Sequencing Tips and Tricks (Part 2 - Strings)

[Cheez]

OK. Let's get this going further. Strings seems to be important to many people - pop, orchestral, etc. What do you people do when it comes to sequencing strings? Let's keep it to pure strings and not pads for the sake of being focussed.

I'll start the ball rolling.

1. Know the instruments. That does not mean know how to play it, but at least know a little like: the range of violin, viola, cello, double bass.

2. Good samples are important. Useful to have an arsenal of playing styles available - legato (vibrato and non-vibrato), marcato, staccato, spiccato, thrills, pizzicato, col legno, harmonics etc. Hard to make a legato sample to sound like staccato no matter how short you play the note. And no matter how well you play thrills, it can never sound like a real string instrument playing thrills.

3. On the subject of samples, I hardly use generic "strings patch". I have one for each section - violins, violas, cellos and double bass. More realistic.

4. Never play block chords. I always program each section separately one at a time. Even when there are 2 violins parts, I sequence each part one at a time. The slight out-of-timing gives that little added reality as no violin sections plays together to the split millisecond.

5. The most important is the writing of music itself. Counterpoint is important. Good writing gives that rich strings sound. Not all my sections are heard audibly in the final mix even though each section has a different part. But when the 4 sections play together, the richness is produced.

More to come, but let's here from the others.

 

[turbochicken]

i encountered stunning modulation impasses when i first tried doing strings and synths.

even after experimenting and learning from pple, i still find it difficult to emulate strings thru computer music. i feel it's coz i don't know how the instrument works. the bowing and all, even the player taking breaths will affect - all of which i haven't learn decently enough of.

another thing is between notes, say you do a fiddle solo(midi thru a controller or a keyboard) - there seems to be this "attack" when i switch from note to note(caused by the pressing of the keys) which an actual player doesn't give. any advice on this?

 

[Cheez]

Turbochicken, you hit the issue on the nail. The key is knowing the instrument. Of course, that does not mean you have to know how to play it. A person who sequence is very much like a conductor - he doesn't need to know how to play every instrument but knows every instruments well and how they should be played to sound the way they should. Things like the positions (fingerings), up and down bowing etc is important.

As for the attack - you get the "attack" during the first down bow (when the bow first hit the strings). When one plays legato, that attack decreases. If the string player plays different notes with the same bow action (down bow or up bow), the legato is greater than playing with 2 different bow actions (one note down bow followed by another note up bow). Also, there's the issue of whether he plays the 2 notes on the same string or different strings.

The best and easiest answer to your problem is to use a good violin sample. My sample library has an initial sample and a legato sample plus different playing styles. It is a very old libary (Peter Siedlaczeks' Advanced Orchestra) and is showing it's age. Most sample libraries now gives you both down and up bowing, option of legato or not, vibrato or not etc. Down and up bow can be set automatically nowadays (called alternating samples). Furthermore, there's now "true legato" - they sampled the actual transition between 2 notes so you get the true legato effect when you play 2 notes.

If you don't have access to good samples and want to use what you have, you can still try to achieve it but with difficulty and not as good an effect. If you're using ROM sounds, editing may be limited but you can try to decrease the attack phase slightly to get rid of the initial attack. Then program your mod wheel to change that attack - ie mod wheel off = original sound, mod wheel at max = attack off. Then you can play the instrument with attack and legato using your mod wheel to control. I've never done that before - theoretically possible. If you're using samples, you just have to edit you sample by deleting the initial attack phase (few milliseconds) - then you get a legato sample.

When I write for strings, I use nothing less than 5-6 midi channels. Never use only 1 - too limited. An example - the song "Final Battle" I did (in OM section), I used:
1. Violins section (sample includes normal sample, legato, p, f, sustain and detache)
2. Violins phrases (running notes, tremelo)
3. Violas section (includes normal, legato, p, f, sustain, detache)
4. Cellos section (includes normal, legato, p, f, sustain, detache)
5. Double Bass section (includes noraml, legato, p, f, sustain, detache)

That's 5 midi channels but at least 12 different samples - just for strings.

Your problem will also exist for woodwinds and brass instruments. Same principle applies. For wind instruments, the intital attack is called tonguing (using the tongue to produce the attack).

 

[turbochicken]

legato, pizzicato, stacato, pianissimo then fortissimo...then mezzopiano...........4 bars of it....

that took me 3 hours man.

maybe it'll take more time to digest.

seems like programming a strings part's just as if not more tedious as hiring a fiddler to record in a live studio.

and now my eyes are feeling the aftermath.
ouch.

 

[turbochicken]

if not more tedious THAN hiring a fiddler...

see how it even affects my english.

stacCato.

 

[Cheez]

legato, pizzicato, stacato, pianissimo then fortissimo...then mezzopiano...........4 bars of it....

that took me 3 hours man.

maybe it'll take more time to digest.

seems like programming a strings part's just as if not more tedious as hiring a fiddler to record in a live studio.

and now my eyes are feeling the aftermath.
ouch.

4 bars and took you 3 hours???!!! What about getting a good softsampler and a good sample library? Will safe you lots of time!

Solo violin is the most difficult to sequence if you want realism.

By the way, what are you using for the strings sound?

 

[turbochicken]

strings - i'm using the ones CM mag provided. all single shots.

probably that's why i'm so retarded in it.
or maybe coz i'm primarily keyboard oriented. -shrug-

talk about groove...can no prob...strings...-palms forehead-

any convenient softsampler to recommend?

 

[turbochicken]

i mean primarily NOT keyboard oriented.

 

[Cheez]

strings - i'm using the ones CM mag provided. all single shots.

probably that's why i'm so retarded in it.
or maybe coz i'm primarily keyboard oriented. -shrug-

talk about groove...can no prob...strings...-palms forehead-

any convenient softsampler to recommend?

Best value for money - Garritan Personal Orchestra (GPO):
http://www.garritan.com/GPO.html
Comes with Kontakt - so you don't need to get another sampler. Listen to their demos and you'll be convinced!

 

[turbochicken]

oooh.

279 US / UK?

 

[Cheez]

279 USD. Still much cheaper than your BFD!

 

[Cheez]

Hey turbochicken,

This is a site with some good resource on information of orchestral instruments. Although it is a site mainly for samples, the instruments description page is quite informative. Tells you the different ways an instrument is played. This is the link to the violin site:

http://vsl.co.at/english/INSTRUMENTS/Strings/Violin/BRIEF_DESCRIPTION.htm

 

[turbochicken]

ooh thanks a bunch.