Vienna Symphonic Library Forum
Forum Statistics

180,772 users have contributed to 42,140 threads and 254,363 posts.

In the past 24 hours, we have 1 new thread(s), 13 new post(s) and 60 new user(s).

  • Struggling with short portemento / slides

    I've seen the video about shortening portemento time using the graph under stretch and then rendering the samples...but then it doesn't seem to make any sort of reliable difference? I'm mostly wanting that very subtle nuanced slide up and down from adjacent notes that a professional string player might even ad without it being written into the music. I can't seem to get the portemento short enough. It seems perhaps a good approach would be opverlapping the notes and then detuning the beginning of the target note, having one articulation that rises into a target note, and another that falls into it. But here again, I can't find settings that make a reliable subtle result. Among other things, once the setting is in place, would all other random detuning be best left disengaged so as not to interfere? I'm a noob with this part of things. Please assume I know nothing when you frame any responses.  I need this within the next couple of days if possible!


  • It sounds like what you're looking for is a position change rather than a portamento.  A port is very purposeful so the effect is much more pronounced and will be slower.  A position change is often out of necessity when playing a line.  The only places where VSL would likely have suitable position changes are in force-string samples.  Dimension Strings for example has the option to force a line to be played all on the G, D, A, or E string, however you choose.  So at most intervals greater than about a third (depending on where the players are on the string) you'll hear a position change, even though your articulation is "legato" not "portamento".  Not being an owner of Solo Strings Extended, I would imagine that the patches called "Legato, on the same string" would offer similar functionality.  Same with all of the rest of the string libraries except for Appassionata.  App seems to give you a "sul g" articulation which would be similar but on a very limited scale and for violins only.

    Hope this helps!


  • Yes, thank you, it is. Although, it still seems to me like I aught to be at least able to simulate it with all of the fancy sample adjustment capabilities...I wish they were better documented.