Been working on the legato sucking string problem. Found an interesting possibility today, using the espressivo ff strings. I'll make it simple for the less experienced out there -- apologies to you sequencing geniuses out there!
1. Find a full legato string section in a sequence. Load an espressivo ff combination with sus + 0sus for two violin tracks and the viola track. (Low strings don't have espressivo. Just use sus or legato for them for the moment.) Also for now, set all velocities to 90 or so for a full sound.
2. In your sequencer tracks, insert a Controller (attack on*) just before any notes which begin a phrase and also during any repeated notes. Then insert another Controller (attack off) DURING the note with the attack, so the following note will NOT have the attack. All notes after that controller message will be missing attacks: they will be legato.
3. Open the tracks and lengthen every note EXCEPT the note just before any attack notes so it slightly overlaps the following note. (In Performer I add 20-40 ppqs - or perhaps 40-80 milliseconds. In my graphic editor, I just drag them a bit till it looks about right) If your attack notes are preceded by pitches instead of rests, make sure they go right up TO the attack, but do NOT overlap. The idea is to get them as close as possible without accidentally removing the attack. About 10ppqs seems to do it.
4. Add a touch of reverb. Now play the sequence at the following Volume levels in your sequencer (setting the 5 string tracks as a group, you can play with the sliders in your mixer screen): 50=p 55=mp 60=mf 70=f and 80=ff (that's all approximate, of course, but I have a unity-calibrated system) The effect is quite powerful and most of the sucking sound disappears, because the dreaded level drop doesn't happen between most pitches. There are exceptions when repeated notes don't seem to need an attack... depends on the pitch and velocity involved.
This is a BIG, RICH sound, very different from the perf leg strings. I don't particularly like velocities above 108 because then you go to maximum overdrive on the vibrato, but up till that point, it's pretty persuasive.
Please remember, this is just for fun. I realize there is a lot more to do to make a sequence truly expressive (I adjust velocity of every note!) But my snooty violin-professor colleague has turned his nose up at every string sequence I've played for him till today. Today his jaw dropped. His comment was, "This is just... sick and wrong!" [
] Music to my ears!!
Good luck! Prof Wilson
*Controller #1 is, of course modulation. You can insert it as an event or simply record it into the track(overdub only!) by pushing all the way up for 127 and letting it go for 0 - works fine, but it's pretty messy from a midiot's standpoint, since all the values in between show up in your event lists. tsk tsk tsk