I have an issue with the way that Dorico manages Noteperformer, particularly in regard to the number of extra VST instrument groups it creates automatically:
I have one particular multi-flow orchestral piece that has many divisi of all of the string parts, sometimes solo parts, sometimes standard divisi. At some point during the editing, Dorico started replicating the noteperformer instrument banks and filling them mostly with Violins and occasional Bass Drum! The score has 26 instruments lines (+divisi lines) but I now have 8 Noteperformer VST instrument groups each containing 16 slots (128 instrument slots). Every now and then I’ll purge the unused VST groups but they will always come back!
That seems an expected behavior under certain circumstances; that’s why reapplying the Playback template after adding instruments is standard operating procedure.
I can of understand that if you are adding instruments, although I think it should really not be necessary, but I really would not expect an extra 5 or so violin sounds (not allocated to any instruments) to appear because I added a divisi in the Cellos!!
I contacted Arne, the guy behind NotePerformer. This was his reply…
‘This behaviour happens when “Independent Voice Playback” is enabled. With that option on, Dorico will intentionally create additional channels so it can route separate voices independently.
The key point is that Dorico is fully in charge of the channel assignments and MIDI routing. NotePerformer is a passive MIDI device in this context: it simply loads the channels Dorico requests and plays whatever Dorico sends to them. So we cannot control how Dorico splits channels or how many it creates.
To get back to a normal setup, disable Independent Voice Playback and then reapply the NotePerformer playback template so Dorico rebuilds the routing from scratch”
I noticed that changing instruments, even there is no divisi in the project, also triggers adding unnecessary VST instruments (not limited to Note Performer). As these unexpected new VST instruments are not playable unless properly configured, it took me a significant time to figure out why there is no sound for certain instruments.
Reapplying playback template is not a solution for me, because I have customized the VST instruments specifically for that particular project. I wish this issue could be fixed.
If you delete a Player/Instrument in Dorico, NotePerformer doesn’t “tidy up” after itself: that sample instrument will remain in one of NP’s slots.
So if you have changed a Player’s instrument; or created and removed lots of Independent Voice Divisi staves: then you’ll have a lots of additional unused VST instruments.
That’s true for any VST, not just NP. The only way to fix it is to re-assign the Playback Template.
But if you’ve actually got sample instruments multiplying without creating any new instruments/staves in Dorico, then that’s more concerning.
Here’s what I’ve done to get rid of the extraneous NotePerformer channels:
Figure out which channels you need first.
Delete the channels you’re not using.
In the NP Mixer, pull down the Preset Management menu (second from the top left).
Select “Save Preset.” Give it a name in the dialog that pops up. (Now would be a good time to save your work as well.)
Reapply the NotePerformer Playback Template.
If I got the steps right, you should have a neatly organized NP Mixer panel the next time you open it.
I assume that would be the same way as how Dorico playback template works, as those VSTs are also created by Dorico during applying playback template. If you open endpoint setup from a VST, you will see Dorico keeps track of what instrument slots are assigned or available (if expression map has been assigned but “assigned instruments” is empty).
My case was replacing 4 Horns in C as Horns in F, 3 Trumpets in C as 3 Trumpets in B flat, 2 Clarinets in C as 2 Clarinets in B flat. The replacement is done via clicking “Change Instrument” on individual players in the “Setup” tab. Dorico created 1 extra Woodwinds and 4 Brass VSL Ensemble VST instruments, in which Dorico could reuse the existing ones. Even if new ones have to be created, one Woodwinds and one Brass VSL Ensemble VST instruments are enough to accommodate all of them according to my playback endpoint configuration. I am not quite understand how Dorico handles the creation, as there are not 7 extra brass VSTs but 4, not 2 woodwind VSTs but 1. It reuses something but not consistently.
