Introducing the new Articulate Map: complete Dorico support of most of the VSL Super Package

Symphonic Riot’s Presets do require Vienna Instruments Pro to work properly — at least that’s what it says in the manual and certainly many of the features take the extra functionality of the VI Pro player into account. I’m sure Kai will chip in and contradict me if there is indeed any point in getting any of the presets without VIPro.

I myself switched to Synchron but certainly recommend VIPro if you prefer to stick with the VI libraries at present.

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Hello mekosmowski,
thanks for your interest. Articulate Presets indeed only work with VI pro, since they use features (e.g. the continuous control of several musical parameters) the standard VI player does not support. And also the Special Edition is unfortunately not supported, yet.
All the best
Kai

Thanks for the quick reply.

Since many Dorico users also use a DAW in combination with Dorico (e.g. to include acoustic instrument recordings or for the final mix), we are happy to announce that in addition to Cubase and Logic, Articulate Presets are now also fully integrated into Presonus Studio One. This is based on Studio One’s Sound Variations feature and significantly simplifies the work in Studio One (in particular to access the vast content included in the VSL, like recorded dynamics, …).

If you are not a Studio One user, please stay tuned: a big update for all users of Articulate Presets will be released soon :blush:.

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Super Kai! As a Studio One user, I look forward to it.

The articulation sets for VSL Synchron libraries offered by VSL work very well but sometimes you have to chose one differently named than your actual library. For example for Synchron Woodwinds Piccolo, Flute and other higher sounding instruments, you have to use Synchronised (SYzd) Woodwinds High. However for the lower instruments like Bassoon there is dedicated Synchron (SY) Expression map. For Elite Strings you have to use the SY Pro Strings Expression maps.

I have one issue with the Synchron Player libraries. The first note in a piece is never played. You have to start your flow with an empty bar to make it sound. The same is the case when you start playback with P somewhere in the middle of your composition. The playback start on the note after the one selected. Does anyone know why this is.? If I use BBCSO instruments in the same composition playback start on the note selected and right from the start without empty first bar.

Perfect, we will add it to our big update in the next weeks, but it is already part of our Demo Content, which you can download from our website.

Hello Mavros,
this thread is about Vienna Instrument libraries (recorded at Silent Stage Vienna) for which we provide Dorico support. For Synchron libraries (recorded at Synchron Stage) the Expression Maps you are referring to are provided directly by the VSL. There should be another thread here on the Dorico forum discussing this implementation. Alternatively you could contact their support directly (support@vsl.co.at). The VSL team is very helpful and generally answers quickly.
All the best
Kai

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All clear. I received the answer from Andreas from VSL. It is maybe also of interest for the VI library plugin users- Per default all slots are deactivated and are activated by the first not which will not sound. You can force activation of all slots in the plugin settings.

Good to hear they could help and thanks for the feedback, I was not aware of this. Probably this is done for performance reasons.
Actually. in case of the Vienna Instruments Playback Templates powered by the Articulate Map all instruments/slots are immediately activated and there is no need to impose such restrictions. The same holds for all control features Articulate Presets offer, like section control. Vienna Instruments pro is very resource-efficient so that it is no problem at all to run a large orchestra on a current computer. And if memory should become an issue for huge scores or on older systems, one can easily use the “Enable Cells on Midi Activity” feature in VI pro’s preferences, which is apparently standardly activated in the Synchron Playback Templates.

Hello @symphonic-riot, @John_at_Steinberg and other colleagues,
I have in mind to buy the Synchron-ized Dimension Strings Bundle during the discount period.
I need this library mainly because of the real Divisi function and decent sound.
Of course with this comes the following problem… VSL does not provide Expression Maps for the library. I did ask them about E.M. sets but they told me they don’t have plans to create such.

I would be very thankful if someone with more experience share ideas about the best strategy I should follow while creating Expression Maps for Dimension Strings hosted in Synchron Player. Of course I’m going to use Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 as main VI host.

Thank you very much in advance! :slight_smile:

Best regards,
Thurisaz :slight_smile:

Hello Thurisaz,
to create an Expression Map that integrates the vast Dimension Strings libraries into Dorico (i.e. covering the many playing techniques, including a convenient way to handle divisi, and even controlling the individual strings) is quite a big effort. That’s the main reasons why our Articulate Map for the original Vienna Instruments series libraries includes far over a thousand switches :blush:, and I would guess that’s also the reason why the VSL team hasn’t released an Expression Map for their Synchronized library so far.
We only support the original Vienna Instruments libraries since VI pro (which is by now free with iLok) is more resource efficient and offers features (like auto voicing) that the Synchron Player does not offer so far. Only this way we could implement all the detailed control features, and in particular the convenient auto-divisi, that Articulate Presets offer. Auto-divisi allows the user to control the entire section from a single stave in Dorico and dial via easy-to-use score symbols how many players should play a particular line … and the individual voices are then automatically distributed among the individual desks or players whenever the score becomes polyphonic.
If you want to get an idea what it would take to at least partially integrate the Synchronized library into Dorico, you could download our free demo content which includes the complete Articulate Map (as well as the various custom score symbols we had to implement in Dorico in order to access the entire VSL content).
All the best
Kai

In this post you find some idea’s to work with add-ons, which keeps your expression map small.

Hi @symphonic-riot and @patrom,
Thank you very much for your replies! :slight_smile:

So, @symphonic-riot, you recommend VI Pro Player, instead of Synchron Player?
Is Synchron player superior in any aspect over the VI Pro player?
I really need to decide very soon which version of Dimension Strings worth the most.
For Divisi in general I’m using the Divisi function in Dorico and if I need to have the divisions condensed, then I’m using the Divisi condensing function.
Somehow, I find the Synchron-ized version a bit more realistic sounding, compared to the VI Pro version. But I maybe wrong?!

@patrom, I’ve checked the topic you shared, but would be nice if someone shares some Pros and Cons details about both Synchron and VI Pro Players.
The Automatic Voice separation in VI Pro is a serious advantage. But I own only the Synchron Harp and VE Pro 7 fro VSL, so I don’t have enough experience with both Synchron and VI Pro players.

Thank you very much! :slight_smile:

Best wishes,
Thurisaz :slight_smile:

As for libraries and software there is no best, it boils down to your taste and needs.
So I suggest you do some research on the VSL forum.
One thing to remember is the Synchron is the new player and all new releases are for the Synchron player.

@patrom, thank you for the reply! :slight_smile:
Well I’m aware that the Synchron Player is the new one. I’m asking here because I need this library
mainly for working in Dorico. And all Dorico users who are using the Dimension Strings Bundle are here. I’ve read some topics about both players on the VSL forum, but most of them from 2019 - 2020. I don’t know how improved are those two players since then. But in the posts the people mostly recommend VI Pro especially for the Dimension Strings Bundle.
There is an Expression Maps set and PT created by @symphonic-riot, but it works with the VI Pro Player. I haven’t found any for Synchron anywhere… In the topic shared by you I’ve seen only various strategies which is helpful.

Thank you once again! :slight_smile:

Best regards,
Thurisaz

Hi Thurisaz,

When I asked Andi at VSL he said they had no plans to create Dim Strings EMs for Dorico, and that I could use the EMs for Cubase. It made me wonder if they were planning to do a new full Synchron version, though since they just did Elite Strings that’s perhaps unlikely.

Hi @wcreed,
I asked the guys at VSL about new library with proper Divisi like Dimension Strings Bundle, but even fuller in articulations and equal in number of stringed instruments to the Synchron Strings Pro.
They answered me that they don’t have plans to create such library.
I think Johannes, or Andy was the guy who answered me that question?!

Best wishes,
Thurisaz :slight_smile:

Hello Thurisaz,
although VI pro was developed for Silent Stage libraries, like the Dimension Strings, while the Synchron Player was developed for multi-mic Synchron libraries, both work with the Dimension Strings and the choice of the player is indeed a matter of personal preferences, so it is hard to make general recommendations.
Probably the biggest advantage of the Synchron Player is that (even with VI pro being free now) it is still the cheaper option, since it already includes the Synchron Stage MIRx reverb, whereas in VI pro it has to be purchased separately. However, in VI pro you can move the entire orchestra with a single click to any of the other (very different) MIRx venues which changes the sound completely and this is in my opinion a huge advantage of VI pro :blush: (while in the Synchronized case this huge freedom of the Silent Stage libraries has been unnecessarily restricted to a single venue).
The Synchron Player is more colorful and easier to use to build your own presets in standard cases (since it does many things automatically), but at the same time it is more restrictive and does not allow to manually tweak/fix things if the automatic result is not ideal (and we used this in the Articulate Presets to match volumes, smooth transitions, …). Although theoretically the Synchron Player can do this just as well, in practice only VI pro’s flexible matrix structure and its resource efficiency allowed us to implement the continuous control of several musical parameters simultaneously (2D/3D control). Moreover, in addition to the auto-voicing, VI pro offers other exclusive features, like the APP sequencer which provides tons of trills, runs, and phrases, making up for the fact that these have not been recorded in the Dimension libraries.
When you use either of these players in Dorico (with presets that implement the entire library and a complete Expression Map) it does not matter much which player is “under the hood” and in principle you never have to open the actual player. The Articulate Presets packages for the Dimension libraries include two full sets of presets: Section Presets that include all players (in all available combinations) and allow you to handle divisi conveniently on a single stave, and Individual Player presets to handle each Player separately the way you are currently working in Dorico (as far as I understand).
Hope this helps.
Best regards
Kai

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We have just released a huge update to Articulate Presets and the Articulate Map described in detail in this thread.