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Best Free VSTs: Orchestral Strings

Posted November 8, 2021

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…

Buongiorno! Survive the excessive Italian in this post with my VST articulation guide.

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 legato/staccatos/pizzicatos/tremolos
SCC Expressive Strings SFZ
Ensemble sustains
Marco Ianello’s NFO Alternative Chamber Strings NKIdspreset (account)
Ensemble swells/bartok pizz
Spitfire LABS Strings 2 VSTAUAAX (Spitfire)
Ensemble swells
Dan Keen’s NFO: Orchestral Swells NKIdspreset (account)
WMD Strings VSTAU
Ensemble sul ponticello + sustains
KLANG Bodega Strings for Kontakt or Ableton NKIALP (account or none)

Kontakt illustration of a man playing a violin while people dance on top of a giant vinyl record.Violins

The golden retriever of string instruments.

Solo normale/sordino + legato/sustains/staccatos/tremolos
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 legatos
Performance Samples Solo Violin Legato NKI (FastSpring + Continuata)
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 tremolos
Philharmonia’s Strings MP3
Solo body percussion
Tiago Cunha’s Intimate Percussion kit SFZ (account)
Solo silent fingering
Ashley Bates’ Tack Pizzicato Violin creates a pizzicato sound by placing a rosined finger on the string and then lifting it. The volume of the release can be reduced to make the sound less musical and more percussive or decorative. NKI (account)
Ensemble sustains/tremolos/spiccatos/pizzicatos
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 glissandos
Vienna Symphonic Library Violin Runs features a 14-player violin ensemble with pre-recorded runs for every Western key and mode. You can go in the Edit tab and turn on the “Stretch” feature to match your host’s tempo. VSTAUAAX (VSL)
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 “appoggiaturas.” Win VST
DSK Asian DreamZ is the not-quite-as-good alternative for 64-bit and macOS. VSTAU
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. VSTAU (newsletter and Wix)
Nepali Sarangi
Eamon’s Nepali Sarangi NKI (account)
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 legato/sustains/portamentos
Cordaro Rodriguez’s Imperfect Viola features fingering/fret noises for realism, multiple velocity layers and dynamics, and simulated bowed/fingered legato. Turn the mod wheel up when you first load it. NKI (account)
Solo staccatos/pizzicatos/tremolos
Alpine Project has two violas to choose from. The sustained notes are pretty flat and without vibrato. NKI (newsletter)
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/tremolos/spiccatos/pizzicatos
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. NKIdspreset (account)
Dan Keen’s Soft String Spurs NKIEXSSFZdspreset (account)

Cello

The snuggie of string instruments.

Solo legato/sustains
pocketBlakus Cello ranges from C2-A4. NKI6
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‘s samples are a little wet but overall have a good timbre. SF2
Claire Fitch’s Cello has sustains of varying lengths, with the shortest being a kind of tenuto-staccato. SF2EXSRFL
Solo rebowed sustains/staccatos/glissandos (up)/pizzicatos/tremolos
MSLP Cello Lofberg for Kontakt and Reason is a cello recorded in mono. NKISXT (optional attribution @ MSLP/Erick Kvist & Anders Löfberg)
Solo pizzicatos
Virharmonic Soul Capture Cello Freebie UFS
Solo sul ponticello + sustains
Wavelet Audio Cold Sul Ponticello 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/tremolos
VSCO2 Cello Section VSTAU
Ensemble swells
Dan Keen’s NFO: Orchestral Swells includes some celli swells with rebowing. NKIdspreset (account)
Ensemble tremolos
Spitfire Labs Amplified Cello Quartet features various patches of cellos played through amps, including a decent tremolo 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 tremolos
VSCO2 Double Bass VSTAU
Solo col legnos
Philharmonia‘s Strings has some samples. MP3

Jazz/upright/walking bass

Solo pizz/stopped pizz/ghost notes/pizz glissandos
Larry Seyer’s Upright Acoustic Bass SFZ (account)
Solo stopped pizz/bartok pizz/body percussion/scrapes
Phillip Jay Cohen’s Standup Bass NKI
Solo pizzicatos
Strezov Sampling Diamond Jazz Trio‘s “Double Bass Freebie” patch is a darker option. NICNT (Strezov)

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Last updated on November 27, 2022

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