i was hesitant at first posting this thread, considering i should have read mazeppa's "but what about orchestration" thread first. i skimmed it, and it frustrated the hell out of me. Anyone who has used midi song makers or keyboard presets knows of presets and sounds named "string ensemble". I have grown an interest in orchestrated music recently and have read a few articles on orchestration (including skimming mazeppa's thread as mentioned earlier) and theres just one thing i want to know, that is how to produce the "string ensemble" sound using stringed instruments.
any help is much appreciated :)

It's kind of impossible to answer this, because "String Ensemble" is simply a MIDI sound. It just happens to be the sound of an entire ensemble of strings playing one note, and us humans sense that the higher the note it's the violins and the lower the lower strings, etc. "String Ensemble" is what it is, just a bunch of strings.

To produce this sound you would nee any number of string instruments, which the sections include:

Violins I
Violins II
Violas
Violincello/Cello
Double Bass

Typically, you would double the Cellos and the Double Basses in in octaves (so to say, the Double Basses don't have individual parts; it's EXTREMELY rare that they do.)

This is the "String Ensemble." I do not know if this is what you meant, but basically to produce this sound (kind of re-explaining it) you would need-- literally --an ensemble of strings.

Lesson 1 - GENERAL REVIEW - Strings & Woodwinds (http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45335)

Scroll down a bit and read, "Chapter I: GENERAL REVIEW OF ORCHESTRAL GROUP; A. Stringed Instruments."

That should give you a more exact idea of how to make this all come together. I would suggest also reading:

Lesson 3 - MELODY - Strings - Melody in Stringed Instruments (http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45357)

Lesson 4 - MELODY - Strings - Grouping in Unison (http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45430)

Lesson 5 - MELODY - Strings - Doubling, Thirds & Sixths (http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45611)

. . . and for harmony . . .

Lesson 11 - HARMONY - General Observations (http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46968)

Lesson 12 - HARMONY - String Harmony (http://www.northernsounds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47268)

NOTE: I know I seem like an RK head, but this is great stuff for the advanced and the beginner, which I am somewhere in between. XD

I hope this helps!

Thanks, that helped so much! i was starting to worry that i asked a stupid question O.o .....but that really helped!

Hahah, no don't worry. Hey, we have to know how to look into a question and see what people are REALLY asking sometimes, even if the person who asked the question doesn't know.