How to get started with HSO presets

I am doing a recording project.
I confidently assert that Cubase will allow to add some nice orchestral tracks to my recording. By the way, I can read music well, have played in orchestras and know something about music. :ugeek:
So I start using HSO. After a few attempts, forums, installations, re-installations etc. I learn that I must use Halion SE with Hso samples. :nerd: :neutral_face:
After about ten hours of fiddling this is where I am at [my musical ideas and creativity are on hold- temporarily] :frowning:

. The presets are too quiet so you have to adjust the modulation setting in the MIDI editor to 127 to get the full volume. :astonished: Is this correct and erā€¦ why?

. I ceate a loop using a flute preset. When I start using the preset it gives a pleasant tone with moderate vibrato like orchestral players do until you growl at them. Each time the loop plays the vibrato increases until it plays trills even when the notation is just a semibreve. :confused:
. When I look at the VST expression parameters on the left column of the Project window it appears that the sequence automatically changes the note parameters to ā€˜half-note trillā€™ every few notes or so. Why I do not know. I did not intend to put trills in the music. Did I press something accidentally and how would I turn it off? :confused:
. Curiously If I go back and load the preset again the tone returns to the nice slow vibrato and non-psychotic bleat. :confused:

Every so slightly frustrated and hoping that I can go to the computer and start making some music soon.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated although I would stop short of actual cash payments. :sunglasses:

Iā€™ll think about replying to the rest, but yes volume is controlled by the mod wheel. This is by design. It has been argued if it is a good idea or not, but it is what it is. Just press on with the knowledge that this is what they decided.

This suggests that you didnā€™t read the manual. It is VERY important that you read the manual at least through where they explain the first instrument in detail. The switching options and CC controls are actually explained fully. How they map to the sampler is also explained fairly well.

Iā€™ll comment after awhile on the 2nd problem (I have to run an errand) which is VST Expression ā€¦ which is itā€™s own beast, but awesome once you get it. It is a bit more advanced than old keyswitching. Most people try to treat it exactly like keyswitches. This can work, but it can also have unintended consequences ā€¦ like trills that you didnā€™t ask for :wink:

Thank you for your reply. :smiley:

Ok Modulation is actually volume and by default is fairly quiet. Got it.

Manuals: Firstly i love manuals! Actually I love books. PDFā€™s on the other hand -sorry do not attract me. Haha I read books, in bed, in the umm little room, in the bath, at the coffe shop. and yes I have heard of e-readers etcā€¦ whatever. With technical books I like go back a paragraph or a page, scan several pages at time for keywords, thumbnail pages and refer back to them, all quickly. :ugeek:

Steinberg has stopped printing manuals. Pity really. Maybe some enterprising publisher could bring out affordable manuals. Would Steinberg be interested in printing some for those who want them? You never know if you do not ask!

Off-topic i know sorry.

Which manual actually? I read the HSO manual when it came out but confess my masterā€™s degree in Music and degree in English unfortunately did not prepare for the brilliance of the HSO interface and I withdrew bruised and bloodied. :blush: Decided it would be easier to learn the flute,oboe, horn, clarinet and other orchestral instruments! :laughing:

To be fair I did read the ā€˜Operation Manualā€™ which gives information about Expression Maps and Note Expression. The difficulty is making sense of what is writtten in the manual and applying it to the particular equipment here in the studio. For example we usually edit sheet music in the Key editor which seems to be the most efficient input method for us. :nerd:

You are right though I have not read the manual in detail and look forward to investigating the nuances of the Note Expression Editor. Right now though I thought that I could just enter some notes and have them played back. In my naivete I thought that I could leave learning how to draw detailed expression curves and controller data to a later time although I look forward to and relish the opportunity. :ugeek:

I was hoping that Cubase would not add extra articualtions until I actually put them in myself. :confused:

Or is there a default that automaitcally adds trills. If there is how do I turn it off?

The Operation Manual pages 429-439 provide an overview of the general principles of Expression. Most paragraphs refer then to another page somewhere later in the manual which is all well and good and very logical I am sure. For example. p429 para 2 refers to ā€˜Editing Note Exression dataā€™ on Page 434.'etc. Right now though I have a client who wants to hear a musical idea and I here I am wading through a lot of information trying to find why Cubase is adding articulations we did not put there. :question:

:bulb: May I suggest written examples [not video tutorials] would help to clarify. :neutral_face:

I donā€™t have time to give a proper long answer right now. And, my post wasnā€™t intended to be an RTFM post. I was specifically talking about the HSO manual and the assignment of CC to articulations for the patches. It is consistent, and important before you take the next step of trying to control them from within Cubase. Later today Iā€™ll try to answer some more.

Today I opened a trumpet part I was working on and it now plays back staccato. At 4a.m. when I went to bed it was legato. Did the Cubase fairy visit overnight? :slight_smile:
In the key editor when I select some but not all of the notes in the part the Expression map shows yes E-2 staccato for those notes. Unfortunately I do not know how to turn the articulation off nor do I know how it got there in the first place. :laughing:
I have read the manual pp.420-439 [including Note Expression] which explain what Expression maps are, how to create them and what they are for. I seem to have missed some important information: namely how to apply articulations to individual notes and and remove them, whether by accident or design.
You wrote about theā€¦

HSO manual and the assignment of CC to articulations for the patches

Is that what I am missing? :confused:

Yeah, you probably have vst expressions, CCs and the Halion keymaps all fighting each other.

EDIT: I apologize for being so short. Iā€™ve had a long couple of days. Still plugging away at work. Hopefully, youā€™ll either figure it out or Iā€™ll have some time in the near future to post a couple of examples.

In your expression map, you probably did an ā€œImport Key Switchesā€. If that is the case, edit that expression map. Add an entry and call it ā€œdefaultā€. Move it to the top of the list. Donā€™t give it a key. It should show up as ā€œā€”ā€ in the list. Now you should be able to use the Articulations map in the Key Editor, without the Trill ending up as the default.