Ok, so as instructed (after my moaning about the user interface yesterday), I’ve spent three hours of RTFM, and feel like I’m getting nowhere.
I want to be able to reduce the sound of the trumpet so I can hear the other parts around it.
I assigned Halion channel sounds to each of my tracks - done!
I set the Halion trumpet volume to be slightly lower (in Halion) - done!
I set up a new Playback Template, with manual assignments for Halion Sonic, and added manual definitions for each. I exported it.
I went to the Halion window and saved that.
I saved the Dorico project.
When I reopen the project, it loads in the correct Halion instruments, but immediately returns the trumpet volume to its default level. I can even see it happen before my very eyes.
This is a whole lot of hassle to just be able to set the volume of a trumpet track. Is this really how it is done, or am I missing something very simple and obvious?
Please excuse me for pointing at my reply in your previous thread:
The key bit is the first sentence:
In general, if you can avoid making changes inside the HALion plug-in itself, you’ll be better off.
It still sounds to me as if you are doing everything manually. When you add a trumpet to your project, Dorico will load a trumpet sound for you in HALion automatically. (It will load what we have determined to be the best available trumpet sound, to boot.)
Do you definitely want to use a different trumpet sound than the one we’ve chosen as the default?
In any case, you should definitely find that any changes you make to the faders in Dorico’s Mixer are retained when the project is saved, closed, and reopened. You can open Dorico’s Mixer via Window > Mixer, or using the Mixer button in the toolbar, or you can find the Mixer in the lower zone.
I was really just using the trumpet as an example of a wider plan. I’m actually writing vocal charts, but am using instruments with different timbres so that it’s easier for me to hear them individually without needing to mute/solo tracks. The trumpet timbre cuts through more than, say, a clarinet, so I need to drop the volume of the former, and increase the latter. The oboe does the job with its preset volume (for example). Different timbres and spacial spread make my job easier.
Janus’s advice of “Just use the mixer” is probably the answer I’m after - what am I trying to change in Halion that I can’t change in Dorico?
Is there no way to change things directly in Halion and have them save with the project save though; just out of interest?
The levels in the Mix window in HALion are controlled by MIDI CC 7, channel volume, and Dorico resets these values when playback starts. If all you want to change is the relative levels of the sounds, you are definitely advised to use Dorico’s Mixer. It’s what it is there for.