I am interested in obtaining your software as soon as it is 100% compatible with the new VSL Syncron Player. I just became a VSL subscriber, so I “never knew” a time when there was not a Syncron Player. Please advise.
Hello Crpb03,
Thanks for your interest in our software.
Articulate Presets and the Articulate Map cover most of the Vienna Instruments (VI) Series. The latter presents the world’s largest virtual orchestra and covers basically every instrument that appears in an orchestral context in various versions and section sizes. It is based on dry “Silent Stage” recordings that offer complete flexibility to place them in various different venues (ranging from recording studios to concert halls and churches) via the corresponding MIRx extensions directly in the powerful VI pro player, that is optimized for this task. This allows a composer/musician to get a realistic idea how a piece will sound when it is actually performed in a corresponding venue. The Synchron Series is based on wet multi-microphone recordings in a single scoring venue (Synchron Stage Vienna) and the Synchron Player is optimized for such an approach. However, even 3 years after the first release, there is not even a basic Synchron Orchestra, yet (only Strings and Percussion so far, and even for these essential playing techniques are still missing).
We would love to release Articulate Presets for (genuine) Synchron libraries (i.e. Strings 1, Pro, …) that are compatible with the Articulate Map and all Articulate Presets for the VI series, and we will do so as soon as possible. The problem is that so far the Synchron Player is too limited to allow us to realize all the features the VI presets offer. The Synchron Player e.g. only offers a small number of slots in each dimension and therefore is presently not compatible with the Articulate Map. This could easily be overcome if the VSL would make the selection criteria in the Synchron Player slightly more flexible. We had proposed ways to implement this without much effort and are confident that this will be done in the future.
However, there are no plans to release Articulate Presets for “synchronized” libraries. These libraries are based on the same recordings as (a selection of) the VI libraries, but the Synchron Player restricts them to the single Synchron venue. Moreover, the Synchron Player does not offer many of the advanced features of the Vienna Instruments Player, yet (Auto Voicing, APP Sequencer, …) that Articulate Presets rely on. Now that the VSL has just released Synchron Stage MIRx venues (in addition to all the various other venues available for Vienna Instruments) there is really no need to port the presets to another player, if this even restricts what can already be done.
The VSL already provides Dorico support for their Synchron and Synchronized libraries. Therefore, using the new Synchron MIRx venue all Synchron, Synchronized as well as the many VI Series libraries supported by the Articulate Map are already 100% compatible, in the sense that you can use all of them together in the Synchron Stage in the same Dorico score and all standard score symbols will be played correctly. Articulate Presets and the Articulate Map offer even more detailed control over the nuances of the playback, but these additional features are optional and due to the mentioned limitations up to now restricted to VI libraries.
I hope this helps.
All the best
Kai
Kai,
I really do appreciate your very, very in-depth reply. I’m not even sure I understand everything you wrote here, as I am a relatively new Dorico user and very new VSL user. It appears I have “joined the VSL family” just as they are making the change in direction away from their Vienna Instruments (VI) Series to the Syncron Series Player. I have only purchased Syncron and Syncron-ized package for this reason. I am not at all certain how Vienna Instruments (VI) Series is different from Syncron Player. I do think I am a future customer of your company, as you clearly seem committed to excellence in support products for the Vienna / Dorico platform. For now, I write chamber music for Strings, Woodwinds, and Percussion, as all of those packages are available with Syncron player. The “wet stage” as you describe works well for my purposes. Please add cb3@cb3.com to your mailing list and keep me informed as you release products that enhance the Syncron Player experience.
Very best regards,
CB3
For the Synchon-ized versions of the Special Edition collection, VSL they have already released Expression Maps. I have written my own for the libraries I own (including SE vol1, 2 and 5) as have a few other Dorico users so you probably won’t be stuck.
Kai is not alone in preferring the older VI libraries and he’s done a fine job with them. Personally, I’ll probably stick to the new format even if it is currently not quite so full featured but all of my Sibelius VSL works were done with the VI Pro player.
CB3,
sorry for the complicated answer 
. I know there are a lot of similar VSL libraries and it must be very hard for new users to figure out the differences. The Synchron Stage is a very nice venue and if you are happy with the sound and the instruments that are available for it by now that’s perfect. I hope dko22’s or other user maps (e.g. there are also maps for SY Solo Strings) allow you to use all your libraries in Dorico.
David,
thanks so much for clarifying. I somehow got the wrong impression that the VSL covers these libraries by now (the VSL Dorico package includes dozens of Expression Map for Synchronized libraries), but as you write they so far apparently only cover the Special Editions, as well as the Synchronized Woodwinds. It is great that your maps fill this gap!
We have just released another update for Articulate Presets and the Articulate Map, that among many enhancements and bug fixes, improves the legato playback and helps VSL users to use the entire VI series in Dorico.
These are the detailed changes:
Presets:
- for the Dimension Strings there is now speed controlled legato using the performance trill at the highest speeds (PC24)
- all instruments offer now speed-controlled muted legato (PC86, up to 4 different playing speeds) that also includes the performance trill at the highest speeds for more natural legato playback
- muted legato progressive vibrato (available for Strings S, L) has now been moved to the Special Bank (PC66) and it has also been added for the muted Bb Trumpet, which we had missed before
- the Dimension Strings Individual Player presets (D#) now likewise fully include the sul ponticello bonus content
- for Dimension Strings presets the performance trill (PC18) offers now continuous control from legato to marcato
- section control of several matrices and range problems in interval legato matrices of the Violins D preset have been fixed
- corrected wrong patches in Violas D and Basses D
- velocity x-fade assignments of the standard version of several instruments (Basses S, Woodwinds 2, Brass 2, Brass S, Mallets) have been corrected
Dorico:
- based on the new matrices the normal legato (Dimension Strings) and muted legato (other Strings and Brass) playback is now significantly improved, offering realistic speed-control
- for instruments that include the corresponding sampled versions, vibrato and non-vibrato assignments now work correctly for both normal and muted legato and generally likewise offer automatic speed-control
- Dorico-generated trills correspondingly play now realistically in all these cases
- the staccato playback is now also varied based on the note length, using short and long staccato versions where available
- accents are now correctly handled for all standard playing techniques
- the section control for Strings L works now analogous to all other section instruments: i.e. standardly the Appassionata Strings are used and the Orchestral Strings can be blended-in with the section controller or divisi control symbols
- superfluous tracks in Dorico’s mixer have been removed for an easy operation and better overview
- like already done for Strings and Percussion, we have included separate Endpoint Configurations in order to easily use solo and section winds from different libraries in the same score, and in case of the Dimension libraries even the individual instruments are separately configurable
- and last but not least, we introduced the new VSL Compatibility Map, available to all registered users of Articulate Presets, that allows them to use basic features of VSL libraries that are not yet covered by Articulate Presets in the same framework
Happy new year!
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I’m new to Dorico and VSL. I have Dorico Elements 3.5, and for VSL VI I have SE1, Euphonium standard and Epic Orchestra (I’m starting with VI Player, not VI Pro at this point). Is there an Articulate Presets product that will work for me?
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 .
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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! 
Best regards,
Thurisaz
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 , 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.