Celeste

[Fabio Biolcati]

Dear fellows,
I wish to share with you my latest work

Celeste

It's my first attempt at using VSL in DAW environment. Before, I only tweaked scores in notation sw.

I'm not happy with the sizzling sound of the violins divisi at the beginning.
Trying to tame it lead me to rework the balance of the entire mix. I need to put it on hold for a while.

Tech specs: VSL SE, GPO Flute, Sage Gateshead MIRx venue, Reaper 5, Exponential Audio PhoenixVerb, Notion 5 (virtual rehearsals).

Hope you'll enjoy.

Best

[Acclarion]

Hi Fabio,

Thank you for sharing this new work!  Picturesque and uplifting, it's a beautiful, reflective piece that deserves to be heard.  I noticed the dedication to Jos Wylin...he's a wonderfully supportive member of this forum and talented musician that always takes the time to encourage others.  Many "established" composers rarely take the time to do this, which is a shame.  It looks like whatever connection you and Jos have formed, yielded a beautiful piece of music!

Congrats and Happy New Year!

Dave

[Fabio Biolcati]

Thank you for your kind words, Dave.

Though a Vienna user for more than a lustrum, I never found enough time and bravery to move one of my projects out of the realm of notation software into a DAW, thus being able to handle CCs and balance the mix rolling along.


Well, it simply ended in a nightmare. Things resulted being, in order: too quiet, loud, harsh, smooth… And possibly two dead pigeons in the water tank.

I shared my complaints with Jos and he returned me with many helpful reccomandations, sent device settings to mimic with different processors than his etc.

Still, most of all, he was very patient with me and the message stream I flooded his e-mailbox with.

I think he truly deserves a dedication as the very existence of Celeste deserves so much to him.

[William]

Hi Fabio, I listened because you were nice enough to listen to mine! It sounds excellent, maybe use legato flute at the end for those fast notes which sounded like trills? - but sounds really good in general.

[Fabio Biolcati]

Thank you for listening, William.
Those fast notes were intended to be trills, actually.
Instrument is not from VSL and it has only sustains in it, trills are self-generated by the scoring program and stretched by me in Reaper.
I'll check the mix to make them sound better.
Keep safe. Best wishes for the New Year.

[Jos Wylin]

Hi Fabio,

Thanks again for the dedication. I'm very honored with it. And it was my honor to help you with the settings. Unfortunately you live so far away that it is impossible (and certainly in these days of COVID) to come together and handle this in person...

I noticed that William made the same remark about the trills. It is simply impossible with the flute you've used to make nice rowing legatos because of the nature of the recording: every single note has an equally strong attack that sits in the way of a nice flow. That shouldn't be a problem with the VSL flutes (with which you can regulate the attacks and releases).

(Sorry for the delay, but my iMac had to be repaired and that took quite some time...)

All the best,

Jos

[Fabio Biolcati]

Thank you Jos, and you know how much you deserve thanks from me, beyond the turmoil of getting Celeste done.

I'm considering buying Flute I Std while on sale, as, to me, the one in SE is the weak ring in the collection.
The Alto Flute is also tempting —we just discussed about this nice instruments on the other Forum.

Unfortunately, VSL has chose the wrong month to put VI collections on sale as I'm struggling with annoying medical ailments and related expenses. Orchestral and Solo String, Voices… must wait for the next time.

I will look into better trills as soon as possible. These days I'm taking advantage of demo period from Overture 5 and spending all my limited computer time stretching it to its limits before putting it on my wish list. Handling of VSL libraries is good, the software is more stable than in the past, yet it needs some corners to be rounded. Last but not least, it runs under 10.11.6.

Keep safe

All the best

[Stavrinski]

Very nice composition Fabio!

I agree with Jos regarding the solo flute at the end... maybe you should give the VSL flute another chance ;-)

I am using Sibelius for my demos and I am pretty well satisfied with the results. I simply find it too strenuous and time consuming to transfer my music to my DAW (Logic) although I am not denying that it can be worthwhile.

Thanks for sharing

Best 

Steve

[Fabio Biolcati]

Thank you for listeing Steve.

You're right, VSL Flute deserves another chance, especially at mere 32€.
I suspect its sub par overall (I'm not talking about trills, here) performance is Notion fault at triggering it properly, as it sounds better in Overture.

Transferring our compositions from notation to DAW equals to move from writing desk to a recording studio, impersonating conductor, sound and mastering engineers along the path — even the coffe making interns.
I wish to able to work out a record quality mockup, but it is really time consuming and, while retired, I need to spend my time otherwise. At the moment an adequate sonic representation of my works is enough — if I could only tame those bl**dy trills…

On this subject, you're doing a very good job within Sibelius.

All the best

[PaoloT]

Very beautiful, and very sweet, Fabio! A very delicate portrait!

Paolo

[Fabio Biolcati]

thank you, Paolo. Thank you very much.

[Jos Wylin]

@Fabio Biolcati said:

I suspect its sub par overall (I'm not talking about trills, here) performance is Notion fault at triggering it properly, as it sounds better in Overture.

Hi Fabio,

It is possible to use the VSL flute (and other instruments) in Notion, without the Notion presets (which are useful to work quickly). When building up the score, don't use the Notion presets, but simple VST instead. When the score is built, put an instrument (VI) in every VST instance and then give every VI an instrument (e.g. Flute I). That will play the flute correctly, but alas some articulations will be missing (to name one: the trills...). But it has the advantage that you can use all the other articulations without interference of the Notion settings.

To have everything played correctly, a DAW is necessary. (Reaper in your case?)

All the best,

Jos

[Fabio Biolcati]

@Fabio Biolcati said:

I suspect its sub par overall (I'm not talking about trills, here) performance is Notion fault at triggering it properly, as it sounds better in Overture.

Hi Fabio,

It is possible to use the VSL flute (and other instruments) in Notion, without the Notion presets (which are useful to work quickly). When building up the score, don't use the Notion presets, but simple VST instead. When the score is built, put an instrument (VI) in every VST instance and then give every VI an instrument (e.g. Flute I). That will play the flute correctly, but alas some articulations will be missing (to name one: the trills...). But it has the advantage that you can use all the other articulations without interference of the Notion settings.

To have everything played correctly, a DAW is necessary. (Reaper in your case?)

All the best,

Jos

Thank you for the hint, Jos. 

Must work to a method for trills accelerando e ritardando.
In this case, I rendered and stretched audio bits form the score. Am I right VI Pro allows this natively?

Also, I'm getting good results with latest release of Overture: articulation and expression customization is very powerful, I can go deeper with VSL when DAW subtleties are not needed; more stable than ever (almost under El Capitan); some GUI cumbersomeness.

Best