1st GPO Demo

[Shazbot]

Finally had some time to work with GPO, and recorded a simple little string piece last night.

http://www.endresnet.com/01GPO-012804.mp3 (\"http://www.endresnet.com/01GPO-012804.mp3\")

I don\'t have a pedal for my MIDI controller yet, so I couldn\'t do the alternate bowing, which might have sounded better on some of the phrasing. I would have added it via the MIDI editor with CC64, but I couldn\'t figure out how to get that to work successfully. I\'ll probably just rerecord the violins when I get a pedal soon.

I also have poor latency on my system which makes multi-tracking difficult (I need to get an ASIO compatible soundcard, eh?), so it\'s a bit looser than I would have liked in some spots, but in a way, the feel of this whole piece is kind of loose and flowing, so that\'s not really too much of a disadvantage in this case. I did some minor MIDI editing of the timing of a few notes, but I didn\'t want to mess with it too much right now, as I probably will record it again.

Anyway, check it out. Comments and suggestions are welcome. I am almost completely new to composing, \'performing\' and recording in this milieu, but I\'m really enjoying working and learning with GPO. FWIW, the instruments are Guarn Ens 1 & 3 for the violins (the Gaurns are my favorites of the violins!) and Cello Lush. Recorded dry into Power Tracks Pro, then mixed and reverb added in Adobe Audition.

[tremolo]

I do not have the ability to judge the composition by itself, but I am sorry to say that something is amiss in the quality of the string sounds.

This doesnt sound like the strings in any other GPO demo I have heard. Sounds more like the \"chamber\" strings in my old synth keyboard.

maybe this has to do with your soundcard? I am sure you can improve this a lot.

[Haydn]

What\'s missing is the legato mode. That\'s what you need the sustain pedal for.

[Alan Lastufka]

You can draw the sustain pedal info into your key editor on you sequencer...

[Skysaw]

I don\'t think it is as bad as Tremolo says. I do think there is a bit too much reverb, especially since the playing is pretty loose. It makes the beats very imprecise.

I\'m only listening on little speakers at work, so I\'m not getting enough detail to comment further.

[Shazbot]

The general sound of the violins is quite beautiful to me, and in that sense sounds like any other of the violin demos I\'ve heard (or at least the ones that use Guarns), weaker controlling and editing on my part notwithstanding. Certainly a far cry from cheesy GM MIDI strings. What I\'m concerned with is the performance/controller factors and nuances of getting them to sound more like realistic performances.

When you say it needs legato mode, not alternate bowing, is there a way to control that via MIDI events, and where would I need it in this piece, between the quickly alternated notes? (I\'m a guitarist, not a violinist, so this is very much an education.) The sequencer I\'m using doesn\'t have controller drawing capability, so controller changes would have to be added in as MIDI events.

Thanks,
Shaz

[Shazbot]

Originally posted by Haydn:
Legato mode uses CC64 - Sustain Pedal.

On (pedal down) = 127
Off (pedal up) = 0

Make sure you go into Options in the GPO Player and change the pedal mode to the 2nd one in the list (at work so I don\'t have the exact name for this mode).<font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Ah, I think that\'s where I went wrong. I hadn\'t changed the GPO pedal mode, so when I was trying to add the CC64 controller, it was giving me this crazy sustain, and not alternate bowing or legato.

Thanks!

[Haydn]

Yep, that\'ll do it!

[shushki]

I liked the demo although adding the legato will probably make it sound better.

[Haydn]

Legato mode uses CC64 - Sustain Pedal.

On (pedal down) = 127
Off (pedal up) = 0

Make sure you go into Options in the GPO Player and change the pedal mode to the 2nd one in the list (at work so I don\'t have the exact name for this mode).

Think of legato mode on as a slurred passage or many notes played in one bow stroke. Start the first note with the pedal up and then press it down before playing the 2nd note in the phrase.

[Shazbot]

Well, I changed the option to CC64, and added alternating 0 and 127 CC64 values between the notes, and do I hear a difference? Honestly, I\'m not sure if I am hearing a difference, or just thinking I am. images/icons/confused.gif I want to be sure of what I\'m doing (or not doing) here...

Here\'s the new version -
http://www.endresnet.com/01GPO-013004.mp3 (\"http://www.endresnet.com/01GPO-013004.mp3\")

And the previous demo again - http://www.endresnet.com/01GPO-012804.mp3 (\"http://www.endresnet.com/01GPO-012804.mp3\")

The new one was done with the Ambience reverb, and some minor volume and timing changes made, so it is different than the previous version in those senses, but I\'m not sure of a difference between the new and old in terms of the violin performance, and even if so, I\'m not really sure I prefer the new one.

If anyone would care to give the MIDI file a look and see if there\'s anything worth suggesting from that, that might be helpful. http://www.endresnet.com/01GPO.mid (\"http://www.endresnet.com/01GPO.mid\")

Thanks,
Shaz

[Haydn]

I can definitely hear the difference. The attacks aren\'t on every note now which is the main difference. You may want to add even more CC1 (modulation). I like to bring the levels down at the end of long notes so they don\'t end abruptly.

Try playing around with some of the other reverb rooms. The one your using sounds like the players are playing in my recording room. You may want to try a slightly larger room.

[Shazbot]

Thanks, Haydn. Actually, the Ambience room was Concert Hall 1, but I\'d pulled the wet down quite a bit. I\'ll try it a bit wetter next time.