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  • real sordino or fx-sordino?

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    Hi,

    Herewith a new page on my blog dedicated to a nice experiment with a kind of fake sordino. As a result of a thread on another forum about the new sordino Dimension Strings I started fiddling around with comparing the 'real DS sordino' version with the non-muted Dimension Strings in a small chain of plugins to find out if I could get some result in achieving a convincing sordino sound with only some fx.

    After hearing the original version (sordino) of Scene d'Amour from the score of Vertigo, written by Bernard Herrmann, I decided to make several tracks in an intimate chamber/studio setting based on the first part of this beautiful theme.

    So you'll find

    1. Dimension Strings sordino with a VSL solo violin added (the latter with the sordino fx)
    2. Dimension Strings (non sordino) with a VSL solo violin added: no sordino fx, only a little EQ implemented
    3. Dimension Strings (non sordino) with a VSL solo violin added: this time with the fx chain
    4. VSL Chamber sordino , with the solo violin added in the fx-version, only a little EQ implemented

    Enjoy! And let me know your opnions about this of course.


  • Honestly?  I think it's great you did the comparison and testing.  However, to my ears, there is no comparison.  The true Sordino absolutely destroys the faked one.  The fake one has it's life of the sound completely sucked out of it and the real thing sound clear, crystal highs and "alive".

     

    To me, the real thing including the Chamber String True Sordinos version sounds the best.  There is definitely a noticeable and appreciable difference between the faked and real thing.


  • I think fake sordino can certainly fill in sometimes when real sordino can't be achieved but to make it truly convincing does take some work.  Out of curiousity, did you take DS and "match" the EQ of muted DS?  Or did you try to match it to your idea of what sordino sounds like?  I love comparisons like these so thanks for taking the time!


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    You're maybe right, but I tried to imitate the somewhat muffled, 60's studio sound of the original sound track version as prestented on YouTube. At the time of that mockup I didn't have the real sordino DS yet, so I wasn't able to compare them exactly. The real DS has definitely the beautiful silver and transparent sound sordino strings should have imo. The same for the sordino Chamber strings.
    So the match was a bit different than one between different libraires at first hand.

    For those who are interested: I started with a LASS (!) timbral sordino impulse from Numerical Sounds. Implemented in the VSL Convol plugin. Added some slight dynamic EQ (TB-Fix from Toneboosters), that's about it.
    Verb and placement: SPAT.