These two short audio examples accompany my Cubase workshop in SOS April 2024. They illustrate both how usable the sounds included with Iconica Sketch are, and just how easily the workflow suggested in the main article can transform four-note chords into single note lines for each of string sub-section. The same principles could easily be adapted for brass or woodwind arrangements.
Cubase 13 Iconica Sketch Chord Voicing Audio Examples 01.mp3
This first example is based on a simple eight-bar chord section, played using a staccato articulation by all string subsections. You hear the same 8 bar sequence three times as follows:
a) The full sequence, as recorded into all five MIDI tracks of the Iconica Sketch string section and with all sub-sections playing all the notes in the chords.
b) The same sequence after the full chords have been processed using the Logical Editor presets described in the article. Each string sub-section is now playing single notes — a more convincing approach to a virtual string-section arrangement. It took one key command to execute the Macro that’s shown in the final screenshot of the article to processes the clips from (a) into those in (b).
c) The single note lines generated within (b), but this time subjected to some additional manual edits. This involved switching some of the lines between different sections to create a chord inversion within the basses, celli, violas and violin II parts. For violins I, the full chord part restored and an instance of Arpache 5 added as a MIDI Insert to create an ostinato-style top line.
Cubase 13 Iconica Sketch Chord Voicing Audio Examples 02.mp3
This second example revolves around another simple eight-bar chord section, this time played using a sustained articulation by all string subsections. You hear the same eight-bar sequence three times, as follows:
a) The full sequence as recorded into all five MIDI tracks of the Iconica Sketch string section and will all sub-sections playing all the notes within the chords.
b) The same sequence after the full chords have been processed by using the Logical Editor presets described in the main article. Each string sub-section is now playing single notes which results in a more convincing string section arrangement. Again, it took only one keystroke to execute the Macro in the final screenshot of the article to transform the clips of (a) into those in (b). At this stage, Mod Wheel data was added to all five MIDI clips in a single pass, to add some performance dynamics.
c) The single note lines generated in (b), but subjected to some additional manual editing. This involved switching some of the lines between different sections to create a chord inversion within the basses, celli, violas and violin II parts. For violins I, the full chord part restored and a single note melodic top line was simply created from notes within each chord.
