Dragonfire Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 My goal is to replicate the vibrato sound found on virtually every string solo instrument - however, when I try to apply a modulation controller via MIDI Draw, either nothing happens or the note after sounds like it tremolos (and sometimes merely plucks). Why can I get this to work for other instrument samples (e.g. electronic stuff) but not any string instruments? I do not want the vibrato to be throughout the note, only to occur on, say, the last half (replicating real violin player), and thus am rejecting the idea of using LFO (plus I've read to never use that for vibrato effect). Thoughts?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 The idea of avoiding using an LFO is strange, given that modulation is typically affecting the range of an LFO routed to the pitch. So either way you are using an LFO. The only way to avoid using an LFO would be to perform the vibrato yourself using your pitch bend wheel, or drawing the pitch bend automation. I've done this in the past when I needed very realistic vibratos, or for specific vibratos such as guitar vibratos, where the pitch can only go up (but not down) from normal pitch. It's time consuming though. Otherwise, you can route an envelope to control the range of an LFO, or use the mod wheel. Wether it works or not depends on the instrument and how the patch was programmed. Some instruments such as ES2 or Sculpture for example have LFOs with built-in envelopes (so that the LFO starts acting a while after the note has started playing). So the next question would be: what instrument are you using? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfire Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 David - you are awesome. Your insanely speedy replies make you a replying god. ^_^ And sorry, I should have specified as I've been searching through many other posts. I've been trying to get mainly cello and violin (EXS24). (pitch bend doesn't respond to these either) Oh, interesting - I must have gotten the wrong idea from your book about that. How much control do you have on placement of the vibrato when you route an envelope? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCTMusic Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Hi My goal is to replicate the vibrato sound found on virtually every string solo instrument - however, when I try to apply a modulation controller via MIDI Draw, either nothing happens or the note after sounds like it tremolos (and sometimes merely plucks). Why can I get this to work for other instrument samples (e.g. electronic stuff) but not any string instruments? and I've been trying to get mainly cello and violin (EXS24). (pitch bend doesn't respond to these either) Some of the Factory sounds have Modulation (CC1) mapped to 'Articulation' ( Pizz- legato etc) and Pitch Bend mapped to dynamics (?). You may have better luck using another MIDI CC to control the Pitch LFO in the EXS ( rather than remapping the Arctic controller CC). CCT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 I took the instrument "Cellos" in this example. The red frame shows you how to make the instrument responsive to pitch bend. The yellow arrows show you how to route an LFO to pitch, modulated by the mod wheel. As CCT pointed, for many instruments, this will only work if you start with the mod wheel on zero, and raise it during the note, bringing it back to zero before you play a new note. Otherwise you'll be triggering another articulation with vibrato already added. It may indeed be a good idea to pick a Ctrl# other than #1. You can avoid this by using one of the "+" patches, such as Cellos+. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musos Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 In addition to David's tips above, you can also consider using Aftertouch or Breath Control for vibrato. Both of these can generate a distinctive and "non-LFO" type of vibrato, such as a player would use. Aftertouch can obviously be used on any keyboard that has that function. A Breath Controller is a worthwhile purchase for using with all wind instruments as well as strings etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonfire Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 @David - Epic! Worked. I tried a similar feat earlier, but I was missing the 'via Ctrl #1.' Thanks for your helpful info guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 You're welcome! Good ideas musos, thanks for chiming in. I think I've seen in the past MIDI keyboard controllers that offered the ability to send a CC when moving the keys left and right as well....? That would be the closest to the performance of vibrato on a string instrument! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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