Im using noteperformer and BBC SO as mentioned. The issue is (as I have earlier posted, lots of help from the community too!! thanks!!!) that the volumes are all over the place. some notes louder and some quieter. These variances are (seemingly) intermittent too. Also, now, I’m getting dropouts or some notes play shorter than written or not at all.
I have reapplied playback templates, reinstalled NPPE, and Dorico, changed the staves from 3 trombones to trombone sections etc and spent about a week trying to solve this.
It happens with NPPE as well as built in Noteperformer sounds.
(It works fine with that ‘Other’ notation program)
I don’t think the diagnostics will help in this case, Patt. We probably need to see the project itself. Unfortunately I don’t personally have BBCSO, so I can’t look in detail at your project, but I’m sure other forum readers do, and they could perhaps try out your project to see if they encounter the same issues. It would also be helpful to know whether you find the dynamics are wayward if you use the standard NotePerformer sounds rather than using NPPE. Likewise, do you find the dynamics wayward if you use one of Dorico’s factory playback templates?
Thank you so much for the reply, Your company deserves its stellar record.
I have uploaded the file with this response.
The dropouts are the same with noteperformers built in sounds though the volume differences seem to not be as apparent. I get the same dropouts with iconica sketch as well. All this disappears when I use the BBC playback templates and skip noteperformer but I really wish to use noteperformer.
As I said in my initial reply, I don’t have BBCSO, so I can’t play back using the same sounds you’re using, but I do hear that some notes are shorter than their written length, and I believe that’s something NotePerformer does intentionally to allow re-articulation of successive notes of the same pitch. I don’t think there’s anything you can do to influence that.
Similarly, when you write an accent on a whole note (semibreve), e.g. in bar 12, it seems like NotePerformer is triggering a short sound with an attack rather than a sustained one. Otherwise I find the trombone and bass trombone parts to play back as I would expect.
I don’t hear any unevenness in volume, though, which is interesting, since I can’t see any overrides or other data that would cause the volume to be variable.
I’ve tried to replicate exactly your setup in terms of libraries - obviously our hardware is different and I’m running Windows. Most of it sounds more or less what I’d expect. On bar 12, the semibreves are actually held correctly for the full length and there is no articulation change (nor should there be as it’s only an accent and not for instance a marcato). The repeated horn and trumpet notes in bar 15 are too short. This is a NotePerformer peculiarity and the only way round it I’m aware of is to manually draw out the notes to the correct length in the key editor.
Like Daniel, I don’t hear significant unevenness in volume (though my advice is always to disable the beat stress and similar humanisation settings in Playback Options).
Best is if you give specific examples of exactly where you are having problems so I can check these.
I don’t hear any of your problems using just BBCSO Core, Patt. I do hear some strange note lengths generally and a lack of ‘feeling’ in the brass, which is always the case with Noteperformer. But there are no sudden jumps in volume or droputs.
I wonder if you are hitting the limits of your setup. Do you have scope to increase your audio buffer size? There’s not much point in going for low latency when you’re playing back from Dorico. I set my latency to the max possible.
yes, that’s absolutely correct which is one reason why I don’t hear the sort of dynamic inconsistencies which can occur when using this library manually from past experience. The system specs actually sound better than my own ageing PC but a lot can be to do with the soundcard and its driver which are not specified here. Perhaps it’s just the supplied imac one and others will be better able to judge than me if there are any potential issues with that.
One thing it’s absolutely essential to be aware with with the BBC Core NPPE is that it continues to load up to several minutes after the final screen comes up and it you try to start playback before the memory figure has stopped incrementing, then of course there will be dropouts. I wonder of the issue could be partly that? On the other hand the OP suggested that even with native NP, there are still some dropouts which is definitely odd.
I truly appreciate the attention given! The issue is still a problem and I am assuming now that the issue is with my setup. Thank you for testing it on your end as it allows me to investigate my setup further. Hearing that the data inside the piece is correct at least allows me to move on to other parts of the chain as it were!
I also was wondering if my machine was ‘out of spec’ glad to hear that while its ageing as well it should be ok. The audio interface I’ve been using is an Apollo twin. I swapped it out for a duet 2 in my investigation, Both good interfaces and served me well in other music applications. But I am starting to suspect my configuration after these replies!
And yes even in something like logic the BBC stuf ftakes a very long time (Why I opted to use the core with Dorico - Pro literally stuns my machine). And as you mentioned I did try it with stock Noteperformer sounds, Iconica etc.
a long shot but just to be absolutely sure— if you also have BBC Pro you definitely loaded the NPPE BBC Core plug-in and not accidentally the Pro one? And you are regularly getting dropouts with native NotePerformer and Iconica, both of which are lightweight and will run on almost anything?
It would be easy to assume there is an issue with your hardware if it were not for the fact you say the BBC Core works OK in Logic. And you tried two different audio interfaces?
Yes, as soon as it’s intermittent, you have to look at the system. Certainly it could be the BBC/ NPPE crossover, especially as Spitfire does mention that its expression maps are made for a Daw, not for notation software, although that’s possible, but the system configuration is certainly to blame.