We began this research for this exciting project in 1993, with the initial focus being on the modeling qualities of performance art. Inevitably, We have adapted and applied this solution to serve the music production market. With the new software BringToLife™, VSTLive tries to make MIDI productions sound as human as possible.
The Challenge:
Explaining what makes a certain performance sound good is much harder than explaining what makes it sound bad. That’s exactly what VSTLive team does. We simply listen to the great performances and try to answer the hard question. Then, we update the model to consider some new performance qualities or we simply update the solution/parameters with more accurate values.
CONTROLING THE CONTROLLERS: There is no way to control the MIDI controllers simultaneously and precisely. VSTLive solution “BringToLife™” does this automatically.
- CONTROLING EXPRESSION: There is no one optimal envelop that can be applied to all notes. Our system draws MIDI expression events while considering envelope parameters i.e. attack, hold and release, so each note will get the appropriate envelope and expression accordingly.
- CONTROLING VELOCITY: Velocity needs to be adjusted in order to make a musical phrase sound natural and homogenic. Our algorithm calculates how loud or soft each note should be played according to its context.
- CONTROLING KEY SWITCHES: Today, with more CPU power, memory and storage available, 40 or more different recordings can be organized to serve a single note. This makes it abundantly clear that in order to map an instrument, we may ultimately end up with thousands of samples in order to deliver the quality of coverage desired. Our algorithm controls key switches including velocity correction.
- CONTROLING PITCH BENDING: Slides on a bowed instrument can be done using the Russian slide or the French slide among other styles. We keep in mind that many other parameters must be considered in addition to choosing the appropriate pitch bend mask.
- CONTROLING TIMESTAMP: Some producers process quantization with randomness to get a humanized effect. Our system may add forward or backward offsets to each MIDI note according to the melody analysis product.
The Solution: BringToLife™ is a SaaS (software as a service) that analyzes and processes MIDI tracks on different virtual instruments (sound libraries) to make them sound as human as possible. Our solution considers hundreds of cases and can make similar intuitive decisions that experienced musicians would choose.
Example 1: Johannes Brahms | Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major op. 78 Julia Fischer – Adagio/Più andante
Example 2: Johannes Brahms | Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major op. 78 Julia Fischer – Adagio/Più andante
Roadmap: We are planning to focus on middle east musical instruments: A musical instrument is designed to support a specific music style. We believe that virtual instruments should consider many factors behind sound. For example, most Oud (Arabic instrument) and other middle eastern instrumentalists do not play their parts as originally written, but they add their own interpretation including ornaments and even new notes.
