Keyswitch articulations vs MPE vs Piano Roll?

alan9990

Hi there,

Am hoping some knowledgeable person will be able to inform me...

I'm working with the Session Brass Pro instrument, and have a solo Trombone instrument loaded. Plays fine, but I'm trying to better understand articulations and the assigned keyswitches.

As someone not at all fluent on a keyboard, I currently tend to work out my note arrangement on one hand, and after some rehearsing, record it live into a clip. I can then edit to account for anything the quantizing didn't correct, or change legato etc. So far so good.

What I've tended to then do (with other instruments) is use the piano roll editor to write in the keyswitch changes for articulations/modulations. Never had any issues until now. Am not saying this is the "correct" way to play a complex VST, simply that until I get much better at playing, it's a workaround.

What currently DOES work on the trombone for manual input is to write in notes for C-1, C#-1 etc up to F#1. The vibrato or grace note is played as expected. But what stumps me is G-1: Rips.

If I add G-1 manually to the piano roll, what I get is an extended note that's "ripped" all the way through... a sort of exaggerated, distorted note.

If however I play live, with G-1 already selected under the "Main" keyswitches, when I play a note and hold it, the "rip" fades naturally into an extended note.

Thing is, while my DAW supports MPE, and my controller keyboard has aftertouch, and while I have access to edit expressions for pressure, velocity etc. NOWHERE can I find any representation of how or why this discrepancy occurs between editing on the piano roll (unnatural sound) and playing a note live - which is not only a natural "rip" but its duration and tone correctly vary with my attack velocity.

Can anyone please shed any light on this? I don't want to have to spend an entire day just to learn a simple four bar part with left hand syncopation... I'd like to be able to edit it manually. P.S I am not using an NI controller, it's third party if that might make a difference.

alan9990

Thank you for the clarifications - it never hurts to have a full definition of terms being used - sometimes incorrectly, sometimes by newbies such as myself.

Since posting I have gained a better understanding of the 'issue' insofar as having quit and restarted several times since, I'm leaning more towards it being a case of the VST (in this case Kontakt Player, not exactly light on resources!) taxing my processor to the extent that replaying the whole track "live" can cause this odd sound on just the G-1 switch. If I bounce to audio, the difference disappears.

It's all about learning. And besides, my PC has been due some upgrades for a while now :)

alan9990

Thank you for the clarifications - it never hurts to have a full definition of terms being used - sometimes incorrectly, sometimes by newbies such as myself.

Since posting I have gained a better understanding of the 'issue' insofar as having quit and restarted several times since, I'm leaning more towards it being a case of the VST (in this case Kontakt Player, not exactly light on resources!) taxing my processor to the extent that replaying the whole track "live" can cause this odd sound on just the G-1 switch. If I bounce to audio, the difference disappears.

It's all about learning. And besides, my PC has been due some upgrades for a while now :)