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  3. Questions about Opus 1

  • Questions about Opus 1

    R
    R
    Greetings all,

    I am relatively new to the world of the virtual orchestra and have spent the last year or so coming up to speed using Halion Strings and Garritan Personal Orchestra. Both of these products are good but, of course, do not cover the breadth and depth that the VSL products appear to.

    I am considering purchasing the Opus 1 set but I am confused by a few things. In particular:

    1. There will be a Halion version of Opus 1, correct? If that is the case, then how will the Performance Tool interface with it? I have Halion 2.0 and use it primarily for perc. but it is not clear to me how I would interface it with the Performance Tool.

    2. I've seen a lot of discussion on this forum regarding the "construction" of mod-wheel crossfade programs. Is this not the default behavior for the Opus 1 programs? (It is for Halion Strings and GPO). Using the mod wheel to control volume seems logical and musical to me - if the programs are only controlled via velocity, then how do you do crescendo/decrescendo over sustained notes? Maybe this question is more about my lack of knowledge about how to program a sampler.

    3. I find that I really like the Halion Strings and I think it might have to do with the fact that the samples are 24 bit. Will there ever be a 24 bit equivalent to Opus 1 (i.e. same general number and type of samples and same price point)?

    Thanks in advance,

    rgames
  • M
    M
    I made a similar way like you from HSE and GPO to Opus1. Once you have worked with Opus1 you won´t go back, believe me. The HSE strings are cheap crap compared. Especially the violins are very synthlike. However, I have to say HSE is maybe better for string pads which *shall* sound like a synth pad.

    You will have a bit of a learning curve but don´t worry, post your questions here and you will be helped.

    A lot of patches in Opus1 are programmed for mod-wheel use but not the solo instruments because blending them simply doesn´t sound good. Although I use GPO when I work in Sibelius I never really cared about the modwheel use in GPO. I´ll investigate.

    First question I cannot answer.

    Take the plunge into VSL. You won´t regret it.
    Bests,
    - Mathis
  • cmC
    VSL Team
    cmC
    welcome rgames,
    http://www.vsl.co.at/download/VSL_PC_Setup_Guide_HALion.pdf
    HTH, christian
    and remember: only a CRAY can run an endless loop in just three seconds.
  • R
    R
    Thanks, the PDF helped - I had seen the first two methods of using the Perf. Tool on a website (a bit convoluted, but I gues once you do it a few times, it's not a problem). Using Halion as a standalone sampler makes a lot more sense - I wasn't aware that you could do that with 3.0.

    I'm still unclear on the crescendo/decrescendo issue though - how do you control dynamics for sustained notes on the solo instruments?

    Thanks again,

    rgames
  • R
    R
    I've looked through all the info I can find on Halion 3 and I don't see anywhere that it says that it can be used as a standalone application. The .PDF file that I got for the Perf. Tool w/ Halion recommends using Halion3 in "standalone mode." I downloaded the Halion 3 manual and it only shows three modes of operation: VST, DXi, and AU.


    ?????


    Also, are my questions regarding cresc/decresc so basic that I'll figure it out if I decide to dump the money into the sample library? It certainly would be nice to know beforehand and it seems to me that it's a very basic question.

    Thanks,

    rgames
  • C
    C
    There are crese/decrese samples for most instruments in the Opus 1 collection. I believe they are something like 6 sec long. If you want something shorter of longer than that you can use the mod wheel samples. (note Opus 1 does not have mod wheel samples for solo instruments -only the brass and string sections have them) This will let you increase or decrease velocity of the sustained notes like you wanted. For the solo instruments and all woodwinds I use a volume envelope to create crese/decrese since Opus 1 doesn't have modwheel samples for those. It doesn't sound nearly as good but hey...

    hope that answers your question.

    calaf
  • PaulP
    VSL Team
    PaulP
    last edited
    last edited
    Hi rgames!

    Calaf describes the way most people are working with Opus 1 concerning dynamics. Of course you will find more articulations recorded in the bigger symphonic editions, but I´m sure you will find your way around with Opus 1 by using either modwheel-blends or MIDI-Volume.

    Concerning HALion3:

    @Another User said:

    I downloaded the Halion 3 manual and it only shows three modes of operation: VST, DXi, and AU.


    DXi is a Direct X instrument, the stand-alone version.
    AU is the Audio unit for Mac.

    HTH, all the best, Paul
    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
  • R
    R
    Thanks to you all for the feedback!

    rgames