I’ve recently been working on expression maps etc for Orchestral Tools Drones including the subsequently added Arkanum sections. I had some spare time so thought it might be fun to attempt. However, I had to add a number of specialized items to playing and playback techniques. There’s the traditional notation content and then there’s the more specialized content which is perhaps used by individuals rather than an entire orchestra. I believe Dorico 5 projects like this one for Drones fit in the latter category. The project is complete subject to final review of velocity settings etc. although I should add that the instrument setup I use involves the use of two separate midi keyboards: A Nektar Impact LX25+ so that all keyswitches are at the C-2 end together with a KEYLAB ESSENTIAL 61 for the main performance. I prefer all my keyswitches to be immediately available to my left hand rather than split between the lowest and highest octaves. Expression Maps for Orchestral Tools Abacus also nearly finished. Similarly OT Habitat. I may attempt OT Sangara next.
Update: In the end I decided to work on OT Abacus, OT Drones and OT Salu. I will be sharing the first draft here. The regular orchestral libraries are a natural choice to develop in Dorico but I’m less certain about the specialist sample libraries. As a longtime Reaper user my decision to gradually move across writing music to Dorico reflects my interest in reducing my DAW dependance. In its latest incarnation Dorico has many DAWlike facilities. Developing expression maps for sample libraries like OT Salu does of course mean that I’m greatly extending the customary Dorico Playing and Playback techniques in order to support sample-library-specific DAW articulation types. How practical this is is an open question. Comments from other Dorico users welcome. Am I wasting my time or should I push on?
Here are first drafts for OT Abacus and OT Drones:
I have Salu and will probably end up using your map, so I would say to press on.
Definitely don’t be afraid to extend the playing and playback techniques. Salu has a bunch of techniques where you get, for instance, an entire string arpeggio with one keypress - obviously those won’t quite look right on the page, but in some cases there are workarounds for this where you can make it both look right and sound right. For instance, with the string arpeggios in Salu, you could properly notate the entire arpeggio in Dorico, but disable playback of all of the notes except the first so that only the first note plays back, and then significantly extend the played duration of the first note (to as long as the arpeggio goes on for in total). Using tricks like that you can in many cases get it to give correct playback and be properly notated.
Very helpful response, thank you. In light of your comments I will give more thought to what I need to include in Playback vs what to leave out. I will push on also.
I am not exactly certain what way you mean, but I have built maps for several non-standard, non-traditional, and extended technique libraries, also including synths and sound design. For playing techniques which are totally invented by the developer, I usually use these names to call the patch, and then hide them or replace with a name which is perhaps closer to what it sounds like for a real player (if that is my end goal).
I have gotten some good ideas about how to work these kind of specialist libraries into a score from the last few chapters of Behind Bars, as well as simply looking at film scores within the last 20 years that use a lot of experimental and extended techniques. This has sparked some ideas as to how I could “translate” and approach expression maps for specialist libraries that normally wouldn’t seem to fit in the context of scorewriting program like Dorico.
In short, push on! I would love to check out and try these libraries at some point, too.
I think I should also declare my interest in OT products which arises due to my involvement in assisting the testing of OT’s new libraries. All expression maps I create are shared on this forum in a purely unofficial capacity.
I’ve completed what one might call draft 1 of a Salu expression map in Dorico 5 Pro. I’ve catered for every articulation (including one for each processed sample) so, at least initially, both playing and playback techniques libraries have grown considerably. Possibly I can simplify the latter but at this stage I’m experimenting so prefer to start with everything. Every sample is accommodated which means that the expression map is enormous. My PC has 96GB memory so it’s not a problem for me but others may decide to ignore or reduce the processed samples. I have also decided at this stage to treat everything including percussion as an instrument. To be honest I’m still trying to get my head around notating the percussion side of Dorico.
This is very much a skeleton version for Salu as I have accepted the default setting in Dorico’s expression map setup. Possibly this in fact the best way to leave it so others can customize to suit their individual preferences.
The question now is how best to share what I’ve created so others like yourself can comment/contribute. In the meantime here is my first stab at Expression Maps and a Project Template for Salu. In its present metamorphosis the additions to Playing Techniques and Playback are significant in order to support the many specialized articulation types. No doubt eventually it will be possible to simplify these but initially I decided it was best to cater for every type of articulation without exception.
The ability to add a specialist category to Playing Techniques might be something Steinberg should consider in order to cater for libraries like these with more specialist articulation types.
Another consideration is my keyswitch setup re. the use of a Nektar Impact LX25+ for keyswitches starting at C-2 in addition to a Keylab Essential 61 Mk3. All expression maps I create have the C-2 starting point. It woudn’t take much to convert mine to a conventional keyswitch setup however.
GitHub might be a good way to work on expression maps collaboratively. That way you can check to see what has changed between versions etc, because of the automatic diffs that git does.
Makes sense. I’ll look into that. Thanks for the suggestion.
UPDATE: I’ve today restored my old Github account that was last used in 2022 for my reaticulate creations for Reaper. Nevertheless I feel that the natural starting place for sharing Dorico expression maps etc is this forum. Perhaps the best answer is a combination of the two, Github and Dorico Forum.
I have exported expression maps for each instrument and also created a project template, both of which have been placed in a zip file for ease of sharing.
I’m presently uncertain how best to approach sharing playing and playback techniques, both of which are highly specialized in the case of Salu. Creating a special playing technique category may be the best solution.
OK so I’ve created a repository for sharing Dorico expression maps and project templates. on GitHub and invited you to be a collaborator. Since my earlier reply I’ve realised there are certain restrictions on posting these to this forum so perhaps GitHub is better from that point of view.
It’s a while since I last used GitHub so please explain where I need to post things as I’m unfamiliar with the posting process.
I’m Philippines-based which is 12 hours ahead of US east coast time and 7 hours ahead of BST.
You can install GitHub Desktop on your computer assuming you use either Windows or MacOS. GitHub Desktop is a tool that allows you to easily synchronize changes between a local folder on your computer and a GitHub repository. It is the easiest way of working with GitHub for this type of use-case.
Creating a Dorico 5 project for OT’s Sangara is progressing well. The number of instruments it encompasses is huge and there’s also a long list of specialist articulations that, initially at least, I’m including Playing and Playback Techniques. I suspect that many can be removed at a later stage but it makes sense to leave them in for this first draft. The end product will be a skeleton that can be customized to an individual’s choice of keyboard, keyswitch-positioning or whatever. My first attempt will exclude the drums and percussion sections as I’m less confident when it comes to the percussion maps creation process. I’m assuming that drums and percussion require percussion maps, however in the case of Sangara for each articulation type there are several sections of the keyboard and a range of notes within those that change the sound of say Single Hits. I’m wondering if it’s not easier to simply treat them all as regular instruments and give the percussion maps a miss.