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  • Glissandi question

    Hi - I do not own any Vienna Instruments (yet!) and I have a question about glissandi. As far as I can see only certain octave glissandi are included. I can understand that a sample based library is going to have difficulty accomodating every note-to-note combination - not to mention the speed/dynamic/rate of glissandi etc but is there ever going to be a way for VSL to produce a 'performance glissandi'...... and if it's not possible using samples alone what about a sample+technology solution (cross fading/ morphing/real time pitch shift or whatever) .... even if it does go slightly against the natural (even 'purist') approach to VSL! [[:|]]

    I guess I'm thinking of something like the legato articulations except being able to somehow specify the 'slide time' (between a fraction of a second and maybe 3 - 4 seconds). Each articulation could come in 3 versions: a constant rate of slide, an accelerating and a decelerating slides.

    In terms of orchestral work I am a complete ameteur [:D] and I admit to not having really thought this through thouroughly so I hope this makes sense. I wonder if it might be feasable at least for the orchestral (not chamber/solo) string libraries and non-valve Brass etc? I just happen to have a thing abpout glissadi that's all. [[;)]]

    P.S. Am I right about what is included at the moment?

  • Hi,

    there are performance glissandi in our libraries - for solo strings, violin ensemble (14 players), clarinet, Viennese horns, horn ensembles with 4 and 8 players, triple horn, tenor and contrabass trombone and trombone ensemble with 3 players.

    Apart from that, there also are fixed glissandi for all these and several percussion instruments (timpani, xylophone, etc.).

    Regards,
    David
    VSL manuals

  • Thanks David, and sorry to be so ignorant!

    So can you or somebody tell me then how these articulations work in practice. I mean how exactly are they triggered and how much flexibility do you get with the duration of the glissandi?

    Thanks!

  • With the performance glissandos, you simply play the interval you want (depending, of course, on the instrument's capabilities) - the glissando starts when you hit the second note.
    For the fixed glissandos, there are often two speeds so that you can vary the duration within certain limits.
    Quite a few of the string instruments also offer harmonics glissandos.

    Regards,
    d.

  • Also, I've had some good results using the standard perf-leg portamento, and writing a legato scale of thirds or fourths. This gives you more control over the speed/duration of the gilss. You have to be careful in getting the speed right, to avoid the sound of each transition "resolving" to the target note, but it can be done, and works quite well.

    J.

  • Thanks for the replies eveyone.

  • last edited
    last edited

    @jbm said:

    Also, I've had some good results using the standard perf-leg portamento, and writing a legato scale of thirds or fourths. This gives you more control over the speed/duration of the gilss. You have to be careful in getting the speed right, to avoid the sound of each transition "resolving" to the target note, but it can be done, and works quite well.

    J.


    What a truly clever way to go about it, J. Thanks for the suggestion!