How do you make legit violin portamento using Structure?

[DC-Choppah]

In Structure, the violin (all orchestra strings) do not have portamento. Using pitch shift sounds fake. So I have experimented with ways to achieve a real sounding portamento. Wondering if others have too? What is your trick?

What I do is put in a chromatic series of notes. But then pencil in a pitch shift of a half step (set Structure pitch bend to +/-1) to connect the notes so there is an effective continuous slide. It sound pretty good actually. And you can cut/paste the chunk of data to every portamento note. If you try and slide the pitch shift for more than a few semitones it sounds fake.

Any other thoughts?

[DetroitT]

[Mono Mode] Glide in the main edit [Part tab] window is portamento.
Air V2

[DC-Choppah]

Originally Posted by DetroitT

[Mono Mode] Glide in the main edit [Part tab] window is portamento.
Air V2

Thank you kindly.

Mono mode makes sense. This sounds pretty good as long as I make the portamento times realistic. The glide time control lets you do some unrealistic things if you let it.

Not sure yet what the legato switch does and how that is different than the glide setting to legation in the drop down menu (on/off/legato).

So you could set the legato switch to 'on' while glide is set to either on OR legato. Trying to use my ears to figure out what is being controlled.

Buit this is still not real violin portamenti where they use a 'new' finger or 'old' figure to hit the notes. Real violin is more of a glide then jump, or jump then glide. The glide effect is generating a pure glide between notes - not what string players do.

But I can pencil in the jump note (new finger) and then automate the turning on of the glide to the next note. This could work! Thanks Detroit.




DC

[DMB13KOS]

I have a different solution to the problem - I write the string parts in Sibelius and notate a glissando with a slur and the portamento line under the slur, and usually whichever Virtual Instrument I assign to that MIDI file when in Pro Tools reads the portamento.

It works with trombone glisses too.

No slurs but lines:

[DC-Choppah]

Originally Posted by DMB13KOS

I have a different solution to the problem - I write the string parts in Sibelius and notate a glissando with a slur and the portamento line under the slur, and usually whichever Virtual Instrument I assign to that MIDI file when in Pro Tools reads the portamento.

It works with trombone glisses too.

No slurs but lines:

Thanks for that. i am going to try this with Structure violins to see if it makes a gliss. I always forget you can work directly with the score to input MIDI notes. I suppose you can even write out the portamento as a new note and then the slide to make it more of a real portamento.

[DC-Choppah]

There is no way to enter the gliss (line) using the PT score editor directly. Like was said, you have to export the score to the real Sibelius. Too bad.

I am going to stick with the glide function in Structure and just automate it on/off when I want a portamento played.

[DMB13KOS]

Originally Posted by DC-Choppah

There is no way to enter the gliss (line) using the PT score editor directly. Like was said, you have to export the score to the real Sibelius. Too bad.

Too bad indeed. My single biggest complaint about Avid is that they own Pro Tools and Sibelius - so why is the built-in MIDI score editor feature in Pro tools so lame and limited, particularly compared to Logic?

I always though Avid should make Pro tools have a score editor that was a "Sibelius Lite" rather than the 2nd-rate score editor they supply.

[DC-Choppah]

Right. I don't see any real use for the PT score editor. It is a limited function MIDI editor and entry level basic music notation gadget. There is better freeware available for just making charts. I guess that is why I don't end up in there very often.

I am learning to automate the Structure glide on/off with a MIDI button on my controller. Am learning to play the Structure strings where I turn on glide when I want to do a portamento. You can play the new fingered note too, then hit the glide button as you go up from there. This is making it much faster to get the parts in properly. I'd rather stay out of the editor if I can.

[DMB13KOS]

Originally Posted by DC-Choppah

Right. I don't see any real use for the PT score editor. It is a limited function MIDI editor and entry level basic music notation gadget. There is better freeware available for just making charts. I guess that is why I don't end up in there very often.

It's all the more silly because Avid owns the best or 2nd best notation software, Sibelius.