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  4. pitchbend in strings

  • pitchbend in strings

    E
    E

    I'm an absolute newbie to VSL having just installed the SE and SE Plus bundle this afternoon. I'm using it in Logic 9. Is it possible to get pitchbends in strings, especially solo strings?

    I wouldn't start with this but I opened a specific file which required this in the solo violin. I'd also want to use it in the ensemble patches as well.
  • PaulP
    VSL Team
    PaulP

    Hello Edward,

    I believe that you are referring to "portamento"... Just check out the corresponding articulation, it´s there for Solo Strings, Chamber Strings and Orchestral Strings!

    Best,

    Paul

    Paul Kopf Head of Product Marketing, Social Media and Support
  • E
    E

    Thanks Paul and maybe I shouldn't have asked. It sounds like cats wailing the way I have it and I suppose I need to use it more sparingly. My portamenti are already set up in my original midi files, which remain intact in Logic and I don't know if you can set up VSL to recognize these.

    But I obviously have to learn the controls and assignments as I'd like a more subtle effect and not all the time. So, no, I haven't saved any of these changes yet.
  • N
    N

    Are you using the standard free VI, or VI Pro 2?  In the standard free VI, the portamento has only one speed and cannot be varied.  In VI Pro 2, you can change the time length of the portamento and create alternate portamento patches with a longer or shorter effect, depending on what is needed.

    Being new to VSL, there is good reason to first learn your way around the free VI, and once you have a grasp of what it can do, to then consider VI Pro 2.  VI Pro 2 has many features that the free VI simply does not, and will provide tools to increase the realism of your VSL instruments.
  • E
    E

    As I mentioned, I installed the SE and SE Plus bundle yesterday. My present difficulty has to do with not completely understanding how to change articulations and this goes well beyond portamento. So it's really a basic question.

    I presume that I can apply the portamento articulation in specific places and there do seem tro be controls that can be applied to these slides.
  • Beat KaufmannB
    Beat KaufmannB

    Hi Edward

    Here is the way: http://www.beat-kaufmann.com/vitutorials/vi-tips--tricks-1/index.php#53248297b50c2b917

    A lot of success!

    All the best

    Beat

    - 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/
  • E
    E
    last edited
    last edited

    Yes, that looks very helpful but I will have to try this out after I deal with my day.

    Thanks Beat,

    Ed Gold

    @Beat Kaufmann said:

    Hi Edward

    Here is the way: http://www.beat-kaufmann.com/vitutorials/vi-tips--tricks-1/index.php#53248297b50c2b917

    A lot of success!

    All the best

    Beat
  • E
    E

    Haven't gotten to the pitch bend setup Beat suggested but though I still haven't the faintest idea of how to set up the changes in articulation of the samples in Logic using the VSL samples, I have an additional question which came up.

    Using the string samples, it's become apparent that the portamentos occur whether one asks for them at all to the extent of more "caterwauling" say in the violins of the SE. A slide in the cellos I've left alone as it sounds plausible but I changed the violin articulation from legato to sustain in order to fix that. But I don't know why that happens at all; does it happen when you get above a major third? Are these in the samples or did I do something wrong by unwittingly changing from legato to portamento?

    Since my sample setup doesn't really look like Paul's in his tutorial, I'm at a loss.
  • E
    E

    Well, many thanks Beat,

    After dealing with portamentos which I pretty well found disastrous (they were not only uncontrolled and too obtrusive but just wouldn't reset to a normal articulation.) I used your tutorial and found it worked much better.

    Ed
  • Beat KaufmannB
    Beat KaufmannB

    [:)][Y]

    Beat

    - 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/
  • E
    E

    Actually, I've learned a lot more in a few days and can deal a little better with the portamento articulation as well, I have also started combining the pitch bend and portamento in some files. (No, not at the same time!)

    [:)]Ed
  • E
    E

    After working with portamento vs pitchbend for a while, I've decided to mostly use portamento for more obvious slides since I don't have any of the Pro sets in which the portamenti can be softened satisfactorily.  Yes, I see how to soften those in the SE with the control edits, but it definitely causes problems when you want to return to a legato for example. (the attack is too soft and then the next note is too loud.)

    Pitchbends give more control and sublety I think. (Please correct me if i'm wrong.)