Motown Strings makes arrangements

How do you emulate the classic string arrangements of 60s and 70s Motown records, essentially extracting a defining ingredient of that studio-slicked soul and R&B? And how do you record and process those strings in such a way that the samples sound authentic, like they were swiped from a Marvin Gaye studio session? These are the challenges we faced, and we solved them by calling in reinforcements. We assembled the Splice Quartet (Aya Terki - cello, Josh Henderson and Sarah Goldfeather - violins, Elise Frawley - viola) at Aura Studio in Brooklyn. They played through every soulful arrangement we could make, from sparkling melodies with notes that nosedive to plucky interludes that tiptoe and tumble. We recorded them simply, using some AKG 414s through Avedis MA5 preamps, a signal chain optimized for high-end clarity and warm compression. Incredibly, the loops and one-shots on Motown Strings sound like they were recorded in the same room as Diana Ross or the Isley Brothers. Use them to add orchestral emotion to soul, R&B, and the tracks of your tears.