Lol, you make me realize I have been thinking all this upside-down…
I see how adjusting the percussion map could be an option, but as my main objective was to set my pad controller to be as natural and intuitive as possible to enter drum notes, I’ll keep it this way, accepting I won’t have any playbacks.
I really thought there would be a way to re-assign the playback sounds AFTER setting the percussion map.
At least I’ll stop trying to accomplish the impossible.
One solution is to add a software layer between the PreSonus Atom controller and Dorico such as Bome MIDI Translator Pro. This software can be programmed so that when you press pads 1 through 4 in bank 1 on your controller, the MIDI notes received by Dorico are the ones specified in the Yamaha XG percussion map for Hi-hat, Ride Cymbal, Snare Drum and Kick Drum. The drawback is that the Bome software costs €59.
Somehow we go a bit in circles. As said by many this is probably a difference in middle C related issue i.e the note allocated to Midi.note 60. Dorico and the percussion maps use C4 for Midi note 60 in general called middle C.
You are apparently using the pure Halion Sonic Selection playback template in the example project you posted. Here C4, Midi note 60 corresponds to High Bongo. The bass drum or “Kick drum (low)-natural” is C2, Midi note 36, in this library. So the pad you wanted to allocate to HH is actually allocated to midi note 36, C2 in the PM. To get the HH Pedal sound you have to allocate this pad to Midi note 44, or G#2.
If your mini pad controller uses a different reference for the above mentioned note 36 and assuming. that you have to allocate a pitch not a Midi note, like on NI Maschine, to your individual pads, you can change the digit accordingly. So if e.g. the note sounding like a bass drum was allocated to C1 on your controller, HH is on G#1.
I feel like many here are forgetting that @Manu-Morin doesn’t have the option to change which MIDI note that his pads trigger.- C1 to B1 (I think).
A Percussion Map is only a way for us to change what MIDI information is sent to the VST at a particular place in a project. It won’t change what that note actually triggers in the VST. And it has nothing to do with what is input into Dorico itself.
No matter what is set in the Percussion Map, triggering C1 will always trigger the Kick Drum in the VST unless you can change the C1 mapping within the VST itself.
But, as the posted examples shows, Dorico will still display what is set i.e. if you have HH set to C#1 in your Percussion Map, when you play this note, it will display the HH notation you’ve set but still sound a cross-stick, which is what the VST has C#1 assigned to (which is default).
For now, I’ll try the BOME MIDI option that @johnkprice suggested.
I’ll come back here to let other users know how it goes in case other people could face a similar situation.
If I succeed in setting up Bome Midi Translator properly, do you think it will be possible for Dorico to receive 2 different midi signal at the push of a single pad on my controller (one for the chart and one for the VST/playback) ?
Because as far as I understand, that’s what I’d need to solve my situation…
But if Bome MIDI transforms the midi signal BEFORE sending it to Dorico, logically, both the charts AND playback will be affected ? Which would bring me back to the same problem…
I hope my explanations are clear enough for you to understand…
I must admit that Bome Midi might be too technical for me to understand as of right now. I still have to figure out how to send a midi note to Dorico for the note input AND a different midi note to the VST.
But I thought wise to ask before spending a lot of time trying to figure it out !
According to your custom percussion map, you want pad 1 in bank 1 of your controller to be associated with the Hi-hat instrument. When you press that pad, MIDI note 36 is generated. But in order to hear the sound of the Hi-hat using the Yamaha XG percussion map, Dorico needs to receive MIDI note 42. The Bome MIDI Translator Pro software can be programmed so that when it receives MIDI note 36 from your controller, it sends MIDI note 42 to Dorico. Then Dorico can enter the Hi-hat note into your music and play the Hi-hat sound. You don’t need more than one MIDI note to get the correct note entry and the correct playback.
I don’t own the Bome software, but I would be willing the download the trial version and demonstrate how to translate one MIDI note into another if you need my help.
Download the following ZIP file and extract its contents: PreSonus Atom.zip (485 Bytes)
Start the Bome software, go to View > Settings > Virtual MIDI Ports and set the Number of virtual ports to 1 Port.
Go to File > Open and select the PreSonus Atom.bmtp file you extracted in step 2.
In the Select MIDI Devices dialog, set the INPUT to your PreSonus Atom controller and the OUTPUT to Bome MIDI Translator 1 Virtual Out.
Start Dorico and create a new project. Then go to Edit > Preferences > Play > MIDI Input Devices, uncheck your PreSonus Atom controller and check Bome MIDI Translator 1.
Add a single player holding the instrument Drum Set (Basic). Go to Play > Playback Template and apply the HALion Sonic Selection template. Switch to write mode and activate the caret.
Press pads 1 through 8 in bank 1 on your PreSonus Atom controller. You should see and hear the notes for Hi-hat, Ride Cymbal, Snare Drum, Kick Drum, Crash Cymbal, Tom-tom (Medium-high), Hi-hat (pedal) and Floor tom:
All notes and sounds are working well now, with only 2 exceptions (Crash cymbal and Hi-Hat (pedal)).I’ll try to figure it out by studying what you’ve done in Bome Midi, as they are the only two buttons that do not write any notes anymore nor trigger any sound…
I also noticed that some other buttons I had programmed as KeyCommands on my Atom do not work anymore too. I guess it must all be related to the same root!
Again, thank you very much ! You’ve been of great help !
