I have been using solo strings for several years, and a problem I run into is that the "sustained" patches (i.e. VI sustain, etc.) do not sustain indefinately. I have been trying to create long sustained effects and cannot do this. Is there a solution?
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solo strings sustain not looped?
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Hi Charles,
simply retriggering does the job, you should get a "bowchange" sustain sample,
the bowchanges you hear when holding a key (there are more changes at the higher velocities)
are the startpoints of the retriggered keys
this technique makes also sense to have some control when bowchanges are taking place,
you can't perform them later, but you can triggering them earlier, so this could help to place the changes at musical adequate positions
the only sustains which do not have bowchanges are the pp (vel 0-55)
but these samples are for that reason looped
best
Herb
PS: hope "bowchanges" is the correct term for the german "bogenwechsel"?
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Hello Herb,
Thank you very much for the prompt reply! It would appear that my system is working as designed.
I am indeed aware of the longer sustain on low velocity notes. However, I still do not get an indefinate sustain. A loop does not seem to be forthcoming.
I am currently experimenting with the VA-sus Vib FA patch (solo strings I) on the highest sampled note, Ab5. The note will not sustain, even at a velocity setting of 36, for longer than 6 and 1/2 seconds. The sustain appears to get progressively longer as one decends the instruments range. The low open C will sustain for about 15 seconds. Therefore, attempting long clusters with this staggered release time requires, if using the suggested retriggering method, retriggering at different times for each different note.
Yes, I can simply play (retrigger) the note again with careful spacing. This does seem inconvenient. Do I understand correctly that this is the way to work-around the sustain issue? In my humble opinion, a continued sustain would have been more user friendly!
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Charles, this issue comes up fairly frequently. It simply comes down to the reality that a strings player cannot produce a loud sound using a single bowstroke for an extended period of time.
Having said that, a player can very possibly sustain a moderate volume note longer than some of the sustains (as a bass player I can speak about the bass sustains first hand). If you own VI Pro, there is a very reasonable solution. The sustains can be lengthened by using the stretch tool (the tutorials note that stretching works best with non-vibrato samples, but one certainly can stretch samples with vibrato). IMO, the stretched samples match or slightly exceed what a live player is capable of, and can prove very useful in certain situations.
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Well, of course a single bow cannot go on indefinately. Actually, that is not the point here. Most looped sustain samples are looped with a down/up or up/down pattern, as are many of the loops in the Solo String library. As one holds down the note, one can hear the bowing change. In fact, this point was brought up in the initial response to my post.
My inquiry was directed at why these loops simple stop after a certain number of repetitions. Apparently this is how they were designed. This does not make a lot of sense to me, but now that I know this is not an equipment failure, I can deal with it.
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Hi Noldar12,
Well, thanks! I do appreciate it and I offer my regrets if I sounded annoyed!
Peace,
Charles
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@nektarios said:
I am glad I came across this thread, as it answered a whole lot of questions for me...
Excellent! I am glad these posts stay here after all these years.
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Hi Herb, I don't understand how to retrigger a note. I am currently using solo violin sus vib, I have a long sustained note. I have divided it in to separate notes, assuming this is what retriggering means. What happens is that the previous sample seems to simply stop at the end of the first note, then when the second note triggers it resumes without a re-bow at the same sample position, and ends up stopping before the end of the second note, (even though both notes are the same!). I saw somewhere online there is an advanced setting where you can set the delay before a retrigger happens, but I can't find any more settings or information. Can you please tell me exactly what I have to do to "retrigger" a sustained note? Thanks, Derek
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Thank you for this, tip, Paul. And thank you, everyone, for your inputs. This workaround with the sus really helped me out a lot. I'm glad I found this thread.
- Gino
Hi dezkirkup,
Leave as little space as possible between the notes. One idea is to use a sustain pedal when you retrigger.
Does that help?
Best,
Paul
