String Theory

As the overall picture of the song gets planned out in my head I realised that my level of orchestral arrangement is just pitiful from a compositional level, this really irks me so I've taken some time to research

http://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/arranging-strings-part-1

I know that I wont want a whole orchestra for this piece, I will be using up to 4 instruments 2 cello 2 viola/violin, this will be important to the mix in not sounding too large

Expression will be very important, the use of expression in the daw gives the strings that realistic feel to them, This will most likely be done in post production, or as soon as I can once the arrangement has been completed.

One thing I've found that will help is what's known as "Counterpoint" where a chord is sustained by one instrument as the others in the quartet play accompaniment or take the lead. With this new method in mind, I've set out to restructure the strings to be less in your face and more ambient build music.

I've learned a lot about classical composition with strings from my research, I think the most important thing I've learned is not to over clutter the mix with a thousand strings. The more strings that get added to the mix the better the strings sound, but that doesn't necessarily mean the mix sounds better, it just sounds "string-ier"

I've tried to dial back the strings so they are not the focus of the mix, Which is hard because every time I add an instrument to the mix for a good stereo image, the mix loses what a single instrument is playing and it all gets lost in the crowd. I've panned the strings to their own unique areas of the mix, which helps them stand out within the mix on their own, I plan to weave these individual string strands into a more flowing piece in post production, or during spare time in the week.