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  • small ensemble

    D
    D
    Hi,
    I'm working on a piece for 5 violins. Sometimes the instruments are playing in unison or 3+2 or 2+2+1. The problem I have is that I am not really convinced by the sound of 2, 3, 4 or 5 different instances of the solo violin playing the same note together. It doesn't sound like as many instruments playing simultaneously.
    I've read about the trick of playing 1 tone higher (midi) and pitch-shifting 1 tone lower (Vienna Instruments). But I'm not too sure how I can achieve that for 5 violins using Sibelius, Vienna Ensemble Pro and Vienna Special Edition Plus.
    Can someone suggest a method, not necessarily pitch-shifting?
    Is there a way to use some sort of impulse response to transform one solo violin into a slightly different solo violin? After all, every instrument should be different from the other.
    Would Vienna Instrument Pro allow me to do such thing?
    Thanks for your help / suggestions.
    D.
  • Beat KaufmannB
    Beat KaufmannB
    last edited
    last edited

    Hi Denis

    I know you are asking for other tricks which I don't have for you.

    But here you can read about building divisi. If you want to reach this with a score program you should produce the score as you need to have it.

    With an other one you can transpose the unison voices for also getting a result with divisi sounds.

    Good luck

    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/
  • D
    D
    Beat,
    Thanks a lot for this: very helpful as usual!

    I find that it sounds much better to do midi +2 semitones and pitch -200 cents rather than midi -2 / pitch +200. I guess this must come from the pitch shifting that sounds better to my ears when lowering the pitch.
    Is there a way to modify the value of the midi note within the Vienna Instrument (or VI Pro) so that I can play a C4 on my keyboard while VI transforms it into a D4 and pitch-shifts it down to a C4 thanks to the pitch wheel?

    Now, this would give me two violins. That's a good start, but I need three more...

    Regarding the semitones sampling: do I need to buy the whole solo strings DVD package to get it, or is there a way to get the equivalent of my VSE Plus articulations sampled at every semitone? In other words, is there some strings download instruments? (I guess not: I've been waiting for them for so long. But it still worth asking).

    I read about Numerical Sound's Hollywood impulse responses and listened to the demos. That sounds interesting but the warm, dark, clear and bright impulses really change the whole feel rather than subtly alter the tone of the violin.
    I've also read a few papers about violin's impulse responses, but I couldn't find any impulses.

    So any suggestion would be very welcome.

    Thanks,
    Denis