THE GUIDE TO EASY STRINGS PART 3

Don’t put away the violins! We reach the final movement of our celebration of all things string with a look at its silverscreen usage

The final part of our guide to perfect strings covers hands-on string creation and top production tips

Over the first two instalments of the cm Guide to Easy Strings, we’ve been focussing on all things strings. A mass of fiddle-centric terminology and stringrelated jargon from col legno to spiccato has been unveiled and demystified, we’ve examined the lineups of typical string sections, had a detailed look at some of the better string sample libraries available today and broken down ways in which they can be used to add a touch of class to your own productions. In this, the third and final part of our expansive guide to programming realistic string parts with sample libraries in your DAW, we look at how to create a cinematic string arrangement from scratch using a single plugin, how to use a sample library to replicate convincing-sounding vintage string samples that sound as if they were lifted from dusty old vinyl records, how to mix sampled string arrangements to sound authentic, plus a bow-nus (groan) random bunch of general hints and tips to make it easier to get an authenticsounding virtual string section sawing away on your tunes. So let’s rosin up our virtual bows, give our digital tuning pegs a final tweak and dive into part 3 of the

Guide to Easy Strings.