@William said:
The legato in your example does not sound "chopped up" or like single note samples at all. The basic legato was designed to be the most generally useful one, without extreme sliding around the notes. A string player will not necessarily create a fluid transition between legato notes all the time, just a closely connected one. No one doing the demos did anything fundamentally different from your original example, they just used more of a combination of portamento or sul variations in addition to the basic legato. It is also not a reverb issue. If you want more of a sliding connection between notes, as if it is played on a single string, you need to use the sul or portamento. The Paul Henry Smith revision is good and shows how important the addition of some variation in which specific legato you use is. Often you can use a sul legato on non-portamento notes that are close together, and even though they are not meant to slide noticeably, and it will sound much better.
Hmm. I am going to have to disagree here. For one, fundamentally they did because they were using different techniques of crossfading, expression control and also have adjusted the parameters of their VI player. That's quite fundamentally different then picking a legato sample, and not getting anywhere near a legato sound.
That sound is not legato. The definition of legato is "smooth and connected". Not "smooth OR connected". It must be both. That sound may appear to somewhat be connected in a sick way, but it is hardly smooth. It has a "swoop", "blip", "break", "hiccup", "re-attack", "snap" or any other musical or nonmusical verb you wish to attach here. If that is the sound you are looking for that is fine. But I won't agree to have people believing it is legato. That will reduce their musical knowledge (or further increase their musical retardness).
I have no arguments with the quality of the samples. They are first rate and after making some adjustments to the parameters things are really improving. I do realize it's impossible for VSL to please everyone because no two people think 100% alike. This is really the first complaint I have ever had other then lately their interface isn't liking logic much but we get around it and I know they will fix it. I for one am a very positive person and believe in the better side of things. But on this one, there is no convincing me they are legato because they aren't. I have a 6 foot 7 Cellist standing over my shoulder right now telling me that my passage was not Legato and had an almost harsh portamento sound to each note instead of a smooth transition from one note to the next. He says some of the notes had a nice legato, but quite a few were not. Especially when the notes wouldn't require a rebowing or attack (or change of string).
I can't attest to really what reverb can do at the moment because I lack that knowledge in depth enough to even try to debate so I have to go by what you say on that one. It seems to me though that when you reverb something and create a bigger space you take the forwardness out of the sound and add a tail to it that makes each note live longer, sound more full and perhaps help close that gap up some more (or make it seem less harsh and noticeable). This would reduce your ability to hear a break. I once met a famous opera singer who told me he hated small rooms and stage houses. He said when the room was small, he had a technique he would use to create an effect of sound in his head voice and connect falsetto into it. He said that in a small room, you could almost hear the click in the voice because there was no way around it. In a large hall, there was no fear of ever hearing that little "click".
P.S. I am subject to change my mind at any time and go back and agree with you later if I find new information, experience and knowledge which leads me another way 😊. Thanks so much for the input.
Maestro2be
