@composers
I mentioned here before that I've only used #MIDI to check my work while #composing, and never to make a presentable mock-up of a piece, much less a finished product. But now I'm working on something for #chorus and #orchestra, for which a demo might be useful. (And might be the only recording there is, if this monster never gets performed.) So I'm in need of advice from #composers who have more experience with #VST and such.

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@composers
I'm scoring in #Sibelius, and using the #Noteperformer sounds for playback. Overall, the instrumental sounds are surprisingly good, and even the vocal sounds are tolerable, though of course they don't sound like humans singing words. (I don't think there's any solution for the spoken parts.)

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@composers

There are just a few things that really bug me. Tremolos, especially. Instead of an unmeasured, sustained sound with some added intensity, buzz and shimmer, tremolos for string sections come out as an awkward beat subdivision, executed extra staccato in total rhythmic unison.

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@composers

And marimba tremolos, instead of 4-mallet chords gently sustained by rolling the wrists, are the same awkward simultaneous repeated attack, impossibly staccato, as if executed by perfectly coordinated woodpeckers.

Does anyone out there know a way around these issues? I'd like to keep things as simple as possible, and I'm sure other people have solved these problems before. Thanks!

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@mcmullin @composers I can't speak from actual experience, but could you run those parts through a tremolo effect to get what you're looking for, rather than having the midi instrument create the tremolo?
@mcmullin @composers a friend showed me years ago a vst for choir that could sing spoken parts. You could write the lyrics in the IPA alphabet, and then they would sing. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the vst, but there is a solution indeed!
@botechiatales @composers
Wow, I would not have guessed that was possible.
@botechiatales @mcmullin @composers EastWest Hollywood Choirs was probably it.
@David McMullin Plogue Alter Ego is free. Despite it's manga attitude there is usable stuff in there (Bones Choir) and you wouldn't loose 400 € on making a demo or two.
https://www.plogue.com/products/alter-ego.html

#alterego #plogue #choir #vst
Plogue | Alter/Ego :: real-time singing synthesizer

A free real-time singing software (VST/AU/AAX plugin) synthesizer based on the technology featured in chipspeech but focusing on more modern techniques. Windows and OS X, 32-bit and 64-bit.

@jrp Thanks!
@David McMullin Did this work for you?
@jrp
To be honest I still haven’t tried it. Looks promising though… I haven’t even connected Reaper to Sibelius yet, though I assume that’s possible.