I’m having a problem getting these harmonics to play back correctly. The first chord is playing as harmonics, but (I think) an octave too high; the second and third are not playing as harmonics, but (again, I think) at the correct expected pitch.
Second & third chords also play back with a sharp articulation and brevity that does not correspond to either the notation or the articulation (incorrectly) switched to in the VST, which is Long notes/Sustain.
Further complicating, the double bass is not sounding at all, until the following col legno, which plays as expected. Connected, maybe, to the harmonic symbols being coloured?
The little circle for harmonics in Dorico is mapped to playing technique natural harmonic1 so that’s as expected. The fact you change the notation to artificial harmonic doesn’t change the playback. The notation of artificial harmonics is generally two octaves lower than the sounding pitch. Not all libraries have that mapped correctly (you don’t say what you’re using here) – you may need to apply a transposition in the Expression Map.
By the way are you sure you want a 5th partial rather than the more common 4th?
Library is VSL Dimension Strings. 5th partial is what I intended in the Cello 1 & bass as in the image.
Not sure what you mean by this. Surely the 4th partial in the clip must sound two octaves above? If it was a 3rd partial, it would be one octave +fifth; 5th partial, 2 octaves +maj. 3rd.
well exactly – that’s what should be happening. I could swear that with at least one library that I needed to tranpose this switch but just now tried with three different string libraries and they all worked as expected so I’m now beginning to wonder if I was imagining things. Also have a feeling this this subject was raised before.
If you attach the relevant project section and say which library if it’s not a bundled one, then it should be easier to test what’s going on.
Here, as suggested. Also the VEPro setup. It is Dimension Strings, and although the .vesp64 addresses all four variants (open/mute etc.) the Dorico file only addresses the first.
I don’t have the full Dimension strings, only the SE ones. But for some reason, even substituting a solo viola and using my own map, I couldn’t get the correct patches-- there’s perhaps something up with your divisi setup. Would it be possible to simplify the project to just a single line for each instrument for testing purposes and then try again? If you still get the same results, then I might be able to verify better.
Okay, I just used the violas/cellos/bass, as they’re the only ones playing harmonics. That’s Flow 2, and I also set it up with Special Edition Solo Strings (Flow 3), which seems to work properly, and sound rather nicer altogether. Only problem with the .vesp might be that I have user patches that combine open & mute, so I don’t know if they will load properly on a different machine. (That’s assuming, anyway, that you have that library available.)
I don’t have the SE vol3 with muted solo strings (I have the full solo strings) but the harmonics at a quick listen sound fine and are the correct octave. And I know that VSL harmonics have always worked fine for me but then I don’t have the full Dimension strings.
The embarrassing truth: I made a mistake in the xp map. Things that start on C2, for instance, in the Dimension Strings Special Edition, often start on F2 in the full version.
