Having trouble with portamento slides, vibrato, and pitch bend (simulating string bending)

[sonofthesouth]

I am trying to do slides (by using piano roll editor) and they are not working. I set the velocities in the default proper (lower) range, and try to go, for instance from E3 to B3, but it does not work. I am holding the E3 while going to B3. A few questions:

1. Is it possible the samples are not loaded?
2. Does this work for single notes, chords, or both?
3. Why isn't it working?!??

Also, I am having problems with geting the vibrato to sound good. I have tried with both single notes and chords. The mod wheel works, but it just doesn't sound that natural. Does anyone have any tips for how to do this in the most realistic way possible? I see that you can change the speed of the vibrato in Hz under the settings but I have not done that. I am playing slower styles (sludge, doom, drone), so maybe I should set the Hz longer (higher number)?

Third, I am having trouble with pitch bend. In Reaper 4, the pitch bend settings vary widely. I only need to change the pitch a small amount. Anyone have any suggestions on how to limit the pitch bend range? Or how to shift to a certain interval?

Any help would be appreciated. thanks in advance!

[sonofthesouth]

By the way, forgot to mention, this is for Shreddage II.

[zircon]

Let's see - for slides, first, you need to enable Portamento. If it's not turned on, they won't play.

Second, you have to have two overlapping notes of the same type. Single note to single note, powerchord to powerchord. They need to be within about 16 semitones too.

Third, the second note has to be within the Portamento velocity range. You can change that range on the articulation page.

This DOES work for both single notes & powerchords, for Shreddage 2.

Pitch bend: There is an option in the S2 Engine settings to tweak the max pitch bend range. It's 2 semitones by default. If it is going more than that, it may be something with REAPER itself...

Vibrato: You want to set it to "Smooth" mode and then set hz LOWER for a slower vibrato.

[sonofthesouth]

Thanks, zircon. Overall, a great product. Just takes some getting used to for us n00bs. I will try all your suggestions.

[sonofthesouth]

so zircon, does only the second note on portamento slides need to be within the specified velocity range? what about the first note?

[zircon]

The first note has to be some kind of sustain / hammer / pull, but otherwise it doesn't matter. Only the second note needs to be in the portamento range.