Vienna_Smart_Orchestra_Manual_v1 says "In the ensembles, the bass instruments ... resulting in an effective play range from C1 to C7"

I can't get this.

The range from C4 to B4 is missing for the Woodwinds - Patch 13 WW 0B Long.

The PAD also sound strange from B3 to C4, I hear 1 octave.

I do not own any other VSL library, is it the usual way to program the library or is it a mistake ?

"Are these sample libraries of equal or better quality than those of my Special Editions and Epic Orchestra?=> Same quality, different general idea, taking advantage of the new possibilities in the Synchron Player. "

When I use Velocity Xfade, I hear only 2 velocity layers, and the transition is not smooth, is it the usual way to program your library ?

"The “marcato control” feature enables you to play everything from smooth legato lines"

I do not find the way to get the legato when using this patch, how to get it ?

The Solo instrumlents offers the legato, but I do not find the way to play Chords, how can I play Chords with the  solo instruments ?

Hello Paul,

Is Smart Orchestra made from new recordings of samples, or is it derived from your existing catalog of instruments?

Thank you,

Rick

Hi!

@S4410: Please send the crash-dumps to support@vsl.co.at!, the location is shown after the crash.

And: Yes, we do offer a return policy of 30 days if the software products and libraries were purchased in our webshop. But we will make this work, of course!

@Olivin:

1) There are 3 presets for this case: one with 2 octaces for the bass instruments, one optione with 1 octave for the bass instrumenst and one without bass instruments. Did you try those yet?

2) This layered concept is not our usual way with any VSL products, but with the very affordable sketching tool, it is the way to go. For more detail at entry level prices, you could check out, e.g., our Special Editions.

3) There are 2-4 velocity layers available for all instruments, and of course they are optimized, so it's hard to compare the results with our much bigger VI Collections and Synchron Series products under the acoustic microscope.

4) Not sure where you found the marcato sentence, we actually decided against marcato control for the solo legato instruments. But it can be added. Please contact support@vsl.co.at and we will create such a preset for you.

5) To get a polyphonic legato, please go to the PERFORM tab and activate the "Poly" Legato Mode in the column to the right. We have deactivated it by default to stay performance-friendlier.

@cooncat: The samples are derived from our existing calatol of instruments, optimized for the task. A "best of" for live-sketches and quick writing.

Best,
Paul

Hi, I just bought it and testing it!

I guess if there is any way to control "Vel.Fx" through an envelope generator so that it cn create a sort of "crescendo" without having to move any manual cc?

Any way in the future to see other specific "solo" instruments (like "violas") or a way to change the mis in the violins other sections? I mean to change the volume of bass, violas, strings for instance...

Thank you in advance,

Hi Paul, Thank you for your very fast answer.

I still have some interrogations.

1 - effective play range from C1 to C7

Vienna_Smart_Orchestra_Manual_v1 says "In the ensembles, the bass instruments ... resulting in an effective play range from C1 to C7"

1A - Regular Mapping

I can't get this for the Woodwinds when using the Patch 13 WW 0B Long, the range from C4 to B4 is missing.

To explain the problem I will only use the Patch "Regular Mapping - no Bass"

When I play range from C1 to C7 for the Strings (patch 03 Strings 0B Long) I hear notes from C1 to C7 . It's OK

When I play range from C1 to C7 for the Brass (patch 23 Brass 0B Long) I hear notes from C1 to C7 . It's OK

When I play range from C1 to B3 for the Woodwinds (patch 13 WW 0B Long) I hear notes from C1 to B3 . It's OK

When I play range from C3 to C7 for the Woodwinds (patch 13 WW 0B Long) I hear notes from C4 to C8 . There is a problem.

Why do we miss an octave for the woodwinds ?

1B - Pad Mapping

There is the same problem with the "Pad Mapping", there is a jump from 1 octave from B2 to C3 (or from B3 to C4, it's depend of your Keyboard configuration).

Why do we miss an octave for the Pad ?

4 - "The “marcato control” feature enables you to play everything from smooth legato lines to aggressive ostinatos in just one patch by simply moving a pre-configured fader." 

This is describe Here : https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Starter_Editions/Smart_Orchestra

What does it mean, I do not find any option to get the legato for the ensemble ?

5) "To get a polyphonic legato, please go to the PERFORM tab and activate the "Poly" Legato Mode in the column to the right. We have deactivated it by default to stay performance-friendlier. "

It doesn't affect the one Patch, but all the patchs inside the preset.  I can't find a way to activate or desactivate when playing,  so it seems impossible to switch between legato to chords phrases.

Is it possible to activite this feature by using CC ?

Olivier

Hello!

@vscorpio: An envelope generator is currently not planned, but we hear you.

Violas are integrated in the Strings patches. If you want all instruments (or sections) available as solo instruments, you might be interested in our Special Editions or Instrument collections.

@Olivier:

1) Samples from different instruments are layered in different octaves to have a bigger overall range. The samples you menation are not left out. For example in the keyboard range C2 to B3 of the patch "13 WW Long" you hear samples from C1 to B2 and samples from C2 to B3 layered. The higher you get in this range, the softer the suboctave will get. From C4 on the suboctave is not present.

4) You can find the marcato articulation under Long notes (switch A#0) / Marcato (switch C#1). The marcato attack of this articulation can further be controlled by CC3.

5) Legato Mode affects all performance interval patches (that's the solo instrument patches in Vienna Smart Orchestra). This option cannot be set individually for slots in Synchron Player. It's possible to control the option with CC indeed. Simply add it on the Control page.

Best regards,
Andi

Hello,

Thank you for your help.

1 - effective play range from C1 to C7

I perhaps do not explain me in a way that is not enough clear, please, read carefully, play and listen the note you get.  I use the Patch "Regular Mapping - no Bass", long articulation.

Instrument   Keyboard -> Note I hear

String           C1                C1

String          C4                 C4

String          C7                 C7

Brass           C1                C1

Brass          C4                 C4

Brass          C7                 C7

WW             C1                C1

WW             C4                C5

WW             C7                C8

Instrument   Keyboard Range   ->Note I hear Range

String                   C1 - C7            C1 - C7

Brass                   C1 - C7             C1 - C7

WW                      C1 - C7             C1 - C8

My conclusion, It is not consistent between the three sections, 1 octave is missing for the woodwinds.

There is no relation between the notes you play on the keyboard and notes you hear for the woodwinds, unlike the Strings and Brass.

My question : Will you update the woodwinds to have them in coherence with the Strings and Brass or will you keep things like this ?

Hello Olivier!

Sorry, I have not been precise enough and had a little mistake in my previous post.

I will call middle C C4. That's our default naming convention.

The patch "13 WW 0B Long" has a keyboard range from C2 to C6.

From C2 to B2 you will hear C2 to B2.

From C3 to B3 you will hear C3 to B3 and C4 to B4 coming in. The higher you will get in this octave, the stronger the notes from octave 4 will come in. From key C4 on, you will hear the notes from octave 5. No octave is missing, but the keyboard octave from C3 to C4 covers two octaves in pitch.

The overlapping has been done to get a bigger range into the patch range. Otherwise we would loose the high range of the Piccolo flute. So it's not possible that every pitch has it's individual key. This will not be updated. Please note that the Vienna Smart Orchestra is a tool for sketching and playing a full orchestra live. It's not ment for having all instruments available in full detail. That's what our other libraries are for.

Best,
Andi

Hi Paul,

I loved your demo on Smart Orchestra and I too was surprised not to see the €95 discount automatically displayed in my basket - I have SE v1& SE v2 of Woodwinds  and Woodwinds plus.

Please can you help?

Many thanks

Nik

Hi Nik,

I checked your account and could only find registrations for SE Volume 1 Woodwinds... the other sections are not registered (and you need all sections of SE Volume 1 (Strings, Brass, Woowdins, Percussion&More) to qualify for the discount).

Best,
Paul

HI Paul,

Oh okay, I see. How does the SE full bundle compare sound-wise to the Smart Orchestra?

Thanks for the quick reply!

Im a bit confused on the pricing... I own the license for the Special Edition core 1-4, is the price staying at 95 Euros or will it increase after the introuductory offer?

I am VERY interested in this from the perspective of the FX and pads. Alot of stuff Im working on lately is more ethereal stuff, and its great now that I can use the library I have chosen to invest in to finally be able to do that. Would love to see the pads and fx expanded even more :)

I get alot of people that ask me, "Why Vienna?" My answer is always simple. Its the software. Let's be real. Most soundfonts today only offer a subtle difference in sound between the different libraries. To my ears, Spitfire, 8dio, Cinesamples, EastWest, they are all very similar. Vienna has a more dry sound, more unique and flexible in that regard, but that comes at a cost of more processing required to get that sound you want, and it is totally possible to get Vienna to sound similar to these other libraries with some tweaking. However, the thing that cant be beat is the software. The Play software from EastWest stinks. Kontakt is even worse. Both get in the way of my creativity. Heck, I still cant figure out how to get articulation changes to work correctly in Play from EastWest and I have been a subscriber to EastWest forever. Vienna Instruments, its so simple. load the instrument, create a matrix, drop the articulations in, Im writing music for that instruments in a minute after loading the sound. I only wish you guys would consider doing a DAW. Ill bet you could simplify the entire chain, while still providing the features necessary to write good music.

Synchron looks to be a simplified version of VI, which in itself, isnt necessarily a bad thing. I think the only major thing Id miss is the humanize function that VI offers. This subtle effect really brings a human touch to compositions. I really want to play with it, but being that my car was totalled, and, I have a final school payment coming up in the next week (Im a student), money is a bit tight at the moment... Hence why Im worried about whether the Special Edition pricing is going to change...

Hi!

@Nik: Check out the demos, it should be pretty clear. But the main advantage is the playability!

@littleweirdo: The price for Smart Orchestra will be increased after the introductory offer. And we're of course working on more FX. 

Thanks for the praise of our softwatre, I'll share that with the team as well!

Synchron Player simply opens new possibilities for different kinds of products, and we are only at version 1.1 right now... 

Also: Be careful on the roads!!

Best, 
Paul

« And we're of course working on more FX. »

I an not sure more FX are useful (exception is transcient shaper for percussion).

When I play sound from the FX presets, they quickly become boring. The sound is static, nothing happend.

What is missing is modulation.

Have a look at the way to modulate the sound with :

• Izotope Iris 2
• Heavyocity Gravity Pack

There are few effects available, but many ways to modulate the sound.

Iris 2 contains the classic Enveloppe and LFO and Gravity contains some motions sequencers.

The result is incredible and it's easy to create animated sound design.

Stop working on more FX and add modulation to the FX.

Hi Olivin, 

That's an INCREDIBLE idea, we would have never thought of that!

Best, 
Paul

What's the mixer / output sections setup on this?

thanks

Hi Carl,

Check out the videos, please.

All sections (Strings, Woodwdinds, Brass, Percussion) are controllable on separate volume faders, and additionally you get the solo legato instruments on separate faders.

Best,
Paul

No online manual pdf?

I watched but only heard mention of an internal mixer, balancing, not how separate outputs are available for user routing. Also no mention of how it operates inside of VEPro, MIR or with existing VSL libraries.

Hi Carl, 

I can send you the Synchron Player pdf, please send a quick mail to support@vsl.co.at.

In short words: Flexible routing, also with VE PRO. 

Best, 
Paul

@Paul said:

Hi Carl, 

I can send you the Synchron Player pdf, please send a quick mail to support@vsl.co.at.

In short words: Flexible routing, also with VE PRO. 

Best, 
Paul

Thanks Paul,

just purchased so I should have it shortly!