Best Free VSTs: Orchestral Strings

No virtual instrument collection is complete without a symphonic string section crammed onto your hard drive. Do the free offerings measure up to expensive, feature-packed commercial string libraries? Let’s find out…

Some instruments may offer more articulations than what’s listed here, but their version isn’t the best free available option (IMO).

String section

Ensemble legatos/staccatos/pizzicatos/tremolos

SCC Expressive Strings SFZ

Ensemble sustains

Marco Ianello’s NFO Alternative Chamber Strings NKIdspreset (account)

Ensemble swells

Dan Keen’s NFO: Orchestral Swells NKIdspreset (account)

decent|SAMPLES Box Violin Swells & Sustain is suited for icy, soft string ambience. The library is based on a violin, but ranges from C2-C7 and makes a passable cello at the lower frequencies. NKISFZALPEXSdspreset (newsletter)

WMD Strings VSTAU

Dark Reaven’s Orchestral Evo Pad dspreset (account)

Ensemble bartok pizz

Spitfire LABS Strings 2 has just such a patch. VSTAUAAX (Spitfire)

Ensemble sul ponticello + sustains

KLANG Bodega Strings for Kontakt or Ableton NKIALP (account or none)

Violins

The golden retriever of string instruments.

Solo normale/sordino + legatos/sustains/staccatos/tremelos

Embertone Arcane has a demo of their first violin library, the Friedlander Violin, in the “Individual Patches” folder. The demo ranges from G3-G5 and has shapeable vibrato with speed/depth controls. NICNT (Cartloom)

Solo sustains

decent|SAMPLES Lewis E. Pyle Violin (Lite) has rebowed sustains with tasteful vibrato and a decent range. Set the High EQ knob to 0 after you load it up. NKISFZALP (newsletter)

Nice Strings PlusOrchestra includes the allegedly public domain “All Around Violin” (listed as “Violin 1 (all around)”). It has three velocity layers with very strong vibrato. SF2

Solo pizzicatos

Virharmonic Soul Capture Violin Freebie is a non-Kontakt option which also includes pre-recorded spicatto rhythms. UFS

Alpine Project has two violins to choose from. NKI (newsletter)

Solo flautandos

Jacob Maloney’s Scary Flautando Violin NKI (account)

Solo glissandos (up)

Fernando Canedo’s Violin Gliss NKIdspreset (account)

Solo col legnos/bartok pizz/pizz glissandos/pizz tremelos

Philharmonia’s Strings MP3

Solo body percussion

Tiago Cunha’s Intimate Percussion kit SFZ

Ensemble sustains/tremelos/spiccatos/pizzacatos

VSCO2 Violin Section VSTAU

Ensemble sustains/staccatos/pizzicatos

Westlund 3 Violin Trio as a Kontakt instrument/SFZ (same download) or plug-in (“Westlund 3 Violins”) NKISFZVSTAU (attribution @ Mattias Westlund and “ldk1609 @ freesound.org”)

Ensemble sustains

Jasper Blunk’s Maestoso 18 Violin Ensemble NKI

Ensemble swells

Dan Keen’s NFO: Orchestral Swells includes a violin swell patch. NKIdspreset (account)

Ensemble sordino + sustains

ProjectSAM The Free Orchestra‘s “Sordino Violins” patch. NICNT (account)

Fiddles & viols

Erhu

Kong Audio MiniErHu has sustains, arcs, and wholetone slides. Win VST

DSK Asian DreamZ is the not-quite-as-good alternative for 64-bit and macOS. VST AU

Haegeum (Korean fiddle)

36Play Samhyeon-Yukgak has a haegeum patch. NKI

Hurdy-gurdy

Soundbytes HurdyGurdyLE Win VST

Morin khuur (Mongolian horsehead fiddle)

MNTRA Instruments Rasa is a free collection for their MNDALA plugin that features a few raspy morin khuur drone patches. VST AU (newsletter and Wix)

Rebab (Egyptian fiddle)

TAQSIM Free includes the somewhat cheesy-sounding “Rababa” patch. NKI (newsletter OR account)

Stroh violin

Impact Soundworks The Stroh Violin NKI (Woocommerce)

Viola organista

boscomac VIOLA ORGANISTA ENS

Viola

The parsley of string instruments.

Solo legatos/sustains/staccatos/pizzicatos/tremelos

Alpine Project has two violas to choose from. The longs are pretty flat and without vibrato. NKI (newsletter/Alpine)

Solo harmonics

Roland Roberts’ Spooky Viola Harmonics NKIdspreset (account)

Solo trills/bartok pizz/glissandos

Philharmonia‘s Strings has samples. The trills do not loop. MP3

Ensemble sustains/tremelos/spiccatos/pizzacatos

VSCO2 Viola Section VSTAU

Ensemble swells

Jon Meyer’s Woven Strings features two violas and a violin in various soft arcs and some decorative licks you can layer in to add realism. NKI (email)

Dan Keen’s Soft String Spurs NKIEXSSFZdspreset (account)

Cello

The snuggie of string instruments.

Solo legatos/sustains

pocketBlakus Cello ranges from C2-A4. NKI

Embertone Facebook Cello Lite has a smaller range (C2-G3) than the pocketBlakus, but it does have the shapeable vibrato I love so much from their Intimate Strings series. (You can’t get this instrument from liking their Facebook page anymore, but if you use it, it would be nice to give them a like anyway…) NKI (Cartloom)

Solo sustains

Ethan Winer’s Cello Solo is a little wet, but overall has a good sound. SF2

Fitchsounds Claire Fitch Cello has sustains of varying lengths, with the shortest being a kind of tenuto staccato. SF2EXSRFL

Solo rebowed sustains/staccatos/glissandos (up)/pizzicatos/tremelos

MSLP Cello Lofberg for Kontakt and Reason is a cello recorded in mono. NKISXT (optional attribution @ MSLP/Erick Kvist & Anders Löfberg)

Solo spiccatos

pocketBlakus Cello’s spiccato patch is very good. (Click “Download Now”¹ and then “pocketBlakus Spic.”) NKI (account)

Solo pizzicatos

Virharmonic Soul Capture Cello Freebie is a non-Kontakt option which also includes pre-recorded spicatto rhythms. UFS

Solo sul ponticello + sustains

Wavelet Audio Cold Sul Ponticello will work if you really need the job done for free. NKI (account)

Solo sul ponticello + pizzicatos

Matt Constantine’s Pont Pizz — Cello NKIdspreset (account)

Solo trills/col legnos

Philharmonia‘s strings has a few samples. The trills do not loop! MP3

Ensemble sustains/staccatos/pizzicatos/tremelos

VSCO2 Cello Section VSTAU

Ensemble swells

Dan Keen’s NFO: Orchestral Swells includes some celli swells with rebowing. NKIdspreset (account)

Ensemble tremelos

Spitfire Amplified Cello Quartet features various patches of cellos played through amps, including a decent tremelo patch. VSTAUAAX (Spitfire)

Double bass

The unapproachable uncle of string instruments.

Solo sustains/staccatos/pizzicatos

MSLP Bass Lofberg for Kontakt and Reason is a bass recorded in mono with a very nice slappy pizzicato sound. NKISXT (optional attribution @ MSLP/Erick Kvist & Anders Löfberg)

Solo sustains/pizzicatos/body percussion

Karoryfer Samples Meatbass SFZ

Solo bartok pizz/body percussion

Phillip Jay Cohen’s Standup Bass NKI

Solo pizzicatos

AS Free Collection includes Kontr, a decent upright for jazzy basslines. UFS (OpenCart)

Past to Future Reverbs Vinyl Fairchild Upright Bass offers a good walking bass sound under 10mb. NKI (email)

Solo tremelos

VSCO2 Double Bass VSTAU

Solo col legnos

Philharmonia‘s Strings has some samples. MP3

Free virtual instrument series

View the main page or learn more about 📕 plug-in formats. licenses and download requirements.

• 🎹 Pianos, organs, & keyboards
• 🎤 Solo vocals, choirs
• 🎻 Orchestral strings
• 🎸 Guitars, harps, lutes, & zithers
• 🎷 Woodwinds & free reeds
• 🎺 Brass & horns
• 🔔 Idiophones
• 🥁 Drums, percussion
• Synths & drum machines – Coming soon! (❛◡˂̵ ̑̑✧)
• DAWs, samplers, & FX – Coming soon! (❛◡˂̵ ̑̑✧)

Footnotes

1. Do not download the main “pocketBlackus Cello” patch from VSTBuzz. Their version (170 KB, last updated 10/23/2020) is broken and will freeze Kontakt on loading. Use the Dropbox mirror under “Solo [cello] legatos/sustains” for the main patch.