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Repetitive Ostinato Torture Test

Solo violin.

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/solo-violin-quick-test-001-mp3.14827/][/AUDIOPLUS]
 

Attachments

  • Solo Violin Quick Test-001.mp3
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Here's the Fluid Shorts Viola with the 3 articulations. Normal, Tight and Ultra-Tight all with the same midi.
Varying velocities as you can see in the screen grab and all note lengths the same.
No processing.

https://www.sightsea.com/music/fluid_shorts/normal.mp3

https://www.sightsea.com/music/fluid_shorts/tight.mp3

https://www.sightsea.com/music/fluid_shorts/ultra-tight.mp3
 
I like this combination better and it sounds like you decided to focus on accent points which seem to give it more flow. Are you also automating the volume a bit? Great job.
The accents were always there, but I find that E on the SCS spiccato patch rings out quite a lot on the highest dynamic and it starts to sound a bit like rustic fiddling, so I backed off on that. The Berlin can be hit a bit harder but they present their own problems, and I don't think they sound as good as SCS on their own on this pattern—in any case as with SSS it would take quite a lot more work to get there... As for dynamics, it's about 6dB up and down in a 4 measure pattern on all the shorts, and the SCS bus and the Berlin bus are moving up and down about the same amount in 2 measure patterns but more or less opposite one another. Cello is treated on a separate bus, of course.
 
Here's the Fluid Shorts Viola with the 3 articulations. Normal, Tight and Ultra-Tight all with the same midi.
Varying velocities as you can see in the screen grab and all note lengths the same.
No processing.

https://www.sightsea.com/music/fluid_shorts/normal.mp3

https://www.sightsea.com/music/fluid_shorts/tight.mp3

https://www.sightsea.com/music/fluid_shorts/ultra-tight.mp3
Fluid shorts seems to have a lot of flexibility. Wow.
 
Solo violin.

[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/solo-violin-quick-test-001-mp3.14827/][/AUDIOPLUS]
Is that SWAM? Sounding pretty good. I like the little speed up at the end. Seems like your getting a handle on that one robgb.
 
Fluid shorts seems to have a lot of flexibility. Wow.

Yes. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I didn't need to pay attention to the velocities of the individual short phrase to get good results, and that they just seem to bounce, differently but nicely, at almost all velocity levels.
 
Hi,

I made an additional test, with some added personalized notes (to prevent madness with only the eebbeebb....)

In this order, only the violins (!):
- Synchron Strings
- Synchron Chamber Strings
- Synchron Strings - Synchron Chamber Strings - VSL violin solo
- Synchron Strings - Synchron Chamber Strings - VSL violin solo - Session Strings Pro
- 8DIO Century Strings (normal & sordino)
- 8DIO Century Strings (normal & sordino) - Session Strings Pro

I tried to avoid only shorts, while this should be more an effort to explore fast up down notes imo. There is some spiccato involved, but mostly in the layered versions. Eager to find out your opinions on this track, so let me know!

 
Is that SWAM? Sounding pretty good. I like the little speed up at the end. Seems like your getting a handle on that one robgb.
SWAM? No. That's a dirty word on VI. This is a real violin. I got excited toward the end. ;)

And, yes, I'm kidding.
 
Hi,

I made an additional test, with some added personalized notes (to prevent madness with only the eebbeebb....)

In this order, only the violins (!):
- Synchron Strings
- Synchron Chamber Strings
- Synchron Strings - Synchron Chamber Strings - VSL violin solo
- Synchron Strings - Synchron Chamber Strings - VSL violin solo - Session Strings Pro
- 8DIO Century Strings (normal & sordino)
- 8DIO Century Strings (normal & sordino) - Session Strings Pro

I tried to avoid only shorts, while this should be more an effort to explore fast up down notes imo. There is some spiccato involved, but mostly in the layered versions. Eager to find out your opinions on this track, so let me know!


It seems consistent that layering 3 or more tend to yield the best results. I liked the 3rd one the most. I'm sure with layering there is some phasing that is helping to blur some of the machine gun sound.

Thanks for breaking up the monotony a bit. I'm sure after this we're all going to need some therapy.
 
I'm sure with layering there is some phasing that is helping to blur some of the machine gun sound.

I suspect it has less to do with phasing and more with the randomized combinations of a greater number of round robins leading to a greater number of unique sample combinations that don't all sound the same. In my example I tried achieving this by splitting the violins into their 4 smallest divisi sections and setting their round robin sequences on random each. That should give more variation without changing the number of players you actually hear. Then I layered some violas and cellos with different mic positions to fill out and blur the sound a bit. But no one commented on my mp3, so it seems to not have been a very convincing approach.
 
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SWAM? No. That's a dirty word on VI. This is a real violin. I got excited toward the end. ;)

And, yes, I'm kidding.
LOL. Perhaps it is for some but dirty word or not, this is the technology that I think will be the next wave of instrument emulation. Samples can only take us so far and for a phrase like this I don't think they quite cut it. You need either the exact Phrase recorded from a phrase based library or an instrument like SWAM that responds dynamically in real time. Even with a ton of round robins there are too many unnatural tone changes in the samples that don't interact dynamically enough to pull this off as convincingly as I would like. I just hope that Audio Modeling or Sample Modeling or some other physical modeling company can help us find the balance between control and usability.
 
LOL. Perhaps it is for some but dirty word or not, this is the technology that I think will be the next wave of instrument emulation. Samples can only take us so far and for a phrase like this I don't think they quite cut it. You need either the exact Phrase recorded from a phrase based library or an instrument like SWAM that responds dynamically in real time. Even with a ton of round robins there are too many unnatural tone changes in the samples that don't interact dynamically enough to pull this off as convincingly as I would like. I just hope that Audio Modeling or Sample Modeling or some other physical modeling company can help us find the balance between control and usability.
I think a hybrid approach will probably wind up being the key.
 

Faster:


Not shure if it is really the right fit. But I made it, so I am posting it before it goes into the bin.

Weird blend of:
CSSS Solo Violin I, Solo Viola, Solo Cello
Cinesamples Solo Violin I, Solo Viola
Spitfire Chamber Strings Viola Section
 
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Yes, got it with the audioplugin.deals bundle (https://vi-control.net/community/threads/just-wow-70-off-impact-soundworks-and-2-freebies.73959)

Furia Staccato Strings:
[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/furia_ostinatotest-mp3.14853/][/AUDIOPLUS]

VSL only:
[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/vsl_ostinatotest-mp3.14854/][/AUDIOPLUS]

VSL layered with Furia:
[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/vsl_ostinatotest-wfuria-mp3.14855/][/AUDIOPLUS]

I like the combined sound of VSL and Furia. Furia adds a lot of vibrance to the VSL strings.
Furia itself has only one velocity layer but 16 round robin. I would not use it standalone, but for layering it is a really nice small library, imo.
 

Attachments

  • Furia_OstinatoTest.mp3
    605.8 KB · Views: 93
  • VSL_OstinatoTest.mp3
    605.8 KB · Views: 70
  • VSL_OstinatoTest-wFuria.mp3
    605.8 KB · Views: 74
Yes, got it with the audioplugin.deals bundle (https://vi-control.net/community/threads/just-wow-70-off-impact-soundworks-and-2-freebies.73959)

Furia Staccato Strings:
[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/furia_ostinatotest-mp3.14853/][/AUDIOPLUS]

VSL only:
[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/vsl_ostinatotest-mp3.14854/][/AUDIOPLUS]

VSL layered with Furia:
[AUDIOPLUS=https://vi-control.net/community/attachments/vsl_ostinatotest-wfuria-mp3.14855/][/AUDIOPLUS]

I like the combined sound of VSL and Furia. Furia adds a lot of vibrance to the VSL strings.
Furia itself has only one velocity layer but 16 round robin. I would not use it standalone, but for layering it is a really nice small library, imo.

Thanks, that was interesting to hear! I agree the layered one works best.
 
Thanks again to everyone who contributed. After both extensive listening and trying some of the tricks discussed here (I still have more to try out) on my own libraries I have learned a few good tips and decided to summarize them here.

1. Determine where and how often to Accent (Got this from Shawnsingh's example)-
2. Consider combining a longer note with the short note underneath to add blur. For example- record a 1/32 passage as 1/16 then duplicate the notes and move them, then adjust the velocities down a bit(from Procreative)
3. Consider light pizzicato to accent notes (from DANIELE)
4. Vary the note timing. Some libraries will have tightness knobs for this but might still benefit from doing this in the piano roll.
5. Duplicate the phrase with some low 1/8 notes (if the phrase is 1/32 notes) as in jbuhler's example. However I would probably put them in for feel but not loud enough to discern. It depends on the phrase though.
6. Ride the volume up and down strategically to add ebb and flow.
7. Have another instrument such as violas doing the same pattern without the double notes for accenting (good idea from Sekkosiki)
8. If all else fails come up with a better ostinato pattern that better suits your library and isn't so darn repetitive:) apparently sounding too much like a Lionel Richie song - (from Procreative)

Edit: I forgot one more tip. Tip 9- Some libraries will respond differently to length of the Spicato note, so it is worth playing around with that feature if it's available.

I will say that I think I'm sold on Performance Samples Fluid Shorts. It seems to have less of that machine gun sound, (maybe not as good as I hoped but still really good) so when combined with some of the tips and tricks discussed in this thread I think it will suit my needs well. I was also impressed with CSS as well.

This is an interesting thread, I have to ask, has anyone tried out 8DIO's ostinato strings? I realize this thread started before it's release, I'm just curious to know. It seems like a really well-built library.
 
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