Add Impulse responses to your virtual Instruments - they just might sound better
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- Опубліковано 11 вер 2023
- One recurring criticism of some physically modeled instruments is that they don't sound as good as sampled instruments. While perhaps there is merit to such a claim, I would argue that there is a lot to be done on your own using such powerful tools as many of these instruments actually are. Choice of MIDI controller is one thing; a seaboard, Linnstrument, or MIDI guitar might help with controlling a few extra parameters in real-time, making a recording a more"alive" experience. Another thing would be to address the way the instrument sounds yourself if this is somehow part of your misgivings about it. Go beyond the preset setting and perhaps add some external spark if you have to. A nifty little trick I picked up from the guys at the VI-control forum (vi-control.net/community/) is to add Impulse Responses to your instruments. I use Guitar Rig 7's Cabinet IR loader here, for lack of a better IR loader, but there are a lot of options really:
I started out with some free public-domain IRs (see below) just to hear it there was any significant improvement. There was at least an interesting difference in the sound, which motivated me enough to purchase some other ones. Links to both below. Now, more testing needs to be done, and I also need some EQ work here for a fuller sound, but what really stands out here is the difference in the top register. The SWAM violin for me seldom gets this detailed glassy piercing sound, but with this IR, at least I could start believing it is within grasp. So again, this is just a documentation test for a later bigger project, so for anyone interested in sonic sculpting for virtual instruments, see you later!
Public Domain Impulse Responses - pcfarina.eng.unipr.it/Public/I...
3Sigma Audio Impulse Responses - www.3sigmaaudio.com/items/cat...
Stuff used:
MIDI Guitar 3 ( development version software from JamOrigin)
www.jamorigin.com
BBC2 Breath controller from TEControl
www.tecontrol.se/products/usb...
Software Instruments from:
Audio Modeling www.audiomodeling.com
www.native-instruments.com/en/
www.arturia.com
That sounds REAL nice!
Thank you so much! 🙏🙏🙏
Always the best performance, great work with passion, love songs.
Thanks a billion, Dan! 🙏🙏🙏
It very much emulates the touch and dynamics of a real violin. Bravo!
Thank you, my friend. 🙏🙏🙏 So...Leroy Jenkins stuff next?
yeat boombastic-realistic
Sounds wonderful and inspiring! Could you share the SWAM violin settings - portamento, attack and other nuances? Trills sound problematic for me, as do fast passages in legato technique in general, especially behind the 12th fret.
I use Mir Pro and I also noticed that the SWAM instruments in it simply transform and sound great.
Well, I am using MIDI Guitar 3 here, so I am just using whatever settings the (SWAM Violin) DEFAULT MPE settings are. I changed expression input to CC2 instead of AT, and also used the" Bow Polyphony" DOUBLE. And if you look carefully you can see that I have some automation controlling BOW pressure (just for some differences in pressure throughout). I use the EAReckon EAReverb2 to what I would assume to be the same effect as your MIR pro, but I obviously load the IR before that (into Guitar Rig here, but there are IR loaders in both MG2 and MG3 already if you don't care for the Guitar Rig addition)
Thank you for your reply! I also use DOUBLE "Bow Polyphony" for double notes, but this mode doesn't behave very well with legato, and I still haven't found a convenient way to instantly switch between these modes when playing live.
The main realism of playing the strings lies in the bow. Do you have any ideas for using the bow when playing with a pick, for example - tremolo control? It’s just that I have an obsession with using bow control in some way, especially in combination with a fretless guitar (which I don’t have yet). I tried Pen2Bou with a keyboard, but I still don’t understand how to use it with a midi guitar setup, and besides, it’s not convenient to play on a tablet with the right hand)@@lofileif
I really don't have any great ideas. I tried that apple pen stuff, and sure it was interesting, but not adaptable for a guitar player. I find I am getting nice enough results with the expressive setting (rather than Bipolar or Bowing), but I am not trying to emulate real playing that much. I don't do mock-ups often, and when I do, I feel I draw everything anyway. I have yet to be able to preform a Webern Violin piece without issues anyway. So I haven't bothered with bow direction yet. Sorry
Beast soloing
Many thanks! Much appreciated. 🙏🙏🙏
Very beautiful sound. You're using IR derived from the resonance of instruments rather than the more usual amp into speaker cabinet IR in this case?
Thanks a bunch Mark. 🙏 Yes, exactly. I didn't have any other dedicated IR loader, so I went for the Guitar rig one. But with the Vilolin IR's only. And then there's a reverb on top of that of course. But I really like the clarity in the top notes of this SWAM violin (for the first time) this way. And Happy Birthday to you! 🎁 🎈🎉
Wow! That's a clear improvement. To my humble ears it sounds really natural. I can't wait until you show us how to set it up. Can you set up impulse response in GR 6 pro too, or do I need to upgrade to seven to use it?
I think you should be able to load directly into MG2 if you like. There are actually two different places where you can do that. One is the ”cabs” on the audio side of things, but if you want to shape any virtual instrument you will have to use the IR reverb slot.
Cool. I'll try it out when I get to it. I found out that in GR 6 you use the Reflektor for loading IRs. Is that still the case in GR 7? I am also curious to know if you have tried IRs it with any wind instruments? Like saxophone?
What I used In GR 7 was called Cabinet IR loader, and I figure it is new to this version. But again, MG2 already has its own IR loader (called Cabinet), so there's really no need for this roundabout way of solving the issue. I just didn't realize at the time of the video. 🤔 I have not found any convincing source for IR's for stuff like saxophones, but I am looking. I think it could be the key to really emulating specific sounds like Dexter or Garbarek perhaps tp also get a sonic fingerprint from instruments (similar to those) they used.
@@lofileif Yes, indeed. If I can just use it in MG2 I'll be fine. I hope we'll be able to access IRs for saxophones. It might mitigate the weaknesses in the upper registers you pointed out at a time.
@hjvarfjell I did a little searching today again for some saxophone IRs, but I couldn’t find anything that wasn’t the space around it (reverb). The problem, as it is presented, is that so much of the sonic characteristic is due to stuff like the throat and mouth cavity it is hard to capture. Since I haven’t done any myself, I just have to assume that is the reason for their non-existance.
could you tell more about MIDI Guitar 3 ?
Well, it is obviously an improvement on MIDI Guitar2 with regards to tracking, faster, more accurate, and so on. But it is also the first MIDI Guitar solution that truly takes the MPE aspect seriously. I can’t speak of any special functions as of today. That will have to wait until the beta testing begins. But of you own MG2 already, beta testing should not be that far off in my estimation! 😀👍