cinematic · 16 violins
Film section
A slow line that climbs to a high E and settles on a three-note chord. The section splits the chord between its players on its own.
Film Stage · Power0:21
nøll instruments · violin 1.0 · mac
Violin
Write it like a piano.
Hear a violinist.
A violin built from physics, with a player inside. It slides between notes, picks the bow stroke for every note you write, and turns one violin into sixteen. No samples, so the whole download is under 30 MB.
0samples inside
1–16players, one menu
<30 MBthe whole download
$109pay once, keep it
listen · 01 · slides
Slides you never have to draw.
Overlap two notes and the player shifts to the next one, the way a violinist does. Wide leaps slide slower, steps barely slide at all, and a softly played note slides in slower still. There is no pitch bend in this clip. The swells are the mod wheel (CC1), and CC21 rides the vibrato.
1 violin · Power · Golden Hall · Cinematic · 66 bpm · D minor
the MIDI notes
the pitch it played, measured from the audio
listen · 02 · smart player
Seven bow strokes from one plain MIDI clip.
The Smart Player reads half a second ahead and bows each note from what it sees: how long the note is, how close the next one is, how hard you play it. Notes that touch go legato. Fast short notes bounce off the string. Accents dig in. Repeated sixteenths turn into tremolo. No keyswitches in this clip, though you can still force any stroke with one.
1 violin · Singing · Recital Hall · Pop · 124 bpm · notes + CC1 only
listen · 03 · three styles
Bounced straight out of the plugin.
Every clip on this page is the plugin playing MIDI. Levels only: no EQ, no compression, no reverb added.
edm · 16 violins
Festival drop
A sixteenth-note riser into a high lead, with offbeat chords under it. Two tracks of the plugin, summed.
Dome Hall · Brilliant0:14
pop · 1 violin
Pop topline
A hook written to sit next to a vocal: close, warm and quick to speak, with slides on the leaps.
Pop Studio · Singing0:15
five violins · level-matched
One phrase, five violins
the same phrase on each body, back to back · tap a name to jump to it1:02
one switch
Cinematic, Pop or EDM.
The Style switch sets what 12 o'clock means on every knob, so the middle of each knob is already a finished sound for that kind of track. The settings came from 720 test renders scored against real violinists, and each Style was then picked by ear, blind.
Cinematic
nøll instruments · cello 1.0 · mac
The cello, built the same way.
A physical model with a cellist inside. The Smart Player picks the stroke, the bow and the string for every note you write, for one cello or up to sixteen. Seven cello bodies, the same three Styles as the violin, and together the two make the Strings Duo.
- cellos
- Seven: Singing, Noble, Brilliant, Grand, Velvet, Earthy and Sweet
- players
- Solo, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 or 16, with chords split across the section
- smart player
- Nine bow strokes, chosen 0.5 or 1 s ahead, or live with no delay
- styles
- Cinematic, Pop and EDM set the middle of every knob, and the window's look
- rooms
- Eleven: Pop Studio, Recital Hall, Golden Hall, Stone Chapel, Film Stage, Orchestra Studio, Church Studio, Shoebox Hall, Lush Hall, Vineyard Hall and Dome Hall
- range
- B♭0 to A5, two semitones under the open C
listen · sixteen cellos
Cello section
An early render of the full section. Like every clip on this page, it is the plugin playing MIDI, levels only: no EQ, no compression, no reverb added.
16 cellos · early render0:12
what you get
Built for a laptop and a deadline.
smart playerIt reads ahead
Picks the stroke, the bow direction and the string for every note, half a second before it plays.
section1 to 16 players
Solo, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 or 16, each with its own violin, tuning, vibrato and timing. Chords split across the section.
violinsFive bodies
Singing, Power, Brilliant, Sweet and Dark, all at the same loudness, so you can swap them mid-mix.
roomsEleven rooms
From a dry pop studio to a long dome hall, built in, with no added latency.
takesTakes 1–99
A take number fixes the performance, so a bounce sounds the same every time. Want another reading? New take.
presets14 presets
Pop, Cinematic and EDM starting points: solo lines, long strings, shorts, pizz and tremolo.
| compared | NØLL Violin | a typical string library |
|---|---|---|
| download | under 30 MB | 3.5 GB to 81 GB |
| articulations | chosen for you, or a keyswitch if you want | a keyswitch or a track per articulation |
| section size | 1 to 16 players, from one menu | fixed when it was recorded |
| between notes | one bow, so strokes and slides connect | separate recordings, crossfaded |
| bounces | Takes 1–99, the same take every time | round robins |
| price | $109, pay once | $299 to €840 list |
who made it
Made by a producer who started on violin.
I make music as NØLL. I grew up in Texas playing violin and piano in school and district orchestras, and I've produced dance and pop records since 2016: releases on Strange Fruits, CloudKid, Lowly Palace, Lost in Dreams and NCS, and sets at Beyond Wonderland and HARD Summer.
Strings are on most of my records. The orchestral version of Safe Ground has six times the streams of the original. Writing those parts with sample libraries always felt like admin: gigabytes to load, a keyswitch on every note, and slides I had to fake.
I wanted a violinist I could hand a MIDI part to, so I built one: a physical model with a player inside, tuned against real violinists and picked by ear, Style by Style.
NØLL
2016producing since
20M+streams on spotify
6×safe ground: orchestral version vs the original
10labels, plus my own: empty set records
pay once · own it
From $109. No subscription.
The Violin and the Cello are $109 each. Both together, as the Strings Duo, are $179.
out nowout Tuesday, Oct 27 · nøll violin 1.0
Violin
$109once · yours to keep
- Solo to 16 players, chords split across the section
- 5 violins · 11 rooms · 3 Styles · 14 presets
- VST3, AU and Standalone for Mac, Apple silicon and Intel
best valueviolin + cello
Strings Duo
$179$218 bought apart · save $39
- NØLL Violin and NØLL Cello, both complete
- 5 violins and 7 cellos, solo to 16 players each
- Every 1.x update free, for both
- Mac · the Cello needs Apple silicon
nøll cello 1.0
Cello
$109once · yours to keep
- Solo to 16 players, chords split across the section
- 7 cellos · 11 rooms · 3 Styles · 22 presets
- VST3, AU and Standalone for Mac
Own one already? Complete the pair for $70.
14-day free trial, every feature, no account
14-day refund
3 computers per licence
no subscription, ever
questions
Before you buy
Do I need keyswitches or a breath controller?
No. Plain notes from a keyboard or the piano roll are enough, and the mod wheel (CC1) rides the dynamics. Keyswitches B-1 to F0 are there when you want to force a stroke.
Can I play it live?
Yes. With the Smart Player on, the plugin reads 0.5 s ahead and reports that delay, so your DAW lines the track up by itself. To play in real time, set the Smart Player to Live: 0 ms.
How heavy is it on CPU?
On an Apple M4 Pro at 48 kHz with a 128-sample buffer, one violin uses about 1.5 % of one core, 8 players about 6.4 % and 16 players about 11.6 %. A track that isn't playing sleeps at about 0.2 %.
What does "physical model" mean?
The plugin computes a bowed string, a bow, a player's hand and a wooden body in real time. There are no recordings inside. That is why it's small, why the section size is a menu and why one stroke flows into the next.
Are the violins copies of real instruments?
No. Each body is a production tone in the spirit of classic Italian violins, pushed further so the difference is easy to hear in a mix. The rooms follow the reverb times of real halls. Nothing inside is a recording, and NØLL is not affiliated with any maker, owner or venue.
Is there a Windows version?
Not yet. It comes as a free 1.x update. Join the list to hear when it's ready.
Is it a subscription? Can I get a refund?
No subscription: you pay once, keep it, and every 1.x update is free. Refunds within 14 days, and the 14-day trial lets you try it in your own sessions first: no account, no email, and it works offline.
What's in the Strings Duo?
NØLL Violin and NØLL Cello, both complete, for $179 instead of $218 bought one at a time. The same terms as one instrument: pay once, a 14-day refund and every 1.x update free.
I have the Violin. Can I add the Cello later?
Yes. Complete the pair for $70, and you have paid the Strings Duo price in all. It works the other way round too: Cello owners add the Violin for the same $70.