Midi attack staccato violins

[SideBMusic]

I selected the violin staccato software instrument in Logic, but the attack sounds like the strings are being hit instead of plucked. I figure if I can adjust the attack I could get a softer sound at the beginning of each midi note and make it sound more natural. I've tried every knob and slider I can find... okay, I need the experts here.

 

BTW, I also have Garritan Personal Orchestra, which is where I started. I couldn't find any adjustment in its control window either.

[Jordi Torres]

I selected the violin staccato software instrument in Logic, but the attack sounds like the strings are being hit instead of plucked.

 

Aren't you looking for a pizzicato patch?

 

J.

[Eriksimon]

pizzicato=plucked (and because it is plucked, by the nature of the sound it is indeed also staccato, but that is already implied by it being pizzicato - when talking about violins...

of course, with double basses, cello's and even viola's and the lower violin strings you can pluck & play pizzi-legato - Beer Moth is absolutely right....)

staccato=very short (on bowed instruments can be achieved be "hitting" the string, but is , afaik, always played using the bow...)

[SideBMusic]

My bad. I did mean pizzicato. I can't believe how unrealistic the sound is. The only thing I can think of is to somehow lower the attack of the MIDI notes. Ideas?

[Beer Moth]

pizzicato=plucked (and because it is plucked, by the nature of the sound it is indeed also staccato, but that is already implied by it being pizzicato)

staccato=very short (on bowed instruments can be achieved be "hitting" the string, but is , afaik, always played using the bow...)

 

It's possible to pluck and play legato...

Walkin' bass...

8)

[Eriksimon]

I'm not a big string-user, but what is "so unrealistic" about them? They sound to me what they are: recordings of actual violins being played pizzicato. I don't know what you expect, but the realism is partly in the sample, but mostly in the way they are used, phrased, and mixed in the arrangement... Are you loading the strings in the EXS24? You should, the GB-EXS instrument GUI is very limited. In the EXS24, you can make all sorts of tweaks, but they're essentially subtractive, so they do not "add" anything to the sample. But you could give it a slower attack, or alter the sample start point. It's hard to know what it is that you find so unrealistic and to subsequently help make that more realistic.

Garritan I'm not sure. Doesn't that come with a Kontakt player? I would be surprised if that doesn't have an EG on board, check its' manual.

[camillo jr]

I think the EXS pizzicatos are quite usable but I agree that the violin pizz is a tad hard sounding compared to the other sections. Here's a few things you could try...

 

Roll back the top half of the ENV 2 attack slider to 80 or 100. Leave the bottom of that slider at zero and then the attacks will be harder at higher velocities.

 

Assign filter cutoff to velocity in the matrix like in my screenshot. And if you are using all the pizz sections together, I'd turn down the volume of the violin pizz a lot, compared to the other three sections.

 

And these samples need a good reverb - they're pretty dry. There's some good halls in Space Designer.

 

One thing to consider is that a pizz sample is a relatively quiet sound so if you're playing it loudly compared to other orchestral sounds in the arrangement it's definitely going to sound artificial. And there's no round robin samples here so too many repeated notes are going to scream "sample" loud and clear with this batch.

[SideBMusic]

I think the EXS pizzicatos are quite usable but I agree that the violin pizz is a tad hard sounding compared to the other sections. Here's a few things you could try...

 

Roll back the top half of the ENV 2 attack slider to 80 or 100. Leave the bottom of that slider at zero and then the attacks will be harder at higher velocities.

 

Assign filter cutoff to velocity in the matrix like in my screenshot. And if you are using all the pizz sections together, I'd turn down the volume of the violin pizz a lot, compared to the other three sections.

 

And these samples need a good reverb - they're pretty dry. There's some good halls in Space Designer.

 

One thing to consider is that a pizz sample is a relatively quiet sound so if you're playing it loudly compared to other orchestral sounds in the arrangement it's definitely going to sound artificial. And there's no round robin samples here so too many repeated notes are going to scream "sample" loud and clear with this batch.

 

This was very helpful.

 

Upon starting a new document I found the pizzicato sound was much more accurate in both the EXS24 and in Garritan Personal Orchestra. I did try your adjustments and they improved the sound as you indicated. Something is interfering with the sound in the track of my original song file; I need to take another look and see if I can locate it.

[camillo jr]

Glad that worked for you. Hope you can decipher what's going on with that song.