@PauloRego said:
Hi guys,
I'd like to record melodic lines in as performances as opposed to manually entering in MIDI notes.
- Is the best workflow with solo instruments to use the expression slider for dynamics on long notes and velocity on short notes?
- Is the best workflow with ensemble instruments to use the velocity x-fade for dynamics on long notes and velocity on short notes?
- Which other sliders are people using these days to enhance authenticity of the performance?
Please note: I only own the standard edition of the symphonic cube and I'm not looking to upgrade. I just want to do the best I can with what I've got.
Many Thanks
Paulo
One man's opinion here.
There's probably as many ways of doing it as there are people doing it, but In general for most instruments I use Velocity X-Fade for initial loudness but more importantly timbre, since the samples are recorded at various velocity layers-- this affects the timbre.
Then use Expression for dynamics within the timbre. This is especially useful for those times when the Velocity X-Fade transition to a new velocity layer isn't so smooth. If you're just going for loudness, you can use Expression to stay within the same velocity layer. (I wish I had Standard instruments instead of Special Edition, because they contain more velocity layers.)
Of course you always have your Master Volume in VI Pro and your track gain slider in your DAW to help you balance between instruments.
If it was me, I wouldn't want to micromanage the on/off of Velocity X-Fade in order to switch to using velocity for loudness and timbre. I'd be interested to read what other say about it.
It's also worth noting that percussion and some other instruments lend themselves better to velocity instead of Velocity X-Fade for loudness and timbre.
To me I don't see a reason to operate differently for solo instruments and ensemble instruments. But perhaps others feel differently, I don't know.
Really it just becomes a matter of experimenting with the results, no matter what slider you are using. Does your keyboard have sliders? That makes it easier to experiment. I'll end up using Start, or Attack, or Release if it gives me the sound I want. If you have cells set up for it, Slot X-Fade proves really useful for transitions within notes. But in every case I learned what I learned by experimentation.
Even though I play samples in, I still use the Humanize feature of VI Pro. For solo instruments I scale it up to 100 or more.
Hope this helps some. Now we can wait for the real experts to chime in.
