Applying a Playback Template reassigns MIDI channels to the instruments

Hi,

I have a score where desk are alternated to soloist. For example, Vni 1.2 is followed by Vni 1, Vni 2, then Vni 3.4 and Vni 3, Vni 4…

I manually assign the desks to a VST Instrument, and the soloist to a different one. So, while Vni 1.2 and Vni 3.4 are assigned to VST Instrument #02, the soloist are assigned to VST Instrument #03.

When applying the Playback Template, this assignment is scrambled. I can’t understand the forced order, but, for example, Vni 1.2, Vni 1, Vni 2 are forced to VST Instrument #02, with progressive MIDI channel numbers.

Shouldn’t MIDI channel assignment be left untouched by applying a Playback Template?

Paolo

No, applying a playback template will completely reset and reallocate all devices and channels.

Daniel, I see. However, isn’t this working the opposite way as it should? From the version history, I read (referred to the automatic, not the manual templates):

“Applying a playback template. When one of the automatic playback templates is applied (e.g. the built-in HSSE+HSO (Pro) playback template), the sounds loaded for each instrument into each instance of HALion Sonic SE will be loaded in score order, instead of in the order in which the instruments were originally created.”

So, the score has priority over the template. The templates looks for the instruments in the score, and applies the right sound by matching the setting for that instrument to those found in the template.

However, I’ve now a doubt: my score has Vni 1.2 and Vni 1 and Vni 2 with different names in the score, but the same name (“Violin”) in the Endpoint Setup table. Maybe the playback template is considering the “Violin” name and not the “Vni 1.2”, “Vni 1” and “Vni 2” names? And, as a consequence, is it considering these three instruments as three instruments of the same type?

If this is true, is it possible to also replace that “Violin” name I see in the Endpoint Setup table with the names appearing in the score, and have the Apply Playback Template command consider them as different instruments, to be treated in a different way?

I see the “violin” name can be accessed in the “endpointconfig.xml”, so maybe I can do my editing in that file?

Paolo

I wouldn’t recommend manually editing the endpoint configuration XML files outside of Dorico.

When Dorico applies the HSSE+HSO playback template, that’s a completely different operation than applying a manual playback template of your own creation. Since you won’t necessarily have allocated the sounds to channels in your VST instruments in score order, Dorico cannot be held to a requirement to assign the endpoints in score order, since the order of sounds to channels is, by definition, fixed according to whatever you did when you set it up.

Ok, I see. I did some other tests, and found this:

  1. Since I needed two VEPRO instances (one for the individual players, one for the separate desks), I created two VST Instruments based on VEPRO.

  2. In the Endpoint Setup, the 16 channels were set as needed (MIDI channel, expression map).

  3. I saved the whole VST Instruments pane as an endpoint configuration (“VSL Full”).

  4. I assigned to my playback template the “VSL Full” manual playback template/endpoint configuration.

  5. When applying the playback template, my channel assignment for the existing score instruments was preserved (or, probably, reassigned as I had saved it).

So, the trick is probably saving the whole VST Instruments panel as an endpoint configuration to be assigned to the playback template.

But what about a different score, with an even slightly different instruments-channels configuration? Would the “VSL Full” endpoint configuration saved in the playback template work as well, or will it scramble my score instrument assignment, being different from the original one for which I created the configuration?

Paolo

It will assign the instruments that match those routed in the playback template, and not assign the instruments that don’t match. That’s why we recommend including an automatic playback template in your playback templates as a fallback option, so that even if a particular instrument isn’t routed in your manual playback template, it won’t be silent.

Daniel, may I ask you if, in a playback template, instruments in the score are linked to a VST Instrument having a particular number, or a particular name?

In other words: in a score, I assign the trumpets part to VST Instrument 04 - My Brass, and Violins to VST Instrument 10 - My Violins. After that, I save all the VST Instruments as an Endpoint Configuration, that is included as a manual playback template inside my custom global playback template (MyGlobalTemplate).

In another score, I want to use the same global playback template (MyGlobalTemplate) as above. Should I always assign trumpets to VST Instrument #04 and violins to VST Instrument #10, or can I use different slots?

Thank you in advance!

EDIT: I’ve seen that Dorico reassigns the VST Instruments as it better prefers. My custom linking of score instruments, MIDI channels and VST Instruments is preserved. Not so the VST Instrument numbering.

At this point, what I have to discover is if the VST Instruments, despite their repositioning in different slots, will remain linked to the same VEPRO instance.

Paolo

They’re not linked either by number or by name, but rather according to the kind of instrument that is mapped to each combination of patch and expression map.

Daniel, please allow me another question on this important matter.

I plan to work with Dorico and VEPRO. This latter can receive configuration instructions from the host program (Dorico). All the instruments created in Dorico and their settings can be saved in the Dorico project.

Many say that it is advisable to use VEPRO, instead, with a fix configuration of instruments. It should be considered as a separated expander, to whose channels and assigned sounds the host has to be patched. This should lower the time needed to reload sounds when switching to a different project.

In this scenario, one knows where each sound is, and has to patch each instrument to a VST Instruments slot, and a MIDI channel inside it. The channel configuration would always be the one programmed in VEPRO.

But if Dorico wants to reconfigure the sounds and MIDI channel configuration when applying a playback template, I think that the above is not possible. It is Dorico to decide where each sound will go. I suspect that even the VEPRO instance linked to VST Instruments slot is automatically decided by Dorico.

Am I getting it wrong, and should go back to the documentation? Or am I right, and the “external expander with fixed configuration” strategy is not allowed?

Paolo

You’ve misunderstood: Dorico can’t automatically load individual sounds into Vienna Ensemble. It can only restore the state of an entire instance that you have already set up. Dorico can only load individual sounds for HALion Sonic SE and for NotePerformer; each uses a different special mechanism.

As I understand it, many people choose to set up a fixed configuration of sounds in VE Pro and then run it in “decoupled” mode, so that the host application (be it Cubase, Dorico, or whatever) doesn’t save any of the VE Pro state in its own project: instead, VE Pro is always running the same configuration, and each host application simply reconnects to that configuration when needed. This reduces the time it takes to save the project, and reduces the filesize of the project on disk.