Recording electric violin

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Recording electric violin

Post by rooter »

I have recorded my electric violin into some projects in ableton.Whilst I am no nigel kennedy (or even dave swarbrick) some sound ok but others could do with a tonal boost.Could anyone recommend a vst or post recording technique I could try to give them a lift -thanks
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Re: Recording electric violin

Post by shufflebeat »

What's your pickup?
What's your DAW? (Oops, you said Ableton).

Best results I've had have been a combination of IR loader (Reaverb in Reaper) for tonal "correction" and non-convolution reverb (Dragonfly is nice).
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Re: Recording electric violin

Post by rooter »

Thanks for reply.I have used a ir loader but am I right in thinking these will give mainly cab simulations or can I get ir files for acoustic instruments anywhere preferably free lol?
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Re: Recording electric violin

Post by shufflebeat »

Have a read of this lot and come back to us:

http://acousticir.free.fr/spip.php?article136
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Re: Recording electric violin

Post by BenWilesMusic »

Hi. Your question seems odd to me. Electric violin, like electric guitar, is usually played through effects pedals and an amp (or amp sim), which gives it a tone quite unlike the acoustic violin. Are you trying to make your recordings sound like an acoustic violin? If so, a violin resonance IR will help (I know they exist but am not sure where to find one). This models the resonance of the violin body and air cavity, which is what makes an acoustic violin sound the way it does - but it probably will never sound *quite* like a well miked acoustic violin, just as an electric guitar through an acoustic stimulator never sounds *quite* like an acoustic guitar.

Or are you trying to thicken the sound up, add weight, sparkle, or something else? If so, a combination of effects such as EQ, delay, chorus, saturation and distortion are what you should go for - probably followed by an amp and speaker sim. I don't use Ableton, but if it has a guitar effects or pedalboard plugin, that would be a good place to start.

Hope that helps a little bit.
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Re: Recording electric violin

Post by rooter »

Thanks for your replies guys.The john fields stuff is wayyy beyond me!What I want to do is basically improve if possible the tonal quality of some of my recordings so what BenWiles music has said is very relevant
If only there were plugins to improve the actual performance lol!
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Re: Recording electric violin

Post by Sam Spoons »

No it needs to be hardware :-

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Re: Recording electric violin

Post by shufflebeat »

rooter wrote:Thanks for your replies guys.The john fields stuff is wayyy beyond me!

It doesn't need to be. All you need to know it that it's really simple (and free) to create an impulse response which recreates, to some extent, the response of your soundboard and resonant chamber to the impulse of bow on string as measured at the bridge by your pickup.

If you have a convolution reverb VST in Ableton then that is normally intended for large WAV IR files which recreate large rooms with relatively long reverb times. The reverb time inside your fiddle is very short so the file is tiny and the processing power needed is much smaller so will not stress your system.
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Re: Recording electric violin

Post by rooter »

thanks for file shufflebeat-i found it quite useful and i have actually found a few more online.I am starting to realize that most of my problem is not getting a good enough
tone from violin at actual time of recording and trying to patch it up after is very hard if not impossible! i'm going to invest in talent booster pedal-see above!
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Re: Recording electric violin

Post by Drew Stephenson »

One of our other posters on here (I think it might have been Gavin) gets very good violin results by placing the mic a couple of feet behind and to the side of the player's left shoulder.
The mic has a clear view of the body so gets a nice rich tone but doesn't get too much string scrape.
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Re: Recording electric violin

Post by Wonks »

There seems to be some confusion over what’s going on here, as Rooter asked about improving his electric violin sound not an acoustic violin sound.

Maybe Rooter can just reconfirm exactly what he’s wanting? And maybe what type of violin he’s got. Is it purely electric with a minimal body, or a standard violin with a pickup?
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Re: Recording electric violin

Post by Drew Stephenson »

Sorry, my bad, I think the only confusion here is with my inability to read the actual thread title. :headbang:
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