Fracture Sounds has been quietly building one of the most cohesive collections of expressive solo libraries out there. With Soft String Soloists, they’ve rounded out their excellent Soloists line (which already includes Majestic Brass and Emotive Woodwinds) with a set of intimate, legato-focused string instruments that feel every bit as classy and tactile as their siblings.
Now, I’ve played and owned more string libraries than I care to admit, and most of them fall into one of two categories: the big cinematic “wall of strings” type, or the dry chamber sets that sound like they’re auditioning for a BBC drama. Soft String Soloists sits somewhere in the middle – lush, but close. Polished, but fragile in a good way. It’s an interesting balance, and one that Fracture Sounds seems to have nailed almost effortlessly.
This is the third in the Soloists series I’ve reviewed, each being excellent and incredible value for money. Make sure you have a look at my other reviews when you’re finished here: Emotive Woodwind soloists, and Majestic Brass Soloists
Lets get stuck into it.
First Impressions
If you’ve used any of Fracture Sounds’ other libraries, you’ll know exactly what to expect here. The GUI is familiar – clean, intuitive, and beautifully laid out. The teal and soft white colour scheme gives it a calm, almost tactile warmth that I absolutely love. It’s funny how much colour design can affect your perception of an instrument; Fracture’s palette makes me want to settle in with a coffee and compose for hours.
Installation is a breeze via Native Access, and once loaded, you’re greeted with a simple interface that prioritises performance over eye candy. The main controls for Dynamics, Colour, Stereo Width, Reverb, and Perspective are right there at the top, begging for a quick MIDI learn. I personally tie Dynamics and Colour together under CC11 so that the mod wheel doesn’t just control volume, but also gradually opens up the brightness of the tone as I dig in – it’s a lovely, expressive touch that feels organic under the fingers.
The Perspective Mixer is another gem. It’s essentially a fader that blends between close and far mic positions, allowing you to adjust perceived depth in real time. Again, something you could link to CC11 for some creative movement during performance – imagine pushing the violin forward as a line crescendos, or pulling it back for a soft resolve. It’s a simple but deeply musical idea.
Instruments and Articulations
The library includes solo Violin, Viola, and Cello, plus a combined Ensemble patch for sketching out ideas quickly. You’re not getting a full orchestral section here, but what’s included is deeply sampled and highly playable.
Each instrument focuses primarily on long and legato articulations, with a handful of extras like Harmonics, Gestures, and Swells. These are tastefully recorded, though admittedly situational – the kind of thing you might use for an occasional texture rather than a main line.
Let’s be clear: this is a legato library first and foremost. There are no true shorts, no pizzicatos, no spiccatos, no staccatos. You can fake short notes by playing quick legato transitions, but they’ll always feel a little “choked” rather than properly articulated. That’s fine if you’re writing lyrical film cues or underscore, but if you’re working in a pop or rock context where tight string rhythms matter, you’ll hit that limitation fast.
For me, as someone who writes theatre and crossover material, this was a bit of a frustration. You can make it work – and it sounds beautiful when you do – but it’s not the one-stop string library I might have hoped for.
The Sound
Ah, now here’s where Soft String Soloists really shines. These recordings are gorgeous. Each instrument has a distinct voice – silky but not overly polished – and there’s a fragile realism that’s hard to fake. You can hear the rosin, the slight bow imperfections, and a human vulnerability that’s so often edited out of modern libraries.
The Legato transitions in particular are some of the best I’ve ever heard in a Kontakt instrument. Fracture’s Smart Legato system does an incredible job of interpreting your playing, switching between different transition types to match the speed and phrasing of your line. It makes your MIDI performances feel alive – even without heavy editing or automation.
What I especially like is how dynamic control interacts with timbre. As you push up the mod wheel, the tone brightens and opens naturally, rather than just getting louder. When paired with the Perspective Mixer, it’s easy to create the illusion of a performer physically leaning in toward the microphone. It’s the kind of subtle responsiveness that makes you forget you’re playing samples.
The overall tone is intimate and unmistakably Fracture Sounds – airy, a touch melancholic, and full of presence. In fact, I could probably pick out Soft String Soloists in a blind listening test. That distinctiveness can be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it gives your cues a recognisable character; on the other, it means overuse might make multiple tracks start sounding “samey.”
Value and Comparisons
At $169 USD, the price feels almost too good to be true – until you realise what’s actually included. This isn’t a full suite of articulations or a comprehensive orchestral section. It’s three solo instruments, beautifully recorded, but limited in scope.
When you compare it to something like Session Strings Pro 2 from Native Instruments, which offers a huge articulation list for a similar price, Soft String Soloists looks sparse on paper. I don’t think Fracture Sounds are looking for a full-feature orchestra here, it’s not trying to be that kind of library. It’s not a workhorse, it’s a specialist.
If you want realism, expression, and playable emotion right out of the box, this is it. If you need a toolkit for every possible string articulation known to man, you’ll be disappointed. Personally, I think of Soft String Soloists as a colour – a flavour – rather than a full meal. It sits beautifully alongside other string libraries, filling that gap for intimate solo moments or expressive leads.
Fracture Sounds quoted “Soft String Soloists is a library inspired by the signature Scandinavian string sound that has become a staple in modern drama soundtracks. It is designed for emotional, nuanced performances – especially focused on softer dynamics. With this in mind, the library is focused less so on versatility, and more so on lending itself to intimate, emotional performances, with an articulations and performance controls representative of such.“
There is also a fantastic walkthrough video on YouTube I recommend you watch to ensure Soft String Soloists is the right fit for you. It’s also worth pointing out, Fracture Sounds have a free Short Strings Blueprint library you can download. It’s an slightly larger ensemble chamber string band, but I think it fits in well if you need quicker lines.
Workflow and Usability
The inclusion of the In Situ mixer (as seen in Majestic Brass and Emotive Woodwinds) is a huge plus. It places the instruments realistically in the stereo field and saves you from manually panning or EQing them into place. Combined with the Perspective fader, it gives a surprising amount of spatial control for such a small, simple interface.
Performance-wise, it’s light on CPU and RAM, which means you can easily load all instruments in a template without bogging down your system. There’s also a single Ensemble patch that’s handy for rough sketching before breaking things down into solo parts later.
I do wish there were a few more performance articulations – even just a basic short spiccato or pizzicato – to round things out. But what’s there feels intentional, almost minimalist in design philosophy.
Final Thoughts
Soft String Soloists is another classy, carefully thought-out entry from Fracture Sounds. It’s not trying to replace your main string library – it’s trying to give you something better for those moments when you want real human emotion without a full section roaring behind it.
The tone is beautiful, the legato is genuinely world-class, and the interface is a model of elegant design. Sure, it’s limited in articulations, and yes, its distinct character might make it less flexible than some competitors – but when it works, it really works.
For film composers, soloists, or anyone who values expression over versatility, it’s a no-brainer. For pop producers or theatre writers who need short articulations and faster phrasing options, it might not be your main go-to – but it’s one you’ll want in your arsenal nonetheless.
Fracture Sounds continues to impress me with how consistently musical their libraries are. If they ever release a full string suite with the same tonal depth and legato quality as this one, the big players might need to start worrying.
You can find more details and purchase options over at www.fracturesounds.com, and we have more libraries from Fracture Sounds on Music Nation StudioWise, check them our right here.
