When I go through the key switches in Dorico’s Expression maps and compare them to the ones set in VSL libraries, they are not in the same octave but still works. How’s that possible?
Furthermore it makes it confusing since if I want to make my own map and I can’t make it work, how will I know if it’s because, or not because, I have set it to the wrong octave.
Synchron player sets middle C to C4 by default, but that expression map has it set to C3.
Thanks, mhcoffin!
So the only difference between choosing C3, C4 or C5 as ‘Middle C’ is the “name” and does not affect the actual pitch?
The middle C = C3 vs. C4 midi standard is something which goes back to the early days of midi (Yamaha and Roland). To this day, various developers have adopted one standard or the other, which can be quite confusing going into it. Both of them represent the exact same pitch and midi note which is 60. For the record I wish they all simply used this midi note instead because it’s immediately unambiguous.
For this reason I find the best way to find out is simply first look at the developer’s manual for the instrument – they will often specify the standard they use somewhere (as mentioned, VSL’s standard is based on C4). If they don’t mention this another way of finding out is using a midi monitor of sorts (usually a free app which will tell you precise midi data of the note being pressed corresponding to the VST). This will either tell you the true midi note number (0-127) which you can enter into expression maps as well, or translate to C3/C4. If you’re using a Kontakt instrument for example, there is a utility under the KSP menu which allows you to monitor midi notes used in the instrument.
Finally sometimes you just have to guess by shifting the octave up or down until it works. There is no measurable statistic but I do think that C4 is the more common standard with VSTs nowadays, so when in doubt I’ll usually start there, and if it doesn’t work, I shift the octave in the expression map until it does. Typically once you find it for one instrument, by one developer, it will be the same for others – I’ve never really seen any single developers use different standards for their various libraries.
Correct.
The choice of C3, C4, or C5 tells Dorico which MIDI note to emit when you specify a key switch. Middle C is always MIDI note 60. If you specify middle C = C3 in the dialog and use (for example) D3 as a key switch Dorico sends MIDI note 62 (two notes above middle C) to VSL. If you specify middle C = C4 and use D3 as a key switch, Dorico emits MIDI note 50 (10 notes below middle C).
