Sound Magic releases Strings One, a FREE solo and ensemble strings instrument for macOS and Windows.
We recently covered Contemporary Soloist Cello Freebie from Sonixinema, and I said I’d love to see more free strings.
Much to my delight, Sound Magic is back with another freebie, and we now have more free strings!
Strings One is a free instrument powered by the Neo Orchestra Engine.
The currently featured instruments are Solo Violin, Violin Ensemble, and Viola Ensemble Vibrato. Due to the size of the free software, Sound Magic will rotate the included instruments every 45 days. The broader range of Neo Orchestra instruments includes more unusual options like the Guzheng.
Sound Magic recorded the Violins and Violas at Platinum Sound in New York City.
On loading Strings One, the first thing I thought was that the GUI was pretty busy. Not in a messy way, more that it just has a lot to play with for a freebie.
Before we even get into the musical features, there are multiple RAM allocation settings so that you can keep a close eye on system performance.
Mono/Poly Modes, and a handy Key Switch Settings Panel allow for more expressive/creative playing.
Beyond the more typical Vibrato, Legato, Harmonics, Dynamics, and Reverb settings, you have a Scala Tuning section if you want to get into some microtonal stuff.
You can assign controls for all of the above parameters to MIDI controllers for a more hands-on workflow.
It also features a nice 3D Spacer and five-band parametric EQ.
I think Strings One looks like a great freebie, but you can probably expect to spend some time tweaking before you have the perfect sound. However, a quick run-through shows some signs of promise. Given the number of parameters we can adjust, it seems likely that you could create suitable solo or ensemble sounds for various genres and may be especially useful for beatmakers.
Even small adjustments to Vibrato and Legato settings go a long way toward humanizing the performance.
All I need now is more hours in the day to spend more time making music with the recent spate of promising free instruments!
Strings One isn’t the first free instrument from Sound Magic; check out Drum One and Sienna Bass.
Strings One is available in VST and AU formats for macOS (compatible with the latest macOS X) and Windows.
The download link is password-protected, so follow the instructions carefully. The developer states: “Besides carefully reading the instruction to find the password, you can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Every Saturday we will publish the latest password on both of them.”
Consider checking out some of Sound Magic’s paid instruments if you enjoy Strings One.
Download: Strings One (737.3 MB download size, password-protected archive)
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10 Comments
Santo
onDoes it mean that every 45 days they’ll give away other instruments for the engine? That’s a case for a recurring calendar reminder :D
samuel
onwanted to ask the same, the way to get these freebies is always getting more interesting lol
if it is available for 45 days only, i’d figure one would need to make an account, to actually keep a license?
but this is direct download, so if i lose the installer i’m out of luck in 50 days?
James N
onHey Samuel,
Unfortunately, I still don’t have any clarification on that. I assume that every 45 days they will change the download to include three different instruments (removing the current ones), and hopefully that means anyone who has already downloaded Strings One can just take the new presets, and add them to the correct folder.
So, you could collect any instruments released in 45-day increments from the point of your original download. But, I can’t say that with any certainty, which is why there’s no additional details in the article. I’m guessing on that one like everyone else :-P
Cheers!
Neytcev
on“An invalid download URL has been entered” when trying download
Peter Mullins
onWrong passwords with this developer again, please don publish this spam.
Neytcev
onTry different letters, in the previous release i did that
with success, if i remember well it was just C
James N
onHey, Peter
It worked on my end with the letter C, as Neytcev said, but If I recall correctly, some people had issues with the password on the previous Sound Magic freebie, too. I hope you get it working!
Xaither
onHaving trouble with the password, plus their socials don’t give any passwords.
Michael Meeks
on“Due to the size of the free software, we will provide instrument in rotate mode which we change instrument in every 45 days”…..what does this even mean? I’ll pass. Does it sound good, expressional, the beez kneez? I’ll never know. Good old Piano One was sooooo easy to install and use back in the day. What happened?
MARTIN
onWhat the hell does “rotate mode which we change instrument in every 45 days” even mean?? Will the plugin be available for download for 45 days and then unavailable for another 45 days? or will the plugin instruments (Solo Violin/Violin Ensemble/Viola Ensemble Vibrato) be updated every 45 days?
Sound Magic guys, please be more clear as to what that statement actually means.