Would the Vienna Solo Voices library be suitable for realizing something like this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n01J393WpKk&t=242s

Basically, I'd like to write some simple canons using the method demonstrated in the above video and use a solo voice sample library to realize them. I can't tell from the demos if Solo Voices will work for me, e.g., there's little to no vibrato in the above video but all the demos (unless I overlooked one) have lots of vibrato.

Hi Paul, thank you for your suggestion. I'll try a MIDI footswitcher.

I'm looking for a way to disable the sustain pedal's default behavior in Vienna Instruments Pro.

My aim is to use the sustain pedal (controller 64) to switch from regular sustain samples, e.g. VI_sus_vib, to legato samples, e.g. VI_perf_legato without it actually holding previously played notes. 

I've looked through the Ctrl Map and other places in the UI, but so far I haven't found a way to do this.

Hi, here is a link to a wave file recorded with the violin and cello from Solo Strings 1 (with the violin doing double duty for both violin parts). I used the MIRx Pernegg Monastery.

The piece is a fugue for string trio, and the subject for the fugue was taken from an exercise in "A Practical Approach to 18th Century Counterpoint," by Robert Gauldin.

Fugue for String Trio - No. 1

This is the first piece I've used with Pernegg Monastery. I usually go with Konzerthaus Mozartsaal, but the Monastery is so beautifully airy till I couldn't resist.

This is a duet I composed for violin and viola using Solo Strings I.

Reverb was done with MIRx Konzerthaus Mozartsaal.

Violin/Viola Duet No. 4

This duet was done with the violin from Solo Strings I.

Sound Cloud

YouTube

Had I to do it again, I would have probably tried to use Solo Violin II for the second part. There are phrases here and there where the music really gives away that I'm using a single violin for both parts. There are some tricks I could've used to mask this a bit, but I usually reach a point where I'm ready to wrap it up and move on to the next piece. :)

Originally Posted by: jasensmith

You know I wish more people would compose in the Neo-Classical style like this especially for solo strings.

I've had a facination with writing in the Baroque style for many years, but it's really only over the past half-dozen years or so that I've tried to pursue it seriously. I wish I had started much earlier! It's quite a learning curve to get any where near proficient in this style; I've got a long ways to go, but I'm happy with how things are progressing.

Thank you for your comments. And thank you for the heads up about the SoundCloud problem. I'll check it out.

Originally Posted by: William

That's a fine composition !  Also the performance seems just about perfect.

Thanks so much for listening, William. I appreciate your comments.

This is a short duet for violin and viola using said instruments for VSL's solo strings I.

Duet for Violin and Viola

Video of Score

Originally Posted by: Itchy

We take more advantage of agogic accent (“time taking”), and, subtlety of articulation is a real shining point when performed well. Unless treating it strictly as a pedagogical exercise, maybe try adding some dynamics & maybe tweak/ elasticize the tempo once or twice (?)

Hi, thank you for your reply, and thank you for your suggestions. I'm working on another movement from one of Telemann's Canonic Sonatas. I will attempt to apply more dynamic and tempo changes to make it more expressive.

Originally Posted by: Itchy

Would you please share how many hours it took for you to program/ implement the editing?

I'm not sure. There's the tedious part of entering the notes into Finale. But the real work is done once I've imported the MIDI data into Reaper and begin tweaking it and assigning articulations. I would say six hours or so. I made extensive use of Sequence maps, which sped up the process and encouraged experimentation until I found the right articulation for each note.

Originally Posted by: bbelius

I would like to know, did you use any other post-procesing besides reverb and which reverb did you use?

Hi Ben, thanks for your comment.

There's not much post-processing going on. Violin 1 is panned slightly to the left and Violin 2 is panned slightly to the right. The reverb is VI-Pro's built-in algorithmic reverb. There's nothing beyond that, no eq, compression, etc.

I did do a lot of MIDI editing of velocity and note lengths.

This is a realization of Georg Philipp Telemann's Canonic Sonata No. 1 using Solo Violin 1 & 2.

Canonic Sonata No. 1

Is there a way to have the sequence map automatically move to the next row in the matrix instead of looping back to the beginng of the current row?

I know I can use key switching to advance to the next row, but I'm looking for a way to have that happen automatically.

Thanks!

Hi Paul, 

That's a good point about the timespan between the two instruments. I have to remind myself of the original Solo Strings age; they still sound and play very fresh. I can also understand wanting to have newer instruments optimized to the present rather than being held back by the past.

Thank you for your reply.

If I use, say, the staccato articulation from the Violin from the original Solo Strings, and I turn the dynamic range all the way down, the instrument has the same volume regardless of the velocity value of the notes (notes with a high enough velocity to trigger the loudest of the velocity layers may be a little louder, but the volume stays more or less the same regardless of how hard I play a note).

However, if I do the same with Solo Violin 2, notes played more softly definitely sound quieter than harder played notes.

I'm wondering what the difference is. If I had to guess, I'd say the samples for the first Violin were normalized where as the samples for the second were not.

Originally Posted by: jasensmith

Before I entered  VSL world, I was taught that Staccato just meant shortened unnattached notes in a series but to VSL staccatos are short notes with a very hard attack.  So in scores where I find staccatos written I end up using Portatos/detaches instead because the attacks are softer..

This is something I struggle with from time to time. Sometimes at lower velocities I can get the staccato articulation to work as a moderately fast detache. The short detache has a softer attack, and sometimes it will work for those passages, other times the attack is too soft. So many variables involved. Sometimes I use both articulations, starting with a staccato at the beginning of a motive then switch to the softer short detache for the rest of the motive. It depends on the phrasing and tempo. At faster tempos, I may switch to spiccato and treat it more like a sautille.

I'm speaking mainly about the solo strings library, but it also applies to chambers strings.

What I wouldn't give for an on the bow sampled detache that worked every time, but I'm beginning to thing such a thing isn't possible. The times I've gotten closest to sounding like a real performance have always involved switching articulations relatively often, sometimes every few notes, are in some cases, every note. Something about that variety that adds an organic flavor.

Thanks to everyone for your comments. They are much appreciated.

Here's another piece by Albinoni that I just completed:

Albinoni: Allemanda

This is from one of his trio sonatas.

Albinoni String Quartet

This is the first movement from one of Tomaso Albinoni's violin concertos arranged for string quartet.

Realized with the violin, viola, and cello from Solo Strings I Full + Solo Violin 2.

Originally Posted by: Jos Wylin

Very beautiful and clear. The interpretation does it all and the choice of (the limited number) of articulations proves again the richness and the quality of the VSL samples. You did a terrific job.

Thank you so much, Jos!

And thank you VSL for providing such great sample libraries. 

Originally Posted by: Gukas Pogosyan

Are you using Logic or other sequencer? Sorry for not beeing more specific. I'm so happy with my brass and woodwind setups but realy I need to improve my violins and  strings in general. How about Soft Pedal, Note Velocity, Volume  an so on?

Hi, Gukas.

I first entered the piece into Finale, a notation program. Then I exported it as a standard MIDI file and imported it into Reaper. This is where the real work begins. I adjust the velocity and length of the notes, assign articulations, and add tempo changes.

I'm very much a fan of Beat Kaufmann's tutorials, and one of his guiding principles is to change articulations often. Also, it can help to begin the first note of a phrase with one articulation and then switch to another articulation. the sfz/staccato articulations seem to compliment each other well in this regard for 16th note runs and arpeggios (see Beat's YouTube video on this subject).

Somtimes there's some serendipity in that you forget to change an articulation or change to the wrong one, but the results sound so good till you don't correct your "mistake." A lesson here is to experiment a lot with things you're not sure will work. Sometimes you discover something new.

Having said all of that, I've got a long ways to go. I consider myself a student of realization and greatly admire the authors of the demos you find here at VSL (Jay Bacal's Beethoven quartet you mentioned is amazing). 

Originally Posted by: stephen limbaugh

Leslie do you have an EQ that does "Match EQ" or similar function?  If you import the audio of a Youtube performance of it into Logic X, you can use match EQ to get some of that detail.  I've found that extremely helpful!  FabFilter also makes an EQ that does match EQ.

Wow, I'd never heard of that function before. I will have to check it out. I could see how it could be useful if you're trying to match the overall tonality of a recording of an actual performance.

Originally Posted by: Gukas Pogosyan

Sounds so beautiful and transparent. I’d like to have more technical details, if possible. Recently I’v made a record of my “Perpetuum Mobile” for Violin solo but in sounds much heavier. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Gukas,

Thank you so much for your comments.

For this recording, I used following articulations for the violin:

VI_perf-spiccato, VI_detache_short, VI_sfz_Vib, VI_detache_long_Vib, and VI_staccato.

For the viola, I used:

VA_perf-spiccato, VA_detache_short, VA_perf-marcato, VA_staccato, and VA_detache_long.

I tried to switch up articulations as often as possible to help avoid the "machine gun effect." Other than that, the recording is pretty straight forward. There's no EQing or compression or anything like that. I panned the violin left a little and the viola right a little, added a third party impulse response reverb (I don't own MIR yet). And that's about it.

This is a realization of Bach's Two Part Invention No. 8 using VSL's Solo Violin and Solo Viola:

https://soundcloud.com/leslie-sanford/bach-two-part-invention-no-8

Hi Jos,

Thanks for your comments. I had been listening to older perfomances of the piece, e.g. I Musici, and while being older were actually more "modern" in interpretation (more intense vibrato, slower tempo, etc.). But I had also been listening to more "authentic" recordings as well.

So with my realization I was aiming for something inbetween those two types of performances. As a result, I think it kind of failed to capture the energy of either approach. That may be what you've noticed.

Also, I tried to realize certain phrases with a piano dynamic to add a bit of contrast, but I think that doesn't come across as well as it could have either.

This is the Gavotta movement from Vivalid's Trio Sonata No. 2 in E minor.

Realized using Solo Violin 1 & 2, Solo Cello 1, and Harpsichord.

https://soundcloud.com/leslie-sanford/vivaldi-gavotta-from-trio-sonata-no-2-rv-67