Modify VST tuned percussion Percussion-Map in dorico

Dorico
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#1

Hello Everyone,
I’m orchestrating a piece in which I want to use crotales. The default orchestral libray that comes with dorico doesn’t have crotales samples (it uses simply the piano samples), but I own good percussion libraries I can use with dorico through Kontakt.

The problem is that each library for tuned percussion puts the instrument range in different octaves, depending on which library by a certain company I use in that moment. The unwantend result is that if I write some notes in the crotales (or tubular bells) staff, I have to write them in the wrong range if I want the sample to sound.

My question is how can I switch the instrument range through expression/percussion maps, I’m struggling a bit trying to figure out the problem alone.

#2

Hi Carlo !
I’d say the key to solve this problem is in your sample library documentation. There is one thing that is NOT a standard and that can prove to be a real pain in the a** : the definition of the central C. Your documentation will tell you whether it’s C3, C4 or C5. This is something that you can set in your expression map. You can then set the transposition to whatever multiple of +/-12 semitones is necessary to have your instrument sound accordingly to the notation. Notation should not be modified to make the sound ok :wink:

1 Like
#3

Thank you Marc, In the documentation sadly there’s no Indication concerning where the central C is, but I can see in the instrument mapping that the playable notes are in the C4 octave. This makes me even more confused, since dorico still force the notation to be one octave lower even though I created a new Expression Map without transposition or whatever, even if I change the central C in the expression map dorico will be stuck in the same octave. There’s something I’m missing and I can’t still figure out what actually is going on.