# [Real violin track added] Graceful, romantic orchestra (VSL Violin, woodwinds and CSS)



## fantasy sound (May 17, 2019)

*Edit: I added a real violin track below (#12 on this thread).*

Hi there!

I just finished a piece of orchestra in the style of romantic music and would like to share it with you.

I'm using VSL solo Violin (included in Solo Strings library) for the main part of this work. Just simple phrases , not that complex, but it took hours for me to make it sing



Any critical comments are very welcome.
Thanks for listening. Hope you enjoy it.



Other instruments used here:

Cinematic Studio Strings
VSL Woodwinds (Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Clarinet and Bassoon)
VSL French Horns
Orange Tree Samples Angelic Harp
Ivory American D

Edit: Changed the original link to private sharing


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## shomynik (May 17, 2019)

Hey there! Nice work, love the writing.

So sorry for saying this, especially since you invested so much time making that violin, but for me, everything else sings but violin. It so fake that it ruins the rest, too much volume automations that should, Im guessing mimic the dynamics, but they sound as volume changes to me, and as such are too radical.

i would certainly give it another try or change the violin library completely, it would do this piece a huge favor IMO.

Good luck and keep on with great work!

Milos

EDIT:Maybe try putting the violin in a nice space using reverb, it would ease on those automations for sure.


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## BlackDorito (May 17, 2019)

Background strings are a bit too up-front for my tastes. Could consider adding some textural changes for contrast. The solo violin could have a wee bit more vibrato swell at the end of phrases to keep with the romantic style. Good work!


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## fantasy sound (May 17, 2019)

shomynik said:


> Hey there! Nice work, love the writing.
> 
> So sorry for saying this, especially since you invested so much time making that violin, but for me, everything else sings but violin. It so fake that it ruins the rest, too much volume automations that should, Im guessing mimic the dynamics, but they sound as volume changes to me, and as such are too radical.
> 
> ...



Thank you for your kind words.

Do you have any recommendations for solo violin libraries that can sing nicely?
I don’t have any options for now.

Honestly, I’m worn out from programming VSL Violin. There are tons of seemingly useful patches in it, which turn out otherwise (at least for this type of music). Very limited velocity layers, no round robin for legato, sound inconsistency from patch to patch, volume jumping here and there etc…


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## fantasy sound (May 17, 2019)

BlackDorito said:


> Background strings are a bit too up-front for my tastes. Could consider adding some textural changes for contrast. The solo violin could have a wee bit more vibrato swell at the end of phrases to keep with the romantic style. Good work!



Thank you for your advice!

That’s a good point. I was struggling with vibrato (and finally gave up). 

As for the strings part, personally I like it thick and up-front, but each to their own, off course.


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## shomynik (May 17, 2019)

fantasy sound said:


> Thank you for your kind words.
> 
> Do you have any recommendations for solo violin libraries that can sing nicely?
> I don’t have any options for now.
> ...



i don't really have much experience with this style so i would not like to vouch for any specific library as it might turn out limited for what you need. What I'm trying to saying (in a really messy way) is that you should really research any library to make sure it really got everything for the style. Many libraries excel in just a few styles - as you probably already know.

But, Embertone's Joshua Bell is a really lovely library, with a beautiful timbre and very flexible. I bet it would fit nicely.


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## fantasy sound (May 18, 2019)

shomynik said:


> i don't really have much experience with this style so i would not like to vouch for any specific library as it might turn out limited for what you need. What I'm trying to saying (in a really messy way) is that you should really research any library to make sure it really got everything for the style. Many libraries excel in just a few styles - as you probably already know.
> 
> But, Embertone's Joshua Bell is a really lovely library, with a beautiful timbre and very flexible. I bet it would fit nicely.


Got it, thank you. Sorry if I misunderstood your message. I’m not very familiar with good solo violin libraries out there, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

I will check Joshua Bell Violin later.


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## Vladimir Bulaev (May 20, 2019)

fantasy sound said:


> Hi there!
> 
> I just finished a piece of orchestra in the style of romantic music and would like to share it with you.
> 
> ...


Nice music. Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately the violin is really more mechanical here than other instruments.



fantasy sound said:


> Do you have any recommendations for solo violin libraries that can sing nicely?
> I don’t have any options for now.



Cinematic Studio Solo Strings is perfect for your romantic style, especially since you already have Cinematic Studio Strings. I especially love the second violin. Also mixing them with sections can achieve more ditelization and realism.


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## muk (May 20, 2019)

Really cool track. Nice work! As others have mentioned, the solo violin is letting you down. It sounds mechanical in comparison to the other instruments. Unfortunately, solo strings seem to be extremely difficult to sample. I don't know of any library that could mock up anything string quartet even halfway convincingly. Would be nice if you could record a real violin player for this track.


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## fantasy sound (May 20, 2019)

Vladimir Bulaev said:


> Nice music. Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately the violin is really more mechanical here than other instruments.
> 
> 
> 
> Cinematic Studio Solo Strings is perfect for your romantic style, especially since you already have Cinematic Studio Strings. I especially love the second violin. Also mixing them with sections can achieve more ditelization and realism.



Thank you for listening and your comment!

Cinematic Solo Strings was out of my radar for some reason, but it seems to be a good choice as you mentioned. Listening to your nice tracks, I really like the sound. I will probably buy it. 

Speaking of the violin in my track, I didn’t think it was that bad when finishing it, but now I clearly realized the weakness of the sound, thanks to your comments. I put much time to program that part, maybe too much, and it must have clouded my judgement. A common pitfall!


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## RogiervG (Jun 14, 2019)

Nice composition, and endproduct! (well done!)
however, the solo string is imho too dry and upfront. (like a layer on it's own)
I would be nicer if it was a bit embedded like the violin was present during the "recording" if you get my drift.

And it lacks realism somehow. Maybe you need to work more on the bowing flow like a real violinist does it.


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## fantasy sound (Jun 14, 2019)

RogiervG said:


> Nice composition, and endproduct! (well done!)
> however, the solo string is imho too dry and upfront. (like a layer on it's own)
> I would be nicer if it was a bit embedded like the violin was present during the "recording" if you get my drift.
> 
> And it lacks realism somehow. Maybe you need to work more on the bowing flow like a real violinist does it.



Hi, thank you for your warm comment and advice!
I agree with your points. Good amount of reverb (and a bit of delay maybe) should have been added to the violin track to be sit in the mix better.

Also, I think VSL solo violin has a bit stronger mid range tone compared to other violin libraries, which makes the instrument more "upfront" in the mix imao. I tried EQing and cutting unwanted mid frequencies to make it sound good and thin, but I could't do it well.

And here is a good thing for me.
Recently I had a chance to record *a real violin* for this track. 
I really enjoyed mixing it myself. The result is:



I hope you enjoy listening to the new version as well


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## shomynik (Jun 14, 2019)

fantasy sound said:


> Hi, thank you for your warm comment and advice!
> I agree with your points. Good amount of reverb (and a bit of delay maybe) should have been added to the violin track to be sit in the mix better.
> 
> Also, I think VSL solo violin has a bit stronger mid range tone compared to other violin libraries, which makes the instrument more "upfront" in the mix imao. I tried EQing and cutting unwanted mid frequencies to make it sound good and thin, but I could't do it well.
> ...




Well that's just lovely.


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## Saxer (Jun 14, 2019)

The real violin takes everything to a new level. Very nice track!


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## SimonCharlesHanna (Jun 15, 2019)

The difference is huge!

Beautiful track. The live Violin was well worth your time and no VST would get anywhere near this gorgeous performance.


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## RogiervG (Jun 15, 2019)

SimonCharlesHanna said:


> and no VST would get anywhere near this gorgeous performance.



well... i doubt that highly these days. (but it's quite hard to do.. needs lots of tweaking of midi data etc... )


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## fantasy sound (Jun 15, 2019)

Thank you guys for listening and comments! It makes me really happy.

Well, at least for me it is impossible to reproduce this kind of performance in detail no matter what sampled library I use. Perhaps a more skilled person could, but I too bet it would be very tough.

Anyway, the violinist is a nice and talented person, I like her playing, and it changed the piece for the better.
Night and day hehe.


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## Paul T McGraw (Jun 15, 2019)

@fantasy sound the real violin sounds wonderful. Nice composition, and now it can truly sing. Congrats!


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## SimonCharlesHanna (Jun 15, 2019)

RogiervG said:


> well... i doubt that highly these days. (but it's quite hard to do.. needs lots of tweaking of midi data etc... )


So they say


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## marclawsonmusic (Jun 15, 2019)

Hey, beautiful work! This is a great case-in-point to remind us there is 'nothing like the real thing'. Lovely music.


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