Are there any physical modeling string quartets and/or wind section plugins out there that are easy to use and sound great? Didn't Roland have such a thing a while back?

Thanks

 

Last edited by a moderator: Sep 11, 2025 at 12:49 AM

VWinds, but it's going to cost you money. Strings as far as I'm aware, only SWAM, but then, it's not easy anymore. Does it have to be modeling just because you assume it takes little HDD space? Because that makes it unreasonably difficult. I can recommend some good Kontakt stuff that is lightweight if HDD real state is the problem.

Edit, just to add my two cents about being "easy": I don't think there's a library out there that sounds as good as you expect without putting some kind of work into it. I do think SWAM is fairly easy to use, but if you want to extract the best from it, you need to understand the software. Even Kontakt libraries only go so far if you want "easy", the best results come from time and effort crafting every single element of the (fake) performance. Thankfully, midi isn't live so you can just take your time in every scenario, may it be SWAM or Kontakt.

 

SWAM and AAS String studio, from the developer of Lounge Lizard: https://www.applied-acoustics.com/products/

Roland does not. You are probably thinking about Zenology or other Roland Cloud plugins.

 

Wins on easy, loses on sounds good. That should be a telling indicator that easy and good are not really mutually exclusive a lot of the time.

 

IMO, none of the sample modeling strings are there yet. Some people want absolute control over playing/expression and they swear by it, but every time I ask straight up about the sound they concede that they sound mid/alright, and that it is within their expectations. Vwinds/SWAM reeds/flutes I think are pretty good, but programming the controllers for them is a lot of work. I don't care enough to buy a breath controller yet, but that would make life easier.

 

It's great to have the option of expression with "real" instruments, but in my case . . . I want to get it together fast without being bogged down with fiddly key commands, etc. I wonder if Logic's (or other DAWs) built in offerings are any good.

 

I would say it's matter of taste, but I find they're about all no better than what you'd find on a workstation keyboard. Exception might be what they bundled with Bitwig, I'd put it above Steinberg's Iconica Sketch.

 

There is actually good reason for people to go with Kontakt for these instruments. The SWAM instruments are about as good as it gets for modelling, but they do take a lot of effort to make them sound realistic. They are expensive if you are looking to buy one of your options.
Logic has Sculpture. If you are looking for easy, Sculpture isn't it.

 

OP, look for Chris Hein on the sister site. Sampled and Kontakt, but velocity controlled. It's one of my "hidden" gems, they're a bit outdated but they work well and are very easy to use, just one good take on the keyboard and you are ready to go.