String Orchestra - East/West Tips?

[fusilierb]

I hoping that some East/West guru's can give me some advice on how they handle string pieces with this library. I'm not so sure that, when they stand out on their own, they are really that convincing. But I'm sure that there are some tricks to making them more believable.Here is a string piece that I'm working on and was hoping to get some tips on how to make this breath a little better. Do you layer single strings, with the big strings? I'm thinking about trying that out next.Stringyhttp://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_id=2249 ... anfusilier

[musicliner]

Yeah, I can hear it. The articulations is missing. I use Miroslav Philharmonik, so I can't give you EW specific tip how to switch sounds. One of common ways is using MIDI velocity.Also, placement od sounds is a bit non-traditional. You may want to consider follwing more common layout:http://library.thinkquest.org/22673/orchestra.htmlThat should make it sound more realistic...Cheers,George

[fusilierb]

How do you like the Miroslav? Funny thing here is that the articulations are all over this thing. Barely a phrase goes by without switching up articulations. It just doesn't feel natural when the strings are exposed like this. Not sure what to make of it. And the panning is built into the library, so it should be right. Who knows, I'll keep playing around with it.Thanks for your time George.B

[orest]

I can picture this in the background in a drama movie. Well, I think the instruments panned to the left are a lot louder than the instruments to the right. I think that can be the problem? Maybe lower the volume on the melody strings? I think it's a wonderful piece!

[fusilierb]

Hmmmm, thanks Orest. I'll try that. That could be a big issue. I know the problem would kind of "disappear" if I just finished orchestrating it out, I might do that also. But I really want to see if I can get a convincing string piece going. Thanks for the listen Orest!B

[orest]

Well, I sure want to listen to the second version! I'm getting my East West later this week. I hope it will pay off!

[brindabella]

Bryan, I agree with Orest, lower the volume on those instruments a tad. I dont hear anything wrong with articulations, tho. It is beautiful!

[fusilierb]

You're going to love it Orest!! Best money I've ever spent. I'm really looking forward to hearing your writing paired with those sounds. It's going to be a whole new level for you.B

[orest]

I hope so! But I've heard a lot of good comments about it from members here! Let me know when you have the new version available!

[mazz]

A couple of tips and then a couple of comments (listening at work on crappy speakers so this will be broad stroke kind of stuff):1. I suggest using the 18VLNs for 1st VLNS and 11VLNS for 2nd VLNS. Then pan the 11 VLNS to about 2:00, which will move them over a bit like they would be in an orchestra, or at least separate them out a bit which gives a bit more space to the sound field.2. Even when using the legato string patches, I still use CC11 on almost every new note to do a slight fade in. Make sure the notes are connected, a tiny bit of overlap is OK. Imagine a real string instrument, if you go from one string to another, the string you just left is going to ring a tiny bit. Also string players play a series of notes under one bow movement, which is the hardest thing to achieve with samples but the most critical for making a convincing sound, IMO. So even though the string should still be sounding when the finger touches it, a slight (very slight) fade in may help with the illusion. Also, within a phrase, crescendos and decrescendos really help support the illusion.3. Yes, layer the solo instrument with the section. Careful mixing of a solo violin with a bit of natural vibrato on an expressive passage will make the phrase sing. It can't stick out, it has to sound like a member of the section but you'll be surprised at how a little bit can help out a lot.It sounds like you're using a lot of the non-vibrato articulation on the violins particularly. That tends to make a very dry sound which is nice for sustained pads but is tricky to use for long legato passages such as the ones you have here. Experiment with some of the Q-legato articulations. Sometimes I'll switch to an expressivo articulation for the last note of an ascending passage just to give it some added emotion.Watch what happens when your strings land on a chord. It sounds like a buildup happens and the chords are louder than the rest of the passage. I don't think you intend that to be the case every time. I suggest you might want to land on the chord and then immediately back off on the CC11 on each track to give a nice quick decrescendo on the chord.I don't know if you write out your music ahead of time but if you do, put phrase markings over the parts. When you play the legato parts this is a good guide for phrasing. Keyboardists can "fudge" legato (and pretty much have to with piano) and slight gaps between notes are OK but on real strings, gaps in legato lines are less obvious than they are in your piece. Great string players conceal string and position changes so there are no gaps. I hear a lot of gaps that sound "keyboardy" in your piece.Compositionally, I'd like to hear your lines be a bit more focussed, sometimes the ideas seem to wander off a bit. It's nice mood music and well done but it seems to be a bit formless in it's conception, I think you could really consider each phrase and whether is says what you want it to say musically. Does the phrase have a clear start, end and arc or did you end it when you ran out of ideas? I'm not saying that you did that but just putting forth a question that I feel should be foremost in your mind, even if you're accompanying a movie scene with musical "wallpaper".OK, enough for now. Your stuff sounds really good and you are on the road to really great.Keep it up!!Mazz