Hello

I wonder if anyone else has had this problem, knows a solution....

I want to be able to play chords on my keyboard and for the vst software to play the corresponding violin chord

However in practice what happens is sometimes I get a chord, but more often than not one or other of the notes of the cord will sound and the other remain silent. ive looked through the software and not seen anything that can change this behaviour.

The plan is to play chords in the treble with the violin and then accompany in base with a different instrument be it piano , organ etc.

 

Maybe because it is monophonic legato? See if there's a sustain articulation.

 

Your VSTi probably knows that violins can only play two notes at once (unless you're using brutal force), so you'll need two sections for a triad.

 

Speaking PURELY from a compositional standpoint...

To get any sampled instrument to sound like what was sampled, you have to think like the player.
If you take this literally, a solo legato player will mostly play single notes. At best, double-stops.
Therefore, if you want chords, as in three players or more, play each part in manually, loading an instance of the violin individually for each part. By playing them in manually, instead of using a scored MIDI part, you have a better chance of capturing realism.

that's only my opinion. You'll get the chord(s) you seek, and it will likely sound a lot better. Violinists avoid chords, prefer mainly perfect 4ths and 5ths, avoiding others where possible. There's good reason for this and plenty of documentation on writing for strings on the Internet.
Cheers

 

Can you elaborate? I am not aware of a way to load two instances of the violin and for it to send say the higher note to one vst and the lower note to another vst. It would be a nice feature

To give some background to my question im using a Kontakt VST in Logic Pro on a Mac but also have studio one installed

 

i think he means, Create 3 different tracks with 3 different instaces of kontakt and fill them individually.

 

Would that not result in the same problem, but happening in trio?

unless there was a way for the keyboard to intelligently know to use one instance for one note ( say C), and the other instance for the other note ( say E) , bit like load balancing lol

 

Basically, yes, but can't you load three times a library in one instance of Kontakt (not using it)?

Not necessarily...

Different MIDI channels?

 

What you ask will not sound good unless you put a ton of effort into it and do a lot more learning about how strings and string sections work. Imho a sampled instrument like the Strad (which is designed for solo work anyway and is specifically unsuited to chords) is grossly overqualified for your needs. I would pull up a ROMpler like Onmisphere, or an old Korg Triton and find a violin patch, easy-peasy. The Strad is not the tool for this job.

 

NoAvenger got it and Harish with the 3x separate MIDI channels.
Yes, you can load three instances of Kontakt - BUT - If I was misinterpreted that's on me, but it is not what I meant. You can load the same Violin 3 times in ONE Kontakt plugin and assign different MIDI channels
You can load three Kontakt's but that's a waste of resources.

ALSO - In your DAW, if you are concerned about resources with three, render to track when happy with each. Working with audio is also better anyway (If you are happy, to reiterate what I suggested).

 

To elaborate: using three MIDI-tracks with the same instance of the Stradivari will still result in one part "stealing" notes from the others. Using three MIDI-tracks with three different instances of the Stradivari in ONE instance of Kontakt will provide you with your very own chamber string trio.

 

Last edited: Nov 9, 2023

I kind of got the impression op wants to play this in real time, I hope they can elaborate...

 

In real time, what we have not considered, is if William C wants more than three notes as that chucks everything out the window.
If no limits on 3,4,5,6,7 or more are needed, he will need a polyphonic patch.
The Violin he speaks of, was designed to be performed in a quartet fashion with a 2nd violin, viola and cello (Guarneri, Amati etc...)
He's better off getting something different in solo strings other than the Stradavari or Guarneri, because they work best in legato mode.

P.S - There is no point suggesting a MIDI controller splitting of the keyboard either. This is because legato is legato unless specified as polyphonic. So only one note will sound from each MIDI channel. He could assign specific notes manually to the keyboard on each MIDI channel but that is a long process, painful and unless he intends to do it all the time, it would be a one-off with a lot of work without the result validating the input.

The Spitfire Sarconi Solo Strings should do a decent substitute polyphony-wise.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Nov 9, 2023

@William C - This is a decent book (below) on writing for strings in small to large ensembles. I probably would source it elsewhere than Amazon, but that's up to you
I guarantee that as much as you only want to play chords, it won't sound as authentic as playing each part in one at a time, but that's your call.
if string backing is required, solo instruments are not always used unless manually played in, more often than not. string backings are more for pads. The Staradavari and Guarneri Kontakt libraries were designed for individual performing and laying down one at a time mostly.
https://www.amazon.com/Arranging-Strings-Mimi-Rabson/dp/0876391862

 

Thankyou everyone for your input on this

@shinjiya - yes it sounds like the VST may be designed only for monophonic legato.

@No Avenger - it would be an improvement if I could get it to consistently play two notes at once. for this to happen I have to be sure to hit the notes at precisely the same time to the milli second. Different MIDI channels?

@BaSsDuDe thankyou - I understand technically it's possible to make a record with any number of layers of the same instrument by recording multiple tracks and layering. however what I'm after is for live playing . For example playing Schindlers List theme with piano for base notes and violin treble notes . I appreciate practically speaking instrument can only play a maximum of two notes, though this need not be a limitation in software because it's just a matter of allowing multiple voices to play simultaneously. I'll be in lookout for a polyphonic patch

I will check out Spitfire Sarconi Solo Strings . Thankyou for recomendations

@Trurl Yes! Live playing

 

I think Divisimate can do such a thing…

"
Divisi Engine
Split your performance into its musical voices and send them each to separate tracks in your sequencer.
"

 

1. Not even necessary, no human being can do this.
2. You can quantize everything after recording.

Yes, different instances, different MIDI channels.
You could use a synth, play and record all the notes at once and move them afterwards to the different instances in Kontakt, or you can record one line after the other in every instance separately.

EDIT: Ah, you mean live on stage? Then you'd rather need a synth with a string patch.

 

Option 1: As the first reply said, the simplest option (by faaar) is to change from 'legato' to the 'sustain' articulation if your Kontakt instrument supports that (very good chance that it does).

Option 2: The next simplest option is to load 6 instances (or however many notes you want in your chords at most) of the instrument inside a single instance of Kontakt and make each instance listen to only one MIDI channel (every Kontakt instrument supports this natively).

Since this is for live play, you would then either get a Kontakt script that automatically re-routes the lowest played note to channel 1, the next lowest note to channel 2 and so on OR you would get a VST plugin for the same purpose. pizMIDI, DivisiMate, JM Divisi, Simple Divisi - maybe Flexrouter since you want to split your keyboard between instruments too. I must stress that this will fail fairly often unless all your chord's notes always start and end at almost exactly the same time.

Go with Option 1 for live play.

 

There are chords violin can't play
Would you give examples ?

 

3 notes can be simultanate but 4 notes chords are quickly played 2 low strings then 2 treble
the four strings are g3 d4 a4 e5 you can't play chords with notes respectively lower
If it's well programed may be that's why the notes are not sounding
everything I say concern violin solo in case of sections just apply divisi simultanusly play two groups
of double stops