# HS Bow Change Leg



## Divico (Jul 8, 2018)

Hey,
I dont really get what is meant by bow change legato in HS Diamond.
Every note has a bow change while playing legato unlike the slur where notes are played on one bow?


----------



## Ashermusic (Jul 8, 2018)

From the manual: 
*
Bow Change Legato *

During a legato passage, string players sometimes have to change the direction out of necessity and sometimes do so for the effect. Hollywood Strings gives you the option of using this articulation at any time it suits your needs. The sound of the bow changing direction has a characteristic sound independent of any slur or portamento. 

In the legato instruments that include Bow Change together with Portamento and/or Slur effects, PLAY decides which of the components to play based on the MIDI data, as described in detail in the Combinations section below.


----------



## Divico (Jul 9, 2018)

Ashermusic said:


> From the manual:
> *
> Bow Change Legato *
> 
> ...


I've read that. Maybe my English sucks but I don't understand this completely. 
Does that mean that every note has a bow change while playing legato unlike the slur where notes are played on one bow?


----------



## pderbidge (Jul 11, 2018)

I have found that observing real players is the best way to understand what they are doing. I am fortunate enough to have Violin players as friends and family members who I've performed with (as a singer) which is great. Luckily Youtube is full of lessons for string players that describe these techniques, and if you are like me getting to visualize and hear what they are doing is much easier than reading a blurb from Wikipedia. Having said that I'll try to explain in a perhaps not technically accurate way but hopefully it will get the point across.
As you know there are many types of Legato. So let's start there. "Legato"- it's sort of like that slide from one note to another (I said this would not be technically accurate)- Now the sound of that "slide" will vary depending on the Legato technique used. For example, a Bow Change Legato is created by the way the player applies Bow pressure as they do two things - change the bow direction and the note. So basically they change the direction of the bow everytime they move to a new note, in combination of some bow pressure to create that Bow Change Legato articulation.
If the player were to play a Slur Legato then the articulation of the slur from one note to the next would come from their fingering position and finger pressure. In Slur Legato the bow will not necessarily change direction as they change notes unless they run out of bow and have to change bow direction to keep the phrase going but essentially it is not the bow change that is emphasizing the slide between notes but the fingering.

This is much easier understood by watching someone perform the action so jump on youtube and just type in Bow Change Legato and then Slur Legato and you will see and hear the difference.

I hope this helps.

Edit: For the sake of avoiding confusion. Slides and Legatos are different things. slides are more drawn out and pronounced, however if you think of Legato as sort of a really quick slide from one note to the next then I think it will help to understand it better, IMHO. Sometimes the Legato is subtle and not very pronounced but even when it's subtle you can notice that the notes are more connected than they would be without it.


----------



## Divico (Jul 11, 2018)

Thanks.


pderbidge said:


> Bow pressure as they do two things - change the bow direction and the note.


For me that sounds more like playing Detache.


----------



## pderbidge (Jul 11, 2018)

Divico said:


> Thanks.
> 
> For me that sounds more like playing Detache.


I can see the confusion. Detache is more about a smooth flowing movement of the bow. More of an even movement of the bow, even when staying on the same note whereas bow change legato is generally referenced when there is a note transition (to another note) and the movement of the bow is sort of a swelling sound like having a bit of momentum at first that then the sound pulls back a bit and swells back up again. That is done by the way the player apply's bow pressure. I believe they sort of vary the pressure within the bow change movement.

here is Detache



And here is a Bow Change Legato. Notice at 2:16 where she changes the direction of the bow for every note transition.


----------



## Divico (Jul 12, 2018)

pderbidge said:


> I can see the confusion. Detache is more about a smooth flowing movement of the bow. More of an even movement of the bow, even when staying on the same note whereas bow change legato is generally referenced when there is a note transition (to another note) and the movement of the bow is sort of a swelling sound like having a bit of momentum at first that then the sound pulls back a bit and swells back up again. That is done by the way the player apply's bow pressure. I believe they sort of vary the pressure within the bow change movement.
> 
> here is Detache
> 
> ...



Thanks mate. I guess I get the point now. It's about getting a smooth connected kind of endless bowing technique. Eliminating gaps between bow changes.
Still figuring out when to use which articulation on the VI side of things.
Any suggestions?


----------



## Ashermusic (Jul 12, 2018)

I love Hollywood Strings, as most of you know, but for me the Bow Change legato patches create more musical problems than they solve.


----------



## pderbidge (Jul 13, 2018)

Ashermusic said:


> I love Hollywood Strings, as most of you know, but for me the Bow Change legato patches create more musical problems than they solve.


I wonder if this is because of the sound of Bow Change legato in general. I know I've heard complaints about NI's Symphony Series String Ensembles only having Bow change legato as some prefer slurred Legato. Perhaps the swelling sound of the bow change legato makes it sound out of time or perhaps it's too bold of a Legato sound to have for every legato transition? Cory Pelizzari had some tips on making Symphony series sound like it had slurred legato but he went behind the scenes in Kontakt to make some adjustments so I don't know if any of these tips might work for HS in play


----------



## paularthur (Aug 1, 2018)

is EWHW strings the only library that has same note bowed legato?


----------

