Arturia Augmented STRINGS — Mac download

Composers and sound designers who need strings that move beyond the concert hall reach for Augmented STRINGS. It fuses detailed sample libraries with four synthesis engines, then hands you a Morph control to glide between the two layers in real time.

Each patch stacks two layers, and each layer pulls from a sampled string source or a synth engine. The sample side covers more than 60 articulations recorded with multiple microphone positions—bow changes, spiccato, harmonics, prepared string techniques. The synth side adds wavetable, granular, harmonic, and virtual analogue textures. A set of macro controls, a modulation matrix, and built-in effects let you warp the blend from a fragile quartet to a sweeping, processed texture without touching another plug-in.

From Bowed Cello to Glassy Harmonic Tail

Open the standalone or load the plug-in into your DAW. The browser shows curated packs—Hybrid Scores, Abstract Pads, Textural Beds. Pick a preset close to your target. I choose a bowed cello with a glassy harmonic tail.

Start with Layer A. Switch the sample source from a chamber cello to a solo viola sul ponticello, then dial the synth engine to a soft wavetable pad. Adjust the amp envelope so the pad swells slightly behind the bow attack. Layer B gets a full ensemble sustain and a granular engine fed with the same sample—grain size around 80 ms, density low.

Now the Morph. With the slider at 50%, you hear equal parts of both layers. Drag it toward Layer A and the viola takes over; push toward B and the granular ensemble blooms. Assign Morph to a fader on your controller. Four extra destinations sit unused—map one to the filter cutoff on Layer A’s synth, another to reverb mix.

Solo the layers one at a time to check for mud. Panned the viola slightly left, the ensemble slightly right. Add a touch of chorus from the built-in effects on Layer B. The modulation matrix routes an LFO to grain position, subtle enough that you feel the movement before you notice it. Eight bars in, the texture doesn’t repeat—it shifts.

A scoring composer’s quick fix

A media composer on a 48-hour deadline needs a string bed that’s tense but not orchestral. She opens Augmented STRINGS, calls up a factory patch named “Tension Grid,” and swaps the sample source in Layer A to col legno strikes from the solo violin library. Layer B stays on a dark wavetable drone. Morph mapped to a breath controller rides between percussive bow noise and low synth rumble. Twenty minutes, no external effects, one track printed.

• New — Version 2.0.0 ships with an expanded factory library and refined morph behaviour.
• Improved — Macro response and preset loading speed across all plug-in formats.
• Fixed — Several AAX-specific stability issues present in the previous release.

• macOS 11 or later
• Intel or Apple Silicon processor
• VST, Audio Unit, or AAX host, or standalone use