Post by wizzarts on Jun 12, 2013 20:32:08 GMT
In this tutorial we will have a look on the setting which can be done within the sound-library.
While Sibelius-sounds don't come along with a user-interface to do settings manually I will use the surface of Play, - a Kontakt based sample-player coming along with the East West libraries.
We do not have to worry about a missing user-interface, being that most common settings are assigned to midi-controllers and, as far as we got a sound-set (we will have a look at this later), those are automatically entered into a score due to settings done in the dictionary in Sibelius.
So when you draw a legato-line the sound-set will automatically switch on the legato-function.
In the following we will focus on the functions that can found in the Sibelius-sounds as well.
Also those can be triggered by midi-controllers.
Key-Switches
I have mentioned key-switches earlier. As we can see in the picture there is a piano-keyboard built-in.
The white keys are the playable range of the given instrument (in this case, a bassoon).
Yellow keys are not assigned. The blue keys are the key-switches.
These keys will not play any sound when hit but change the samples.
As we can see these keys are at the lower edge of the piano and can accessed by hitting this note.
We also can add these key-switch-notes into our score by using a note-on-command or simply adding them to the particular staff by entering the note. If not assigned to a sound-set (which uses key-switches automatically) I add a second staff to the instrument which will be hidden later by using the "focus on staff" function in Sibelius.
Using key-switches gives us the ability to use realistic staccatos, trills, crescendos etc. instead of the mechanical created effects done by our notation-soft like trills or staccato.
The following sound-cloud-file gives a rough idea how to work with key-switches. I have recorded single sounds first walking through the KS step by step. At the end I have added a small example how a playback can be improved by using those KS. The example is based on the bassoon-sound shown in the picture.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/andrew-noah-cap/key-switches-of-the-bassoon%20
KS - Partitur.pdf (48.13 KB)
This is the corresponding score where we can find all settings done for the sound-cloud-file. Do you notice the difference between the half-tone-trill and the whole-tone-trill? :C: -
: is much easier to do on a bassoon than :C: - :Db: . A lot of triggers are involved 
In the example at the end of the sound-cloud-file I have used some more features available in most libraries. On the picture above we will find a performance-area on the left side where we can switch on/off some very nice features.
Portamento
The portamento-switch enables/disables the portamento-function. Portamento is a gliding effect coming from the very first synthesizers. When enabled the player turns into a monophonic mode so that only one note can be played. When pressing a second key on the keyboard the sound will glide into the second note depending on the set portamento-time. Some sample-player do not allow to adjust the portamento-time but anyway, the result will be a very smooth blending similar to a legato being that the attack/decay phase of the sample will not be used.
Legato
Legato got a similar architecture to Portamento except the time cannot be set. It is also mono-phone. Some sample-libraries are different slices (remember Part 1) with a little overlay or, way better, 2 different slices, - one with a little pitch-bend up and the other with a little bend down. This is in fact the best you can get. LA Scoring Strings 2 got such a legato-function with sliced samples.
Round Robin
Round Robin is a clever add-on in the newer libraries. When using a tone-repetition in staccato up to 16 samples of staccato-notes are recorded and will be used for the playback. This is done to avoid the so-called machine-gun-effect.
I hope you enjoy this series. If there are any questions do not hesitate and let me know.
:3ndy:
While Sibelius-sounds don't come along with a user-interface to do settings manually I will use the surface of Play, - a Kontakt based sample-player coming along with the East West libraries.
We do not have to worry about a missing user-interface, being that most common settings are assigned to midi-controllers and, as far as we got a sound-set (we will have a look at this later), those are automatically entered into a score due to settings done in the dictionary in Sibelius.
So when you draw a legato-line the sound-set will automatically switch on the legato-function.
In the following we will focus on the functions that can found in the Sibelius-sounds as well.
Also those can be triggered by midi-controllers.
Key-Switches
I have mentioned key-switches earlier. As we can see in the picture there is a piano-keyboard built-in.
The white keys are the playable range of the given instrument (in this case, a bassoon).
Yellow keys are not assigned. The blue keys are the key-switches.
These keys will not play any sound when hit but change the samples.
As we can see these keys are at the lower edge of the piano and can accessed by hitting this note.
We also can add these key-switch-notes into our score by using a note-on-command or simply adding them to the particular staff by entering the note. If not assigned to a sound-set (which uses key-switches automatically) I add a second staff to the instrument which will be hidden later by using the "focus on staff" function in Sibelius.
Using key-switches gives us the ability to use realistic staccatos, trills, crescendos etc. instead of the mechanical created effects done by our notation-soft like trills or staccato.
The following sound-cloud-file gives a rough idea how to work with key-switches. I have recorded single sounds first walking through the KS step by step. At the end I have added a small example how a playback can be improved by using those KS. The example is based on the bassoon-sound shown in the picture.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/andrew-noah-cap/key-switches-of-the-bassoon%20
KS - Partitur.pdf (48.13 KB)
This is the corresponding score where we can find all settings done for the sound-cloud-file. Do you notice the difference between the half-tone-trill and the whole-tone-trill? :C: -
: is much easier to do on a bassoon than :C: - :Db: . A lot of triggers are involved 
In the example at the end of the sound-cloud-file I have used some more features available in most libraries. On the picture above we will find a performance-area on the left side where we can switch on/off some very nice features.
Portamento
The portamento-switch enables/disables the portamento-function. Portamento is a gliding effect coming from the very first synthesizers. When enabled the player turns into a monophonic mode so that only one note can be played. When pressing a second key on the keyboard the sound will glide into the second note depending on the set portamento-time. Some sample-player do not allow to adjust the portamento-time but anyway, the result will be a very smooth blending similar to a legato being that the attack/decay phase of the sample will not be used.
Legato
Legato got a similar architecture to Portamento except the time cannot be set. It is also mono-phone. Some sample-libraries are different slices (remember Part 1) with a little overlay or, way better, 2 different slices, - one with a little pitch-bend up and the other with a little bend down. This is in fact the best you can get. LA Scoring Strings 2 got such a legato-function with sliced samples.
Round Robin
Round Robin is a clever add-on in the newer libraries. When using a tone-repetition in staccato up to 16 samples of staccato-notes are recorded and will be used for the playback. This is done to avoid the so-called machine-gun-effect.
I hope you enjoy this series. If there are any questions do not hesitate and let me know.
:3ndy: