Hello there.
The problem I am having with Vienna Instruments Solo Strings is that most of the notes in an arpeggio, played via a MIDI keyboard, sound blurry (i.e. no high frequencies at all), but when played individually, they sound as crispy as they're supposed to.
What should I change in the strings' configuration to make all the notes in arpeggios (i.e. played in succession) sound equally clear and crispy?
Thanks in advance.
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Strings' Sound: Crispy Vs Blurry. Please Help.
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@Rian said:
...What should I change in the strings' configuration to make all the notes in arpeggios (i.e. played in succession) sound equally clear and crispy? Thanks in advance.Hi Rain
Please tell us a bit more about the tempo/speed of your arpeggios and which articulations you are using for playing them.
Even better: If you have the possibility then publish a mp3 of these bad arpeggios...
Keep [H]
Beat Kaufmann
- Tips & Tricks while using Samples of VSL.. see at: https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/vitutorials/ - Tutorial "Mixing an Orchestra": https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/mixing-an-orchestra/ -
it happens to all the articulations and at any tempo/speed. here's a link to a test arpeggio (VIOLIN> PERF LEGATO) http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_id=95130&download=1 you'll hear that most of the notes in the succession are somewhat blurry, while all the first ones sound just fine in terms of being sharp and fairly crispy. how do i go about it?
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I'm not sure I understand what you mean but here's my 2c
1 - Are you sure it's not just the vast washes of reverb [;)] building up each phrase that are making the second and following notes appear 'blurry'?
2 - Are you referring to the attacks when you say 'crisp' ? .... Maybe legato is not the articulation you should be using ..try detache and see if that gives you the sound / effect you are after.
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@orchestralalala said:
I'm not sure I understand what you mean but here's my 2c
i said "here's a link" (to a sample mp3). did you listen to it?
No. My comment about the amount of reverb on your example was pure speculation ... you tried using a detache patch yet? [:P]
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it's a tiny mp3, by the way - 500kb. i've tried detache and all the other articulations. no difference. even turned the velocity of the VI strings and my MIDI keyboard up to the maximum - didn't help, either. some notes have attack and clarity in them, some don't. interestingly, it only happens if notes are played in succession. individually, they sound fine.
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@Rian said:
........... some notes have attack and clarity in them, some don't. interestingly, it only happens if notes are played in succession. individually, they sound fine.Attack - This is why I suggested not using a legato patch - the whole point of legato patches is they have smooth sliding transition between notes (when played in succession).
eg with a legato patch loaded, play a note, release the key... (wait half a second) now play a different note - the attacks are the same for both notes. Now play the first note again but thi stime keep it held down while you press the second key - now you get the legato transition between note 1 and note 2.
Although VSL legato patches use a specific legato sample for each interval transition even the other patches like a sus patch will sound 'legato- like' if you overlap the notes in a run.
This is kind of blooming obvious and I'm 99.9% sure you know this! .. and yet I don't know what else the issue could be?!
Clarity - this I have no idea about. Like I said in my other post, I can only think it is the reverb on your example which is blurring the 2nd and subsiquent notes in each phrase. There is a lot of (long) reverb tail in the example! How does it sound with no reverb at all?
You're not talking about vibrato are you by any chance? Sorry I am clutching at straws ! .....
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He's referring to the clarity issue as in a change of timbre of the instrument when played legato. But this is also what happens in reality. You could also note, that the amount of "reducing" clarity in the beginning of the note is also determined by the interval played, e.g. smaller ones like a second or third have still some while it is more obvious on fifth to octave intervals. Sometimes it may feel unnatural and disturb the overall feeling of a piece, however you could also observe that kind of thing with real recordings sometimes, as the legato shouldn't have "attacks" and therefore no "sharp" beginning but the beginning being a sliding transition like orchestralalala already said. He btw. was being a bit sarcastic when already having heard your piece the first time, and I agree that it would make things easier to discuss if less reverb or only as little as possible was applied (but still some).
All the best,
PolarBear
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Hi Rian,
Having listened to your mp3 I can understand your comments about the later notes appearing to have less attack.
It sounds, to me, that the reason the successive notes sound softer is that a large percentage of their attack portion is below the level of the audio present from the preceding note so not heard thus effectively softening the attack. There is a way for you to confirm this - firstly turn off all reverb, - secondly introduce a short pause between the end and start of each note - thirdly try editing the release time of the patch so that the preceeding note is cut artificially short i.e. very quick release.
Now play the sequence and listen to all the notes and to compare try playing the sequence with the midi notes muted except for one in the middle and compare the results. If you find this to be the case but still want to use the same patch I would try reducing the echo a little and maybe shortening it, putting a little more space between the notes and perhaps making each successive note a little louder than the one before.
Hope this helps
Julian
