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Originally Posted by
galopolag
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. so I was wondering if I could achieve that kind of sound with 4 players.
sure. And if it is not big enough, you could have them double-track their parts. I mixed something a couple years ago where
one person did all the violins. She used different instruments and mixed and matched bows and varied the distance to the mic. So it sounded more like different people. Played each line 5 or 6 times. And then another person did the same with a cello. It ended up sounding huge.
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From what I've read, it seems pretty doable with overdubs. But... what about a live gig situation? Could I achieve something nice with chorus and reverb?
Chorus and reverb?
I think you should first figure out how you are going to hire 4 or more string players, make arrangements, write out the charts, find room for them on stage and mic them up to compete with synths and drum machines without feeding back.
Then you can add "chorus and reverb". As Dave Polich said, it's about the players and the arrangements. The effects you put on at the end are not going to make it or break it. The impact of 4 players being right there and miked up will more than make up for the fact that you don't have a full orchestra on stage with you.
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I mean, I know there are great sample packs & plugins out there, but I'd love to be able to mix our electronic funk with real string players, in the context of a gig. I think it could be quite cool both sonically and visually.
sure it is doable. I know a jazz pianist who has 4 string players in his band. Also a bassist and a drummer. The string players at that level all have their own high end clip-on mics. It's all on charts and they all read really well. If someone can't make it one night, a sub who can read can fill in etc.
The main downside that I see is that jazz trio is now a Septet. That's a lot of
'mouths to feed' as the saying goes. You need gigs that can pay well enough to hire all those all those 'extra' people, but technically why not?