When I write for woodwinds I like to use Vienna “VSL SYzd SE PLUS - High woodwinds” as endpoint setup and in the player I select the “PLUS - VelXF sus” samples, together with timbre adjust enabled and CC2 for Vel.XF. And in my playback template I also move the VSL PLUS samples in front of all others.
Yet when Dorico reloads my project, it doesn’t reapply those settings (it doesn’t select the PLUS instrument, the VEL.FX option, the reverb settings, timbre adjust, nor the CC2 for Vel.XF). An exception, however, is the VSL Elite strings - which all reload correctly.
Having to reenter these choices every time for every woodwind (or brass, or percussion, as it happens) instrument is both time consuming and error prone. So I wondered if there was a way for Dorico to completely remember my choices.
A bit of context is appropriate, here.
I normally compose using Sibelius but lately I’m in the process of migrating my work to Dorico. To do so, I transfer my music via MusicXML export/import. That means I am not manually creating the players: Dorico does that, upon importing the XML.
Realizing this distinction, I picked a couple of instruments, dismissed Dorico’s assingment and replaced them by manually entered instruments (using the same Synchron Player, but desired PLUS Vel.XF instruments and player configurations - timber adjust, CC2 etc.). Lo and behold: these manually defined instruments reload correctly, with all the desired settings applied!
• Is MusicXML processing the explanation?
• How do we explain the exception of VSL Elite strings?
• Is having to manually re-define every player of every score (please: many of them use 33 instruments!) the only way to proceed?
Yes, I have a playback template that includes all maps for the VSL samples I have and I moved the VSL PLUS samples in front of all others.
With Sibelius I connect to VEP7 server in which all my samples are loaded. But I can’t find how to connect Dorico to VEP7: I insert a Vienna Ensemble Pro plugin, click on Edit instrument and then the server instances list is empty (whereas in Sibelius I can see all my instances and select the appropriate one)
This happens to me occasionally. Just type in the IP address and the name of the instance and click connect. If you can’t connect then there is a networking problem.
Every time Vienna updates VEP this seems to happen. I don’t know how to fix it but at some point, the instances reappear in the connection window.
I’m sort of getting there but I think I need more info on how Dorico assigns and connects to VEP instances, ports and channels.
If I have 6 instruments, each with its separate endpoint configuration (e.g. each one using port 1, and channel 1) then I can connect one and only one of them to the VEP server; the others don’t see any server/instance etc.
If (in VST & MIDI) I create one VEP (endpoint name = woodwinds = VEP instance name) [1] that has 6 channels (1 port, 6 channels) [2], and I then assign to it each of my 6 instruments, each with the same port but a different channel (corresponds to what’s specificed in the VEP7 instance) and the appropriate expression map [3], then none of these instruments can see the server [4] when I ‘edit instrument’.
Is there a step by step document explaining how to create a playback configuration that will connect to VEP7 instances?
I now disabled independent voice playback because this option appears to be the opposite of using a single endpoint for all voices (which I guess was the original situation with each instrument being separate wuth port 1/channel 1). This added a sub level of display information (with a “quarter note 1”) to each instrument but it still didn’t make the VEP server appear in the connection gui…
Everything looks good. The only thing that jumps out at me is: “VE Pro Plugin MIDI In” is set to channel 7 – it probably should be “All”.
As for “seeing” the Woodwinds instance… It looks like nothing is connected to that instance you show in the picture. Have you typed SERVER:127.0.0.1 / INSTANCE: Woodwinds? If so, what happened?
Wow, David , that’s a breakthrough for me! It works, Tks!!
Indeed, nothing was playing until I changed to midi in = all (any reason why this is so?)
I didn’t have to forcibly specify the server [SERVER:127.0.0.1 / INSTANCE: Woodwinds] because Dorico was restarted this morning and now I could see the server. So that part of the equation (why I couldn’t see it before) remains to be clarified.
Moving to VEP means the instrument definitions need to be done only once and then VEP will always reload them automatically
First question: In this test configuration, the flute is the first instrument using port I and its expression map is the same for all other instruments under that port. I suppose it has to be so – iow I cannot mix expression maps amongst those. Right?
Second question: do you know if I can also use Vienna Ensemble Pro Event Input to extend beyond 16 channels?
… because you are limiting all midi input to channel 7 when that isn’t “All” – also called Omni.
I’m not all that familiar with the VSL expression maps, but I would assume each different channel (or better, instrument) should have its own expression map. But, like I said, I’m not that familiar with VSL.
You don’t need the Event Input plugin. In VEP, under Preferences → Instances, you can specify the number of MIDI ports that get instantiated for each VEP instance. I have 16 set. Then, in Dorico, the endpoint configuration dialog has “Number of MIDI Ports” and set that to whatever you set VEP to. Number of MIDI Channels should be 16 (or whatever you actually have setup in the instance this endpoint is connecting to (I always set this to 16 so I don’t get bit later on…)
The Track Inspector allows you to choose both port and channel.
