No HSO playback template in Dorico Elements

Just upgraded to Dorico 5.1 Elements and like the Iconica Sketch library, but noticed in playback template and expression maps there is no HSO options. As such many of my old compositions will not load correctly.
I know Elements does not come with HSO but had purchased HSO separately, and the previous Dorico 5.0 and 4.0 came with the HSO playback template meant for Pro but useful to thos with HSO.

Is it possible for you to reinstate this template for use by users who have purchased HSO and Elements rather than Pro?

If HALion Symphonic Orchestra is correctly installed on your system, and your HSO license is present, you should still see those playback templates. Can you do Help > Create Diagnostic Report and attach the resulting file here?

Find diagnostics files attached.
Dorico Diagnostics.zip (1.4 MB)
HSO does work fine in Halion and is authorised in my license manager.

Thanks, Dave. It looks like there’s a small bug here: HSO is indeed correctly detected, but Dorico is automatically deciding that it’s not based purely on your license type, which isn’t right. We’ll need to fix this. I’m not sure what kind of workaround will be possible in the short term.

Thanks for looking at this Daniel.
Shame its a bug.
I can work around it in the short term using Iconica Sketch and East West Opus, but will look forward to a resolution in 5.1.1, hopefully.

I have just noticed that all HSO expression maps disappeared as well from 5.1. however they are available in Dorico 4. In my case it is not critical, but surprising nonetheless. :grinning:
Witold

No, they haven’t disappeared: they will now only be included in your project once you apply a playback template that uses HSO.

I have done the following experiment: in my existing score (my own template) I have added Halion Sonic, loaded 1st violins, connected a violin staff to it and checked the list of available HSO expression maps. HSO list was empty. What am I supposed to do now?
Witold

You apply an HSO Playback Template (Play>Playback Template…) - then the expression maps appear.

It does not answer my question. I DON’T want to use HSO template, because I have mine, but I want to use in it HSO instruments. In D4 HSO expression maps were always available, no matter the template, in D5.1 you MUST use HSO template to have access to HSO expression maps. If you use your own, HSO expression maps disappear and using f.e. Iconica Sketch automatically assigns “default”. I have found a workaround that always gives me access to all HSO expression maps, but I will not publish it until I get Daniel’s reply.
Witold

So just add Halion to your own playback template…

I will try if it works. My workaround is simple. In an empty new project you choose HSO template, the last on the list (contains maps for HSO and Iconica Sketch), then open Expression Maps window, select all HSO maps and choose “Export”. Choose the folder, name the file and save. Next find on your computer folder DefaultLibraryAddtions (on Mac: users/your name/Library/Application Support/Steinberg/Dorico 5/DefaultLibraryAddtions) and simply copy-paste the saved file. From this moment on you will have access to all HSO maps independently of the template. Now, if I remember correctly the DefaultLibraryAddtions folder is not created until you create your own expression map. Can be anything, even an empty map. Where this folder might be o a PC I have no idea, but it surely exists.
Witold

I don’t see that as a workaround. I think it is the preferred way to share Expression Maps. Just look at any number of expression maps shared on this forum.
The purpose of wrapping these into Endpoints is that the VST state is also preserved in the Endpoint, whereas the Map only holds the switches to control the VST.
Then combining Endpoints into Playback Templates allows you to set (and override) preferences for instruments using multiple different VSTs.

I know, but we may have different styles of work and different approaches to level of control of parameters within Dorico. I do have several playback templates, but they cannot cover all options I may need or use. So the possibility to individually add and set up an instrument is for me an important addition to what the template may/should do. An example would be my actual score that is entirely based on my template and VSL libraries, but for building up the color I decided to double some of the instruments by adding instruments from Iconica, and here having direct access to HSO maps gives me what I want. But, of course, not everybody needs this level of precise control, so playback template is definitely a comfortable solution.

Hi,
After this discussion I decided to smarten my templates and found an interesting problem that might have already been solved by someone of Dorico community. I have three brass libraries, one with 2 solo french horns, set of 4 and set of six, another with one solo, set of 2 and the third wth one solo and set of three. What want to build is a template that would recognize 2 solos, set of 2, set of 3, set of four and set of 6. I succeeded in the recognition of 2 solos, set of 4 and set of 6 from one library and set of two from another, set of 3 from the third is not recognized and instrument is forcibly assigned to 2 horns set. To do all that I set up 2 solos, 4 and 6 as single players, and 2horns as section player. The 3 horns from other library were also set as section player, but Dorico, once found the first section player does not search ani further. Any idea how to make it search for 3 horns as a second section player from another library?
Witold

I have found a solution, a bit laborious at the beginning, but paying back further when composing comes. If you have several libraries having similar instruments and you want to freely combine them using your playback template, there is a recipe:

  1. choose your default library and create complete set of endpoints using default Dorico instruments. In my case it is VSL Synchron,
  2. For every other “doubling” library create a new Family. In may case these are BBC SO Pro, EWQL Hollywood, EWQL Symphonic, LASS, OT Berlin Woodwinds and ICONICA Sketch.
  3. Depending on your intentions of using these “doubling” libraries create in each Family instruments that you intent to use. I have decided to create complete list of instruments for every of my libraries. To make them easily identifiable in the score these instruments have a postfix in the name (f.e. Violins 1 (B) for 1st violins from BBCSO).
  4. Create specific endpoints related to these Families. Ex. BBC SOLO strings endpoint would have in it all 5 solo string instruments from BBC SO
  5. Once you have all endpoints you wanted you are completely free to build any playback template that suits you.
    What I wanted to achieve is to be able to combine at any moment individual instruments from any of my libraries and Dorico automatically load expression maps and connect to required instrument (I use VE Pro 7, so my whole library resides outside Dorico).

I think I am experiencing a related bug.

I started Dorico trial in July. While the trial was still active, I purchased full HALion during the summer sale and then I purchased Dorico Elements. So I do have HSO as a a part of full HALion. However, I can’t use HSO anymore, not only in Dorico, but anywhere. Apparently, Activation Manager tied my HSO license to Dorico Pro trial instead of full HALion. And when I try to load HSO preset manually in Dorico, Logic Pro or HALion standalone, I get informed that my Dorico Pro trial has expired. I tried deactivating and reactivating HALion 7 hoping that would fix the issue, but it didn’t.

Any workaround for this?

I may be mistaken, but I don’t think HALion Symphonic Orchestra is included with HALion 7. I think it’s included in the Absolute VST collection, but as far as I know it’s not included with HALion 7.

2 Likes

You are right, sorry. I think I confused HSO with Studio Strings.

Well, I am planning to get Dorico Pro in a future sale anyway… :slight_smile: