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Naturalising with automation


Spagok
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Hello !

I am currently writing a piano piece and it looks like I have went through all means to naturalise my sound (namely, humanisation). Although, there is always more that could be done.

I'd like to try to randomise the automation (randomise the numerical value of the automation nodes within a certain range) of certain parameters, much like MIDI functions, in order to make my piano sound less stale. I've researched a bit but it doesn't seem like there are immediate ways to go about it ?

Thank you for your help !

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I could think of a few ways to do it, eg moving the automation data to region MIDI data, using various transformer randomisation features on the values, then moving it back to automation data. Possibly others including repeating region automation, automation trimming your desired parameter randomly, and the aforementioned modulator plugin and so on...
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Since it's a piano piece and piano is a percussion instrument (go ahead, change my mind!), changing its volume mid-note will introduce un-natural changes.

 

Velocity and note position is where it's at, especially with music that's not played but entered numerically or by mouse, and you can randomize these two parameters easily in the Transform window.

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Another thing that very commonly changes throughout a real human performance is tempo. For instance, in virtually every song the tempo of the "chorus" will be several BPM faster than the "verse." (I've seen plenty of videos discussing video/movie soundtracks where the "tempo" track changes constantly. Not by much, but constantly.)

 

Velocity, which is "how hard you strike the key," rises when you strike a note for emphasis, then gradually returns to normal over the next few notes.

 

You can very easily "draw" changes to these values to make your performances feel much more human, and the necessary changes are often slight. You don't necessarily want them to draw the listener's attention.

 

I watched one video where an artist used an expression pedal to input this kind of articulation.

Edited by MikeRobinson
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I agree that in order to keep the results sounding natural, all you'll change in the performance for piano are note velocity and note timing.

 

Then you can play with the sound of the piano: EQ and reverb can go a long way and keep the result natural.

 

If you're not interested in sounding natural then you are free to experiment with just about anything.

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Oh for sure ! Before asking this question, I indeed did the following changes :

- Velocity/Note Position/Note Length (with slight value randomisation)

- Tempo automation

- Enveloper automation (attack gain)

- High cut automation

- ADSR tweaks

- Subtractive then additive EQ

But I can still hear that it is a mechanical performance (granted I have a lot of chords banging on the beat). My specific idea concerning my question was to layer in parallel my current piano plugin with another piano plugin ever so slightly and then automate the volume of that added layer in a random manner in order to have shifting textures. Maybe it won't sound natural but I have hunch that it can sound a lot less bland than what I have atm

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Honestly, I'd spend that effort into learning how to play the part non-mechanically (ie, with musical skill and taste.)

 

Any artificial attempt to inflect realistic human nuance is very very hard to do, especially if you don't have the skills to be able to understand and use that nuance in playing the part in the first place. It's a bit like asking a non-guitarist to lay down a guitar part on the keyboard - at best it will be a poor unrealistic and unauthentic approximation...

 

Not amount of playing with plugins is going to make a poor performance sound like a great one... Or you could always get a collab musician to have a go at the part...

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There are some really good, free midi files of classical piano pieces that demonstrate tempo, velocity and sustain changes and might give you an idea of what to do.

 

Download a midi file from http://www.kunstderfuge.com, drag it into a new project, and put the main midi region onto a track with your piano. You'll have to "apply region tempo to project tempo" to get tempo correct. I don't know if all the files there are good but the ones I've tried have been good.

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Oh for sure ! Before asking this question, I indeed did the following changes :

- Velocity/Note Position/Note Length (with slight value randomisation)

- Tempo automation

- Enveloper automation (attack gain)

- High cut automation

- ADSR tweaks

- Subtractive then additive EQ

But I can still hear that it is a mechanical performance (granted I have a lot of chords banging on the beat). My specific idea concerning my question was to layer in parallel my current piano plugin with another piano plugin ever so slightly and then automate the volume of that added layer in a random manner in order to have shifting textures. Maybe it won't sound natural but I have hunch that it can sound a lot less bland than what I have atm

Speaking of chord banging humanization, have you tried flamming them a little.

In a human performance, played chord are rarely (if ever) played with exact simultaneity.

 

An expressive piano performance is one that let breath in interpretation.

Which indeed means that both, the tempo and the velocity, fluctuate intentionally and meaningfully during the piece.

 

Since it's a piano piece and piano is a percussion instrument (go ahead, change my mind!)...
As the piano being a percussive instrument (not a percussion one :mrgreen: ), like a drummer would intently play momentarily upfront or lag with its relative tempo, piano played solo or in group could induce similar effect.

 

My 2 cents... :wink:

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I definitely agree that ... "if at all possible, play it."

 

Since Logic Pro is "the penultimate musical word processor," you can always fix your mistakes after the fact and no one will ever know. You can do it section-by-section, making as many "takes" as you like, and once again no one will ever know. You can soar far above your music lessons – if you ever had any. But the listener will still recognize, perhaps subliminally, that "a person actually played this."

 

You can create a better performance than you could ever do "by hand," with not a single musical tpyo. ;) No one will ever see how you did it.

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