M
Motion
Guest
i bought garritan personal orchestra about a month ago and while i am happy with my purchase i and others have noticed that my strings sound "flat". could anyone help me outh with this. thanks.
thebluemask
New member
That's a bit of an open question. What sort of music are you using them for - pop, rock, orchestral etc?
No string library is going to sound perfect without some tweaking. Once you have a basic arrangement played/programmed in, you then need to add continuous controller messages to alter volume/expression automation, experiment with reverb settings, play around with voicings and combine cellos/bass/violins/violas to create textures. Fortunately, most of the decent orchestral packages don't seem to need much in the way of eq as they are pretty well balanced but you may want to accentuate/attenuate certain frequencies.
Live string players will put very subtle nuances into their playing that you need to try and replicate if you're going for a realistic sound.
There isn't really a quick answer - listen to some styles of music similar to what you're trying to achieve and listen hard as to what makes it effective to you. Swells, textures, arrangements, there's a whole world to this stuff.
PS If you put a post to a track with your strings in, maybe we could give more ideas.
No string library is going to sound perfect without some tweaking. Once you have a basic arrangement played/programmed in, you then need to add continuous controller messages to alter volume/expression automation, experiment with reverb settings, play around with voicings and combine cellos/bass/violins/violas to create textures. Fortunately, most of the decent orchestral packages don't seem to need much in the way of eq as they are pretty well balanced but you may want to accentuate/attenuate certain frequencies.
Live string players will put very subtle nuances into their playing that you need to try and replicate if you're going for a realistic sound.
There isn't really a quick answer - listen to some styles of music similar to what you're trying to achieve and listen hard as to what makes it effective to you. Swells, textures, arrangements, there's a whole world to this stuff.
PS If you put a post to a track with your strings in, maybe we could give more ideas.
Last edited:
Q
Queen of Hearts
Guest
I posted a reply before the bigg crash of 2005 but i reccomend heading on over to soundonsound.com and reading the articles about orchestration and arrangement and orchestral arrangement.
Try searching John Rowcroft and read the article called shoestring orchestra and read the article by Dave stewart about sample orchestras they have good information about how to make strings and things sound good.
Try searching John Rowcroft and read the article called shoestring orchestra and read the article by Dave stewart about sample orchestras they have good information about how to make strings and things sound good.
I suspect its the tracks you are making that are out of tune not the string sound but it is true that different orchestras are tuned differntly Europian orchestras tune differnetly than american. But I doubt that you could hear that difference as it is only 3 or 4 cents variation
I think hes trying to achieve the "light as air" type strings.
the ones that sound that are coming from the sky when your on headphones.
if thts the case, your gonna have to eq, layer and layer, and more eq
maybe someone else can get a lil more detailed on the eq and layering cause im not to good on that yet
the ones that sound that are coming from the sky when your on headphones.
if thts the case, your gonna have to eq, layer and layer, and more eq
maybe someone else can get a lil more detailed on the eq and layering cause im not to good on that yet
Go here:
http://tti-music.servemp3.com/
Listen to "Main Title" and listen to ALL of it.At 1:05 in,the airy strings occur.
"EQ and layer..."?
No
EQ just adds more noise to the situation and you will NOT get an "airy" sound by stacking patches-if anything,it will sound more leaden and phasey.
Note too,that "light and airy" usually means hanging out in the upper register about 1 1/2 to 2 Octaves above Middle C on a standard keyboard.
http://tti-music.servemp3.com/
Listen to "Main Title" and listen to ALL of it.At 1:05 in,the airy strings occur.
"EQ and layer..."?
No
EQ just adds more noise to the situation and you will NOT get an "airy" sound by stacking patches-if anything,it will sound more leaden and phasey.
Note too,that "light and airy" usually means hanging out in the upper register about 1 1/2 to 2 Octaves above Middle C on a standard keyboard.
Joana_de_Melo
New member
try to add some reverb and "play" a little with the EQ.
B
barrysanders20
Guest
I have Garritan also. I normally add some reverb plus other effects to enhance the strings.
Are you just use the stock sounds in Garritan without the adjustment knobs to change the sound of the instruments?
Are you just use the stock sounds in Garritan without the adjustment knobs to change the sound of the instruments?
daze84
Danny Zuko
hmmmmm the word flat comes up alot normally its the lack of stereo sound e.g movement/stereo positioning. try adding reverb or use a stereo imager. again understanding eq comes into play along with all of the above comments. strings are not easy to eq as they can dominate many freqs. to a google search on violin freqs and research. experiment only you can know what sound you want to achieve and we may or may not know how you can achieve that sound.
D
D
Morning_Star
ProTools + Reason user
Layer bassoons, violin, and cello's on top of your strings with an eq. boost and cut on each one to compliment the next, and pan them to different sides. They don't have to be loud. Then run them all through one channel with your strings and add eq. (cut the lows some and boost the mids very slightly and leave the highs) and Add a tube effect and then an exciter. Next a stereo imagier and slight hall reverb. Your strings should sound fat, wide, scaped, thick, and airy.
Eq. example:
Bassoon- boost lows and cut mid and high.
Cello- cut low, boost mid, cut high.
Violin- cut low and mid, boost high.
Don't take that too literal. Slight boosts and cuts.
Eq. example:
Bassoon- boost lows and cut mid and high.
Cello- cut low, boost mid, cut high.
Violin- cut low and mid, boost high.
Don't take that too literal. Slight boosts and cuts.
kang
New member
I find with strings that layering helps a lot!
try layering different types of strings 2 get a more fuller orchestra sound.
I think its already been said, i'm not sure coz i didnt read all of the replies.
Just play around with the sounds and once something fits and works well you'll know.
try layering different types of strings 2 get a more fuller orchestra sound.
I think its already been said, i'm not sure coz i didnt read all of the replies.
Just play around with the sounds and once something fits and works well you'll know.
2nice
Active member
a good choice for stings (although not very programmable when compared to other plugins) is the G-Media MTron. it basically contains samples from a real mellotron (which was a bunch of samples of live musicians, each midi key triggers a recorded sample of the corresponding note). it sounds really good in terms of "warmth" and "thickness" because they are live samples that have been through some tape saturation.