Hi.

My matrices automatically switch to Sus patches the moment I play my
keyboard while playback is stopped.  The scores will playback just fine with the correct artics,
but when playing on my keyboard to try ideas, regardless of what patch I
select with the mouse within a matrix or with a keyswitch, it automatically switches back to the sus patch as soon as I play a note.  Very frustrating.  This means that I can't try ideas on my keyboard while composing with anything other than the sus patch.

O

I am having the same problem as the OP.  Can someone please verify whether or not there is a solution for this? 

My matrices automatically switch to Sus patches the moment I play my keyboard while playback is stopped.  The scores will playback just fine, but when playing on my keyboard to try ideas, regardless of what patch I select with the mouse or with a keyswitch, it automatically switches back to the sus patch as soon as I play a note.  Very frustrating.

O

I've yet to hear ANY vsl demos/tracks that sound like Albion, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on what you are after.  Becuase of the way VSL was recorded, it does have more flexibility than nearly any other library.  However (and this is a big however), that does not mean that it doesn't have its own sonic imprint...regardless of what anyone else may tell you.  So, I tend to look at like this.  If you know what sound you want, and there is a library that nails it, then get that.  As for making VSL sound like Albion, it is not possible. 

Now, having said that, with the right tools and a lot of experience/skills you can probably get a hell of a lot closer to the sound that you want than what you are currently achieving if you are fairly  new to this.  VSL Vienna Suite with presets can help a lot, MIR is looking very promising, etc.

But, don't kid yourself.  You are triggering recordings of actual players, playing specific instruments, recorded with specific mics, in a specific room, with a specific team of engineers/producers, etc.  It has a sound.  Tweak it all you want, it still has a sound.

Rather than trying to make it sound like Albion, the real question is:  Are there any vsl demos that sound the way you want to sound?  If so, then you know it can be done.  If not, then you may be headed the wrong direction using that tool since there are some really, really talented folks making some great examples using VSL.  Nonetheless, taste is taste.  Your taste is by definition always right...for you. 

Hope that somehow helps.

O

Nicely done Tanuj, in addition to the good mixing and writing, I really liked your natural way of transitioning from the drive of the beginning to the lyrical section.  It's not easy to make these tempo transitions always organic within a DAW.

BTW, here is a quick and dirty mockup of the beginning of the slow movement from the Op.135 quartet, arranged here for full strings a la Bernstein with the Vienna Philharmonic.

http://omidzoufonoun.com/portfolio/beethoven_op.135.mp3

No MIR, and could certainly use a lot more finessing to get the expression right, but it was a fun little exercise given my reverence for this music.

O

Many thanks for the kind words, and for taking the time to look it over! 

That would be my father, and he definitely deserves way more credit than I do when it comes to inspiring mirth! ; )

Thanks for the kind words about the Classical Archives.  I not only know about, I work there!  I am proud to be one of small number of "musicologists" who organize and catalogue the content in order to ensure that it is musicologically sound and consistent - a daunting, ongoing, and very worthwhile task.

I know, the world keeps expanding and getting smaller at the same time. 

O

Many good points as well as personal preferences William.

If I will also turn my attention more to my personal preferences, then I will take your comment about the late Beethoven string quartets being among his greatest works, give it a huge thumbs up, and then up the ante:  They are among my favorite works from any composer, any musician, any time and place. 

Trout is indeed a fantastic work.  Heck, for pure soothing blend and balance, as a guitarist I would argue that nothing stands up to a flute and guitar duo, but then again, I actually like the rawness and sometimes strident quality of the string quartet. 

Most importantly though, you are right:  Let's shut up and write some stuff! 

Actually, the quartet allows more options to solve musical distribution of materials than trios and duets, so it should not be harder per se.

While I don't agree with this statement, and quite a bit of repertoire also supports the case against your assessment, balance is at least to a certain degree subjective AND dependent on musical material/content.

Well, it was born from the trio sonata with one or two upper voices supported by a continuo part (cello and harpsichord).  Given the nature of that musical material (very busy and melodically important bass lines being a hallmark of the Baroque era), I'm not sure that the ensemble is thought of as being unbalanced, nor that the...

Again, historically that is not the legacy of the cello.  Obviously, from romantic era forward, the cello took on a great many more roles than its earlier bass roles.  However, for many years (including the Haydn/Mozart years) the bass and cello played the exact same lines with octave doubling being the only difference.  In other words, in terms of musical material, they were both considered bass instruments and not to be seperated in terms of their roles.

From a timbre standpoint, the viola is the glue that holds it all together. Mozart apparently loved to play the viola for this reason when playing string quartets. In the full orchestra, that role is shared with french horn, which successfully created a bridge between the woodwinds and strings in terms of timbre.  Again, just listen to early symphonies (Haydn, etc) and notice why and when the horns play in tutti sections.  Like the viola, it is one of the sounds that the audience doesn't gravitate toward, but instantly misses when it is gone.

Indeed! There is a reason why composers have picked the string quartet to express their most personal musical thoughts.  It is perhaps one of the most balanced ensembles ever created.

But, again, balance is subjective and very much dependant on musical material.  It may very well be true that for your musical material, the quartet raises more questions than answers them, and that a trio lends itself better to your ideas.  Perfectly valid.

In any case, congratulations Warren!  Some wonderful musical ideas in your composition.

Oh, and William I just had a listen to some of your work on your site.  Very thoughtful and heartfelt writing!

Cheers,

O

I finally got Leopard (snow) installed, and VEPro as well.  I have a lot of old projects (DAW, as well as Sibelius) that use VE3.  What is the best way to handle these?  Do I install the latest VE4 for all of the old projects, and then just use VEPRO for new ones, or can I just use VEPRO only for the old projects as well.  Will they open correctly?

O

Andi,

Thanks, but...

Are you saying that everyone else also cannot audition any of their articulations other than sustain while using their keyboard?  I find that hard to believe, and this did not use to be the case for me either.  Unfortunately, I don't know what I have changed to cause this behavior.

Still looking for a solution, since trying different articulations is a must, without having to notate the first.

Thanks,

O

....and actually, another problem

My bosendorfer piano patch snaps to 50% on the expression slider as soon as I hit a note on my keyboard.  If I use my pedal, I can raise or lower the level of expression, but then as soon as I play a note on the keyboard it goes right back to 50.  If I disable the expression controller in the map control tab, then the problem is gone, however, that totally disables the use of the epression pedal, which is not really ideal.

Hi,

For some reason, all I can play is the sustain articulations from the matrices that I have set up.  Ok, a bit more clarification:

If I notate an articulation, the correct articulation will be triggered within the player during playback.

When I stop playback, the keyswitches will change the articulation within the player, but as soon as I actually play a note on my midi keyboard, the articulation in the player automatically switches to the sustain patch and plays it.  If I change the articulation with the keyswitches, and then click on the keyboard within the player, then it will play fine, but if I use my midi keyboard, it always reverts back to the sustain patch. 

Can someone shed some light on this.  It makes it very difficult to try out ideas with different arts.

Thanks,

Omid

Hi Andi,

Is there a guitar sound set for the classical guitar download instrument? 

Thanks,

Omid

I voted, but to be honest, I found the setting (huge cathedral) to be sooo wet, that my ear was drawn to whatever was the least offensive, rather than best quality. By least offensive, I mean the one that was not gettting in the way so much by washing the playing too much.

Having said that, I also liked the timbre/quality of no.3 the best, and no.5 the least.

In any case, all comparisons are useful on some level, so thanks for taking the time to do this!

Ich freu mich von Ihren Sohn zu hoeren!

Sorry for the broken Deutch, it's been a while since I lived in Vienna (studied conducting at the konservatorium).  I miss that city!

Hi,

I'm putting together a demo track for a job pitch.  It's for kids games (4-8 years old).  All of my usual stuff is way too serious and dark to submit, so I am quickly putting this together.  Can you please give a bit of feedback in terms of both content and production?  Much thanks in advance. 

I don't have an ending yet, so it kind of just cuts off.  There are other obvious issues too since it's very much work in progress (started yesterday).

http://snd.sc/akhWxa

THanks,

O

William would you be willing to post a short sample excerpt from some of your recent experiences with MIR SE?  Even if not polished, it would be very nice to hear.

Thanks,

O

This is fantastic!!!!!

That's exciting news Dietz!  Will you be including a version of the Teldex for the Vienna Suite Convolution Plugin as well?  Mir is not an option for me, but if VS added a great scoring stage that competes with Todd, then I would definitely pick it up.

This piece is a commission for a local orchestra and will be premiered soon.  The work is called Manteq at-Tayr (Conference of the Birds) and is based on an epic Persian poem of the same name from the 12th century.  The piece is in 4 movements, but I am only including mvts.1, 2, and 4, since the 3rd makes extensive use of quarter tones.

I would love to take the time to make a really detailed mockup in my DAW.  However, since I don't have time for that now and the piece is really written for a live performance, this will have to do for now.  I'm actually pretty impressed with the overall feel and such considering it's just from Sibelius playback using the SE samples and an algo verb.  Not much tweaking really.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated:

I. The Valley of the Quest
http://omidzoufonoun.com/portfolio/Manteq_mvt.1_v1.mp3

II. The Nightingale: The Pain of Lovers, Note by Note
http://omidzoufonoun.com/portfolio/Manteq_mvt.2_v1.mp3

III. Simorgh (Phoenix)
http://omidzoufonoun.com/portfolio/Simorgh_Audio_v1.mp3

Thanks for confirming.  What is your setup?  OS? Processor, etc? 

Thanks for confirming Wim!

Hi Andi,

1. I don't really use any other AU instruments with Sibelius, so I may have to experiment.  In any case, I am hearing some others confirming similar bahaviour, so I'm not sure where the problem lies.

2. Everything you describe is exactly how 5.25 behaves for me. However, in 6.1, keyswitches do not work without switching back.  It's weird since so far, no one else is able to reproduce this problem.  Is there some kind preferences or something that I may need to trash, or is there any other setting that could be causing this?

Thanks,

O

Hi,

1. Ever since upgrading to Sibelius 6, the same score that I was working on in 5.25 is much slower and is showing a much higher CPU usage while using the exact same VSL template.  Is anyone having the same experience?  My setup is Quad core xeon 3.0, 10.4.11, and 10gb or ram.  Every mouse click and action is much slower than what I was experiencing in 5.25.

2. In 5.25 I was able to use my keyswitches to change patches within the matrices when the score playback was stopped.  This is useful when you want to, for example, play polyphonically to try an idea, but the last articulation triggered for the selected instrument/staff is legato.  I would simply hit the keyswitch for sustain and be on my way until I hit the playback (spacebar).  Now, if I use the keyswitch, it will select the correct articulation, but if I try to play any notes, it reverts to whatever articulation was last used in the playback in that voice/staff.  So, I have to then click on a sustain note or rest in the score in that instrument's staff in order to have VSL switch to the sustain articulation.  This is very tedious.  Can someone confirm if this is normal?

Thanks for taking the time to answer these two questions that are making me wonder if I shouldn't go back to using 5.25.

Best,

O

I finally got my score to work great with three instances of VE with Sib. 5.  Today, my new copy of Sib. 6 arrived, and after installing it I tried to load up the same score in sib 6.  It tells me that that VSL Special Edition soundset can't load.  I have verified that all of the same playback configurations and soundset are duplicated in the sib 6 folder under user/library/application support/sibelius/sib 6.

Any ideas?  Obviously I can continue to work on sib 5 just fine, but the new magnetic layout seems very useful for a large scale orchestra commission that I am working on.

Thanks in advance,

O