Consulting the forum posts, I see I am not alone in wanting an alternative to Halion SE voices.
So, following a recommendation on this forum, I downloaded a VST plugin, and installed it, and I can verify that Dorico can see it. My problem is not that Dorico can’t find it. I just have no idea what to do with it.
All the stuff I can find seems to be based on an expectation that I am a Dorico novice that knows all about VST plugins, or at least the ones I have installed. But I’ve been using Dorico since Dorico 1, and have zero understanding of VST plugins and how they work. I am trying to learn from Dorico how to use my first 3rd-party plugin. It’s not even evident to me how I can use Halion SE for instruments other than voices, because selecting the new plugin seems to select it for all instruments, and I’m pretty sure I don’t want a plugin that provides exclusively voices to be associated with guitar.
Up to now I have followed the advice for beginners to ignore the Halion SE editor, and use the Mixer exclusively. That worked great, but it’s time for me to move forward. Any pointers to beginner material would be welcome.
@Boar_Gules
You might be a good candidate for Note Performer, which comes with its own Template for setup in Dorico.
It’s singers are not its best option, but if you want to work with additional instruments, NP is very convenient, and many feel it has benefits that surpass the HALion sounds that come with Dorico.
There is no difference. I said that my problem is NOT that Dorico can’t find it. You have shown me the drop-down list that I already knew how to find. My problem is that I don’t understand what to do after I have selected a VST that is not one of the built-ins.
The places in the user interface where this is done look a bit different now, but this video explains the procedure:
In short: add the VST instrument you want to use to the VST Rack tab in Play mode; change to the Inspector tab in Play mode; select the track corresponding to the instrument whose sound you want to change; open the Routing section of the track inspector and choose your newly-added VST instrument; click the little cog button to open the Endpoint Setup dialog to review the expression map chosen for your new instrument, as the one that Dorico had previously chosen may no longer be appropriate.
That video was way outdated. I can’t see what is comparable on version 4. I think support is just used to the software and doesn’t see how different things are. As someone new to Dorico it isn’t clear what controls are in my version of the software compared to the video. Maybe it is just me but didn’t clear much up.
Welcome to the forum, @musicnote1111. You’re absolutely right that this video is for a much older version of Dorico, and we are in sore need of some updated videos covering changes in Play mode in Dorico 4 and Dorico 5. My colleague Anthony, who makes the videos for us, is going to work on a series of videos about Play mode very soon, so it won’t be too long before we have better video information available.
In the meantime, you should find the section on Play mode in the online Operation Manual is helpful. Be sure to check that you’re looking at the Operation Manual for your current version of Dorico, as when you arrive at the help web site via Google or another search engine you may well end up pointed at documentation for an earlier version.
