Expression Maps for Sample Modeling

Hello community, just wanted to contribute to the expression maps, but I don’t how to add them to that Thread. So I’ll just post them here and the devs can sort it out. It includes all SM instruments and they have been tested quite a bit.
SM Expression Maps.zip (13.7 KB)

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That’s how it’s usually done. Thanks.

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Thanks, @Bollen. I’ve added a link to the sticky thread.

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Thanks for posting! I noticed you didn’t have the keyswitches for Falls or Doits assigned in your Trumpet map. Have you been able to get those to work? I haven’t been able to figure out how to get those to play back correctly in Dorico, so would definitely be interested to know if you can get those working.

There’s a few things I don’t add to the maps because they work better manually. The falls are an excellent example, if all instruments play the same KS (via the Expression Map) they will phase and sound identical. SM relies on subtle differences in velocity of the KS to produce slightly different effects. Furthermore, there are many different ways to do for example Falls: Split-portamento fall, fast fall, half-valve fall, etc.

It’s just better practice to add them manually. I also didn’t include con sordino in the strings, because SM has two options which are up to the user to choose. Also, you don’t want the same sordino on Vlns I & II.

PS: sorry for the tardy reply, I am not getting notified of replies via email.

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This is great, thank you so much!
It seems that for the strings, the tremolo keyswitch is never being applied. Any idea why? I also didn’t spot any hint that the tremolo rate parameter (CC19) is being used which makes me wonder how you’d distignuish between a measured tremolo with two lines vs one line.

I refer you to the post right above yours, some things just don’t make sense to have them in the EM. However, the default “unmeasured” tremolo should be working since it’s specified i.e. Key switch E1.

Hello, I am very interested in this set of expression maps for the Sample Modelling Libraries. I am particularly interested in their string library due to its possible flexibility in a wider variety of music than I get with purely sampled libraries. I was wondering if anyone is working on Expression Maps for the company Audio Modelling which also has instruments available on the iPad?

Cheers

Paul

@Bollen
Thanks for sharing but this is for Dorico.
Does anyone know where to find Cubase expressionsmaps version for Swam String libraries ?

What do you mean “this is for Dorico”? This is a Dorico forum, no?

You’re right, forgive my clumsy formulation ! :slight_smile:
I was just asking if anyone knew where to find them for cubase.
I found my solution: download Dorico demo and see how they were programmed.

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This is great. Does anyone know if there are expression maps for Sample modeling Saxophones as well?

Sample Modeling doesn’t make/have saxophones. Unless you’re talking about the very ancient and no longer available Sax Brothers?

Yes. I am talking about the “ancient” Sax Brothers. I am hoping that I am not the only Dorico user with this and there is someone in the community who has already created the expression maps. I will take a look at some of sample modeling expression maps posted here as well as the Dorico manual to see if I can figure out how to create expression maps for Sax Brothers in the meantime.

Unfortunately I don’t have them. I hunted them down for years, but could never get my hands on it. Now I’m using V-Horns (saxes). They’re alright.

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hi @Bollen

I’ve done some internet research on several solo string libraries and in conclusion I’m very impressed with the sample modeling solo strings which stand out for me as far as sound and practical expressivity possibilities. I would like to buy them, but only if I can use them rather smoothly in combination with Dorico.

Unfortunately SM is not supported yet by NPPE (and maybe never will given Wallander’s concerns about that) so I would have to resort to an expression map.

In this post on the vi-control forum you said the following:

I did make a basic EM which I uploaded to Dorico’s forum, but I confess I don’t use it. After much trial and error I concluded it was better and quicker to just draw in the lines (CCs). Music is too contextual to have any EM that would work reliably.”

I guess you are referring to the EM linked in the first post of this thread.

I can understand your viewpoint, but would like to know to which extent your comment would also apply in the case of using only common articulations and dynamics in a score. I’m rarely using exotic notation so would be happy if the basic one would come out well with your EM.
Would your “negative” comment on the vi-forum also apply to my usecase, or would you say that your EM would be actually still be quite useful for the less exotic type of scoring?

Also any comments from other users who are using Bollen’s expression map (or other EM’s) welcome.

Hi Wimuz, Dorico is not designed to be used with these modelled/semi-modelled instruments with EMs. However, by drawing in CCs in the key editor and using a separate staff to ride the keyswitches you can get pretty good results! EMs are designed to trigger specific samples, but since these are not sample libraries, they don’t really work well.

Having said that, the EM provided above should trigger basics like pizzicato, legato, vib/non-vib, etc. In terms of what you call “common articulations” they’re naturally triggered by gestures, i.e. if Dorico plays a short note, the instrument will play something that sounds like a staccato. But you need to make sure you have the Velocity to Dynamics knob in Kontakt set to maximum.

I warn you, this library will not sound good in Dorico without drawing plenty of variation in the key editor. If you can’t be bothered, I suggest you get yourself a traditional sample library.

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Thank you @Bollen for your clear answer, it helps me to make up my mind.

I’ll probably “park” sample modeling for live DAW recording in the future (which of course I know will take effort to master) and as you suggest look for a real sample library.

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I personally think it’s worth drawing the extra CCs, it makes the music sing!

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It is worth it, but since Dorico 5 with the automatic shaping it adds, I’m getting quite good results with the built-in playback with Sample Modeling without doing any manual CC work (at least for the brass). This was not the case in Dorico 4 and earlier. The forthcoming update should make this even better.