Halion timpani range

When I play back a timpani part, Halion will only play up to an F, (in bass clef, 2nd line from the top) but it ought to be able to play up to a B or even a C, ideally.

What is the thinking here? Is there a way around it?

You can’t realistically change the range of the HALion Symphonic Orchestra timpani patch, I’m afraid. You could instead try using the ‘[GM 048] Timpani’ patch, though this is not so nicely sampled as the HSO timpani patch. A video showing how to do that is here. Don’t forget to go and change the expression map for that channel in the Endpoint Setup dialog, so that Dorico doesn’t continue trying to play any keyswitches etc. intended for the HSO timpani patch.

Do we know why the Timpani range is truncated in the first place? It seems like it’s only set up for the bottom 3 drums. Even a typical set-up is 4 drums. It’s not the end of the world, but it is a little perplexing to me.

Welcome to the forum, jsproul. It’s the way the instrument was recorded way back in 2005/2006. I don’t expect anybody can remember the exact reason why any of the precise ranges were chosen.