(01-30-2017, 11:58 AM)Otto Halmén Wrote: Like you said, the expression needs work, although I wouldn't so much fine tune it as get completely wild with it. Exaggerate the volume swells, exaggerate the phrasing (i.e. make staccatos and detaches really snappy, make legatos really molten together, and so on). Finding the sweet spot is sometimes easier if you get completely wild and dial it back as needed.
So true!! I have a teacher with whom I study early trombone- because the instruments from that time are more limited and finicky than ones today, her advice is always to do dynamics and phrasing to the point you think it's garish, because chances are to everyone else, you actually just sound good. Often what separates a "great" player from a "good" one is the willingness to phrase everything as dynamically and emotively as possible without fear of doing too much. When working with virtual instruments with limits, you always want to exaggerate at first. Then you can pull back if you need to, just like Otto says.

Sample library developer, composer, and amateur organologist at Versilian Studios.