EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

On 10.03.2004, at 16:58, Nick Batzdorf wrote:

>  > For example, if blew quickly into a breath
>>  controller, it could know to switch to an articulation with a harder
>>  attack or a rapid rise. Or if you start very slowly, it would know to
>>  switch to a program with a longer attack, etc. I've done some playing
>>  around with a rate of change controller without much success, but
>>  that's just because my programming skills aren't refined enough to
>>  make the programs respond well to a breath controller.

From: Peter Ostry <po@...>

>I never tried a breath controller but this problem sounds more like a
>matter of sampling than of programming. It is similar with keys:
>hammering down very fast should select a "harder" sample.

No, no, it's much more complicated than that, and I'm thinking about 
playing keys with a breath controller being used for extra 
expression. I play EWI as well, but that's just a variation.

Advanced libraries like VSL have plenty of velocity layers, and 
velocity (or modwheel) works very well for selecting them. But that's 
just a matter of selecting the right attack, or possibly the start 
point in a sample, or crossfading between layers (when that works).

I'm talking about "anticipating" (i.e. switching very quickly to) the 
right articulation in response to your playing. Do you want a really 
hard, short bow, for example? Then the natural thing would be to 
blast air in and stop blasting it in very quickly.

It's the *rate* of cc change that it has to read, not just the value.

But this is just one example. My point is that today you have to load 
up several violin articulations to program a performance well. Some 
of the switching could be done in response to your playing.

>As far as I know wind's and reed's producing a soft tone (long attack)
>is never loud and a sharp blow mostly results in a louder tone. If you
>can live with this than the usual velocity switching with two or more
>zones will work reasonable.

Yes, what we have today works really well. I'm just saying that the 
next big nut to crack is the performance interface.

>There is certainly an over-proportional amount of work necessary to get
>a more realistic behavior. I believe in real live it is very hard to
>play a gentle but high tone on a transverse flute because you need some
>pressure. And sometimes those tones have more breath noise than
>auditable pitch. You see were we are going - it's the direction of the
>huge sample libraries of these days.
>
>I am not sure if I should work many many hours to force an EXS nearer
>to Andersons's flute on a much harder way than Ian Anderson himself - I
>haven't even a flute :-)

I play a Yamaha VL1 with an EWI for that kind of thing. It works beautifully.

That instrument came out 10 years ago, by the way.
-- 

Nick Batzdorf
818/905-9101, cell 590-9101, fax 905-5434