Hello,
it’s unfortunately me again with another playback issue. I read all the other entries i could find regarding that problem but nothing of the advised things helped me.
I am not using VSL anymore as i am waiting for a reply from their support.
So with the stock libraries (Halion, iconica sketch etc.) i am encountering the issue that pizzicato is not changing playback sound. It will just stay “arco” with all the strings. Expression Mappings are by default on “C11 (Dynamik)”, and if i change them for example to “Iconica Sketch Violins” they go crazy and a very low bass bordun appears on the voices…
I am on Mac OS Ventura with Dorico 5 Elements.
Thanks for your help.
Christoph
Dorico Diagnostics.zip (1003,7 KB)
test.dorico (642,7 KB)
Hi @christophpun , you used HALion Sonic Selection as Playback template. (that library seems to don’t have pizz. articulation, but maybe I am wrong. EDIT: yes I was half wrong: see the post below, by @Brian_Roland to be able to use the different techniques with HALion Sonic Selection and create an Expression Map based on MIDI channels for them)
If you try to apply (from menu Play/Playback templates…) one Playback template that has the HSO (Halion Symphonic Orchestra) or, better, one that has the Iconica Sketch in it, you will be better served. If you apply/reapply these suggested Playback Templates, the correct Expression Map will be loaded automatically:
The issue with the lower notes happens when you use an Expression Map that is not compatible with the loaded library (and the low notes are the key switches that are not being assigned because of the incompatibility, and that’s why they sound as real, very low, notes)
(Also generally if you want to forget about these kind of settings and have a very easy time 
I suggest you try out Note Performer.)
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Hallo Christian, thanks for the advice. I already tried different of the suggested playback templates. Unfortunately everytime the same problem.
Interesting about the lower notes. And i will definitely have a look into Note Performer.
Strange. When I apply the mentioned PT, the pizz. sounds as expected.
Try opening the file, where I applied the Iconica Sketch, HSO, HALion Sonic Sel., Olympus, GASE PT. (a little correction of what I said: this PT has Iconica Sketch and HSO. Iconica Sketch doesn’t have solo strings, but the latter has solo strings with articulations)
Does it work?:
test-2-WITH ICONICA SKETCH.dorico (1.2 MB)
Can you also check:
If you go in Play Mode, and see the Track inspector for for example violin 2, and click on the E to open the player (Edit instrument), does it look as in the following screenshot?:
Dorico Elements doesn’t include HALion Symphonic Orchestra, so unless @christophpun has a license for HSO from elsewhere, he can’t use the HSO sounds. If you add string instruments to a single player, they will use sounds from the HALion Sonic Selection that don’t include pizzicato sounds. If you add string instruments to a section player, they will use sounds from Iconica Sketch that can switch between arco and pizzicato.
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Thank you @Christian_R Note Performer does the job, i might either upgrade to that after the trial or go for Dorico Pro. Probably when there is a sale coming up.
That makes everything clear, thank you @dspreadbury .
Is there any other drawbacks when setting them up as section players instead, although they are solo players? (except for the missing possibility of changing instruments..)
No, the only differences between single and solo players are indeed the default playback sound, and the handling of doubling vs. divisi.
If you want to use single players, you can do, but you’ll then need to manually load the Iconica Sketch section string instruments in HALion Sonic, replacing the default sounds loaded from the HALion Sonic Selection content, and manually choose the appropriate expression maps in the Routing section of the Track Inspector panel in Play mode.
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I’m not sure what all support SE and Elements has for manipulating Expression Maps. Assuming you can, there are some rudimentary sounds for pizzicato and tremolo string sections included in the Sonic Selection library that ships with all Steinberg Hosts (Including Dorico SE and Elements).
See if you can make this work… (If not, follow up with a post, I might can build a kind of template for you that would work with Elements that’d give you proper string sections with tremolo and pizzicato).
- Make a new instance of Sonic 7 in the Play/VST and MIDI tab.
a. Click the plus button here:
b. Click here and load a new instance of Sonic…
c. Click the e button to open your new instance of sonic.
- Load the String Instrument you want in slot 1. I.E. Violin for a solo violin, or String Ensemble 1 for a Violin section (fine to simulate a violin section. Use it again for Violas, again for Cellos, Again for Bass, etc).
In the second slot load Tremolo.
In the third slot load Pizzicato.
- Create an expression map that will use channel bouncing to get at these articulation choices.
a. Go to Library/Expression Maps… in the top menu.
b. Choose CC11 Dynamics and tap the add a copy icon at the bottom.
c. Rename the new Expression Map to String Sections (or whatever you like).
d. Add an Abs. Chan Actions of 1 for the init and Natural Types.
e. Add a new base switch for Type Tremolo and click OK.
f. Create a Channel Switch for Tremolo for channel 2.
(edit [not in pic above]: Also set the dynamic type for tremolo to CC11)
g. Add another switch for Pizzicato and set it up to use channel 3. Use velocity control for dynamics.
Click OK in the lower Right of the Expression Map pane when done.
-
Click the Settings Cog of your new Sonic Instance and choose the expression map you’ve just made. Also tick the Number of audio outputs to show in Mixer: 1. If you like you can change the name so it’s easier to Find this stuff later.
-
Set the end point of your String Section to use your new instance of Sonic.
Now you have a Violin Section with Tremolo and Pizzicato.
Duplicate the instance for Violin II, again for Violas, Again for Cellos, and again for Basses. (Highlight the Violins Instance your just made and click the duplicate button 4 times).
Click the settings cog for each one and rename them. Eventually you end up with something like this:
Back in the Track Inspector tab, connect the rest of your string section staves to these new instances.
Now you have all your sections covered and get tremolo and pizzicato articulations.
If you need Solo Strings, just duplicate more of these, and change slot 1 in Sonic to the Solo Instrument of your choice. Connect the staves that need connecting.
Note, there are no ‘solo’ versions of tremolo or pizzicato in the Sonic Selections library that comes with Dorico SE, but it’s better than nothing.
Here is a Score I made in Dorico Pro that should have everything set up for Sonic 7 using the basic GM sounds from the Sonic Selection Library.
Mozart - Symphony No._41 - Jupiter - 1st Mvt - Sonic Selection.dorico (3.7 MB)
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P.S. Out of the box Sonic Selection sounds can be a bit thin and simple. Don’t underestimate how full and nice they can sound with a little doubling and processing.
Here are some hints to fatten up the sound.
Sonic 7 has a nice slate of built in effects, and you can load up tons of them in the effects tab. There are 4 aux sends, and each of those can host up to 4 effects each in serial. You can also host up to 4 effects in serial directly on the mains.
You can also host effects directly on the Dorico Mixing console in some versions of Dorico (Maybe all? Not sure what might be trimmed back here in Elements).
Send to your effects from the Mixer Tab (and also possible to send them directly from each ‘layer’ of a ‘program’.
You can also layer up to four sounds per instrument slot to get more complex layering effects.
For this score I want to simulate adding more chairs as we go lower in the string Family…So:
One layer of String Ensemble 1 for 1st Violins.
Two Layers of String Ensemble 1 for 2nd Violins.
For Violas I’ll mix a layer of String Ensemble 1, and a layer of String Ensemble 2. I’ll fiddle with the attack phase of Ensemble 1 a bit so it it’s different from the violins.
I’ll go back and detune some stuff slightly. Pop in some chorus and reverb using the Aux Busses.
It’s also possible to change the channel of each slot. So one could set more than one slot to the same channel (in the MIDI Tab) and get even more ‘layering’ ability. So…crafting your own woodwind and brass ‘sections’ out of the “Sonic Selection” library is certainly doable.
Each instrument in Sonic also has a number of ‘quick controls’ that are worth exploring.
I’ll spend a couple of minutes adding some ambient reverb and stereo chorus to my winds and brass.
So, here is a new version of the Mozart movement above that’s only using the basic set of sounds that comes with Elements, but with some tweaks.
There more I could do (pizzicato, low strings, and timpani needs to be tweaked a bit…it’s not hard to make it so.), but I’ve set myself a limit of 5 minutes to mess around and another 5 to render it and make this post.
The point? Don’t underestimate how nice Sonic 7 can be! Even when limited to the simple “Sonic Selection” library of sounds that comes with every Steinberg Host.
Mozart - Symphony No._41 - Jupiter - 1st Mvt - Sonic Selection.dorico (3.7 MB)
And here is a rendering for a direct listen.
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@Brian_Roland wow that is quite impressive. Thanks a lot for those precious insights and the effort of creating those posts! I will definitely work that through and have a deeper look into it.
All the best, Christoph
Sonic is really good at playing your General MIDI files too. It’s a real darling with stuff like Band in a Box (still uses the GM protocols and mapping to call up sounds). That’s another thread for another place tho’
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Hello everybody,
my problem got solved and i’m copying the answer from another thread it solved as well:
Dorico gave out wrong expression mappings because the template i created with Dorico Wizard was not only for my VSL Library (special edition 1) but for another Library (Special Edition 1 Plus) as well. Thats why things got mixed up, later in playback etc.
When creating a Dorico VSL Template with the Dorico Wizard one needs to uncheck all the libraries one doesn’t own. My mistake was to just read special edition 1 and didn’t look further into it and that i need to uncheck 3 boxes for the add on that also showed up.
Thanks for all your help. I learned a lot of things.
Best,
Christoph
What and where is this feature that I’ve never heard about?
It is the VSL Dorico Wizard
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