How do I set a Cymbal on a percussion stave to play the right note for my percussion map?

Dorico
1

Hello there, this is probably a simple one. I would like to have a percussion stave with a number of unpitched instruments. I know how to use the “Percussion Kit” to set up a stave with a few instruments, and in my VSTs, I have added BBC SO Core Unpitched percussion and checked the percussion map is set. All good.

But when I add a cymbal on my stave, it plays the Bass Drum (the default sample in BBC SO Core unpitched lib), not my cymbal. So although I can see I need to play a F#3 in my map to get a cymbal, the note on the stave is a C3 (or something). How do I add a note on my stave that is a cymbal and trigger the F#3?

What am I doing wrong? This seems basic. All my expression maps for my other instruments work exactly as expected. I’ve watched countless videos but I can’t see how I can set the note a cymbal plays at to trigger the correct playback sound

Many thanks in advance,

2

Hi. Check your Preferences>Note Input>Percussion. Make sure you’ve set it up so that Percussion map is selected as means to enter notes in Percussion. It might be set to something like “the note on the staff”, which can be useful but leaves less opportunities to enter precise articulations.

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3

Many thanks for your help @MarcLarcher - you were right, those weren’t set. I’ve made the change, but I get the same issue. I think I’m misunderstanding something, My VST is set to BBC SO Unpitched percussion. To make it as simple as possible, I have done this.

  1. I have a single line with a Crash Cymbal (add new player and instrument with a crash cymbal)

  2. This adds a BBC SO VST set to Unpitched percussion. The default articulation in that is the Bass Drum

  3. I go the “Play” tab, highlight my Crash Cymbal track, check the percussion map is set to BBC SO Unpitched Percussion (it is).

  4. I go to Write, add a Crash Cymbal, and it sounds like a Bass Drum.

Somehow, my crash cymbal player is using the default BBC SO articulation, so whatever adding a crash cymbal instrument does, it isn’t selecting the crash cymbal in my map.

Am I missing a step somewhere?

Thanks again for you help

4

Well, this is wrong. This shows your playback template has a problem.

I’ve tried it on my system, and it works flawlessly. You might need to download another playback template?

Here’s the file I’ve been doing these tests with.

BBCSO pro unpitched test.dorico (1,3 Mo)

Use it as source to get the playback template, using the library manager (I suppose it works)

1 Like
5

You are a star, thanks @MarcLarcher - that project works well. I just can’t understand it - even if I export your map, rename it in the xml so I know it is yours, when I load it into my project and open the VI for my crash cymbal, the Bass drum is selected. When I open yours, the cymbal is selected. So you are right, it is definitely the map not working. Many thanks for your help, I will try a vanilla project and see if that works

6

I can share my BBCSO playback template with you, but I really think it comes from this forum (probably John Barron)

7

Thanks @MarcLarcher - vanilla one works :upside_down_face:. Must have something odd going on - I can work from there. One final question - presume you have to add percussion articulations in the “Edit Percussion Techniques” section yourself (and map them to the percussion map yourself).

Thanks again for your help

8

On the top of my head, I don’t remember what comes directly in Dorico when I add those instruments, as pre-set playing techniques. And you’re right, using the Edit percussion instruments techniques is the way to go. You’ll be able to fine tune both notation and playback there, so use it!