
Credits: Bleeding Fingers (BBC, Planet Earth), Riot Games (League of Legends, Arcane), Eminem, Christina Perri, Olivia Rodrigo, Jax, Camila Cabello, 5 Seconds of Summer, Ava Max, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Troye Sivan, Hallmark, FX, Ellen, Apple TV's New Music Daily, Inon Zur, Zach Hood, Grey, Rhythmic Films.
Thanks for visiting!
My happy place is right at the crossroads of playing & producing. I studied cello performance (CSULB) and contemporary arranging & production (Berklee), and I play violin & viola too. My work assimilates the string section, styles of contemporary and world music, and production techniques to create expressive, well-recorded strings.
I can work from MIDI piano roll, sheet music, or audio reference for parts already written. I can arrange for any size string section, and I can also supplement with other instruments like piano, guitar, Olafur Arnalds synths, etc. Some of my common requests are pop, singer-songwriter, OST, minimalism, chamber, rock, EDM, rap, jazz.
I carefully set mic position and check gain staging for every single job, my goal is to send detailed, crisp audio. I use a Neumann TLM 103 as my main mic and have Gefell 300 M pair if you want stereo. I have a template that I can pass my arrangements through at no extra charge if you'd like a pro's ear for mixing. I can also mix full ensembles for an ad hoc additional charge.
Drop me a line if you have any questions, let's make some music!
I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.
Credits
73 Reviews - 9 Repeat Clients
Endorse Pro String Production- check_circleVerified
Michelle is a rare talent. She frequently sends back cello parts that give me goose bumps. So thrilled to be able to work with her. Total Pro.
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Job done. Completed here.
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Got a lot of great string lines, excited to do more in the future.
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Great artist! Great work on strings and cellos. I would definitely recommend Michelle. Thank you so much Michelle.
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I had the pleasure of working with Michelle on my song and found her to be very thorough, articulate and sensitive to my vision.
Her communication was always positive and supportive and her strong music theory knowledge was an added bonus.
Michelle is always open to discuss your thoughts and ideas and will elaborate and make the necessary suggestions when required.
True to her word her string recordings are crisp and clear with generous tinge of feeling and sensitivity.
Her work is remarkable. - check_circleVerified
We had such a great experience working with Michelle. What an incredible talent and professional! She wrote and recorded the most beautiful string arrangements for a few of our songs and then expertly executed the recording of parts we had already written for a few others. She's great with communication/responsiveness, very polite, and just so easy to work with. We cannot thank her enough for her awesome work and cannot recommend her enough! We'll most definitely be working with Michelle again!!
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Michelle helped me with violin recordings for two of my songs. Once again the collaboration was very easy and she directly understood what I was looking forward and delivered great results, thanks!
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Our best work together yet! I can't recommend Michelle enough!
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I’m so grateful to have worked with Michelle. This was a particularly important piece to me so I’m thankful to have found such an amazingly talented, kind hearted person to have been part of the process. I’ll be forever grateful to her.
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Incredibly thoughtful, professional, and talented. I could not be happier with the results!
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Michelle is amazing, she helped me to create a song structure thanks to beautiful violin loops, I totally recommend her, I hope to be able to work with her again in the future
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Michelle was, hands down, one of the most talented people I've worked with! I remember how she told me in the very beginning that she won't stop until she has given her 100% to what she produces and today, she has delivered just that. My track is sounding soo beautiful and I honestly cannot wait for everyone else to hear! Thank you Michelle for your hard work and like I always tell you, for making it your own and putting those exact emotions I need. I can't wait to work with you again <3
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Michelle is always a pleasure to work with and brings a lot of creativity to our projects together.
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Michelle has been wonderful to work with. She brings her a ton of creativity and experience and I always learn a lot and get a great result working with her.
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Michelle is an awesome string arranger and performer. She has a great ear and is a pleasure to work with!
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One of the best musicians I've worked with! Michelle put her heart and soul into the song. Great output!
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Everything is in the name ! Michelle is a highly professional cellist. Her playing, the sound, delivery time, skillness, is a Class A production. Totally invested in the project. A great pleasure to have Michelle in my tracks and hope to work with her very soon. Thanks Michelle !
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Michelle was immediately motivated and involved in my song production, complying with all my demanding requirements : short and challenging deadlines, sound quality and arrangements
I strongly recommend Michelle 's added value. - check_circleVerified
Great work!
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Great work and provided exactly what I was looking for....10/10
recommend her for anyone who needs amazing strings on there track. - check_circleVerified
Working with Michelle has been delightful! I personally struggled with some financial constraints etc, which she was very understanding about and always allowed me to take my time. As for the production of my track, she literally treated my song like her own and created an absolute masterpiece! I was so amazed when I first heard the finalized tracks- brought tears to my eyes!! This was my first international collaboration and I'm ever so glad to have done it with Michelle! Thank you Michelle! <3
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Lady delivered months later than we agreed upon and what she delivered was so low in quality and totally not in line with what we had agreed that I had to throw it away. Waste of my time and money.
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Michelle is simply an outstanding musician and writer. I am amazed at her talent and her contribution to my project. Outstanding Michelle! Thank you so much!
I look forward to working with Michelle again as she is so pleasant to work with and has a wonderful ability to feel what’s needed to complete a project. After receiving the stems for our project, I was blown away by the effort she put into her work. I highly recommend working with Michelle. Not many are in tune with their craft as she is.
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Michelle did a great job with adding cello and violin to two of my songs, she understood directly what I was looking for and I am really happy with the result. Would definitely recommend her!
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Michelle is great...professional in every aspect.
Don't hesitate. - check_circleVerified
Great professional cello playing with a very clean and detailed recording quality, exactly what I needed for this neoclassical piece.
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Michelle is a consummate professional. She is super creative and really goes the extra mile to find and play parts that add life and magic to the recording. 5 stars
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Michelle Packman is an elite talent. Her abilities as a cellist and arranger are truly next level. Michelle added layers of texture and melody to my solo piano piece elevating it in every way. After communicating so easily, she understood what I had visioned and went above and beyond my expectations. I highly recommend Michelle and believe that anyone who works with her is very lucky:) and will be very pleased.
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Michelle was a pleasure to work with. Her gift for arranging and playing will definitely help your song shine and her communication was very thorough and detailed.
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Michelle was so easy to work with and provided us with exactly the cello track were looking for in our recording.
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We needed emotion and we got it! Stacked instruments with the perfect touch. Michelle's work is of the highest quality - from the recording quality itself to the musicianship she pours into the music. We couldn't be happier!
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Michelle always comes through with the magic! If you're looking for that on your songs you should hire her!.
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Michelle is the go-to person for strings. She greatly improved my temp ideas and then added a million more amazing melodies of her own--far beyond anything I could have even imagined. I'm looking forward to working with her again sometime and I would give her the highest recommendation.
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Michelle did a great job recording Cello Solo for song. The sound and feel she adds to the song it's just perfect. I've worked with many musicians and Cellist but I really liked Michelle's work.
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Michelle gave me such a beautiful performance and arrangement. She was so considerate of the vocals and worked with them beautifully.
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As a cello lover, I really appreciated Michelle's sound and her availability. Great work and feeling :-)
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Very good work for a string quartet. Will hire again!
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I honestly cannot adequately express just how brilliant Michelle is. She has breathed life and energy into my piece with the most wonderful orchestration. She was very careful to use her experience of working with high school orchestras to ensure that this symphonic poem is accessible to that level and above. Everyone I have played the track to has commented on how superb it is. My composition it may be, but this is a Michelle Packman arrangement. It's like a hallmark.
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Michelle is very much in demand for a good reason. She really is a perfectionist and perfection takes time. Well, let me tell you it was very much worth the wait. She has a gift and I'm honored to say I had a chance to work with her. I should also mention she is a pleasure to work with.
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Michelle's professionalism and quality of work is what stood out to me. She provided a detailed analysis of my composition whilst adding very tasteful creative stems. I'm looking forward to working with her again in the future!
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An extremely talented and punctual cellist.
It was a real pleasure working with Michelle. - check_circleVerified
Great musician and very nice person, it's been a pleasure to work with Michelle. She did her best to achieve exactly what I had in my mind for the track and she is been very professional and patient. Highly recommended!
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Michelle did a wonderful job on my song. She has totally control of her instrument and played with incredible, feel, timing and emotion. She understood the subtlety and nuance of what I was after and absolutely nailed the parts I sent her. The recordings were also of amazing quality. Communication was fast and easy and she was a delight to deal with. Outstanding and highly recommended
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Michelle is such a talented strings player and composer. I worked with her on one of my original ballads, and she really went above and beyond what I was hoping for and created a beautiful, full, emotional string section that took my song to a whole new level. She was super receptive to feedback and was open to hearing my ideas. Looking forward to working with her again!
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Michelle's talent, dedication and creativity blew me away! I had an unusual song, and she jumped right in. She was very easy to work with, and contributed so much above and beyond my expectations. I am absolutely thrilled with the results!
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Michelle is a world-class cellist. Her outstanding talent will bring your songs to life with passion and grace. She is a great collaborator and easy to work with. I look forward to working with her again!
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Michelle was very friendly and professional. You can tell she is very dedicated to the feeling and emotion behind the music she creates. My track turned out better than I could have imagined. It captures the emotions and flow I was going for so perfectly! Hiring her was one of the best decisions I've made for my music!
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Michelle is an absolute Pro. Always thrilled with what she sends back! 5 stars!
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Michelle is an A-lister pro. She took a simplistic chord chart and wrote a lush arrangement in the style I wanted all while making a tight deadline.
From the melodic phrasing to the inflections in her playing, the work she turned in was stunning. Super cool communication too.
Will definitely work with again. Thanks Michelle. - check_circleVerified
Top top work by Michelle. She has really made an effort to get into the project and this has made it all the more enjoyable. Will be working together again shortly
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Michelle is amazing! Her recordings are awesome and she gave me layers and layers of cello and strings for my songs. She really enhanced my music and I'm looking forward to working with her on more stuff.
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Michelle is a great collaborator to work with. Her playing is superb, she's a great communicator and she brings genuine artistry to her work. Looking forward to collaborating again!
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Just finished another project with Michelle. She is a consummate professional. Michelle plays exactly what the song needs. She has a real sense of what to play for pop music. Michelle was also willing and able to do this very last minute for me. She made it possible for me to meet a deadline on a last minute job which I really appreciate. I can't recommend Michelle enough. 5 stars!
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Michelle strives to give you the best possible performance for your project. Would definitely recommend working with her.
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Inspired by a recent article in the LA Times, I had written a pop song about a stolen cello. I recorded acoustic guitar, vocals, bass and drums. I decided the track needed some professional cello playing to bring it all together. I found Michelle on SoundBetter and sent her the track. She agreed to give it a go. What Michelle did was beyond remarkable and exceeded anything I could have imagined. Her playing was brilliant. She transformed the song. Absolutely brilliant. Thank you Michelle!
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Another great session with Michelle. She was great getting the soft subtleties the song needed as well as the big bombastic moments. Michelle even added a beautiful little section as an outro that wasn't even asked for. She completely over delivered. Fantastic 5 star experience.
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If you're looking for a professional, talented and creative cello player to play your music, look for Michelle. Very good pitch, beautiful vibrato, high quality tracks and really good at giving different emotions to the cello part. A trained musician and a creative artist to work with. Thank you!
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Michelle is a master of the cello. She came up with and played outstanding parts that took the song to new heights. Great communication from the start. Total Professional. Excited to work with her on future projects. 5 stars isn't enough.
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Michelle provided me cello solo and string section recordings. Very good job. I hope that I have a chance to co-operate with her again someday.
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Michelle Packman is an amazing cellist who adds parts that really add to the song. She has great tone, and her phrasing is superb. She’s quick and great with communication during the tracking process. I would highly recommend her for any string work you may need.
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Incredible musician, great work ethic, easy to work with, and worth every penny.
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Excellent with fast turn around. Would not hesitate to use her again!
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Michelle masters the cello with elegance and depth. I'm officially a fan of her artistry. I worked with Michelle on a singer-songwriter track and requested for her creative input. Communication was smooth from start to finish. Michelle delivered astounding work in a short amount of time. I had plenty of options to play with which was great for me. She certainly exceeded my expectations. I'm so pleased!
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Always really great to work with! Amazingly talented!
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Great cellist and super timely :)
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Michelle did everything I asked of her. Good playing, good sound, good communication. Thanks, Michelle.
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Michelle did a great job! I'm so thankful for her work, and willingness to share her talents with us!
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Michelle is an incredible musician with really a beautiful tone. Always quick+perfect side-reading. She is my go-to cellist, top improvising and arranging skills as well. Highly recommended, 5 stars are not enough!
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Michelle was s pleasure to work with. She gave me 12 world class, layered performances, a complete symphonic cello section, perfectly timed and recorded in an excellent studio for a mere 100 dollars: an unheard of value.
Michelle has stunning control over her instrument and her ability to add emotion to every note is outstanding. She replaced an existing cello part that was well played but badly recorded. Michelle nailed the replacement track with the same if not more emotion and the quality was at a high professional standard. I'm looking forward to working with Michelle again.
Working with Michelle is such a pleasure. Her cello tracks always sound great with sophisticated phrasing and the recording quality is great! Highly recommend her.
I had the pleasure of working with Michelle on one of my tracks. Great performance and I was very happy with the end results. Recommended.
Michelle Packman play in my client album the cello! It was fantastic execution, exactly as I thought!
Thanks, Michelle ! I would love to work with you again.
Interview with Pro String Production
Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?
A: Tuomas Norjanen, composer. Jonas Petersen, composer/producer, Roniit for ethereal vocals.
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: Being creative. I've gained the power over the years to really help tell stories with my art. It makes me really happy to work with someone and what I add can help intensify the original intentions and expectations they had for their music.
Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?
A: The misconceptions are more in the realm of incomplete picture of the possibilities, and that's just from a long history of pop arrangers watering down the string sound from orchestral playing. Modern tech gives us so many more options. Think about everything a voice can do, everything from solo to choral. Strings are similar. We can be dry and close-miced as well. (Ariana's last album was a great example of this)
Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?
A: Is there a demo, do you have parts already written? How long and how many parts do you need?
Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?
A: My first arrangement and recording was a 6-song EP when I was 12. As for performing, I started at 8 on violin, switched to cello at 12, played jazz guitar, flute briefly, studied piano during my cello performance degree. All by choice, it wasn't a tiger mom thing like a lot of string players. I started out strictly in an orchestral setting, but now rarely play in orchestras, unless it's a scoring session. Most of my work is for remote clients, or small ensemble/pop performances.
Q: What's your strongest skill?
A: I know it sounds really cheesy but my strongest skill is my love for what I do, even when I'm busy, sick, tired, etc. If you have serious commitment, all other skills flow from that. I'll stay up until sunrise to make things right if I'm on a tight deadline. Nothing is ever just "good enough". That thing people say, "you do one thing like you do everything" really resonates with me.
Q: What do you bring to a song?
A: I'd like to think I write in a way that is uniquely my own. I like to write and arrange with the mix in mind so I'm not just playing strings I'm painting into the spaces in the mix. I can bring warmth, a lot of string arranging is all about warming things up, but I do a lot of FX and sound design type stuff too.
Q: What's your typical work process?
A: I never write down what I'm going to arrange, I can hear a clear picture and know the textures and voicing in my head before I lay things down, so once I start a project, I usually do everything in one go or at least until I've put all of my brainstorming down. Then I go back and rerecord, refine. For me, the best stuff happens in flow.
Q: Tell us about your studio setup.
A: Space is mostly hardwood; exposed drywall treated with Rockwool 60 and 80. Mics are Neumann TLM 103 and Gefell 300 M. Interface is Clarett 18i8. Intel i9-12900kf Mac/PC. 2 Acoustic Cellos, 1 electric cello, 1 violin, 1 viola, several guitars, mandolin, bass, standard novation MIDI controller. Software is Logic and PT, Up-to-date Kontakt. I have a ton of libraries but for string production my most used plugins are Autotune, Soothe 2, JJP, Fabfilter dynamic EQ & verb. VSTs include CSS Chamber and solo, Spitfire Chamber, Solo, Albion, OA Evolutions, OA Composer Toolkit, and many many more!
Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?
A: Big fan of the seasoned pros who post online tutorials for free. Youtube is collectively my treasure trove of info.
Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.
A: Some common requests include replacing MIDI strings with live ones. I also arrange from scratch and improvise. I love to get a full section gig and just paint with the strings. Every new project I get is like a blank canvas.
Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?
A: Love, quality, perfectionism, flexibility. I don't stop until things are right.
Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?
A: My easiest and most streamlined work is when I get a wav with embedded tempo map, or mp3 with audible click, plus pdf parts and clear performance notes with required sample rate, etc. If anything is left out, that's fine, it will just increase delivery time.
Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?
A: The thought of sand and salty air on equipment makes me cringe. Can I take an anechoic chamber?
Q: What type of music do you usually work on?
A: There is never a typical setting. I can do orchestral, cinematic, hip hop, rock, pop, indie, folk.... really anything.

I was the recording artist and arranger in this production
- CelloAverage price - $200 per song
- String ArrangerContact for pricing
- String SectionContact for pricing
- Composer OrchestralContact for pricing
- ViolinAverage price - $200 per song
- ViolaAverage price - $200 per song
One initial draft + 2 revisions.
- League of Legends
- Hans Zimmer
- Vitamin String Quartet
- Neumann TLM 103 // Gefell M 300 pair // Lyx Pro Star Quad Cables // Focusrite Clarett 18i8 // Intel i9-12900kf
- 64 GB 3400MHz DDR4 // Cello - William Harris Lee
- Chicago // Bow - J. Abriel - Winner Manchester Bow Comp
Discounts on bundles of work, such as albums and OST with multiple cues