Well, I've talked someone into recording viola samples. That's not a guarantee it will actually happen, but it's a step.
The sax is actually scheduled for a specific date this week, and that's another few steps in the direction of it actually happening, haha.
Weresax - free alto sax with bonus saxcordion and sxnth
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
We managed to record sustained notes - two velocity layers with two round robins, recorded chromatically. That's all stamina allowed in one evening. But my sax player can record staccatos later at home, and will also try to talk her sax-playing boyfriend into recording saxes of other sizes.
Turns out that holding a steady pitch on sax for five seconds is a lot of work, but getting consistent dynamics is much easier than with bowed strings.
And the viola player will be out of town for a few weeks, but we plan to record something late September.
Turns out that holding a steady pitch on sax for five seconds is a lot of work, but getting consistent dynamics is much easier than with bowed strings.
And the viola player will be out of town for a few weeks, but we plan to record something late September.
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- KVRian
- 1367 posts since 30 Jul, 2013
Grats! I look forward to hearing the results.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
Took a while to get around to really work on this sax, but split the forte velocity layer into files, trimming their start points now.
Looping 100-odd 2-channel files smoothly is gonna be a pain, though.
Looping 100-odd 2-channel files smoothly is gonna be a pain, though.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
Piano layer start points done, started looping the notes. Got four done so far.
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- KVRist
- 450 posts since 22 Aug, 2007 from Los Angeles
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
Haha, thanks for the encouragement. I made it through one velocity layer today.
I thought about skipping the looping, but I figured that having the notes looped will also let me stack a few looped voices, detune them a bit, and make a saxcordion. Maybe even a sxnth.
I thought about skipping the looping, but I figured that having the notes looped will also let me stack a few looped voices, detune them a bit, and make a saxcordion. Maybe even a sxnth.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
All notes looped, basic mapping and controls done. It ended up 264 samples, just under 200 MB.
Stuff still remains to be done - GUI, control tweaks (maybe I can make modwheel control vibrato, tremolo and/or aggression at once in various degrees), saxcordions and sxnth mappings for the non-realists, but it's basically working. If anybody wants to help beta test, PM me for the link.
Stuff still remains to be done - GUI, control tweaks (maybe I can make modwheel control vibrato, tremolo and/or aggression at once in various degrees), saxcordions and sxnth mappings for the non-realists, but it's basically working. If anybody wants to help beta test, PM me for the link.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
I also made the saxcordion mapping. It's actually pretty accordiony, which sort of makes sense as I think both saxes and accordions use vibrating reeds to make sound.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
Soon... it's basically done, just sending some test audio to a few sax players and tweaking the vibrato settings.
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- KVRian
- 1367 posts since 30 Jul, 2013
Dang skippy, how did you get all those shiny knobs in SFZ? Looks good! I can't wait.
When will it be done?
When will it be done?
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
Shiny knobs are a feature for developers of commercial libraries, but Plogue are willing to open up this stuff to some free libraries. The GUI's just defined via XML, and the knobs themselves are PNG files I made with JKnobMan.
It's pretty much done, just needs a last few tweaks, user's guide explaining all these knobs, and presets for the sax mode. The sax player didn't like my first attempt at vibrato, so I took that as a challenge and made it more sophisticated. I'll post the code here once it's all finalized - it could easily be applied to, say, Samplephonics sax freebie which also comes with SFZ files.
It's pretty much done, just needs a last few tweaks, user's guide explaining all these knobs, and presets for the sax mode. The sax player didn't like my first attempt at vibrato, so I took that as a challenge and made it more sophisticated. I'll post the code here once it's all finalized - it could easily be applied to, say, Samplephonics sax freebie which also comes with SFZ files.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
Almost all done now - the latest Sforzando upgrade includes a preset box, so I can now finalize the GUI (which previously included a preset box on the controls tab) and get this sax finally done.
I also need to make a proper demo but as a preview, you can hear it being a sax during the outro here, with a bit of vibrato. But since it's a weresax which sometimes turns into a saxcordion or even a sxnth, it's also used to make the high part of the pads during the verses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De8W2gO6jQE
I also need to make a proper demo but as a preview, you can hear it being a sax during the outro here, with a bit of vibrato. But since it's a weresax which sometimes turns into a saxcordion or even a sxnth, it's also used to make the high part of the pads during the verses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De8W2gO6jQE
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- KVRist
- 450 posts since 22 Aug, 2007 from Los Angeles
Sax sounds nice! I think you said you scripted the vibrato? If so, good job, because it sounds totally real to me.
Really cool song, by the way.
Really cool song, by the way.
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 2141 posts since 20 Sep, 2013 from Poland
Yup, scripted! I wanted to make something more expressive than the currently available free saxes, so I put some effort into the vibrato. I did some reading of guys on sax forums trying to analyze their own vibrato, listened to some vibrato phrases from classic jazz recordings, then consulted three sax players about the results and kept making changes until they said it sounds OK. It probably ended up pretty confusing with the three LFOs and a bunch of parameters, but it goes like this...
First LFO:
The sax style knob controls the depth of vibrato which goes only below the main pitch of the note
Second LFO:
The synth style controls the depth of vibrato going both below and above the main pitch (combine the two to go slightly above but mostly below)
Tremolo controls how much the vibrato affects volume
Brightness controls how much the vibrato adds an upper-mid EQ boost
Wind noise controls how much the vibrato affects the volume of the synthesized breath noise - this is inverted from the tremolo, so as the volume of the note gets quieter, the breath noise gets louder
Both first and second LFO:
Speed controls the rate of all of the above
Delay controls how long after the start of a note the vibrato kicks in
Third LFO:
Change rate controls the rate of the randomization LFO - slow rates basically set a random value once per note, very fast change frequently
Uneven vibrato controls how much the random LFO affects the vibrato speed
Unsteady pitch controls how much the pitch is randomized after the vibrato kicks in
And the nice thing is, the code can be applied to any other sax that has SFZ mappings. In the song, this is how it's set and there are also three automation clips moving vibrato-related parameters around during the outro. Glad you liked it, btw, it's a cover of a very obscure ending credits theme from an 80s sci-fi movie.
I'm still not sure about those dark bars behind the control labels on the GUI, though.
First LFO:
The sax style knob controls the depth of vibrato which goes only below the main pitch of the note
Second LFO:
The synth style controls the depth of vibrato going both below and above the main pitch (combine the two to go slightly above but mostly below)
Tremolo controls how much the vibrato affects volume
Brightness controls how much the vibrato adds an upper-mid EQ boost
Wind noise controls how much the vibrato affects the volume of the synthesized breath noise - this is inverted from the tremolo, so as the volume of the note gets quieter, the breath noise gets louder
Both first and second LFO:
Speed controls the rate of all of the above
Delay controls how long after the start of a note the vibrato kicks in
Third LFO:
Change rate controls the rate of the randomization LFO - slow rates basically set a random value once per note, very fast change frequently
Uneven vibrato controls how much the random LFO affects the vibrato speed
Unsteady pitch controls how much the pitch is randomized after the vibrato kicks in
And the nice thing is, the code can be applied to any other sax that has SFZ mappings. In the song, this is how it's set and there are also three automation clips moving vibrato-related parameters around during the outro. Glad you liked it, btw, it's a cover of a very obscure ending credits theme from an 80s sci-fi movie.
I'm still not sure about those dark bars behind the control labels on the GUI, though.
