plagalcadence wrote:
1. I see that Notion 3 is very much template based, and at the moment is limited to a few sample libraries without perhaps a bit of fiddling to get a custom or multiple sample set to work. Can I use bits and pieces of Garriton, EWQL, plus unsupported older sampling software and then design a template/score layout which I can save and come back to with all my combinations loaded, without setting up the whole thing over again?
You can save a NOTION 3 score as a template, both in Windows and on the Mac, where depending on the operating system the procedures are different but not complex . . .
plagalcadence wrote:2. I'm not clear about what midi controls are available as an overdub on one recorded channel so I can superimpose not just volume but assign velocity to attack/articulation as I record, but then overdubb brightness/filter and volume as two separate additional controls?
At present, the only thing I do with MIDI is to export instrument staves as MIDI files, which I then import to Reason 5 (Propellerhead Software), so I cannot provide much help on MIDI stuff, although intuitively I think that what you want to do is better suited for a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application like Digital Performer (MOTU) or Logic Pro (Apple) on the Mac . . .
However, there are rules files that map MIDI stuff to articulations and dynamics, so there might be a way to do what you want to do, so perhaps some of the folks who know how to create and modify rules will be able to answer this question . . .
plagalcadence wrote:3. Can I record a legato string passage with one sample, then on the same channel and stave play/record another sample with quicker attack, but still have the two phrases on one stave, and assign a switchover to the new sample, then switch back for a further legato passage, and can all this be saved so reloading the score retains the setting? (similar to a cc voice change in Cubase).
There probably is a way to do this in conjunction with a DAW application, but other folks will need to provide insights on whether it can be done and if it is practical or easy to do . . .
plagalcadence wrote:4. Are the bundled LSO sounds any good for practical and convincing work? I'm asking because the finished examples I've heard so far on YouTube are absolutely dire....no better sounding than my roland sound module from a few years back! - Or were they just played without finesse or care on the examples I might have heard?
The NOTION 3 bundled LSO sound samples are professionally recorded to high standards, but the way everything sounds when mixed and mastered is vastly dependent on the skills and expertise of the composer, mixer, and mastering engineer, so my general perspective is that this is something that you need to determine for yourself, except that the fact of the matter is that NOTION 3 is the foundation for NOTION Live, which is used to provide orchestration for concerts, Broadway plays, and so forth and so on . . .
NOTION Live (Notion Music)On the other hand, the NOTION 3 bundled sounds are
not VSTi virtual instruments, and I prefer to use FabFilter Software Instruments, IK Multimedia, and Kontakt VSTi virtual instruments, which all have a standalone user interface and provide a deep and rich festival of instruments and sampled sounds . . .
Other folks use Eastwest Quantum Leap (EWQL), Vienna Symphonic Library (VSL), Garriton Personal Library (GSL), and other types of VSTi virtual instruments and sound sample libraries, some of which are higher resolution, except that the reality is that NOTION 3 does audio at standard CD resolution (44.1-Hz at 16-bits), which is important to consider . . .
As a general rule, one can have from 20 to 25 "heavy" VSTi virtual instruments per NOTION 3 score, which is due to NOTION 3 being a 32-bit application and having a 32-bit application workspace . . .
The solution I use involves cloning NOTION 3 scores, which I suffix with something like {"-PT1", "-PT2", . . . , "-PTn"}, which then makes it possible to have from 500 to 1,000 "heavy" VSTi virtual instruments for a song . . .
I keep five or so staves constant for all the clones, which serve as reference points for such things as the beat, tempo, basic chords, simple melody, and whatever . . .
I record the NOTION 3 generated audio as "soundbites" in Digital Performer 7.24 via ReWire on the Mac, which works very nicely, and I do all the mixing and mastering in Digital Performer 7.24, since it also is a 32-bit application and has the same 32-bit application workspace limitations . . .
On a Windows machine, there are way to workaround the 32-bit application workspace limitation for NOTION 3, and if you are using a Windows machine, the folks who use Windows machines can provide insights into how to do this . . .
plagalcadence wrote:5. Can Notion cope with 32 channels/instruments and are there any midi restrictions in this regard?
You can have more instruments when you use the NOTION 3 bundled instruments, since they are not VSTi virtual instruments, but as noted in my reply to question (4), the basic rule is that NOTION 3 can handle from 20 to 25 "heavy" VSTi virtual instruments per score . . .
plagalcadence wrote:6. I see that tuning seems to be quite fixed in Notion 3. I'm not clear whether this means its own player imposes a fixed tuning, or whether it is possible to slightly alter fine tuning between different voices/instruments. This is of course vital in order to avoid phasing and that horrible organ-like sound when for example woodwind and brass samples are played with exactly the same tuning?
You can set the reference tuning pitch in NOTION 3 Preferences, but it applies to all the instruments . . .
If you need to use multiple reference tuning pitches or whatever, then one way to do this is with multiple NOTION 3 scores, which from my perspective is that most obvious way to do it in the system I devised here in the sound isolation studio . . .
And for reference, the "horrible organ-like sound" phenomenon primarily is a matter of people not really understanding the way sampled sounds for instruments are recorded, modified, and rendered . . .
As an example using a sound sample library for a VSTi virtual instrument, consider that there are recorded samples of the instrument played with a vibrato articulation, where every other semitone is recorded and used in the sampled sound library . . .
What happens is that when a note which was not actually sampled is specified, the VSTi virtual instrument's audio engine performs an algorithmic computation which basically does a bit of logarithmic interpolation using the nearest lower or higher actually sampled sound, where if the sampled sounds are {C4, D4, E4} but you specify a C#4, then either the C4 or D4 sampled sound is used in the algorithm to compute the way the C#4 will sound, and this is done by multiplying or dividing the sampled sound, depending on whether the sampled sound is lower or higher, respectively, except that it probably is done logarithmically based on cents or whatever . . .
Whatever!Consider that the
speed of the vibrato is
constant for all the actually recorded and sampled sounds . . .
Obviously, when you multiply or divide a sample sound, this also multiplies or divides the speed of the vibrato, and what happens is that the computed intermediate semitone note will have a slightly slower or faster vibrato speed than the real notes, which is vastly problematic and is one of the things that produces what I call the "1960's Farfisa Combo Organ TONE" made popular by Question Mark & The Mysterions in their hit song "96 Tears" and Sam The Sham & The Pharohs in their hit song "Wooly Bully" . . .
"96 Tears" (Question Mark & The Mysterions) -- YouTube music video"Wooly Bully" (Sam The Sham & The Pharohs) -- YouTube music videoThe solution is to use sample sound libraries where the instrument is sampled at each semitone and is play by the musician in the specific articulation or dynamic . . .
This is one of the reasons that I like Miroslav Philharmonik (IK Multimedia) where, for example, having nothing better to do one day I started counting the number of different articulations, dynamics, and playing styles for French horns in solo and various ensemble combinations, which was FUN in and oddly obsessive-compulsive type of way and after an hour the count was in the range of 150 to 200, but I had a moment of clarity and decided that there were so many French Horn samples, all of which can be fine-tuned and adjusted with the Miroslav Philharmonikk standalone user interface, that continuing to count everything would be a bit nutty, so I switched to arranging my shiny marble collection in visually pleasing geometric patterns, which also is a truly pointless activity, but so what . . .
So what! SUMMARYTo the best of my knowledge, there is no single software application which will do everything that you want to do, but NOTION 3 does some vastly useful stuff that no other digital music production software will do, hence the key to using NOTION 3 productively is to use it as part of a complete digital music production system, which is the way I use NOTION 3 here in the sound isolation studio, which is fabulous . . .
Fabulous!