Is it possible to use outside samples that aren’t in expression map? I have various percussion instruments I would like to use but they’re only individual samples.
And if not, will that be available at some point? Or is there a workaround?
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You could use the Sforzando player VST, which is free, but you would have to create your own instrument definition files in the SFZ script format. The definition files tell the player which file to play when a given note is played, key switches, etc. http://sfzformat.com/
If you have the ARIA player, you can also use that similarly.
Hmm, so sounds like workaround. I hope it’s something they will implement in a future version.
Or perhaps make it a bit easier in some manner.
You can already load Kontakt and other samplers in Dorico. What sampler are you using to play your percussion instruments? If it’s not VST3 just add it in Preferences/VST Plug-ins and it should be available in Dorico.
If you want to load audio files directly into Dorico somehow, there would have to be some interface that would tell it which notes they were for; what other conditions made them play, like note velocity; which key switches triggered different options; and other things like round robins — a succession of different samples to be played in turn. And you’d still need to create Expression Maps and Percussion Maps.
This is what a VST player does. It would be a lot of work for Dorico to do this, and arguably not the best use of their time when there are so many existing sample libraries…
Oh, I didn’t catch that he wanted to load audio files. I thought he just wanted to use to use a percussion VST, like one of the zillion free ones around. I fully agree this would not be an efficient use of development time as Dorico is a notation program and a sampler is an entirely different program. @rexwine , Kontakt is probably the most commonly used and is half off right now if you want to create your own libraries from audio files.
The sampler works in Dorico, and it has proper keyswitching files I can use, but it also has sounds that aren’t part of keyswitching files. So these samples are in the VST already. Can I use them that way?
Any sounds that are already contained in the VST should be accessible in Dorico then. You just have to tell Dorico where to look. You’ll need to create a Percussion Kit and a Percussion Map and load the map into your Endpoint Setup. The Percussion Map basically connects the visual note on the staff as defined in your Percussion Kit, to the correct playback sound in your VST. It’s a bit confusing at first, but there are quite a few video walkthroughs on YouTube.
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Thanks! I’ll get to work trying to do that.
Oh, yes: sorry I may have misunderstood. If you have the sounds in a VST (which?), then Dorico already has the means to hook it up. But you have to do the “plumbing” via the Expression and Percussion Maps.
No problem, I appreciate all the input!