Help, I'm really frustrated with trying to complete a String Quartet Sonically...

Hello there,

I'm really in need of some help with improving MIDI String Quartets to be more expressive. Here's an example of Garritans Personal Orchestra run through Reason 3:

http://www.takutogame.com/images/Do%20You%20Remember%20My%20Lullaby.mp3

I'm not asking for a library change or anything (though if I was I would probably go for VSL Vienna Chamber Strings I). I'm just looking for a way to improve it MIDIcally to make it more expressive.

Also I don't understand sonically why it sounds so....dry.... If I put reverbs on it it just sounds faker.

If this was played by a real String Quartet I know that it wouldn't sound as it does. (really...again...dry when I compare it to realistic samples)

I don't understand, for example, how I could go about getting something like this:

I've copied this very song before, and the Celli and the Violins in the beginning always turn out to sound so....bland...almost as if you were to compare Mono to Stereo or 8 bit to 16 bit.

I don't know. Maybe I have to be more accepting of the sound I have...?

Is there ANY way I can improve on it? Maybe Modulation, Bends, Better use of Envelopes, or maybe even just EQ, or Compression? Are there Articulations that my samples just don't capture or something? (Like dramatico or whatever that one is x_x)

Once I get home and get to fiddle with it more I was thinking of backing it with synth instruments, as the samples don't seem to really encompass what I want them to...I still don't know if this will work completely though.

People who use Garritans tend to hide their strings behind brass and woodwinds to make it sound more full. They literally seem to avoid string quartets and such.... (same with East West Orchestra) ... So I'm not leaving out that it really could be the library. The only library that I've seen that hasn't hidden in full range orchestra would have to be Vienna...though they are eXPENSIVE and to get SE Strings Plus (which has the Chamber Strings I want so badly) you first have to buy the Vienna SE Edition ;/ ($500 / it would be better to just go with the $700 chamber strings).

Maybe it's different instruments that I should back with it. Perhaps I should use some kind of MIDI Bass Guitar sample? Maybe I should back it with synth strings which tend to encompass a wider range sonically? Or maybe I should EQ some Brass and disguise it as Strings to back the Dryness and effectively encompass a wider range?

However I could get this to sound fuller sonically, like all those professional producers get string quartets to sound, I'm willing to take the time to do it. (accept if it costs more than say...$200 at this point x_x)

You're not going to get a very realistic sound if you just leave the MIDI notes in there with no tweaking.

First off, you'll need to play with attack and release times. Humans don't attack notes the same way every time. Unquantizing it a bit will help too. If everything is quantized exactly on the beat your piece begins to sound robotic. Try inching the melody just behind the beat and see what happens. Though, careful you don't overdo it, then it could become mushy.

Also, you've got passages that scream legato but don't end up being legato because your notes don't overlap. Try overlapping the tails of notes with the beginning of the next note to get a more legato sound.

Think like a string player. Pretend to bow along with your piece, when you've run out of imaginary bow, add in a tiny space between the notes to give the illusion of changing bows. Almost like a breath.

If you want to get your cello to stand out more, try fiddling with the EQs a bit. Also, you might want to really get into the reverb that you're using and tweak it as much as possible.

Part of the problem that you have is the samples, but if you do enough tweaking and humanizing here and there you can get pretty good results out of Garritan.

Thanks Andy,

and Brian the mp3 is right up there.

If you have any more resources I could check out like "getting realistic midi performances out of strings" I would be insanely grateful.

Alright, I've worked on just the very first 5 seconds:

http://www.takutogame.com/images/threeshort.mp3

Is this about as good as I'll be able to get it?

Actually, I've improved it just a little bit:

http://www.takutogame.com/images/fourshortfF1.mp3

I'm still wondering what else I could do to improve this....

Thanks Andy,

and Brian the mp3 is right up there.

If you have any more resources I could check out like "getting realistic midi performances out of strings" I would be insanely grateful.

I got confused by "here is an example of (blah)" when if it were yours I would expect something like "here is my music (blah) or here is an example from my score (blah)." I didn't realize that was yours.

My bad.

Oh ok, I guess I mis-labeled it or something. :blush:

Here is what I've got after a lot of tweaking of attack. It could use just a bit more work (the violas have too fast an attack and don't overlap like the rest):

http://www.takutogame.com/takuto/muchbetterthanks.mp3

I think I'm finally starting to understand something. With samples it seems that the dynamics between note shifts are extremely important to nail to get it realistic.

I never thought of overlapping notes to make a kind of realistic slide, though. so simple yet so engenious. x_x

A little bit more of Stereo Imaging Automation and it's even better:

http://www.takutogame.com/images/Lullaby%20(with%20Stereo%20Imaging).mp3