Dorico and VSL Dimension Strings

Dorico
#1

Hi,

I would like to use the VSL Dimension Strings as ensemble, divisi and individual players with Dorico. In the process I would like to avoid having to replicate each player in Vienna Ensemble Pro (VEPRO) and MIR PRO. Each player’s instance should serve at the same time as an individual player, part of a divisi group (Vni I div 1-7, etc.), part of a full section (Vni I, Vni II, Vle…).

So, for example, an instance of VEPRO (DS Vni I) would include 14 first violins. Another instance of VEPRO (DS Vni II) would include 12 second violins. Each player will have a separate MIDI channel: P1=Ch01, P2=Ch02, and so on.

I want to be able to drive an individual player as a solo instrument from a single staff in Dorico. Or a group of players as a single divisi staff. Or the full instance as a complete section, still from a single staff in Dorico.

Is this possible? Can I have a single staff do the following?

a) drive all the MIDI channels in a VEPRO instance (a full Vni I section, for example)
b) drive multiple MIDI channels in a VEPRO instance (for example, channels 1-7, corresponding to players 1-7)

Paolo

#2

I suggest you read the information on pages 38-39 (regarding independent voice routing, which allows you to drive different MIDI channels from a single staff or single instrument with divisi sections) and pages 66-67 (regarding VST expression maps, which allow you to define technique changes that require changes of MIDI channel) of the Dorico 3 Version History PDF.

#3

Daniel, thank you very much for the hint! However, I fear I was not clear in explaining what I want to do.

If understand correctly, independent voice playback allows a single voice in a staff to drive multiple MIDI channels. You can have two voices in a Vni I part, and the upper voice will be able to play a small strings ensemble on MIDI channel 1, while the lower voice will play a different strings ensemble on MIDI channel 2.

What I want to do, is to have a unison voice in a staff drive multiple MIDI channels. All the voices in a staff will play all the MIDI channels, or a selected group of MIDI channels, in an instance of VEPRO.

The VEPRO instance would be made of separate solo violins from the Dimension Strings library. Vno 1 will be on MIDI channel 1, Vno 2 on MIDI channel 2, and so on. Dorico should play all of them (or a selected number of channels) from a single staff.

This multi-channel VEPRO instance will made a full strings section. But made of individual soloists, each one on its MIDI channel.

Maybe this can already be done, and I just didn’t understand the instructions you pointed me towards.

Paolo

#4

In the end, I think I will have to create different VEPRO instances for each use case.

  • A 16 violins instance, all on MIDI channel 1, all going to the Master Bus, for the full Vni I staff.

  • An 8 violins instance, all on MIDI channel 1, all going to the Master Bus, for the Vni I/a group (first divisi group).

  • An second 8 violins instance, all on MIDI channel 1, all going to the Master Bus, for the Vni I/b group (second divisi group).

  • A 16 violins instance, each one with its own MIDI channel, either going to the Master Bus or to a separate Ouput pair, for the cases where each violin is treated separately (as in Ligeti’s Atmosphères or Boulez’s Notations).

In case I need less violins for each group, I’ll mute some of them. Dorico should remember the mute status of VEPRO’s channels.

All the above, also for Vni II, Vle, Vc, Cb.

In the score, solo and divisi parts will be in staves separate from the full section.

Paolo

#5

You indeed cannot make a single voice trigger multiple endpoints.

#6

Thank you for confirming, Daniel. It would be useful to see something like that in a future version of Dorico.

In the meantime, I’ve discovered something really nice: to work with Logic, I have to create a multi-out VEPRO instance. Each audio out of this instance, corresponding to a VEPRO channel, will be an Aux and a separate Track in Logic. This is the only way to separately manage VEPRO channels from Logic.

Dorico doesn’t need any particular audio configuration to deal with this multi-out VEPRO instance. Each of the audio outs from VEPRO is heard when you play the score.

So, considering the various setups I described above, dealing with VEPRO instances going to the Master Bus (therefore pre-mixed to a single Out pair), or with each channel going to separate Out pairs makes no difference: Dorico will receive and mix them as well.

Paolo