Percussion Map + Expression Map: Dorico sends the correct playing note but not the Expression Map keyswitches
Hi,
I’m trying to set up VSL Studio Percussion – Field Drum A (VelXF) in Dorico 6.2.1, using an Art Conductor expression map. I have spent quite a lot of time trying to isolate the problem and I think I have now narrowed it down, but I may be misunderstanding how Expression Maps and Percussion Maps interact in Dorico.
The VSL Synchron Player preset uses several dimensions. For example, for a normal single stroke with snares on, the relevant keyswitches are:
- C0 = Sticks
- A−1 = Snares on
- then the actual playing note
For a roll, another dimension has to select Rolls.
The Art Conductor expression map appears to contain the correct VSL switching information. For example, the playback technique “Natural [Normal Snare On]” sends the two keyswitches C0 + A−1, which corresponds exactly to Sticks + Snares on in the Synchron Player.
I have assigned both the Art Conductor Expression Map and my Percussion Map to the same endpoint/channel in Dorico.
I created a custom Percussion Map because Art Conductor provides the Expression Map for this instrument but apparently no corresponding Percussion Map. In my current test map, for example:
- MIDI note D2 (50) → Snare Drum → Natural
- other entries have also been tested for the Field Drum and for rolls.
The important observation is this:
Dorico now sends the playing note correctly. I can see D2 being triggered on the Synchron Player keyboard, so routing from Dorico to the correct Synchron instance/channel is working.
However, I do not see the keyswitches defined in the Expression Map being triggered. For example, when Dorico reports the playback technique “Natural [Normal Snare On]”, I would expect to see C0 and A−1 sent before the playing note. They do not appear to be sent. The VSL dimensions therefore do not switch accordingly.
I have been troubleshooting this together with ChatGPT, mainly to systematically trace the MIDI/playback chain and rule out possible configuration errors. After quite a few tests, we seem to have narrowed the problem down to the interaction between the Percussion Map, the playback techniques and the Expression Map.
We have already tried several things while troubleshooting:
- verified that the correct Synchron Player instance and MIDI channel are used;
- verified that the Art Conductor Expression Map is assigned to the endpoint;
- verified that the custom Percussion Map is also assigned to that same endpoint;
- verified that the Art Conductor map contains the expected VSL keyswitches;
- imported the accompanying Art Conductor playback-technique/library data;
- checked the playback techniques Natural, Mallet, etc.;
- tried different instrument definitions in the Percussion Map, including Snare Drum and Tamburo militare;
- tried different MIDI-note mappings;
- tested both single strokes and rolls;
- confirmed directly in Synchron Player that the desired sounds can be triggered manually;
- confirmed that Dorico is now sending the actual playing note (D2), but apparently not the Expression Map keyswitches.
Earlier in the troubleshooting process Dorico was sending other playing notes such as B3/D3, but this turned out to be a Percussion Map/routing issue. That part now seems to be solved: the remaining problem is specifically that the Expression Map switching does not seem to occur.
I have attached screenshots showing:
- the custom Percussion Map;
- the Endpoint Setup with both the Expression Map and Percussion Map assigned;
- the Art Conductor Expression Map entry Natural [Normal Snare On] with its C0 + A−1 keyswitches;
- the corresponding VSL Synchron Player preset and its dimension structure.
My main question is:
When an unpitched percussion instrument uses both a Percussion Map and an Expression Map, what exactly causes Dorico to evaluate the playback technique from the Percussion Map and then execute the corresponding Expression Map switch?
Or, put differently: is there an additional link between the Percussion Map’s playback technique and the Expression Map that I am missing?
At the moment it looks as if the Percussion Map determines the correct playing note, but the associated playback technique does not cause the Expression Map keyswitch actions to be sent.
Any insight into how Dorico resolves this chain for unpitched percussion would be greatly appreciated.
Of course, it is entirely possible that we have misunderstood some aspect of how Dorico handles Expression Maps for unpitched percussion.
