# Cello & Piano "the Shores of Ireland"



## Silence-is-Golden (Jul 14, 2016)

here a piece of music, originally made with the cello from OT's first chairs, but due to some of its current limitations switched to the new bohemian cello, and for me it works wonderfully.



Eventually the piano part might become an orchestral part but so far it has been a test and finding out what can be achieved.

So what are your ears & senses telling you regarding this piece.

Thank you for listening and commenting (if you so choose to)


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## John57 (Jul 14, 2016)

Wonderful the bohemian cello, has a very clear tone and very convincing and emotional.


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## Silence-is-Golden (Jul 14, 2016)

I think so too John.

If after a few months the updates will join this current library it really begins to come alive more and more.
As mentioned I tried this piece first with OT's FC Cello, and I enjoyed the portamento's and fingered legato which create more variation in the phrases, however this library shows how good it is, by conveying more depth from the un-looped sample usage.

So this is becoming my vi solo cello.....


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## NoamL (Jul 16, 2016)

The only issue I spotted is that the various groups of eighth notes at the end of a bar (e.g. 0:00, 0:33, 00:57) should likely be slurred together on an up bow, to be more lyrical. The library performs them as separate bows, which sounds a little bit fake or maybe a little bit like an amateur cellist.

Everything else about the cello is utterly convincing to my ears as a cellist... this is a great VI for sure. 

I love the performance nuances at 00:27, 1:00, 1:48 and 2:44. The problem with solo libraries often is that the library doesn't "know" what a note in the middle of a phrase "means" emotionally.. hard to explain... sometimes a library is over- or under-expressive in a way that reveals it's just a bunch of crossfaded samples with no overall structure. Very few moments like that in this piece... I'm impressed.

Very nice composition btw. I think the piano works very nicely with the cello, perhaps better than a string arrangement or orchestra arrangement would work.

Reminds me of Faure's Elegy.

I think your piece could enter the cello repertoire  we love performing soulful stuff like this!!


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## Silence-is-Golden (Jul 16, 2016)

Hi NoamL,

Thank you kindly for your post. I was indeed hoping for a response from someone who plays the cello how they would experience this emulation. So I am glad you did!


NoamL said:


> The only issue I spotted is that the various groups of eighth notes at the end of a bar (e.g. 0:00, 0:33, 00:57) should likely be slurred together on an up bow, to be more lyrical. The library performs them as separate bows, which sounds a little bit fake or maybe a little bit like an amateur cellist.


I agree fully. As soon as the Exp1 (I hope) is released somewhere in the future I will employ more of these bowings/articulations.



NoamL said:


> Everything else about the cello is utterly convincing to my ears as a cellist... this is a great VI for sure.


This is my experience as well. I resigned letting the cello from OT FC perform from what it was not necessarily designed to do. This composition as said started with using that lib, but I couldn't make it work. Up unto the point that I thought to abandon this piece halfway. Then this cello got out, and after some playing around I could feel the music coming alive again. Whilst knowing that it will be absolutely less in comparison when played by a real cellist like yourself with all the subtle nuances and conveyance that can only be done by a human being, it still can bring something across that resembles music to me.



NoamL said:


> I love the performance nuances at 00:27, 1:00, 1:48 and 2:44. The problem with solo libraries often is that the library doesn't "know" what a note in the middle of a phrase "means" emotionally.. hard to explain... sometimes a library is over- or under-expressive in a way that reveals it's just a bunch of crossfaded samples with no overall structure. Very few moments like that in this piece... I'm impressed.


I am sure the VH guys will be so utterly pleased to hear this. I think that is why they are doing such a great job, and in their own words a labour of love.



NoamL said:


> Very nice composition btw. I think the piano works very nicely with the cello, perhaps better than a string arrangement or orchestra arrangement would work.
> 
> Reminds me of Faure's Elegy.
> 
> I think your piece could enter the cello repertoire  we love performing soulful stuff like this!!


Thank you for your encouraging comments. Creating music for me is a mixture of
1) using what I know, but in such a way that I don't want to repeat it, but use it.
2) an intuitive process that I cannot explain intellectually, like the piece "wants me to go somewhere with it" which is usually not what I could invent in my mind beforehand.
3) imagining what the nature of the instrument is I use for the composition and how it expresses music through that instrument.

Since creating music is like a compulsory thing for me, like many musicians I guess , I am really glad to hear that you would see it as a possible repertoire for cellists. To me, In the end music is created for adding to human experience. So I am glad if this might be a contribution to that.

Thanks again for your welcomed comments NoamL!


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## dannymc (Jul 16, 2016)

lovely piece silence. was this suppose to be celtic sounding? i'm sorry i didn't quite hear that if that's what you were going for/ but it was really nice all the same. i don't have that bohemian cello so i'm not sure of its capabilities but the performance lacked that extra human vibrato that you'd get from a real cello. just not sure samples are there yet if that's the case. i think it would of added to the piece if there were a few imperfections in the lines here and there whether achieved by slight offsets, velocity spikes etc. it just sounded a bit too clean and mechanical to my ears especially the first minute. anyway i'm just being picky thanks for posting. 

Danny


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## John57 (Jul 16, 2016)

NoamL said:


> The only issue I spotted is that the various groups of eighth notes at the end of a bar (e.g. 0:00, 0:33, 00:57) should likely be slurred together on an up bow, to be more lyrical. The library performs them as separate bows, which sounds a little bit fake or maybe a little bit like an amateur cellist.
> 
> Everything else about the cello is utterly convincing to my ears as a cellist... this is a great VI for sure.


I wanted to say to say that with the current bohemian cello library there is a key switch you can activate to keep using the up brow for the samples during the time in question. Maybe this could work.


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## John57 (Jul 16, 2016)

dannymc said:


> lovely piece silence. was this suppose to be celtic sounding? i'm sorry i didn't quite hear that if that's what you were going for/ but it was really nice all the same. i don't have that bohemian cello so i'm not sure of its capabilities but the performance lacked that extra human vibrato that you'd get from a real cello. just not sure samples are there yet if that's the case. i think it would of added to the piece if there were a few imperfections in the lines here and there whether achieved by slight offsets, velocity spikes etc. it just sounded a bit too clean and mechanical to my ears especially the first minute. anyway i'm just being picky thanks for posting.
> 
> Danny


Actually for this soft peaceful piece there is quite a bit of vibrato. I have issues with other cello libraries having too much vibrato. This bohemian cello is capable of velocity spikes, in fact one user is complaining of large dynamic swings with velocity. The piece is met not to have a huge range.


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## Silence-is-Golden (Jul 18, 2016)

@dannymc 
Thanks for your comments Danny, glad you liked it.
Regarding the music it wasn't intended to be celtic sounding as in the music from those regions. More as my translation of what I hear might belong as a piece of music with the nature of that country.

@John57 
Thank you indeed for the suggestion with the force keyswitching. I find more & more that within the current bandwith of options using the ks is what brings the variations in expression.
I do think that, as NoamL also suggested that the fingered or slured legatos will sound more natural at several places.

And I also hear the vibrato notion as more natural as it is now. But......as there are many people with different tastes and experiences.....it is all ok.


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## Danial (Jul 18, 2016)

Automation of the attack would give it more expression. So Close! Some mild compression(Mild DAW Compression) to get the feel without the loudness would work wonders.


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## John57 (Jul 18, 2016)

Automation of the attack, yes I have heard that before. In one case a user was using a older version of UVI workstation and when updated to newer version his issue with large velocity swings was solved.

As far the attack goes I see two possible solutions. In a previous post, in the UVI workstation using the FX setting you can add a 3 band processor and use the 3 band compressor and choose focus in low might be a option. Second using forced keyswitch for sustains can lower the attack or the crescendo for the arcs.


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## Silence-is-Golden (Jul 18, 2016)

Thanks Daniel for the option, but so far I am not a fan of compression on strings (or on orchestra) because for me it kills the dynamics.
I would understand that it could be done for media purposes, but in pieces like this it think it will only flatten it down.

Edit: haven't found attack parameter in UVI workstation. And the 'performer' design won't let you go under the hood, unless you have Falcon( thats an assumption, because I do not have it)


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## Fer (Jul 19, 2016)

Silence-is-Golden said:


> Eventually the piano part might become an orchestral part but so far it has been a test and finding out what can be achieved.
> So what are your ears & senses telling you regarding this piece.


Hi Silence, your piece has a strong and beautiful elegyac mood... an orchestrated version would be great indeed.
This cello has a lot of beautiful expresive nuances. Fingered legato is planned on those expansions, isnt? im missing it here too.


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## Silence-is-Golden (Jul 20, 2016)

Fer said:


> Hi Silence, your piece has a strong and beautiful elegyac mood... an orchestrated version would be great indeed.
> This cello has a lot of beautiful expresive nuances. Fingered legato is planned on those expansions, isnt? im missing it here too.


Hi Fer,
"Muchos gracias" for your remarks on this piece. 

Yes, this cello has a lot of potential, and if you play around with the forced arcs you can create a good variety in expressiveness. And indeed the future expansion (maybe Q4 this year?) will include the fingered legato at some point. Also some correctly dosed portamentos may enhance the piece.
At the same time, as it currently is, it has a feeling of an eastern european playing style/sound that also has its charms.


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## ryst (Jul 20, 2016)

Excellent work, S-i-G!!


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## Stein Thor (Jul 24, 2016)

Really wonderful music, would really love to hear it with a real cello, I always have the feeling a sampled cello is fake, but maybe thats just cause I know it´s sampled


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