release samples

[mbert]

Recently bought the 1st edition of the VSL and had a question: I understand that instruments labeled with "+RS" are able to trigger release samples upon note off, but this doesn't seem to be the case with any of the instruments under the "Long Notes" or "Medium Notes" categories. For example, upon releasing a "long" flute note labeled with "+RS", the sample just stops short and sounds exactly like the sample in the "Long Notes" category without the "+RS" label. (Trills marked with "+RS", on the other hand, work just fine.) Am I missing something?

[tomhartman]

bump

I've noticed the same thing.

What's the secret?

TH

[Paul]

Hello,

there is a test to find out whether RS are playing or not: load an unlooped instrument +RS and let the sustained note play until it rings out and then release the key. You should hear a Release Sample.

The Release Sample is the original release sound of the sample you played, it is not extra loud, but audible, especially if you listen to the sample with no or little reverb.

Please don´t forget that Release Samples are treated as extra samples, which means that your RAM is filled with double the amount of samples when you are loading a +RS instrument.

Hope that helps.

Best,
Paul

[Michael C.]

I have done the test that Paul suggested and have confirmed that the release samples are indeed playing. However, on long sustained notes the release samples are not very convincing. They do not seem to sustain long enough to reproduce the real quality of an acoustic instrument release. I often have to do an artificial volume drop using the mod wheel to get an effect that comes close to achieving the real effect. It would be nice if VSL did new release samples - if you listen to recordings of real instruments, the release of a sustained note, especially if there is a decrescendo, is rather long and gradual (it is really a controlled fade). The VSL release samples are far to abrupt to sound realistic.

Mike

@Paul said:

Hello,

there is a test to find out whether RS are playing or not: load an unlooped instrument +RS and let the sustained note play until it rings out and then release the key. You should hear a Release Sample.

The Release Sample is the original release sound of the sample you played, it is not extra loud, but audible, especially if you listen to the sample with no or little reverb.

Please don´t forget that Release Samples are treated as extra samples, which means that your RAM is filled with double the amount of samples when you are loading a +RS instrument.

Hope that helps.

Best,
Paul

[herb]

The release sample of a normals note (sustain) is exclusively the sound which is part of the resonance of the instruments itself (especially string instruments) and the reflections of the recording stage.
That means, the release sample starts, where the musician defenitely stopped performing. Therfore a piano played flute won't have a loud and spectular release sample.

And of course you don't get any phrasing or expressions with these release samples.
This should be done with normal expression controller.
There are a lot of possibilities, how a musician could express the ending of a note, depending on tempo, style, context, and much more.

A static releasesample which tries to cover these expression possibilities would be a simple restriction, and wouldn't also fit in most cases.
For realistic ending phrases our dynamic samples (crescendi, diminuendi, fp, sfz) could be also very useful.

best Herb

[Dietz]

A short addition - just to state the obvious: Our release samples are not meant to be a cheap "built-in" reverb. Don't expect long trails of things going on after the end of the MIDI-note. It's just what Herb explained above: the end of the note itself.

Enjoy,

/Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library