What are my options for synths with realistic-ish strings?

[Ugly Nora]

I'm looking for a hardware synth that has some good string sounds that are fairly realistic. It needs to have midi in. I don't care if it has keys or not, but not having keys is a plus as I am also looking for something compact as possible.

I am aware of the Waldorf Streichfett but I am looking for something more realistic. Does anything like this exist in the hardware realm that is reasonably priced? Old or new is fine, but again must have midi in.

I understand working with a soft synth is probably the easiest and most flexible option but I really dont like working with software.

Thanks for reading.

[alexsga]

i love Omnisphere for software synth strings

[Jwar]

I'm right there with you buddy! I want something very similar and feel the same fucking way.


I know you dislike the software aspect but have you tried any of the string instrument stuff on let's say Ableton, Reason or similar? Some of that stuff is the best sounds I've heard ever. The nice thing is you can choose how to interact with them via your controller (meaning you can use pads, keys...etc).


I have not found anything affordable like you're wanting. I'm watching this thread though!

[qersty]

roland JVs with the orchestra expansion has some nice string sounds. The 1010 is half rack so it fits your tiny requirements.

[Ugly Nora]

roland JVs with the orchestra expansion has some nice string sounds. The 1010 is half rack so it fits your tiny requirements.

Thanks I'll look into that!

I'm right there with you buddy! I want something very similar and feel the same fucking way.


I know you dislike the software aspect but have you tried any of the string instrument stuff on let's say Ableton, Reason or similar? Some of that stuff is the best sounds I've heard ever. The nice thing is you can choose how to interact with them via your controller (meaning you can use pads, keys...etc).


I have not found anything affordable like you're wanting. I'm watching this thread though!

I have Native Instruments KOMPLETE 7, so I am pretty set from a software perspective, but I am just looking for something I can easily sequence with my Digitakt in my living room while just screwing around.

[frodog]

I love the strings on my old Kawai keyboard, but they're hardly realistic. I'd like a Yamaha TG77, I think that would satisfy me but I don't know how realistic it is, again. Here is the best example I found, 1:15 -

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6T_0KH_NXg[/youtube]

Was wondering about this recently, having no experience with it... but yeah, Jwar said it - if you have drum pads and use software, can't you just cue up a long string sequence/movement via midi and trigger each step with a pad?

[Zork]

I just read about the Roland M-SE1. It's a rackmount unit from the 90s and is based around the expansion cards of the JV series but has some string specific tricks up its sleeve. Can be had for about 150$ and sounds pretty darn good:
https://youtu.be/lKJ0SzE1SVs

[Ugly Nora]

I just read about the Roland M-SE1. It's a rackmount unit from the 90s and is based around the expansion cards of the JV series but has some string specific tricks up its sleeve. Can be had for about 150$ and sounds pretty darn good:
https://youtu.be/lKJ0SzE1SVs

Thanks, I'll check it out. I looked at the JV stuff that qersty mentioned, and that was right up my alley. So, if this thing is anything like the JV, I am sure it will be a viable option for me.

but yeah, Jwar said it - if you have drum pads and use software, can't you just cue up a long string sequence/movement via midi and trigger each step with a pad?

Awhile back, my girlfriend said to me that she never sees me eat fish when we go out, and wondered if I liked fish. I told her that I do like fish, but I like beef, chicken, and pork better; so as long as those are available options, I will always order those before ordering fish.

[lordgalvar]

Kawai K5000. Get into those harmonics!

[frodog]

but yeah, Jwar said it - if you have drum pads and use software, can't you just cue up a long string sequence/movement via midi and trigger each step with a pad?

Awhile back, my girlfriend said to me that she never sees me eat fish when we go out, and wondered if I liked fish. I told her that I do like fish, but I like beef, chicken, and pork better; so as long as those are available options, I will always order those before ordering fish.

So what would be a situation where you would eat fish?

[Ugly Nora]

So what would be a situation where you would eat fish?

There's a Brazilian steakhouse that we go to sometimes. If you are not familiar with those, you basically pay $50 for an all you can eat parade of meat that is hand-carved table-side. They also have a cold bar/salad bar thing that has raw ahi tuna. I usually get a few of those as an appetizer. Sometimes they also have a cold mango shrimp thing, and I may take a few shrimps as well. So, in this instance, it is really supplementary to the beef/chicken/pork that is served table-side. I fully believe in getting my money's worth when we go there and since it ain't costing me any more money, I go for it. But I would never fill up on that stuff.

Kawai K5000. Get into those harmonics!

I'll look into!

[frodog]

Well I've never been to a Brazilian steakhouse but it sounds delicious. I come from a coastal town so I've grown up on fish, goes without saying I'm a little tired of it but it's still good. In a similar way I grew up playing little keyboards so that will always be my preference, i.e I don't want to work with software if I can avoid it.

[kaeth]

I think you have two options worth considering here.

The first is a sampler that you can put whatever string sounds you like in, or a ROMpler that is preloaded with string sounds that you like. The problem is that beyond maybe some basic filtering and enveloping, there's not usually a lot you can do to edit the sounds you're getting. This means they also tend to lack dynamics. There's so much you can do with physical strings that you can't do with a keyboard. These sound as good as the samples inside. This is the option most people use.

The second is a physical modeling synthesizer. There aren't too many of these around, but there's a list of them here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_ ... _synthesis

Of this type, I own and have only tried the Korg Z1, but I like it very much. It is capable of some remarkably convincing and dynamic string sounds. It uses somewhat tedious page-editing, and is very in-depth. You can probably find banks of sysex patches online that include some good strings that others have made, but if you plan on programming your own, expect to spend some time on it. There are a lot of parameters to consider, and I wouldn't call it an easy synthesizer. I'm not aware of any modeling synths that are simple to edit. The Z1 only comes in a 5-octave keyboard version though, so it's not very compact. The Korg Prophecy is essentially a small monophonic version, but you probably want more than one voice.

I also have a Streichfett. It sounds like a 70's stringer, which is to say, it sounds nothing like real strings. But, I've switched from the Z1 to the Streichfett because the simplicity of the Streichfett is a lot more appealing to me than the more realistic sounds of the Z1. I keep the Z1 around in case I specifically need real sounding strings for a project, but I find the Streichfett will do what I need 90% of the time. It has the feel I want, and I can work with that. I thought I wanted realism, but once I dug in, I found workflow to be much more important to me. YMMV.

[Ugly Nora]

Thanks for the detailed response. When I said I want realistic strings, I meant that I don't want overly effect-laden strings. Not necessarily that it has to be a near perfect recreation. The reason is twofold:

1. I use a lot of other acoustic sounds that I don't think heavily effected strings like the Streichfett will mix with
2. I'd rather have a natural sounding instrument without effects, so that I can add my own effects as desired

I really enjoyed the suggestion of the Roland JV series above. I listened to a bunch of videos and I think they have a lot of usable sounds for me. From fairly realistic, to cheesy. All which have their place in my noise. And the price is pretty cheap too.

Also, unrelated to my original request, or as explained above, I came across some mellotron synths (Memotron and Mellotron M4000D). I may buy one of those also as I have always adored the sounds of Mellotrons.

Anyway, thanks again.

[Sonaboy]

You could always try some freebies first to see if they get close to what you're after. That M4000D is damn pricey...

http://www.synthtopia.com/?s=mellotron