Marching band cymbals

Dorico
1

Hi all,
How can I get marching band cymbal sounds?
I’m not a percussionist so please bear with me on my descriptions here..
I need the sound for when they cymbals are clapped together and it sounds like a close hi-hat, and then also the open when they sound like a longer lasting open sound (crash?)
Anything I’ve tried either has no sound or I need to set up 2 instruments on separate staves, which isn’t really what i need.

Thanks in advance for any help!
Tony

2

I think those are called clash cymbals in English in Dorico (Piatti in Italian scores). Clash cymbals exist in Iconica Sketch I think (please correct me if I am wrong).
I understand you need two different kinds of sounds, that would be mapped in the percussion map and would be triggered in your score by some playing technique that triggers the playback technique that triggers the appropriate sound. So… the best way to know would be to open iconic sketch’s percussion map to see what’s available for clash cymbals. Or find a library that has those sounds.

3

Thanks, I tried that but that only gives the open sound, not the closed. Unless I’m using it wrong. I’m exploring the percussion instrument playing techniques dialog now and watching a Dorico youtube tutorial on percussion.

4

Playback sounds are determined by the capabilities of the particular sound library you are using. Few if any libraries can play back all possible playing techniques.

1 Like
5

Thanks, maybe there’s a way I can map a different instrument to the note type for the open and closed playing technique?

6

It’s probably simpler to find a library that has all the sounds you need?

1 Like
7

Of course, you can tweak a percussion map so that open clash cymbals triggers A-1 (crash cymbal hit, totally random midi note for the example) and closed clash cymbal triggers G3 (which would be the default and only clash cymbal sound, again, random midi note). But do not complain if it sounds like a crash cymbal :rofl:
I see VSL has nailed it (as they usually do) and they described the different techniques here.
Unfortunately this has a cost.
Spitfire Originals cinematic percussion is rather cheap and has both open and choked sounds as per VI-CONTROL forum (I think I even created percussion map for it and I don’t remember! :rofl:)

8

Ok, I just checked out and I did not create percussion maps for this Cinematic Percussion Library because it’s not even described in the manual. There is a Cymbals program with 22 hits (6 choked and 3 bells) and 6 swells, some are clash cymbals, some are suspended cymbals, but it would have been a good idea to describe which instruments were played and how… no, you need to test them all to see which one you like :person_shrugging: I suppose you cannot ask too much for 29€

9

Getting the closed hi-hat sound from a pair of crash cymbals in an orchestral library will be a tough thing to find. This a technique that as far as I know, is so seldom used. There is a concert band piece called “Haven Dance” by David Holsinger that uses this technique – but in all of my years of playing and teaching, that is the ONLY piece I saw it every used.

Virtual Drumline (VDL) has that sound, but it is only found in the marching percussion section, and not in the the regular concert cymbal patches.

Could you map a hi-hat itself, and use that as the sound?

Robby