I can think of a number of reasons why "real" strings could be good:
  • Convenience of not having to create a track manually. A lot of people using BIAB can play instruments (guitar, bass, mandolin), but RealTracks are good enough that it's unnecessary.
  • One less thing to buy - getting a decent string library costs money, and it takes time to really get good sounds out of it.
  • String phrasing is what sells the sound. Not the sustained pad sound, but the articulation from one chord to the next. For example, the "swoop" sound on disco style strings sell that you're hearing real strings. Similarly, RealTracks can get articulations from instruments that are difficult with MIDI.
But even then, having a nice set of "real" strings that only did generic pads would be a useful start, especially if they included little bits that helped "sell" the sound as being more than just MIDI strings.


-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?