When a string player slurs notes, they are played in the same bow stroke. Does that mean that the first note in a slurred legato passage or after a pause in the slurred legato patch is starting with a new bow stroke? Because if the first note is a sampled note in the middle of a bow stroke, that's impossible in real life.
Also the length of a slur affects dynamics, but I guess the patch doesn't take account of that?
Hello Belkin Legato articulation means that a new note is played in the strings, for example, without changing the direction of the bow at the same time. This means that, for example, tapping the other finger on the fingerboard produces a kind of intermediate note before the new note is permanently installed. If all the strings in an orchestra play very precisely, the result is a clear, short "transition tone". If the strings play less precisely, the transition notes sound "blurred" (not clearly defined) - which is referred to as "slurred".
Attached are two examples - 1x normal + 1x slurred
Here you can clearly hear the transition tone (finger tapping) In the 2nd recording you can hear "slurred" not so clearly - nevertheless...
Here you can hear that there are several players. The first time the normal legato articulation is used. The second time the slurred articulation is used. The precision sounds much more "washed out".
All the best
Beat
Addition:
There are libraries where slurred can be heard even more clearly - e.g. in the Elite Strings library
(played in p....)
- Tips & Tricks while using Samples of VSL.. see at: https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/vitutorials/
- Tutorial "Mixing an Orchestra": https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/mixing-an-orchestra/
Hello Belkin Legato articulation means that a new note is played in the strings, for example, without changing the direction of the bow at the same time. This means that, for example, tapping the other finger on the fingerboard produces a kind of intermediate note before the new note is permanently installed. If all the strings in an orchestra play very precisely, the result is a clear, short "transition tone". If the strings play less precisely, the transition notes sound "blurred" (not clearly defined) - which is referred to as "slurred".
Attached are two examples - 1x normal + 1x slurred
Here you can clearly hear the transition tone (finger tapping) In the 2nd recording you can hear "slurred" not so clearly - nevertheless...
Here you can hear that there are several players. The first time the normal legato articulation is used. The second time the slurred articulation is used. The precision sounds much more "washed out".
All the best
Beat
Addition:
There are libraries where slurred can be heard even more clearly - e.g. in the Elite Strings library
(played in p....)
Thank you. My last question has to do with what happens when we start a new phrase, say after a long silence. I assume the slurred articulations have the first note as the bow comes down on it cleanly, since there is no "transition sound"?
Correct. And as you can see in the player image above, you also can select different starting (attack-) articulations, such as "normal, soft, fast, sfz...". The attack articulation therefore applies to the first note with which a group of connected notes (with legato) begins.
Have fun
Beat
- Tips & Tricks while using Samples of VSL.. see at: https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/vitutorials/
- Tutorial "Mixing an Orchestra": https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/mixing-an-orchestra/