Creating live string recordings can be a costly process but one way to approach it (and save time and money) is with modular writing. This is similar to working with loops, in that you create a series of phrases for a composition that you can layer and assemble like building blocks. Here’s an example, made from 3 minutes of violins and cellos recordings, each recorded separately.
And here’s the score that was used for the sessions. Everything is written to work harmonically with everything else, pretty much!
Technology itself has become part of the composition process. Or at least the workflow you make for yourself is integral to your creative practice. This approach to writing for live strings brings the same sort of flexibility you have with midi and samples to real instrument recordings.
