Originally Posted By: Bluebop
I maybe lazy and not searched properly but has anyone utilised any device to accentuate a melody? I'm thinking of using a touchscreen as a kind of theremin. This could be really useful for giving melodies a more human touch without spending a lot of time fiddling with the midi.

Getting it right in performance is certainly easier than "fiddling with MIDI."

For wind instruments, you could consider getting a wind controller. But then you'll have yet another instrument to learn. A better option might be a breath controller. These can be very natural to play.

Typically, you'll have to map them to the volume control, which means that as you blow harder, it turns up the volume knob. This means you won't get the change in timbre as the velocity changes, and you'll need to run the instrument through a separate reverb (instead of the one the VSTi might supply) because turning off the volume at the end of the note means you lose the reverb tail.

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A "riding the faders" type of job. I'm guessing this would have to be in a DAW like Logic/Pro tools or even Garageband.

No, you can actually do this in BiaB - it'll capture your MIDI performance.

Personally, I prefer to edit in my DAW... but you don't have to.

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But maybe this could be saved onto the midi file within Biab? I guess I need to read up on General Midi.

General MIDI only refers to the set of instruments that come in the General MIDI set. No need to look there - you can use custom VSTis within BiaB. However, you might jBridge for the 32/64 bit bridging, which is why it's offered with the BiaB purchase.

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I would really like better Trumpets and Saxophones. Something to give my tracks a little more bite. The real tracks are great but the whole aura is shot if you end up using the biab synth for melodies.

There are tons of libraries out there. What works best for you is a matter of your budget, and what sounds you like.

If you're on a budget, you might have a look at Session Horns, which is good for a "pop" horn sort of sound, but there are no solo horns available - you have to have at least two instruments playing at a time. There's a more complete Session Horns Pro that'll give you more articulations, as well as access to solo instruments.

You can also check out WIVI Band, which is works really well with a breath controller. It's synthetic instead of sampled, but it's very responsive and comes with a trumpet, trombone and tenor sax, so you can build a decent section with it.

If you want a more "classic" horn section, check out Vintage Horns. It's got long notes, short notes, swells and falls. But it's aimed at a section sound - it's not terribly expressive for solos.

Blue Street Brass is a relatively inexpensive library (Indiginus makes some great cheap stuff) that has some nice "vintage" horns, but no saxes. A bit synthy, but you might like the sound.

But... like many inexpensive sample libraries, it requires the full version of Kontakt, which I suspect that you don't own.

I've heard good things about Broadway Big Band, but it's not cheap. There are the lower-priced and cut-down versions Broadway Lites and Broadway Gig.

The Samplemodeling saxes are ranked highly, but were recently discontinued because of a licensing issue with AudioModeling. You can still get the horns from SampleModeling, but the saxes are now only distributed through AudioModeling. They are running a 20% off until June 30th, 2018. These work really well with breath controllers.

There's Garritan Jazz and Big Band, but although I really, really want to like it, I've always been disappointed when I've used it. Maybe it's just me, but getting something good out of that library seems to require a huge amount of tweaking, and the sounds aren't really inspiring.

You might want to check out this Pop/Brass Sample Library Buyer's Guide, which covers the libraries I mentioned, and more.

-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?

BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.