KVR Audio

Blakus · Post by **Blakus** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 3:48 am

Thanks guys. I do plan to release a more full featured instrument with RR etc sometime in the future.
Here's another short demo I made last night showing the instrument in an orchestral context.

http://soundcloud.com/blakus-mfm/blakuscellocontext/

Timfonie · Post by **Timfonie** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 8:31 am

Again a wonderful example. I keep comming back to listen to the demos you post

Blakus · Post by **Blakus** » Sat Oct 06, 2012 12:12 am

Thanks again

Someone was kind enough to make a HALion4 version of this instrument, I haven't been able to try this but hopefully this will allow more people to have a fiddle.

See this post for download links:
pocketBlakus Emotional Cello Post

enroe · Post by **enroe** » Mon Oct 08, 2012 7:54 pm

Blakus, thanx for your bounteousness! Much work and effort is contained in these sample-packs.

My tip: You would gain even more dispersiveness and acknowledgement if you would faciliate the pure wav-files. In that case even musicians with other samplers and formats (halion 3, shortcircuit, vsampler, ... ) here could benefit from your generous work. Just a guess.

Thanx again, enroe.

Jellycrackers · Post by **Jellycrackers** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 2:02 pm

Apparently Blakus already found this somehow, but here's how I used the Cello in the Halo 4 Remix contest.

http://soundcloud.com/steven-mcdonald/beyond-galaxy

(I'd appreciate some support through you soundcloud users favoriting this track, because that is factored into the judging and would help me have a chance to win

)

It's just in the beginning section, and a small part in the middle. But it was perfect for what I wanted.

Thanks so much for this gift, Blakus!

StevenT2112 · Post by **StevenT2112** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 2:14 am

This cello is brilliant. I've been watching your post on the VI forum too and I hope to see more updates to this instruments.

HenriAugusto · Post by **HenriAugusto** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 12:36 am

lingyai wrote:If you are interested in doing more Kontakt samples, consider contacting a small developer which does sweet instrumets -- Embertone. They have a freebie -- I think it's called Intimate Strings Lite -- which is wonderfully expressive like your cello

haha i was thinking of saying that too. what a coincidence! I myself have used Intimate Strings Lite for some time now and i must say i can't believe both are free. They do beat some commercial versions. Both are very expressive!
May i ask, how did you recorded those samples? Sounds really impressive for your first work!

Thanks, Blakus! I may do a demo soon if i arrange some time.

Blakus · Post by **Blakus** » Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:43 am

Thanks Steven and Henri!

My recording methods were definitely nothing special! A single large diaphragm tube condensor placed in front of the cello in a dry room. Running straight to my firewire Mackie Onyx Pres!

I am planning to release a full featured instrument in the near future - If you have any suggestions or requests I'd be happy to hear them

Here's another quick pass of "The Swan" using some new test samples.
http://soundcloud.com/blakus-mfm/the-swan-cello-solo

And a VERY rough keyboard jam on a quick shorts patch - sorry about the terrible playing!
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3363455/PBCell ... HATEST.mp3

jbraner · Post by **jbraner** » Thu Oct 25, 2012 5:53 pm

I am planning to release a full featured instrument in the near future

Make sure you let us know here - or make it obvious somewhere on KVR

lingyai · Post by **lingyai** » Thu Oct 25, 2012 7:45 pm

Your cello is causing me real problems. I want to use it all the time, so now everything I do uses the same instrument.

Blakus · Post by **Blakus** » Sat Oct 27, 2012 10:46 am

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Here's another example of some test samples I'm tweaking!
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3363455/BlakusCelloTest28.mp3

Blakus · Post by **Blakus** » Sun Oct 28, 2012 8:53 am

Here's a bit of a sneak peak at some of the samples in the upcoming full version
KungFu Panda
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3363455/BlakusPanda.mp3

A quick improv over the top of an old track of mine
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3363455/Blakus ... improv.mp3

HenriAugusto · Post by **HenriAugusto** » Sun Oct 28, 2012 8:22 pm

Today i started a demo, but it sounded so nice that i just decided to do a full piece with it hahaha

I see this is getting a lot of attention on forums/newsletters of lots of audio websites. If you ever make it big and commercial, please, leave a lite version for free

hahaha

Congrats, Blakus!

Edit: I liked more the 1.5 GUI. More classy hah

Blakus · Post by **Blakus** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 7:50 am

Thanks for the feedback Henri!

NEW Version 1.6 now available from:
http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtop ... 32#3649832
Massive thanks to Lukas K for his hard work on this update!

Here is the list of the new features:
_____________________________________________

1) A completely new GUI (graphical user interface), where you can adjust these settings:

Attack - Adjust the initial time it will take the envelope to reach its maximum level after it has been triggered.

Release - Adjust the time it will take the envelope to fall from its sustain level back to zero after the key has been released.

Noises Vol - Adjust the volume of Finger Noises.
- Finger Noises occur naturally during real performances while a player changes the pitch. These were specially recorded by Blakus.

Noises Amt - Adjust the amount of Finger Noises.
- Finger Noises are programmed so they are triggered randomly at the beginning of the inside notes of a legato phrase. If you play legato repetitions (same note repeated while holding down the sustain pedal - CC64), the finger noises aren't triggered, because real players obviously wouldn't move their fingers from the pitch. You can set the Noises Amt knob from 0,0% - 100,0%, which controls the probability of hearing the noises from NEVER to ALWAYS.

Round Robin - Turn on/off Round Robin script (Keyswitched on E6).
- It uses artificial round robin samples, which are triggered only when you play the same note or two-note ostinato repeatedly. They can be exchanged for the real Round Robin samples, if Blakus decides to record them someday

Round Robin Mode - Switch between Cycle and Random Round Robin.
- With Cycle Round Robin, you always hear the samples in the same order 1/2/3 / 1/2/3..., while with the Random Round Robin, the order is shuffled.

Legato / Polyphonic - Switch between Legato and Polyphonic mode (Keyswitched on C6).

Legato Preset - Switch between L-Legato and B-Legato preset (Keyswitched on D6).
- L-Legato is made by me, while B-Legato is made by Blakus. You can use whichever you prefer, or you can even switch between the two in the middle of the phrase, if you want to.

Velocity Curve - Adjust the Velocity Curve, switch between Linear and Shelf Velocity Curve, set the lowest and the highest velocity or draw your own Velocity Curve with your mouse.

Credits - Click on the pocketBlakus sign on the bottom right corner to see the list of all the contributors (I was aware of) who helped to improve this virtual instrument.

- All the Knobs and Sliders are set, so when you ctrl+click on them you get the default value, so you can experiment with them without being afraid of messing things up.
- Hover your mouse over these controls to see the help in Kontakt's info pane.

2) Legato improvement

- Smoother legato transitions in my L-Legato preset.
- Added simulated portamento transitions for both L-Legato and B-Legato presets (triggered when you play a note below velocity of 10). I recommend to use these mostly for smaller intervals. The SIPS Portamento was designed to only work with two notes held at the same time. Read this quotation from the SIPS User's Guide for better understanding of how the Portamento works.

"Now, play any note and while still holding down the key, play another note (just as you would if you were going to play a legato interval). When you do this, the first note will 'glide' to the second note. If you then release the second note, it will glide back to the first note (still being held). Now try this. Hit and hold the first note followed by an overlapping second note. After the glide, this time release the first note while still holding down the second note. Notice that the 2nd note continues to sustain. Now, while still holding down the 2nd note, hit another key and the 2nd note will glide into the new 3rd note just played. Play around with this for a while until you get the hang of it. Using this technique you can continue to glide between any number of successive intervals. As long as you leave one key down, you can continue to glide to the next note played. Once all keys are released, the next note played will then start a new phrase."

For more information about using Portamento Mode, read the SIPS-User's Guide (pages 56-59). Solo Instrument Performance Suite

- Portamento transitions are programmed so they are slightly longer (more like a glissando) when you play a note at a velocity of 1, and get shorter at higher velocities (2,3,4...10).
- If you play a Legato note with a higher velocity than 70 (to get the second velocity layer) and play the next note with velocity of 1-10 (to get Portamento transition) within 2 seconds, this second note will have the same velocity as the previous Legato note (higher than 70), even though you played it with low velocity (1-10). However, If you play a Portamento note later than the 2 seconds after the previous Legato note, it will have the velocity you just played and not the same velocity as the previous Legato note. This way you can use a Portamento transition with both layers without getting any obvious volume jumps, which would occur if you played a high velocity Legato note, let it sustain until it starts to decay naturally and then played a Portamento note which would have the same velocity as the previous Legato note.
- This script uses CC110 internally, so you should not be using it manually with this instrument.

3) Release Samples

- Added release samples for both dynamic layers.
- Fixed the issue with release samples triggering on note beginnings.
- Release Samples are not triggered after the samples naturally end anymore, so you don't hear the "release noise" twice.
- The attack of Release Samples is affected by CC1 position, so they start smoother when you release a quieter note with low CC1 position.

4) Keyboard Colors

- I changed the colors of the Kontakt virtual Keyboard, so the unused keys are black, the keys of the cello range are blue and the keyswitches are yellow.

5) Keyswitch Notes

C6 - Switch between Legato and Polyphonic mode
D6 - Switch between L-Legato and B-Legato preset
E6 - Turn on/off Round Robin script

- I moved the Keyswitch Notes one octave higher, so they don't interfere with the (hopefully extending) cello range.

6) CC1 (Mod wheel) Default Value

- I changed the Default Value of CC1 from 0 to 127, so when you load a patch, you don't have to move CC1 up to hear the cello in it's full volume.
_____________________________________________

Thanks to:

Acall - for some scripting advices and beta testing of this update.

Blakus - for recording the Finger Noises, beta testing of this update and of course for sharing pocketBlakus with us.

Big Bob - for helping me out with some scripting issues. I would have never finished this update without his support, and of course his awesome SIPS scripts, which are the essential part of pocketBlakus.

Other contributors - for providing me with the details for Credits sub-page and their previous work on pocketBlakus.

_____________________________________________

lingyai · Post by **lingyai** » Thu Nov 01, 2012 8:22 am

Dude, you are too good

Add a Donate button to your page at least

pocketBlakus - Cello - Christmas Spiccato Gift! (Kontakt 4.2.3+)