I hope I'm in the right thread. As the title implies, I'm looking for a library that can be used to get the more intimate sound of a small ensemble of string player, something like a quartet / quintet or a small chamber ensemble.

Access to the individual instruments would be nice, since I noticed that (unless there is some sophisticated underlying script) ensemble patches tend to sound fake.

Preferablys something that is free or very affordable (no budget) and doesn't require full Kontakt.

No strange "pads" or "textures" experimental libraries, no huge "orchestral" or "epic" nonsense, straight up classic string sound only please. In particular I'm thinking of Motown era strings like this:

 

NI Session Strings Pro 2 maybe. I had some success making "disco" passages & then "resampled" them for housey loops..

 

I know you are looking for quartet/quintet but just want to suggest my favourite for solo violin that sounds very intimate to me. It's a small Kontakt library only 1GB, so maybe you should try it and have it in your collection if you haven't already of course. For Ensemble these days im using the Iconica in Cubase. Not sure I want to suggest to anyone, nothing special, old library but Im using it because I've got used to it already.

Indiginus - The Fiddle

 

LCSC - on sale, but u didn't mention your max budget
https://www.lightandsoundsamples.com/chamberstrings.html
EDIT: This requires full Kontakt though

I know you don't want the big libraries, but Albion Neo is lovely if you want intimate strings too. And the other stuff on there can come in handy

 

Last edited by a moderator: Dec 1, 2022

just got a few indiginus products... your recommendations are welcome!! Thanks!!

 

Thanks guys for all the great sounding suggestions. Unfortunately I don't have Kontakt full version and also a very limited budget - I managed to patch something together using some individual violins, violas and celli from free / inexpensive libraries* I have (mostly in the sfz and Decent Sampler format). Doesn't sound too bad for my purpose. If you have any additional recommendations for single violin, viola and celli libraries that sound okay and don't require full Kontakt, please let me know.

 

https://plugins4free.com/plugin/1090/
https://theproducersplug.com/product/edirol-orchestral-vst-free-download/
https://plugins4free.com/plugin/355/

 

Have you checked out if you liked anything from Spitfire LABS (perhaps, Strings 2)? It's free and doesn't require Kontakt (it's its own vst).

 

Sacconi Strings Quartet, "great for writing specifically academic/classical quartet music"...

http://vi-control.net/community/thr...olo-strings-shostakovichs-quartet-no-8.97121/

 

Yes, I know rhe Spitfire Labs strings libraries well. Unfortunately they are quite the opposite of "intimate". They are rather "orchestral" and some patches are experimental or ethereal, which is not what I'm looking for (see my initial post).

 

Horrible sounding stuff - sorry.

 

That's the one I would get if I had the money.

 

All the solo strings solutions are, imo, pretty bad. Decent things can be done with SWAM but only with an inordinate amount of tweaking and low level editing. I don't mind LASS for solo instruments, and the "C" sections are great for small ensembles. Also for a small pop or disco type arrangement 8dio Intimate strings is really nice. And currently less than $100.

 

What about Spitfire Audio's LABS stuff? They are free and dedicated VST, so no Kontakt needed. They also sound great for what they are:

https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/strings

https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/strings-2

https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/labs-frozen-strings

https://labs.spitfireaudio.com/tape-orchestra

There is also 8Dio's Intimate Studio Strings but it does require full Kontakt, so probably not good for you:

https://8dio.com/products/intimate-studio-strings

 

1 - Spitfire Abbey Road 2 (more realistic and gorgeous tone for shorts. Legato and longs not so much)
2 - 8Dio Intimate Studio Strings (has disco drops etc, prefect fit for the type of sound you seem to look for)
3 - Orchestral Tools Tableau Chamber Strings (maybe more classical music oriented)

Far behind:
4 - 8Dio Studio Quartet Series
5 - Everything else.

 

I was on a similar quest and researched A LOT. I settled on Virharmonic Bohemian Violin and Cello. Very playable and just incredible. A second contender for me in terms of sound would be VSL Synchron Elite Strings. Anything else... well... either not as playable or too filmic.

 

Okay guys, maybe you can give me some feedback. This is a short melodic sequence that I created by simulating a string sixtet type of ensemble with free string libraries.

I didn't do too much micro editing yet, just some basic volume balancing and some touch of room reverb.

Please let me know what do you think? Is it halfway convincing?

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13-ZkLV5PzA4GER6wLNaYNBsc3iyqvbGk?usp=sharing

P.S. - these are the free libraries I used:

• Lewis E Pyle Violin (Decent Samples)
  
• Box Violin Sustains (Decent Samples)
• Viola True Legato (Decent Samplkes)
• Viola solo normal (Virtual Playing Orchestra / Versilian Chamber Orchestra)
• Meatbass Double Bass acro Basic (Karoryfer Samples)
  
• Big Cat Cello (Karoryfer Samples)

 

Last edited: Dec 2, 2022

Oh, right! Those are good. Haven't tried an ensemble with them yet.

 

Horrible sounding stuff!

 

Okay? You felt personally offended because I disliked the sound of the cheap sounding DSK 'string' freebie plugins you suggested? Seriously?

Did you even read the description of what I'm looking for before commenting?