!!! READ BEFORE BUYING:

As of right now, this pack only sounds the way I intended when the host is set to a sample rate of 44,100 samples per second.

The built-in Convolve effect, which these patches heavily rely on to mimic the resonant body of their physical counterparts, changes phase response and frequency response DRASTICALLY at higher sample rates, which completely changes the timbre of these patches for the worse. The higher the sample rate, the bigger the difference. At 48,000, they still sound like string instruments, but with more unpleasant resonance. At 96,000, they sound awful and not even remotely convincing. I am hoping we get a Serum 2 update in the future that addresses this.

This pack includes the following:

• Legato Cello preset for Serum 2
• Legato Viola preset for Serum 2
• Legato Violin preset for Serum 2
• "Saxolin" preset for Serum 2, which came from my attempt to recreate Colin Stetson's sax playing in Serum, and was an important stepping stone to these string presets
• Ableton 12 project file of a realistic depiction of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G, Prelude, using the Legato Cello patch, for educational and demonstrative purposes

I made these patches because I always find myself frustrated with the limitations of string sample libraries. I have never found one that offers the right mix of flexibility and expressiveness for programming legato lines.

I have chosen not to map these patches to MPE controls because I don't own an MPE compatible controller, so there's no way for me to properly test it to make sure it's dialed in. However, you could easily map the mod wheel, pressure, and MPE controls to the macros that are already there and get some fun results — I'll leave that up to you to explore.

I spent a lot of time making sure these sound as good as possible at the standard expected range of each instrument. But I want to stress that in order to get convincing performances out of them, you really have to take the time to automate the macros in a way that mirrors how an actual performer would interpret the piece. If you hate automating macros, this is not for you, and I'd recommend hiring string players instead.

I hope that these presets serve not only as useful tools for music creation, but as useful educational tools that inspire you to explore the world of physical modeling synthesis in your own sound design.

For a detailed patch walkthrough and explanation of how to get the most out of these presets, see the video shown at the top of this page.

Enjoy!