm, lush sound. When using a sound module (Proteus for me), I layer string samples and modify ADSR times and tunings of each layer slightly to give it a more realistic sound. I usually go through the edit menu and tweak other things as well. Of course, nothing beats having top-notch samples, either ROM or your own samples.

paul