# EQ'ing "normal" string patches to sound like "con sordino"?



## mwarsell (Feb 1, 2016)

Is this possible?

Any pointers on what should be done?


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## muk (Feb 1, 2016)

Have a look here:

http://vi-control.net/community/threads/faking-sordino-using-match-eq-and-convolution-listen.16211/

You can follow the procedure specified there, and you also get a suggestion for the music you can use as a reference - altough I find it's on the sparse side as a match eq reference. Ideally the whole range of the instrument would be covered, and only one section playing at a time. But that's hard to find.

There's also a commercially available product that seems to work on that same basis:

http://www.numericalsound.com/universal_sordino.html

I can't comment on the quality of the IRs, but if it is basically simply different eq curves captured in IRs then it's nothing you couldn't do yourself.


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## Jerome Vonhogen (Feb 1, 2016)

mwarsell said:


> Is this possible?
> Any pointers on what should be done?


 

There are a few examples of sordino simulation that I know of, but they are done with some kind of impulse response, as far as I know. East West Hollywood Strings uses that kind of sordino simulation technology. I wish I knew how it works.

I don't think it's possible to simulate sordino just by EQ'ing, but of course I hope I'm wrong. 

- Jerome Vonhögen


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## Jerome Vonhogen (Feb 1, 2016)

muk said:


> Have a look here:
> 
> http://vi-control.net/community/threads/faking-sordino-using-match-eq-and-convolution-listen.16211/


 

Thanks!

Sadly, I didn't understand any of the steps of that procedure. I've never heard of "match EQ". Is this part of the VSL user interface? (I don't have any VSL library younger than 10 years, so I'm not familiar with VSL's innovations of the last decade.)

- Jerome Vonhögen


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## muk (Feb 2, 2016)

Jerome, 'match eq' is a specific function that only some eq's offer, and VSL's eq's don't if I'm not mistaken. Ozone, Fabfilter, Nugen SEQ, and Voxengo Curve EQ are some product that offer this functionality. Then there's also the Dynamic Spectrum Mapper, which works differently but can be used for the same task. I even dug up a free one that can do it:

http://www.axisplugins.com/download

I haven't tested this one, so I don't know if it is any good.

Basically they take a snapshot of the frequency curve of a reference track, then a snapshot of the target audio. Then these two curves are compared. The result is a 'correction curve' that, if applied to the target audio, should make it sound as the reference track.

The procedure would be as follows:

1. load an audio track with sordino violins 1.
2. play the exact same phrase with a violins 1 library that you want to apply a sordino effect to.
3. load up an eq plugin that offers the 'match eq' functionality.
4. with that eq, capture the frequency response of the sordino audio track as reference.
5. capture the frequency response of your sample library phrase as target
--> the eq will now spit out a correction curve that should make your library phrase sound like the reference track, i. e. the sordino strings.

Each time you want sordino strings, you could now load up this string library, apply the captured eq curve and that's it. Depending on the quality of the reference track (it should cover as much of the tonal range of the violin as possible) and the eq you are using results may vary from unuseable to quite good.

The last step mentioned above is making an Impulse Response from the captured eq curve. To do that, load up a dirac pulse in your daw (can be found for download here: http://www.noisetime.com/impulsecreation.html There's also a lot of interesting info on that page). Insert the match eq on that track, and load up the correction curve you captured. Finally, simply bounce the Dirac Pulse with the eq imprinted on it to audio. And voilà, now you have a violin sordino impulse response that you can load up in any convolution reverb.
Frankly I don't know why you do that last step. The results should be the same whether you are using the eq or the impulse response.


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## germancomponist (Feb 2, 2016)




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## Jerome Vonhogen (Feb 2, 2016)

muk said:


> Jerome, 'match eq' is a specific function that only some eq's offer, and VSL's eq's don't if I'm not mistaken. Ozone, Fabfilter, Nugen SEQ, and Voxengo Curve EQ are some product that offer this functionality. Then there's also the Dynamic Spectrum Mapper, which works differently but can be used for the same task. I even dug up a free one that can do it:
> 
> http://www.axisplugins.com/download
> 
> ...


 

Many thanks for taking the time to explain all this, and thanks for the great links!!

I'm definitely going to try this with Soaring Strings, as soon as I have installed the library on a new computer (Soaring Strings only works with the latest Kontakt 5 update, which can't be installed on the PC I wanted to use for that library).

Thanks for your help! 

- Jerome Vonhögen


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## Jerome Vonhogen (Feb 2, 2016)

germancomponist said:


>





Thanks! Do you know where I can find the original version without the annoying voice-over?

- Jerome Vonhögen


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## Erik (Feb 2, 2016)

mwarsell said:


> Is this possible? Any pointers on what should be done?



Mwarsell, http://eotte.blogspot.nl/2015/12/sordino-or-not.html (you could also have a look here.....)


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