Tablature Symbol

[Admin]

wcreed,

I suppose it could, but functionality and definition of TAB would have to change. TAB numbers represent frets. They tell you nothing about which finger to use unless functionally a chord cannot be played without using a specific finger pattern.

Thorrild:

No insult taken. I was just giving a basis for the point and redirecting the topic of discussion back to the purpose of using the TAB for a string quartet. I understand wcreed's point of usage. It is, however, a feature request that is outside the scope of TAB by definition.

Also, Classical Guitar does have the samples for the different strings. In the example pictured below, the F's have different sound qualities because the first and third F are being played on the E string and the second and fourth F are being played on the B string.

F samples.png (13.2 KiB) Viewed 5935 times

-Admin

[thorrild]

Admin, I agree that wcreed's point about fingering strays a bit, at least from what was on my mind.

I have now played some more with the subtleties of the Classical guitar, and you are right — well, partially:

In the example below, I get different tone quality only on the top 4 strings. The two lowest strings use the sample from the highest string.

I also tried some other instruments in the Guitar group: Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar, and Banjo give different tone qualities, although Banjo only on the 4 upper strings, and Acoustic Guitar only on the 5 upper strings.

Once again: Am I completely off topic when I dream about having this exact functionality extended to string instruments as a way of getting appropriate playback of "sul X" passages? I understand completely that there are no frets on a violin, but wouldn't this be a good feature nonetheless?

Best wishes,
Thorrild

tabstrings.tiff (11.83 KiB) Viewed 5930 times

[wcreed51]

I guess it was a waste of time putting my name in my signature...

But never mind that. I wasn't trying to make any point, just mentioning what I've seen other people doing (or talking about doing) with TAB.

[Admin]

Sorry Bill. I must admit that even though I know many of the names of the people on the forum, I have formed a habit of using their usernames to respect privacy. I was not intending any disrespect.

Also, Thorrild, your points are duly noted. Those features would be nice, but they are also out of scope for the time being. I will submit a feature request. As far as the playback is concerned on the Banjo, Guitar, and Mandolin string changes, I will submit a bug report.

Thanks to you all for your comments and suggestions.

-Admin

[dcd111]

Just to throw one more thought in here: Although Notion's violin instrument may not have different sound samples for the same pitch on different strings, if you have a VST instrument that does have that functionality, you can use custom rules and the TAB staff to check the string number and modify playback. This could also work if you have a method of simulating the different sound quality of different strings using CC values.

I don't have a lot of familiarity with orchestral string libraries, but I know of at least one jazz-style plucked upright bass library that has keyswitches available to specify the string to be plucked. Custom rules and the TAB staff could be combined to take advantage of that capability.

Theoretically, this could be used on other instruments as well. For example (although this would be better achieved manually), you could have a custom ruleset that only plays a notated slide portamento between two notes on a trombone if it can physically be played with the slide, otherwise the portamento could be disconnected and the slide set to start at a more appropriate note. The way to achieve this would be to define a "string" tuning for the trombone staff, with every available seventh-position note defining each "string", and then testing for "same-string-up" and "same-string-down" conditions in a custom rule. Notes would have to be moved on the trombone "TAB" staff to make sure they are all assigned "frets" between 0 and 6 (I would actually like to see the ability to set a maximum fret and home fret for each string in future versions). This isn't necessarily the best example of using TAB with other instruments, but I'm just pointing out that conceptually, the TAB staff can be used for more than just guitar instruments to achieve certain effects using custom rules.

Also, be aware that the TAB staff has to be open in order for the custom rules to check which string is being played; defining a tuning but only opening the standard staff is not sufficient.

[idiotSavant]

DCD, Thorrild, Admin et, al.:

VSL Special Edition presets DO seem to recognize the difference between strings. I get a very different sound from a run of notes if I specify them all on one string than if I let Notion place them at random.

I've spent a lot of time adjusting these, I hope it wasn't just my imagination!