Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

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Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

2006-12-01 06:09 pm

For eye-popping audio effects in my next composition:
I want to slur notes on a plucked instrument (specifically acoustic guitar, but also on bass, pizzing strings)

1) The pitch should change during a pluck, rather than two separate plucks (only one percussive noise).
2) I would prefer the fading is relative to the first note, not the second note.
3) I am terrible at understanding multii-point controllers, so you might have to go into detail.

Anyone have any ideas?

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #1 – 2006-12-01 10:46 pm

G'day Bob,
you might look at the attached NWC1 file.

I've used pitch bend MPCs to do what I think you want.

Be aware that within NWC we only have a range of 2 tones that we can play with using a pitch bend - there is other discussion relating to this that I won't go into here...

The idea is to start a note and then bend its pitch to the next note above so:

place the first note
move the cursor to before the note and press < l > OR click |Insert|MPC|
Select the "Pitch Bend" Controller
Select "Absolute" as the Style
Choose the Time Resolution - I user Quarter - depends on how fast you want this to go
Set the Initial Controller Value - 0 for the note as written, +8191 for a tone above to -8192 for a tone below
Set the Time Offset to Zero
Set the "Setting 2" Time offset to how many "Time Resolutions" after the previous change (Initial in this case) that you want the change to take place
Click OK

It is possible to use a "Linear Sweep" Style here too, but your Time Resolution would need to be MUCH faster - Also included in demo

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #2 – 2007-01-05 02:52 pm

Perfect! The absolute pitch one is exactly what I wanted! The other one may come in handy sometime as well!

Thanks!

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #3 – 2007-01-05 03:05 pm

A pleasure mate, glad you like 'em

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #4 – 2007-03-23 09:19 pm

G'day all,
I've had some feedback and a question or 2 in a personal message relating to the techniques suggested here. As a result I thought I'd share some additional thoughts with y'all...

If you want to perform the slur (pitch bend) over a longer time then the "time offset" settings are where you manage ths.

In my original example I only used 2 time offsets for the "Absolute Changes" and 3 for the "Linear Sweep" change.

In the "Absolute Changes" ones, the "initial" offset ensures that the pitch of the starting note is correct, the "Setting 2" offset defines 2 things: a) when the change occurs (in this case, in Quarter notes or Crotchets) and b) how much change there is - either a tone or a semitone depending on the notes being slurred from/to.

In the "Linear Sweep" ones, again the "initial" offset ensures that the pitch of the starting note is correct, the "setting 2" one ensures that the note stays at the correct pitch for the duration of the starting note's time value (in this case in multiples of 64th notes or Demisemiquavers) and then the "setting 3" offset defines the duration taken to bend the note to the new pitch.

If you wanted the pitch to start changeing earlier, you would reduce the "Setting 2" "Time Offset" value. If you wanted the change to be more gradual - to stretch out the change, you would make the "Setting 3" "Time Offset" value larger. In my opinion, if you were to stretch out the change, you would probably want to start it slightly earlier.

Please see my attached example...

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #5 – 2007-03-24 02:06 am

Here's an original song my writing partner and I did a number of years ago. Look at the track labeled "Soloist Hidden", although I've unhidden it in the attached file. This is the guitar line that uses a lot of MPC's to achieve the effect you're looking for.

To give credit where credit is due, it was with a lot of help from Fred Nachbaur that I learned how to do this. Whenever I find myself needing to do it again, I would generally refer back to this file for "how to". The file had most recently been saved as NWC 2, but I did a Save As NWC1.75, so hopefully it plays correctly.

Enjoy.

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #6 – 2007-03-24 04:01 am

G'day John,
nice one mate. Hope you don't mind, I've kept a copy of the song...

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #7 – 2007-03-27 03:08 am

Thats great stuff yet, another free lesson from this forum may God bless you.

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #8 – 2007-03-27 10:07 am

Hi, Lawrie -

Don't mind at all. Just be aware that the song is under copyright (Chris and I hold the copyright), so if you ever use it publicly, just apply the normal attribution (composed by, permission granted, etc.). We've done the song a number of times at church, and folks seem to like it.

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #9 – 2007-03-27 10:45 am

Thanks John, I'll keep it in mind.

Lawrie

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #10 – 2007-03-27 10:26 pm

I'm on that bandwagon. Thanks for that song John. Very nice job all around.

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #11 – 2007-03-28 12:31 am

Glad you enjoyed it.

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #12 – 2007-04-27 01:29 am

Hi John,
I may be coming in late, and this is not mainly about the slurs on the guitar. This is a very good composition, to begin with. But there is just something in the lyrics that I don't seem to understand. We also compose songs for our church; composing song is one gift that we desired and will keep on desiring. I'll throw this question: What do you mean by 'I'll make it all go away'? What example did Christ do, that 'He made it go away'? If this is a sensitive question, let me know. We can e-mail each other. Just being careful about compositions. A veteran cautioned us on this, in that, any mistakes (I'm not saying yours is one) will go a long, long way, once the song is cut/burned into records. We'd always have our pastor sort of 'review' the soundness of the lyrics, and this is what I'm pointing out here. Yours is a good composition, and nice work on NWC. Thanks!

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #13 – 2007-04-27 02:15 am

Without getting into a religious discussion on the forum, go ahead and email me at sus4chord at yahoo dot com

The lyrics belong to Chris (he and I have several original songs), so I don't want to put words in his mouth; but for a quick answer, the song says, "If I could..., I'd make dismay go away; I'd make war and fray go away; I'd make doubting hearts go away".

By the way, this song has been sung live in front of several pastors. They all seemed to get it.

Hope that helps.

- John

Re: Smoother slurs for guitar, bass, pizzing string section

Reply #14 – 2007-04-27 03:25 am

Hi John,
Thank you very much. I've e-mailed you already.