I just finished a piece for strings, in this case Synchron Strings Pro and a little bit (only a few notes) Synchron Strings 1.
I integrated this patches in the presets of Synchron Strings Pro in the Regular Vibrato Long notes section and the Regular Vibrato Legato section.
I'm very happy with Synchron Strings Pro!

I hope you enjoy the music.

Serenade for Synchron Strings

Indeed.

Wow, Bill and Tom, I'm very glad and excited to read this message, especially the fact, that this piece will be played live. You didn't make the score in vain, Bill. Here in the (for you far away) Netherlands somebody sits behind his Pc with a big smile on his face.
And I agree with you, Tom, what you said about VSL, and also about Bill of course in making this splendid example what is possible with the VSL samples.

Hi William,

That is 4 minutes and 10 seconds of enjoyment for me! A nice, cheerful piece for symphonic band, very "live" sounding also, but that we know about you, that skills you have. I was thinking: a live band has to do a good job to reach this level of playing!
And the music kept my attention until the last barlines!
I can imagine what a job it was to make all the transposed parts correct.

So thank you for sharing this with all of us!

I think there is another point of attention: the clock speed of the processor and the number of cores.
Perhaps somebody of VSL could chime in here. 
With the Synchron Player you need much processor power, when you use a lot of microphones in one instrument or instrument group. Especially with VelXF and time stretching the processor has to do a lot of work and the programm reach quickly the limit of the possible.
I see that many Xeon processors have a lot of cores but sometimes have a rather low clock speed.

My questions should be:

• what should be a decent clock speed and a decent number of cores.
• Benefit one instance of Synchron Player from a high clock speed or many cores (or both of course)?
• What is a minimum clock speed and number of cores to use VelXF and timestretching with some ease.
• What is good number of cores with use of an x number instruments?

Hi Crusoe,

To begin with: I could work well with Synchron Strings 1, also with the legato. It was just a little bit of work to overlap a little the notes. So I don't know if I am the right person to tell you about the legato of Synchron Strings Pro.
But okay: my 5 cents.

Yesterday I started working with "SSP" and Dorico. I'm just working on a piece for String orchestra. When I coupled the SSP to the music I had to adjust of course a lot, because it responds a little different from SS1. Today I went on working. Here a few of my experiences until this moment.

1. In SS1 I started always with some equing (how do you write that in English?). Here nothing. No extra reverb. I choose my microphones and off I went. (A very subjective experience of mine here: sometimes the sound is in a way just as breakable as in real life with a string orchestra, but you can build with it beautiful melodies, chords, accents, etc.)

2. The senza vibrato samples are great, because the sound is the same as the vibrato patches (without the vibrato of course), so you can very good xfade them, from senza vibrato, to regular or molto vibrato. In the past I discovered, that the senza vibrato patches were often a little brighter. I looks like that vibrato has an influence on the stroke. Of course. But it looks like now that the influence of vibrato is implemented in the non vibrato tones. Really, they are crafsmen and craftswomen.

3. In Dorico I had adjusted much tones of the piece with a little overlapping for a decent legato. Now I had to reduce or even delete most overlappings. And I have to say: I like this legato very much. I think (but I can't say of course), that you will enjoy this legato patches too.

4. Portamento. Until now I was not always a fan of Portamento, because it was often not totally the real thing (but sometimes it sounded nice in my ears). This portamento is very natural, of course the time stretch feature is a great help here. Unfortunately I encountered a bug with the violas, but that I report that to VSL. I'm sure they will fix that.

So I hope, this helps a little. I can't give you an audio example at this moment, because I have not finished yet my piece. But there are examples on the internet.

Kind regards.

Hi, if you have a problem, you can always send an e-mail to: support at vsl dot co dot at 
They answer very quickly, most of the time the same day.

I saw one thing, and I really don't know if that is the answer, but: you gave your preset the same name as the factory preset. You could try to save a preset of yours with another name than the factory preset. But I really don't know if that is the solution.

Hi, I don't want to interfere in the discussion about the money, but there is one thing I have to say: it is not true that nobody will use Synchron Strings 1 anymore. There are people (I can't say how much, I can't count them of course), who appreciate all the good things of Synchron Strings 1 and use it with pleasure (and I'm one of them). 

Yes!!!!! (sorry, this yes is not an answer on the question "Are the sforzato articulations new recordings?") 

Concerning creating a glissando for harp with the right notes:

In Dorico it is possible to create glissandi in harp music, that use exactly the notes as will be played on a harp.
First you have to create a harp player in a project.
Then you have to set the pedals in the right position in the staves.
Now you can write a glissando sign between 2 notes (can be up or down). 
When playing this fragment you hear the right tones (also the doublings if present).
After this it is possible to export the just written music to a midi file.

You have to go some steps of course, but it is possible.
And when you compose in Dorico it is a great tool!

Hi Eric,

I think you know this, but to be sure: Paul Walmsley from Steinberg created an expression map for Synchron Strings. Here is a link.

Synchron Strings Expression map

Ok, is good :)

Thanks, Paolo, for your reply.
I've tried to use the Konzerthaus Organ without the release samples, because I needed the instrument in a big cathedral accoustics. I thought that taking the accoustics of the Konzerthaus away by eliminating the release samples should work. But at the end I reactivated the release samples, because that gave by far the best result. I don't know anymore what I did to enlarge the accoustics to let it sound as a big church (a MIR PRO church or just MIRacle with a large tail. But I know, that I was pleased by the result of the total sound).
The so called dry version of the Konzerthaus organ didn't work for me. I hope you will find an organ with the right sound for you.

Some base information about a pipe organ.

It is a wind instrument.

The pipes are divided in so called stops.

A stop is a group of pipes with for one keyboard (manual, manus is the Latin word for hand) for every key one or more pipes.

A manual has mostly a size of 4 octaves plus some extra keys. The lowest key is a c, 2 octaves below the central c, the highest key can be an c, d, e, f, or g (often depending on the period that the instrument was made).

The pedals are a keyboard for the feet (pedal, pes is the Latin word for foot) and have a size of 2 octaves with most of the time some extra keys (d and f are common highest keys for the pedals of a pipe organ). The pedals of the bigger organs have their own stops.
The lowest key of a pedal is 2 octave below central c (the same as the manuals).

You can combine the stops of one manual with pull-out buttons or other kind of switches.

You can combine the stops of several manuals with so called couplers. You press a key on one manual, and the same key of the other manual is pressed also (dependent of kind of the mechanism the pressure weight is higher).

In the same way you can couple the pedalboard to one or more manuals.

 

There are 2 ways of making all kind of sounds.

1. The sound of the pipe (dependant of the form of the pipe and the way the sound is produced).
2. Reinforcing certain overtones by one or more stops.

1. Sound of the pipes. 

The pipes are divided in 2 main groups, flue pipes or labial pipes (working according to the principle of a recorder), and reed or lingual pipes (a vibrating brass strip makes the tone).

Th  The flue pipes can be divided in
- flutes (with wide pipes),
- principals (praestants, prestants, in English "Open diapason"), less wide pipes, the “common” organ sound, mostly the pipes you see in the front of an organ, and
- string stops (with thin pipes).

2.     2. Changing sound by reinforcing overtones.

      Stops has most of the time a length in feet behind their name. Of course, this has to do with the height of the tone. An 8 foot stop (8’) has the same height as for example a piano. 8’ is the length of the pipe the lowest key of a manual or pedalboard. A 4’ stop (the lowest pipe is 4') is an octave higher, a 2’ stop is 2 octaves higher, a 16’ stop is 1 octave lower, a 32’ is 2 octaves lower.
When the pipes of a stop are closed above (also called gedackt or gedeckt), they sound one octave lower. But they get the number of feet as they sound. So the lowest pipe of a 8’ foot gedackt stop has in fact a length of 4’ .
Beside this there are stops with more than one pipe for one key. They are all overtones of the 8’ stops (and some are just overtones of a 16' stop). A stop with for example a roman numeral V of 5f has 5 pipes for each key, a Mixture III-V (or 3f-5f) is a mixture stop, with 3 till five pipes for a key. The overtones are most of the time octaves and fifths (for example the stops with the name mixture and Cymbale), some have also a major third in it (Cornet, Scharf).

String stops: common stops are: Violon, Salicional, Gamba, Voix Céleste, Aeoline.

Principal stops: common stops are: Open Diapason (other names are Praestant or Prestant, Principal, in French Montre), Octave, Mixture, Scharf, Cymbal, (the last three has more than one pipes for each key).

Flute stops: common stops are: Hohlflöte, Gedackt (Stopped Diapason), Nasard (a fifth stop, 2 2/3’), Bourdon, Unda Maris, Nachthorn, Waldflöte, Rohrflöte (Chimney flute), Spitz flute (flute/String hybrid, same as Gemshorn), Sesquialtera (a flute mixture stop with 2 pipes for every key, a fifth and a major third, 2 2/3’ and 1 3/5’, a beautiful stop combined with a Flute 8' stop for melodies), Cornet (a Mixture stop), Subbas (just for pedal).

Reed or lingual stops: Trumpet, Trombone (Posaune), Oboe (Hautbois), Cromorne (Krummhorn), Bassoon (Fagotto), Dulcian, Vox Humana.

A plenum is a combination of 16’ (If present), 8’, 4’, 2’ plus one or more mixture stops, most of the time principal stops, can be combined with flute stops.

A plenum can also contain reed stops, that give even more power to the sound.

A tremolo is not a stop but the possibility that the wind flow flutters, so in the tone a kind of tremolo is heard, is used with soft stops mostly.

A swell box is a set of stops, mostly attached to one dedicated manual, often called Swell, that are placed in a box that can be closed and opened with a pedal (as a swell pedal with an electronic organ). In this way you can alter the dynamics of a tone.

The Manuals have names that come from the place where the pipes of that manual are placed.

Hauptwerk, Great. The German word Haupt (head) refers to the place where that pipes are, near the head of the organist.

Rückwerk, Positive. Indeed, the pipes are placed at the back of the organist, in the balustrade most often.

Brüstwerk (under the Hauptwerk)

Öberwerk (above the Hauptwerk)

In English other names are in use.

Combining stops. A good start to discover the sound of the stops is, just one 8' flute stop. Then combine it with a 4' flute and after that with a 2' (8+4'+2', but also 8'+2'). And if present, what does a 16' flute?
Then you can do the same with principals. 8', 4', 2', a mixture stop, 16' , 32' (the last only on the pedal).
Combining them with some flute stops.
And then with reed stops.
You can do this on several manuals.

Use 2 manuals, one with only 8' for accompaniment, and the other for the melody (a reed stop combined with a flute stop, 8' or 4', or the sesquialtera with a flute 8' stop). The bass notes can be played with a 16' flute stop, combined with a 8' flute stop.

Listen also to string stops and experience the difference in sound with principals and flutes.

You will see, that the samples of the Konzerthaus Organ contain not only the individual stops, but also combinations (plenum with and without reeds). After exploring the individual combinations you can also explore that samples.

And so on. I hope this helps a little. And...  this has become a little long story. But at the end: the organ is called the King (or Queen) of all instruments, so it should be worth it.

 

AND in a way it is a predecessor of VSL. In the 16th and 17th century people were trying to make an instrument with all the other instruments in it (look to the names of the stops, Viole, Gamba, Flute, Trumpet, Clairon, Posaune). In the nineteenth century César Franck said: "Mon orgue, c'est mon orchestre."
And in this sense I have to say: VSL does a better job in combining all the instruments into one machine  

Indeed in the "edit" menu you can make a choice for each cell to have always Velocity XF, never have Velocity XF or make the Velocity XF of that cell dependant on the button in the "Perform" menu (the "global" setting).

As far as I can see in for example the Ganymede library and the Big Bang Brass libraries all cells have the "Velocity XF global" setting in the presets, so they are in the presets dependant on the button in the Perform menu.

You can even right click on the XF on/of button in Synchron Player and choose for "non". In that case no midi signal or key command can trigger the button.

I have a dedicated couple of switches to be inserted manually. It works fine, because I have to deal with the boundaries what is possible, a combination sometimes of timestretching, working with Velocity XF. sometimes Synchron violins 1 in octaves, that can be too much, and with this switches I can make choices, that the processor can handle it. I made in the Synchron Player also a dedicated timestretch slot, so that I can choose at any moment between timestretching or not. The combination of Dorico and VSL makes a lot possible. By the way, I have the same experience with the Cubase Expression maps as you have. They are a very good base to build on.

I do it exactly in the same way. Works fine!

That's a remarkable story and nice to read. Thanks for sharing!

Yesterday I used the sequencer mode of VIPro for the first time.
With trial and error I discovered how the things I needed work.
When I had finished the job, I realized that in the last update the help button  (the "?" sign) had become a link to the online manual.
I clicked on it. What I found was beautiful. The manual very clear, with links to all the subjects, and the movies with very good explanation of all the functions.
I just want to say, that I enjoyed this a lot. (And next time it should be a good plan to enter the help button first, when I have to discover new things ;)  ). 
The products of VSL become better and better all the time, also in these little details.
Thanks!

Hi Markus, I just took the time to listen to your piece. And the first thing I discovered was how real it sounds. Beautiful oboe, very natural, and also the piano. An interesting piece, it kept my attention until the end. And the last tone brought a smile on my face. Nice work. Congratulations.

The thought that comes to my mind, is to load a preset, and then delete all the patches you don't need in that instance. Then save that as a preset. It is some work, but then you get what you want, I suppose. 

Making a template for a symphony orchestra in Dorico I encountered a big difference in sound between the muted solo trumpet and the muted dimension trumpet. The same kind of difference I discovered between the muted solo trombone and the muted dimension trombone. In the Product Infoof the instruments I read, that they has been recorded "with straight mutes" or the expression "straight muted" is used. Obviously different mutes has been usedwith dimension brassfrom solo brass. I discovered on the internet, that there are many "straight" mutes in the market, that sound very different.
My question is: are there special names for that different sounds, so that a composer can tell the player what kind of sound he/she wants for certain passages?

Hi Jos, Good to hear something from you! To begin with I wish you all you need in the caring tasks and support for your mother and I wish for your mother all she needs. And concerning your performance I had just one word (in Dutch): wonderschoon!, that is in English (for the readers that don't speak dutch) wonderful, but in my feeling stronger than that, in fact a combination of wonderful and beautiful. The care for every note, in timing, in sound, in everything, wow!Thank you for sharing, Jos, and God bless.

Hi Norman, may I ask you which model Steinway you have at home?