Obviously VSL had to record a lot of samples to achieve this, but that's one thing you couldn't accuse them of shying away from! Creating the material for this involved sampling every interval from a minor second to an octave, both upwards and downwards, from every note in the instrument's range, then trimming the front of each sample so that only a few milliseconds of the starting note remain. Playing live is another matter entirely, which I have not mastered and couldn't imagine trying to describe here.Īs explained in the original May 2003 SOS VSL review, the monophonic Legato Tool works by analysing the notes you play and selecting the appropriate sample for each subsequent note movement. Now of course, this is all about using these instruments with MIDI files. I often do harmonies with violins and violas - I'm trying to stay away from having 42 violins (3 x 14)! 14 violins in each section), this will lead to a really BIG string sound, the more parts you add. In other words, exactly like in real life, you would have separate players or sections doing each part. In the case of the 4-piece Legato French Horn ensemble, I relax this practice a bit because it is unlikely that you'd hear all players taking a breath at once!Īs far as harmonies go, the only way of doing this is to have multiple instances of an instrument in your rack and have them each driven from separate MIDI files, each playing a different part of the harmony. It's amazing how those gaps suddenly make the flute part sound real and not synthesized. When using this instrument, I deliberately ensure that gaps occur in the MIDI notes at regular intervals - otherwise it would sound like the player had an infinite supply of breath. This is particularly important with wind instruments, like the Legato Flute. If a note begins with any time gap from the end of the previous note, it is considered a starting note. In MIDI terms, if a note overlaps or begins exactly where another left off, KONTAKT will play it as legato. Obviously, the starting note has a distinct attack whereas the other notes will have a continuous transition between them. The key to getting legato to work is in distinguishing between a starting note and the other notes in a legato. Of course it's hard to know what you're looking from here that should help.īen2u, I can't comment on the unison-portamento script, but I can share my experiences with Legato instruments (I'm still on K2). well musical! To make it sing if you will. This can give a lot of life to your part and is an important part of the process if you want to play musical phrases that are. What i mean by this is you need to spend time drawing little curves(fade in) right after the start of the notes and fade out at the end of the notes etc. Give it a try! To do this, go in edit mode and go at the very bottom of you instrument and look for release in the right, and turn it up.Īlso, i strongly suggest you play with the volume(CC7) after you've recorded the part(that's done in the sequencer of your midi editor). Maybe you could increase the release in the ADSR if it's a very slow piece. The VSL legato instrument should give you a good transition sound as they are real legato. Play with the portamento control and X-fade etc. Now you can edit the parameter of your script to your liking. Go into the script editor/preset/factory/performance ans click on Unison-Portamanto.
#Kontakt action strings tutorial Patch
You can add a legato script to you sustain patch to have a smoother transition. THANK YOU all you MUSIC GURUS out there ! I don't know how else to explain what I am looking for. Is this continuous flow obtained by programming Kontakt 3, or by choosing a specific playing style with my strings. There is definite break in the flow of the chords. Now when I am playing the strings and going from one chord to the other it is more like If you where to hum what I mean it would be like: If I play I have to so carefully use my sustain pedal when going from one chord to the other (with strings), but still get that break in the flow.
#Kontakt action strings tutorial how to
I dont know music terms, but how to get legato. If you have a string section where all the strings play together without any other instrument, how do you get it to go from one note to the other without that distinct keyboard switch. I have made some pretty cool sounding songs, but still cannot, or don't know how to, obtain that unbroken flow in playing strings.