The cm guide to Easy strings

Last time round in the cm Easy Guide to Strings, we took a detailed look at the instruments that make up a string section and examined the articulations that modern string sample libraries can offer us to make our programmed string parts sound more realistic. In this second part of our look at arranging and programming real-sounding strings, we’re going to check out some actual arrangement techniques, starting by examining a basic theory principle that can go a long way towards making your string parts sound more authentic.

A common approach that many of us will use when beginning to write a string part is to map out the chords straight onto the keyboard, improvising as we go, or input notes directly into our DAW’s piano roll. If you start programming a string arrangement by using nothing but simple triad chords, however, all with very similar, root-position chord shapes, you’re likely to end up with a really blocky sound that’s not very realistic. Real string writing is more about internal voices intertwining and shifting to produce dynamic harmony, and this is where the technique known as voice leading comes in useful.

Voice leading is a way of smoothing out chord progressions by aligning the notes that make up each chord so that there are minimal jumps in pitch from chord to chord. In the context of a string arrangement, you can then assign each note in a chord to its own line, then each line to a voice, ie