Olympus Elements expression map

Hi everyone!

Yesterday, I purchased Olympus Elements from Steinberg and installed it. I assumed the expression map would be installed with the library, but I was wrong. Can someone please tell me where I can download the Olympus Elements expression map?

Thanks,

Mike

Expression Maps for Dorico are almost never included with virtual libraries (except for the bundled Halion library which includes Olympus Micro). You can either create your own or ask if someone else has already done the job. In some cases, vendors like VSL have provided EM’s for Dorico or NotePerformer where it is built-in but their general attitude is that you should be using a DAW with their libraries and not a notation software like Dorico.

Well, dko22, being that I purchased Olympus Elements from Steinberg, and since it runs in HaLion Sonic, I was hoping that Steinberg would have included an expression map like they did for Olympus Micro.

Does anyone else know where I can find an Olympus Elements expression map template?

Thank you,

Mike

I think you have a good point. But where Steinberg provide Expression Maps at all, they tend to be for Cubase (which can be imported as a starting point but you need to know what must be modified). I don’t know if the Micro map is very different than the Elements one – if not it could be used as a base.

Anyway, I know there are Olympus Choir users here so with luck one will be able to give you some good tips.

I think Iconica may be a useful comparison. Steinberg appears to have thought of Iconic for Cubase. Only later did John Barron create a Dorico Expression Map that allows one to use a subset of Iconica features in Dorico.

Hi Mike, you can try this playback template as a starting point for your own modifications. It covers sustains, staccato, marcato and also true legato for Ah and Oo. Example file is included. Olympus Choir Elements Playback Template

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Hi Olilo,

Thank you so much. Does it also cover dynamic symbols and hairpins (crescendos and decrescendos)? Also, how do I install it?

Mike

Yes, dynamics are automatically supported by Dorico’s playback. To install the playback template just drag&drop the template file onto Dorico, see Creating and Sharing Playback Templates how to do it.

Olilo, thank you for posting those files for me. However, I can’t get them to work. Dropping them onto the Dorico Hub doesn’t work. I get an error. Also, I’m a bit confused. You provided 2 files, and I’m not sure what the difference is. Is one a playback template and the other an expression map template? Also, I’m on a pc, and I downloaded the files with Microsoft Edge, the web browser. I wonder if that has something to do with it. Any ideas?

Thank you,

Mike

Hi Mike, you need to drop the file that has the extension .dorico_pt (this is explained in the video I linked to above). The other file is just a Dorico example that uses this playback template, so you can see how the articulations works. If you still encounter an error it would be really useful to share the error message you are getting to narrow down the issue.

YAAAAAY! It’s working! I had assumed that Microsoft Edge had automatically unzipped the files. Whether it did or not, what resulted was unusable. So I downloaded UNZIP and unzipped the files myself. Success! The Dorico test file that you provided sounds great. Olilo, I can’t thank you enough!

Mike

I’m glad to hear it worked. In case you find the non-legato notes a bit too separated you can easily fix that in the Expression Map dialog: You just need to increase the “Default note duration” under “Playback Options Overrides”. Also play around with the other options – have fun with it :slightly_smiling_face:

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I’m posting this here because it is where I obtained the Olympus Choir Elements playback template.

I have looked at the expression map in some detail (very helpful to have this example) to understand how it works and have found some inconsistencies which I think require amendment to work properly.
For example the Ah, Mercato(nat) doesn’t currently use the Ah technique.
I don’t have the Steinberg version so I aim to use this as the basis for a map and template for the Kontakt version (which works quite differently), but consequently I am unable to test them on the Steinberg.

If anyone who uses Olympus Choir Elements has the inclination, the will and the time to look at them and comment I would be very grateful.

Base Switch Active Technique
Current Name/File Name Suggested Amendment to Active Technique
Ah,Marcato (nat) Natural Natural + pt.user.ah
Ah, Short(nat) Natural Natural + pt.user.ah
Ah, Staccato(nat) Staccato + pt.user.ah Staccato + Natural + pt.user.ah
Ah, Sustain(nat) Natural Natural + pt.user.ah
Legato + Ih Legato + pt.user.ih DISABLE - Duplicate of Ih, Sustain (Legato)
Legato Ah Legato Legato + pt.user.ah
Legato Oo Legato Legato + pt.user.ah + ENABLE (don’t know why this is disabled)

I will share the Kontakt Playback Template when it is working (assuming I can do it :-))

Hope you can make sense of the above - it was nicely spaced out before I hit reply. Here it is in a pdf (second upload to correct typo :slight_smile: ).
Suggested amnedments to OCE EM.pdf (47.0 KB)