Question

I've played around with the strings on studio one 5 and when it comes to that, is there anyway to make the strings sound realistic?

Answer 1

First off I don't use the strings that come with Studio One 5, there are a ton of great libraries using their own plugins or Kontakt (if you're looking at doing more orchestral stuff I'd recommend looking at Spitfire BBCSO Discover it's $50 or free if you take a survey and while it's not really versatile, it comes with a lot more than just strings and could be a great starting point if you're interested in orchestral ****. If you're not, don't bother.) Anyway, usually to make strings sound more realistic you fix the timing as most have a bit latency, so drag the notes ahead in the S1 editor to sync up their timing with everything else, then humanize the timing a small amount. You would also adjust the velocity on the staccatos, pizzicatos... (your shorts) and the expression usually cc1, but does vary{ could be cc7, cc11, or something else], for longs and legato. Last add a good reverb on them as a group to get them to bind together a little better (Depending on what you are mixing the strings with/for it's pretty common to use both an Convolution reverb and an Algorithmic reverb. One to group your intsruments together and the other to match the space your mixing into (the convo for space and the algo for tail). I hope this helps a bit. Good luck and have fun!

Answer 2

Like said, The BBCSO Discover from Spitfire comes with a free version that has quiet some capable sounds. But in order to make them sound realistic you need to consider way more ways than just a 'preset' or 'sample'. Playing strings in a piano roll editor or on a keyboard is always 'non-realistic' because strings aren't ment to be played on a keyboard but a violin. Or cello. So you have to mimic a violin's (or any other string instruments) velocity, timing, tuning, and even lenghts. 

That being said, the BBSCO is supported by Studio ones cloud exchange. People are offering you keyswitches for the plugin, which makes arranging and composing a bit easier. For instance it would give you a better organisation when arranging dynamics on an instrument midi track.

"I want to play the violins E key with Spiccato, when the F will become a Pizzicato and both need to have a softer velocity, while the accent is more on the F than the E. And instead of quantitising the midi note, I purposely do an offset, so it will sound more natural and 'handmade'. "

You see, it isn't just the sound of the plugin. There are way more things involved to make a string sound realistic. Consider and practice! Have fun!