Hi! Being a former user of Finale and now trying to learn Dorico Pro, I wonder how to use it with the Vienna Ensemble Pro and Mir Pro 3D. How to set up the channel instances, outputs, etc. to work with Dorico.
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Weclome @Anders_Nilsson2
Numerous waysā¦ Iāll just detail the way I do it:
- Individual instances of woodwinds, brass, percussion etc. loaded into VEP Server
- Within each instance, I use mutliple ports, e.g., in the woodwinds instance, all flutes will use port 1, oboes port 2 etc.
- All routing goes to instrument busses ( flutes, oboes etc.) and MIR is loaded to the busses.
- Busses are routed to one stereo out (1&2)
In Dorico, I load up a VEP plugin for each instance. I have saved endpoint configurations specifying exact number of ports and to explicitly use only one output trackā¦ of course, route all the Dorico players appropriately in Play mode.
With the above setup, I donāt even open the Dorico mixer.
Also, after I got all my instances stable (and saved the server project), in the VEP plugin in Dorico, I decoupled each instance. Without decoupling, saving a file takes forever.
Let me know if you need more information.
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Hi, I too have been looking at upgrading my Dorico playback workflow to utilize VEP. Based on the above, am I correct in assuming that youāve created a playback template (using the endpoint configurations)? Iād love a world in which I could have a VEP project open in the background, and then load a VEP Playback Template within Dorico to automatically assign/route/connect the instruments and instances accordingly.
Or do you have to manually set this part up and connect every time?
I have a playback template and a project template. Both are ever evolving (xmap tweaks etc.) There are some missing and incomplete instruments (mostly odd percussion) and I complete them as needed. I also created a new set of instruments for a2, a3 etc. samples.
The one thing Iām forever working on is balance. At one point I was fiddling with min/max values in the dynamics section but that was a huge mistake and Iām slowly correcting that.
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Cool! So when you have your endpoint configs dialed into a specific instance (by name I assume), and then I firgure you would load your VEP in the background - when you open a new project in Dorico using this playback template, it will know to connect to each instance? Or do you have to manually go through each one and do the āconnectā process?
Also, what happens if you make tweaks in VEP that are specific to a composition - I assume you save that as its own server project unique to the project and as long as all the instance names are the same, it will still connect?
Thanks a lot!
Yes. The only tricky part is divisi strings with independent voice routingā¦ Thatās why I created a project template that has the strings already divided and routed correctly. But if you create another flow in the same project, you lose the divided strings and if you create a divisi in the new flow, you will need to route the independent voice manually ( and possibly remove a redundant VEP plugin that was loaded.
I actually make very little changes on the VEP server side. Although, I had a project a while back where I did make significant adjustments to the server (routing and outputs) and yes, I saved the server project under a different name ā donāt think I ever used that separate project again.
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Ok, good to know as I do a lot of divisi!
The reasons I think I might change on the VEP server side would be: VST instrument choices/variables, mic position and mix changes, and perhaps specialized libraries or instruments that I rarely use but bring in for a particular composition.
One ideal I have is to create my own āuniversalā mapping system likely assigned to CC, making it easier to swap libraries on the same instrument. For example I have a couple different clarinets I like, Spitfire Berlin AcousticSamples etc. So I would like to be able to quickly switch the plugin slot on the VEP server side, while using the same universal map so on Dorico side it still plays back without issue. This, to me, would make it a lot easier to compare libraries in a composition than doing it internally inside of Dorico.
I am also looking to create extended percussion instances combining multiple libraries (most of which I will access using midi trigger regions rather than percussion mapping), but every project has different needs.
I tested my first complete composition using VEP last night. It went very well. I donāt currently own Vienna MIR but itās on my wish list for later this year. But I have to say my favorite immediate aspect is how much easier the mixer is to work with, for me having come from a DAW. The way you can add FX inserts via plugin search; the ease of panning, busses, groups, and presets.
And perhaps BEST of all ā I just discovered and tested the possibility of mixer volume automation - by routing an empty CC slot on a midi channel to the mixer volume of that instrument; then in Dorico I automated this, joyfully watching as the fader on the mixer moved. This is huge since you canāt do it inside of Doricoās mixer as you know, and can really benefit for cheating certain libraries that need a little help.
I will have to do a lot of testing to find the workflow best for me, but I appreciate your advice getting me started.
And apologies to @OP for overtaking your thread, but I do hope that these additional Q&Aās have been valuable to you and anyone else as well.
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Good luck. Besides writing music, my 2nd favorite activity is tweaking expression/percussion maps, new play(ing|back) techniques for particular samples etcā¦ fun stuff. And although I know Iāll never recreate a real orchestra, trying my hardest to almost get there is incredibly entertaining.
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