Programming Strings

[jambourgie]

Anyone got any tips on this? I'm finding it a royal pain in the arse getting them to sound right.

I'm using an E-mu sampler with a good orchestral sound bank. And i've tried it with my Nord Lead as well but to no avail:(

Two things i'm trying to achieve; First is a realistic string section. If anyone is familiar with the Underworld mix of Shakespears Sister - Black Sky, the strings on that are pretty much what i'm after. They kind of jump out at you with real urgency.

The second is that single high pitched drone sound that's been on a million house records. It's usually used to add tension or as a root note underpinning the chorus. I'm buggered if I can get this sound to sit right in the mix.

[Rotter3*]

Add some reverb and some slow compression to liven them up a bit.

They are a pretty hard thing to get right.

The best synth I found for that Wild Pitch style high string was the Roland U-20.

[Max Essa]

Aaah, the Roland U-20 - those were the days. We did all the Essa stuff done on one of those. Think it nicked from a squatted studio on Alfreton Road, Nottingham......:(

[jitterbug]

dunno, for the 'high pitched drone' are you rolling off pretty much everything except the high mids upwards... with that kinda thing you want a pretty thin sound, no? sort of barely perceptible but up there... a little 'air' boost might help too.

[peej]

Find a good stereo string soundfont / voice.

Use slide and attack controls judiciously.

Fix the sound with EQ.

tbh, if you want it to sound realistic to a trained ear, it's not going to happen without real instuments (violin, viola, cello etc.)

One of my fave string sounds is the mega-grainy Mellotron violin - it sounds like real strings but beamed in from another world via a cheap radio.

[DLoop]

Anyone got any tips on this? I'm finding it a royal pain in the arse getting them to sound right.

I'm using an E-mu sampler with a good orchestral sound bank. And i've tried it with my Nord Lead as well but to no avail:(

Two things i'm trying to achieve; First is a realistic string section. If anyone is familiar with the Underworld mix of Shakespears Sister - Black Sky, the strings on that are pretty much what i'm after. They kind of jump out at you with real urgency.

The second is that single high pitched drone sound that's been on a million house records. It's usually used to add tension or as a root note underpinning the chorus. I'm buggered if I can get this sound to sit right in the mix.

Always thought of that as the Fire Island / Roach Motel string. Does indeed add a sense of tension

[Little Beaver]

Ah, strings... nice little can of worms you've opened here.

There is no "good" string sound. What you want depends entirely on the nature of the track, and the nature of the sounds you are using. Sampled strings can be anything from a solo violin/cello via a quartet to a whole orchestra. The sound may be affected by velocity, aftertouch or mod wheel, or all three simultaneously. Some instruments will allow the mod wheel to change the sound from pizzicato to legato and everything in between, or just introduce vibrato.

So... see if the sound you have available sounds generally OK with the track but has a fairly sharp attack to the note. See if the mod wheel does anything. If it doesn't, record the part then tweak the volume afterwards to slow the attack (if so desired) - you may have to shift the part forward to compensate for the delay of the note if you bring up the volume after each note is played.

If you are after an ensemble sound, but your string sample sounds thin, play around with some subtle use of chorus.

If you have a srting sample that allows elaborate change using the mod wheel, record the track without using the mod wheel then go back and edit the modulation to move between the different attacks available.

Lastly, always try your available string sounds properly mixed with the track before rejecting them - some can sound vile on their own but will sit perfectly when heard in context.

And so on and so forth...

[terry nutkins]

if you do have to use keyboard strings (for chords in particular), make sure the notes are all slightly different lengths and not quantized exactly - if you think about it, a real orchestra would play like this

[Cosmic Jane]

Get a Solina...
or at a pinch a Roland VP330...