Hi all,
I'd love to hear some of the tricks/techniques any of you are using for setting up sampled instruments for recording parts live. I have collected some great string and wind instruments samples, but most of the pre-configured programs are not very usable for realistically expressive playing. I use halion 3 through Sonar 4, with Overture for a notation program. Sonar and Overture work great for sequenced and notated parts, but I know that I am not using halion to its full capabilities.
One setup that I have been working with is using the mod wheel to control velocity and volume, with the sustaing pedal switching between longer and shorter samples. Having the velocity dictated by the keys doesn't work well for me, as I am not a very good keyboardist and it does not emulate the way that attack works on these instruments very well. I have key switches assigned to switch between staccato and sustained playing, with the pedal switching between sustain lengths, but I have not worked out a way to make a realistic legato with halion. There is a legato function in the program,though it does not seem very effective.
The other part of this is finding ways to do the program/patch editing quickly, or making templates.I have spent hours and hours messing with samples and still not really getting the results that I am hoping for. While I enjoy this time experimenting and learning, it does cut away from my time making music.