Pianissimo Tenor Sax
A real test for me is creating a convincing solo instrument at a very soft dynamic. This song is a bit corny but my wife plays saxes and she thought it was quite believable. It's the SWAM Tenor played with a BC3 & Kurzweil PC3x keyboard. What do you guys think? -Perry-
I deleted the song...too cheesy! -Perry-
I deleted the song...too cheesy! -Perry-
Comments
Perry,
Since I no longer gig live I just use my sequencer (Sonar). I've written custom CAL programs for SM's virtual instruments, as they are the closest, in sound & playability, to the real thing I'm aware of. Also I'm still using the Kontakt versions (My sound card is a 24/96 so the 88 requirement was never a problem).
VELOCITY and BREATH CONTROL (DYNAMICS)
In a MIDI file, the program takes the existing velocity values and converts them to corresponding breath controller (cc2) values. Then I reduce both the velocity & cc2 values until I get the sound that emulates a softly blown tenor sax close to the mic. For example say, a slow legato type ballad, I may take the velocity down to somewhere between 64 & 32 & correspondingly, the cc2 values in the same range but just a little higher than the velocity.
PITCH BEND
The program also adds a wheel (pitch bend) value some 5 ticks ahead of the note-on signal to emulate the action of a live player beginning a note. Of course the values (say, depth & length) must fit the song (The Pink Panther comes to mind).
VIBRATO (cc1 & cc19)
The program writes cc1 & cc19 values. The cc1 values (say, 48 to 64) are placed based on the note duration while the cc19 values are preset to a fixed value (still working on this to make it variable within a preselected range) again emulating a live player.
This may sound like greek to you but I don't know how else to explain my method.
I started out using a BC3a breath controller but now I use the CAL programs as they sound as good & are fast.
PM your email address if you want to pursue this further.
mgf