It depends entirely on the library I am using. Anything that has its own room sound I just add a tail that seems appropriate. With Cinematic Studio Strings, for instance. Or even Light & Sound Chamber Strings, which are very dry, but still have their own room sound. With VSL libraries however I use separate instances of reverb for ERs and tail. I have this crazy reverb setup with Dimension Strings where every individual player has its own set of reverbs. First an instance for ER, then another one with ERs for stage placement if I want a very clearly defined stage placement, than two more for tail.
In a setup with 32 individual players that makes for some 120 instances of reverb. Way too much for my computer to handle in real time. So what I did is carefully check the volume difference for each player with and without reverb, and then compensate for it in the mixer. Now I play the strings without the reverbs. When bouncing I switch on the reverbs and disable the volume compensation, knowing that the reverberated strings will be at the same volume levels as I played them in. It’s a pretty neat solution for me. That way I don’t have to bounce until the very end, and I know that the added reverb will not totally screw my mix. It’s complicated as hell to set up, but once it’s done it’s easy to work with.
Not quite what you were asking, but I think it is interesting non the less: with Dimension Strings, reverb on each individual player vs on the whole section does make an audible difference to my ears. Here are two examples:
Violins 1, reverb on the whole section:
Violins 1, reverb on each individual player:
Celli, reverb on the whole section:
Celli, reverb on each individual player:
The latter sounds more spacious to me, the former a little flat in comparison. It’s not a night and day difference, but enough for me to make it worth.
But despite all that I am rethinking and readjusting reverb every few months or so. In fact, at the moment I have a mind to test a few other setups with different tools than the ones I’m currently using, and compare them to my current setup.
Interesting observation
@Saxer. I've come to like libraries that have a room sound, but not too much tail. Think CSS, LASS, or Light & Sound. But roomy samples with the tail cut, that sounds like an interesting solution. Any more developers doing that apart from Musical Sampling and Eastwest?