VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

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Shooshie
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by Shooshie »

mhschmieder wrote:...nor do I know how to tell whether I have Standard or Deluxe for the WIVI engine.

Here is identifying label on the WIVI Professional Edition:
  • Image
And a full-interface shot of the first page of WIVI's interface. Click it for full-size picture:
  • Image
Any time that I've mentioned the "advanced interface," this is what I'm referring to. It's a many-page, scrolling interface with over a hundred adjustable parameters. It's possible to get wonderful instruments out of this, but with this much control over each instrument, it's also possible to fail miserably and get terrible instruments. The default settings are pretty good, but not good enough for many instruments. It's pretty much a matter of the laws of acoustics and physics. If you can reason it out, and use Wallander's definitions of the parameters to figure out what they do, you can generally get great results. I prefer dry sounds, using other reverbs to give them spatial character, thus the "anechoic chamber" performance stage. I do use the built-in EQ to cut offensive vibrations from the instruments, but I may use external EQ to fine-tune it.

I run 3 interfaces in my sequences: woodwinds, brass, and saxophones. The main reason for this is because each interface/instance basically has one output. If I want to treat instruments separately outside the interface, they'll need their own interface. This is OK, because it does not add a lot of overhead to your sequence latency or CPU. The ability to place instruments on stage where you want them to sound is amazing. I don't know why all VIs don't use it.

Shooshie
|l| OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0 |l| 2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012 |l| 40GB RAM |l| Mach5.3 |l| Waves 9.x |l| Altiverb |l| Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l| Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes |l| Garritan Aria |l| VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l| Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller |l| Roland FC-300 |l|
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by mhschmieder »

Oh wow, I most definitely do NOT have the Pro/Deluxe version of Wallander then! For some reason, I thought that was what came with the Saxophones, back when they had different packaging for their products.

Good to know, as it means I've been unfairly dismissing the saxophones, not realizing I only have partial control over them compared to your experience. I just figured you were more willing to spend the time than I am, and that is partially true, but now I am salivating at the extra features in Pro!

I may upgrade the Winds first then, and see if it changes my options on Brass. I can't afford to do this for another couple of months, most likely, as I am currently saving up to pay for a Hammerschmidt G Clarinet, which only required an up-front deposit but will need to be paid in full once they are finished making it (they only make on demand, as they're small).
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by mhschmieder »

The room placement feature is also found in Vienna's MIR Pro, but I had to pay a bundle for that product, and haven't had time to use it yet after some failed initial attempts so am using the simpler version until I can make the time to delve deeper into the tutorials.

I agree that it should be a feature of all such products. The first frustration I usually face with a new library is lack of control over the space the instrument is in, and/or the inability to blend it properly.
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by Shooshie »

mhschmieder wrote:Oh wow, I most definitely do NOT have the Pro/Deluxe version of Wallander then! For some reason, I thought that was what came with the Saxophones, back when they had different packaging for their products.

Good to know, as it means I've been unfairly dismissing the saxophones, not realizing I only have partial control over them compared to your experience. I just figured you were more willing to spend the time than I am, and that is partially true, but now I am salivating at the extra features in Pro!
This has been the bane of Wallander's existence. I told him he needs to make the Pro interface standard when people buy the whole collection. It's unfair that people are dismissing the whole line of instruments without knowing what you can do. When you read a bad review of Wallander, you can assume at least one of the following:
  • 1) the reviewer does not have the Pro interface
    2) the reviewer prefers sounds directly out of the box without adjustments
    3) the reviewer cannot follow directions, or else doesn't understand the first thing about acoustics.
    4) the reviewer only tried the flutes.
Otherwise, to one who puts in some time, the rewards will be copious and filled with wonders. Heck, anyone who tries the trumpet with a plunger mute, and is NOT drawn in by an inexplicable urge to play Basin Street Blues, has got to be dead inside and probably hasn't been alone with a hot woman in a dark place in days. Maybe weeks. Yes, Wallander can be pretty damn good.

Shoosh
|l| OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0 |l| 2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012 |l| 40GB RAM |l| Mach5.3 |l| Waves 9.x |l| Altiverb |l| Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l| Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes |l| Garritan Aria |l| VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l| Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller |l| Roland FC-300 |l|
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by mhschmieder »

I just bought and installed the woodwinds. Brass retains its previous mild discount so doesn't benefit, nor does it re-identifyas Pro vs. Standard should I buy it. Not sure if that means the instruments would or would not become available in the Pro Player.

Interestingly, the interface still looks nothing like your screen shot. Similar to what it already looked like on my system, except for now saying "Pro" or whatever.

No energy to check more details or to try it out for real at this late hour. Should have gone to bed four hours ago but had an eLicenser emergency -- it took eight tries with repeated efforts on several ports, for it to be recognised by the license control centre -- so spent a really long time laboriously transferring up to 100 licenses to a spare key that seems to be more dependable.
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by Shooshie »

mhschmieder wrote:I just bought and installed the woodwinds. Brass retains its previous mild discount so doesn't benefit, nor does it re-identifyas Pro vs. Standard should I buy it. Not sure if that means the instruments would or would not become available in the Pro Player.

Interestingly, the interface still looks nothing like your screen shot. Similar to what it already looked like on my system, except for now saying "Pro" or whatever.

No energy to check more details or to try it out for real at this late hour. Should have gone to bed four hours ago but had an eLicenser emergency -- it took eight tries with repeated efforts on several ports, for it to be recognised by the license control centre -- so spent a really long time laboriously transferring up to 100 licenses to a spare key that seems to be more dependable.
On the left side of the interface, there is a "themes" selector. Wallander doesn't call it that, but you'll see it if you look through the options. I'm assuming that yours is the same shape as mine, but just different colors. If not, then he must have put out a new pro interface.

Are you sure you downloaded the interface? It's a separate purchase, separate download. He sends you the links, be sure you found them all.

Shoosh
|l| OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0 |l| 2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012 |l| 40GB RAM |l| Mach5.3 |l| Waves 9.x |l| Altiverb |l| Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l| Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes |l| Garritan Aria |l| VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l| Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller |l| Roland FC-300 |l|
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by HCMarkus »

Heck, anyone who tries the trumpet with a plunger mute, and is NOT drawn in by an inexplicable urge to play Basin Street Blues, has got to be dead inside and probably hasn't been alone with a hot woman in a dark place in days. Maybe weeks.
Shooshie waxes poetic. Love it. :D
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by mhschmieder »

Shooshie, I see the problem now, which is that there are no scroll bars so I didn't realize there's a lot more than what shows up on the screen. You must have a WAY older version vs. the v2.38.3 version on my system (which OS X unhelpfully labels as 2009 even though it is from either DEC 2014 or DEC 2015 when the 64-bit compatibility version was released).

I didn't realize you had selected anechoic chamber, which is what it looked like but I didn't know that choice was available. See, I have performance issues with this product on my system, and when a weird GUI that doesn't have traditional cues doesn't respond to mouse clicks or drags after almost a minute, I assume there's "nothing there".

So, now that I know that the interface doesn't fit in its container and that the scroll bars are invisible, as well as the performance being almost non-existant, I'll know to be more patient when working with the Wallander Pro interface.

I never found the themes setting but prefer olive anyway as blue is a stress-inducing colour. I was more thrown initially by the rich right-hand side in your screen shot than anything else, as mine was blank until I started scrolling it.
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by Shooshie »

Also, you may have to select an instrument to see the details showing in my screenshots.
|l| OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0 |l| 2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012 |l| 40GB RAM |l| Mach5.3 |l| Waves 9.x |l| Altiverb |l| Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l| Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes |l| Garritan Aria |l| VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l| Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller |l| Roland FC-300 |l|
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by mhschmieder »

Yes, that was true for the right-hand side, but it was also the case that there were areas of the GUI that were unnecessarily blank and which therefore made it even more counter-intuitive (aside from the lack of scroll bars) that scrolling was required in order to see all of the features!

I owe it up to this software being long in the tooth, and probably it has just received the minimal patches necessary to keep it operational through changes in computer ecosystems over the years.
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by mhschmieder »

I went ahead and splurged on the brass bundle after midnight last night. I am ready to mix my jazz album and didn't want to have lingering doubts about whether I would have been better off with the Muted Trumpet in particular.

No regrets as I consider experimental modeling to be a long-term investment. Vendors tend to update now and then, and users tend to get better at getting the best out of them.

Short-term, I'll stick with The Trumpet from Sample Modeling. I just don't want to take the time right now to figure out how to get realistic articulations out of Wallander. It is pretty much set up for legato playing, which is something I rarely do as I'm more about creating space for other instruments to peep through and thus tend to be more influenced by pre-romantic and post-romantic trends.

I like the timbre of Wallander better, for the brass stuff, overall. Maybe on the next album. It's a shame though that they only offer a Straight Mute on the C Trumpet. I didn't check the other trumpet voicings to see if they offer plungers, cup mutes, Harmon, etc. Maybe I'll check that quickly in a moment.

The woodwinds on my album will mostly get replaced by live playing pretty soon anyway. The flute is the only one using Vienna Instruments Pro, and has a lot of articulation switching. It sounds very realistic now and has gorgeous timbre.

I'm not good enough on flute yet, but have several friends who are top-notch. Even so, the parts are quite specific and have been vetted a gazillion times; I can only take the risk on ONE of the players I know, who does more classical than jazz and thus is less likely to "overplay" or add unwanted inflections, vibrato, trills, etc.

I have a few good friends who play trumpet -- one of them a Grammy winner. Also one friend (or maybe a couple) who play trombone well, but they left the area recently. Overall, as I have a lot of "trick playing" on this jazz album when it comes to the brass parts, it might be a lot to ask of someone, but only once I start mixing and soliciting feedback from listeners will I know whether I can "get away" with keeping Sample Modeling instruments on the album.

The Wallander brass seems the high point of the set to me over most of the woodwinds (I probably like their double reeds the best, but the bass clarinet and basset horn show some promise as well). I feel their timbre is spot-on; more so than the Sample Modeling stuff. I'd prefer the Love Child of the two.
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by mhschmieder »

In case someone comes across this older topic, note that NotePerformer 3 was released this week and has been significantly extended, as well as now supporting Finale and Dorico vs. just Sibelius.

Many of you probably never visit the composer sub-forum, so take a look there for more info. I've dug up quite a bit of info by now.
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Select Strat, 70th Anniversary Esquire, Johhny Marr Jaguar, 57 LP, Danelectro 12
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Re: VSL Dimension Brass or Wallander Instruments?

Post by Woimiow »

Hello

I discover this forum about Wallander Instrument WIVI where is discused Profesional Edition of WIVI Player.
I have question about Profesional Player version. I own WIVI SE Brass and Woodwinds. Does Profesional Player improve quality of SE sound? Or it only unleashed control over instrument and thats all?
From WIVI page, is written that P.Player add Breath noise, I think this can improve Woodwinds up. It is worth to upgrade to Profesional Player? Can someone create demo with Profesional Player with woodwinds? (I can't find any solo demo over internet) The demos from main WIVI page are good, but lots of details are hiden because they are played in ensembles and sometimes with other libraries.
And how it improve sound quality to Brass? Pro adds Brass lip buz.
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