# Improvisi (LASS)



## Pietro (Aug 11, 2009)

Hi. My first post in this section actually .

Just got my LASS today (we all know the story) and a couple of hours for fun with it. I just put a quick stream of ideas into a whole - it's sort of improvisation or excercise.

I thought I'd share:
http://www.piotrmusial.com/piotr_musial_-_improvisi.mp3 (Improvisi)

Any comments are most welcome.

- Piotr
PS. Other than that there's too much portamento and it could use a minute or so more by the end .


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## Thonex (Aug 11, 2009)

Hey!! Pretty good for only having LASS for a couple hours!!!!

Some observations about LASS that might help you (and others) when riding the Mod Wheel (CC1)

There is a tendency to ride CC1 too high. Above 80% and you're hitting *fff* performances which generally are used for the climax of the piece, I'd say riding CC1 below 75% for most music will yield more realistic dynamics. Also, if you want more control of the volume, but you don't want to (say) change the dynamic timbre, you can use CC11.

Be careful not to use CC1 andCC11 too much at the same time... it can sound to "swelly".

Don't be afraid to use CC83 to make portamentos faster than you think.

But this is a great exercise. LASS offers a lot of flexibility, and I've found that initially it was helpful to A/B my LASS work with real recordings until I got the "hang" of it.

Hope some of my ramblings help.

Cheers,

Andrew K


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## Pzy-Clone (Aug 11, 2009)

Great writing and gourgous sound (on my laptop atleast)
Makes me want Lass more :D

How much time did you spend on this ?
Any thoughts on how much work\tweaking Lass requires compared to the other existing libs?


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## synthetic (Aug 11, 2009)

Great piece and mix. 

I'll have to try the portamento speed tip, thanks for that.


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## Pietro (Aug 11, 2009)

Thanks for listening and comments .

@Andrew: Good tips. I generally tried avoiding highest dynamics and didn't touch CC11, since CC1 seemed to be expressive enough (I though this might be a problem at first, but it isn't). I still need to get to know the library and explore it's abilities - it's great fun!

@Pzy-Clone: It took me about 8 hours. 5 or 6 if you rule out breaks. I have to say, that LASS feels very natural and it seems to understand my intentions right away - which is different from other libraries I use (EWQLSO, Symphobia, some VSL stuff too). It doesn't really need a lot of tweaking, which is very surprising, considering how much is going on under the hood.

Btw this piece was entirely entered by mouse in piano roll (and by ear) .

- Piotr


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## Hannes_F (Aug 11, 2009)

I like the fact that LASS triggers significant writing for strings, really. Congratulations, and do more of that 

Listening to those portamenti makes my toenails curl :mrgreen: 

Here is a hint that maybe can help more LASS users: Keep in mind that a real (good) strings player will usually _mask_ the portamento by bow technique. With other words the sliding is there (and you would be surprised how often ... actually every time the hand moves up or down because for hitting the notes safely intonation-wise the technique requires controlled sliding, not jumping) ... but the volume will have a short dip while the transition is going on. Try this and the portamenti will be much more subtle and charming. 

Another detail to consider is that modern violin technique uses more position change on halftone intervals than on any other intervals.

A "full throttle I am doing a portamento now" slide with full volume and over a bigger interval like a third or fourth is reserved for the absolute climax of a piece. Then it can be magic but overusing it makes it cheap.

HTH
Hannes


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Aug 11, 2009)

Great writing, Piotr! Lovely, really. And thanks for the tips Andrew and Hannes. 8)


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## germancomponist (Aug 11, 2009)

Piotr,

beautiful piece and sound!


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## artsoundz (Aug 11, 2009)

You are a fantastic musician. This piece, for some reason, makes me want LASS even more(not that I needed any more convincing) but there is so much here- it simply sounds like real instruments and the writing...very inspiring.


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## Craig Sharmat (Aug 11, 2009)

while I can hear flaws in the sequencing it is rendered inconsequential by beautiful writing.


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## nikolas (Aug 12, 2009)

I think that this is the best user LASS demo I've heard to date! Not for the usage of LASS but for the music!

Thanks for sharing Piort!


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## Hannes_F (Aug 12, 2009)

Craig Sharmat @ Wed Aug 12 said:


> while I can hear flaws in the sequencing it is rendered inconsequential by beautiful writing.



Haha, well said! 8)


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## Sovereign (Aug 12, 2009)

Nice! This is one of the LASS demos which has impressed me the most so far. Saving up for LASS now. 8)


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## careyford (Aug 12, 2009)

Very nice composition. I find myself not listening for LASS but for the music which to me says loads about your Piotr (and LASS). 

Thanks for sharing this with us, and please post more in this section!

Richard


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## Rob Elliott (Aug 12, 2009)

Beautiful writing Piotr - really nice!

I hear your programming of the 'speed' (ports) the same way I did the first few days with the library. It is just so darn fun to have CONTROL of that - I tended to over-do it (probably still do). Comments from other posters made regarding this are good.

How did you get the 'back and forth' motif? I still hear that THAT can be improved but you have come most of the way there. The pattern (samples) on this sort of thing begin to 'be familiar' after a period of continued measures. I am just not sure how to provide enough variety to keep it fresh.

I think Andrew has mentioned that we use 'speed' patches and drive the speed to the shortest and vary with velocity (borrowing from neighboring samples) - but I am just not 100% satisfied. Your thoughts?


EDIT: If you can tell us what patches (also FC, A, B , C, etc.) you used on this that would be great.

I know this is splitting hairs but it is tantalizingly close - 


Rob


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## Guy Bacos (Aug 12, 2009)

I don't like everything about it, needs more breathing I think, but some sections I find are among the best LASS sounds I've heard up to date, the warmth and richness is there. 

But please, every LASS user, STOP putting those glisses in, it sounds like a gliss, not a porta or leg. Or be more subtle about it.


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## Pietro (Aug 13, 2009)

Thanks everyone for your comments and valuable input. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I'll try to answer all questions first.

I used a A+B+C set of LP/LPG (if available) patches. It was one midi channel per section, so there was no divisi whatsoever. There's also a first chair violin and cello in the middle of the piece and by the end (cello).

I didn't use any legato/portamento or gliss speed control for this piece yet.

The reverb was nothing fancy - Roomworks from Cubase 5 on master bus, with some Hall or Cathedral preset shortened to... (if I recall) 2.5s and made a bit more wet than by default.

About sequencing - I believe it would sound significantly better and looser if I had applied some random rythm humanizing with a script or manually (so all 3 patches in section would not play perfectly in sync) or modified CC1 for each patch individually. This would definitively improve overall realism, but well, I wanted to move on this quickly, so there's the result .

@nikolas:
Got your LASS already, mate? 

@Rob Elliott:
The 'back and forth' motif was nothing fancy sequencing-wise. Just first transition legato, second slightly detached. And a bit humanized in each section. I think I may have made the "forth" a bit too short at some points (too long gap), but I believe, this is easily fixable. And use of different patches than LG/LGP could help as well.

Haven't had chance to try speed patches yet.

@Guy Bacos:
Thanks for dropping by. By saying about breathing did you mean sequencing or orchestration (or both)? Probably humanizing each patch (as described above) would make it "flow" a bit more naturally and not sound like a section of strings on an adrenaline drip :mrgreen:.

About glissandos - Haha. Remember your first time playing a portamento/glissando capable instrument? :D Moderation will come next soon.

- Piotr


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## Mahlon (Aug 13, 2009)

When you try the speed patches and set the value to very high, I think this will really bring the sound to a new level. The portamento is subtle at the highest speed and really sounds almost legato. Gives a very smooth transition.

Super writing, by the way, and very well done all round.

Mahlon


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## Ed (Aug 13, 2009)

I would like to know from Andrew if there is a specific way one can do realistic *back and forth * repetitions in LASS, or if one has to kind of fake it.


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## Thonex (Aug 13, 2009)

Ed @ Thu Aug 13 said:


> I would like to know from Andrew if there is a specific way one can do realistic *back and forth * repetitions in LASS, or if one has to kind of fake it.



The last example on the Violas Improvised demo.

http://audiobro.com/html/demos.html

... half way down the page.


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## Ed (Aug 13, 2009)

I remember this demo, I guess I forgot. 

Its so awesome I WANT IT NOW.

I want to have audio sex with LASS, can you arrange this? Thing is I have no much monies right now, how much for one night?


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## TheoKrueger (Aug 14, 2009)

Amazing writing and piece! I find a honest simplicity and clarity that speaks to your heart straight away.

I think this is a fine example of talent + samples 

Thanks for the great music,
Theo


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## cc64 (Aug 14, 2009)

Wow Piotr very nice.

Reminiscent of John Barry. Do take it as a great compliment.

Best,

Claude


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## SergeD (Aug 21, 2009)

Just listened to that one. LASS is great and your piece is really good, I mean really really good 

SergeD


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## poseur (Aug 21, 2009)

Craig Sharmat @ Tue Aug 11 said:


> while I can hear flaws in the sequencing it is rendered inconsequential by beautiful writing.



i agree, wholeheartedly.
quite beautiful, that, piotr!

d


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## Pietro (Aug 25, 2009)

Thank you all for listening and comments again.

I'm currently working on a bigger form. Since it's only in my spare time, this may take a couple of weeks. But I'm sure I'll share with you when it's ready .

Cheers,
- Piotr


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## Sid_Barnhoorn (Sep 17, 2009)

Love it, great work, Piotr.


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