This is likely a simple settings thing
Playback is fine
But when I play a line on the keyboard while playback is happening, then what I play is Noteperformer sounds instead of CSS
For note entry the instruments are CSS (though staccato)
Basically as a score is playing I want what is played from the keyboard to be CSS libraries not Noteperformer
And sustain not staccato
I believe there’s a setting in NotePerformer Playback Engine itself for this. Please refer to the NotePerformer documentation:
Thanks
Nothing there about this that I can see or in Dorico help which is why I’m posting here
Again what I want is to hear Cinematic Studio (viola for instance) when I’m auditioning lines in a score, either during playback or without
For a string orchestration what I’m getting is a generic string that has full range across the keyboard and in some registers sounds pretty sickly
I’m hoping somebody here knows the fix for that without me doing the fruitless searches I’ve already done
Basically is there a place/function in either software to control what instrument/library you hear from the keyboard and also how it’s played?
Another Q would be if I eliminate noteperformer from the equation will it change anything?
Hi @bluekayak88
If you use NPPE , playing the midi keyboard you hear per default a short note with the library that you have loaded.
As @dspreadbury said, there is an option in NPPE to hear the note so long as you play it on your keyboard, but then NP needs to switch to its internal normal NP sounds to let you hear that (explanation below *):
There is not an option FWIK to hear the long notes with the library that you have loaded into it.
(* ) If you want an explanation of why this is so, Mr. @Wallander himself answered this some time ago:
If you need desperately to hear [long notes of]CSS while inputting notes [instead of NP sounds], you can prepare a Playback Template for note input with CSS sounds (with the needed expression maps and endpoint configurations) and switch it [temporarely] as needed, and then for playback switch back to NP Playback template (that uses your NPPE loaded sounds, if any)
So the strings I’m hearing are Noteperformer’s
For auditioning lines during playback then an option/workaround might be to unplug the keyboard from Dorico and use the keyboard’s onboard sounds and speakers
I’m about to invest in a new keyboard and having onboard sounds wasn’t going to be a factor but maybe will rethink that
Looks like I might want to eliminate Noteperformer from the mix? and just do all of this in Dorico?
I’m thinking for the sake of playing through an instrument’s lines during playback
The piano in my living room used to serve the purpose until working remotely transformed the family life
Incidentally if it’s the setting at the top to choose Noteperformer sounds I had tried that and it only affects note input, not what you hear if you play along with the playback
Many of us work with dumb midi keyboards. I can play the keyboard during playback and the sound will be whatever instrument I have selected. I think perhaps you are trying to overcomplicate matters?
Maybe but theres part of the story i left out
The other night the playback got pretty bad and i would guess it had to do with the setting in NP being set to play NP sounds
I was playing violin parts on the keyboard as the score played
At first it just didnt sound great then went from bad to worse with stuck notes and very heavy reverb and the whole system froze
I turned off the speakers and forced quit on everything
By coincidence when i fired everything up next day there was a notice for fresh version of NP and i did that and all was well
Then i got thinking about the situation i described here and just wondering why during playback CS strings arent coming through when i play the keyboard, now i know
From now on i will just add a piano to the project since that has acceptable quality
That would seem to be a reasonable strategy.
Sensible playback of VSTs requires they receive appropriate MIDI messages. Normal Dorico playback uses playing techniques (notated in the score) and expression maps to send these. When you are noodling along on your keyboard, I’d guess the only messages that can be sent are velocity and a couple of CCs, so the response from the VST might be unpredictable.
Thanks
Maybe what I’m after is only possible in a DAW
As always thanks for the input
If you just want to hear a Piano sound whenever you touch your keyboard, go to Preferences / Play / Recording and uncheck Enable MIDI Thru.
Now Dorico won’t play back the incoming MIDI signal. If you want to hear a Piano, just open a standalone Piano VST outside of Dorico, so whenever you touch the keyboard you’ll hear Piano, but won’t hear any sounds from Dorico until you play the project, which will then still play with the full complement of sounds. (If you’re on PC you may need to use a software MIDI router to route the signal to both your Piano VST and Dorico simultaneously.)
The ability to set a fixed MIDI Thru sound directly in Dorico has been requested many times before, but using a standalone VST (or onboard sounds) is still the way to do this if you don’t want to hear whatever staff you were last inputting into.
I think your idea isn’t crazy. I added a midiplus x8Pro keyboard for travel because I wanted the heavy key station in my desk to stay there. I bought it because it was light, thin , fairly inexpensive, and I thought the metal case would hold up. I kind of ignored the fact that the x8pro also has built in sounds (based on emu proteus)
The unweighted design is a definite trade off. But I was very pleasantly surprised at how useful having the sounds are. Doesn’t require another instrument in the score, play ideas regardless of the focus. Piano is decent - not saying its strings are realistic but they give a better sense of a chord sometimes that just piano. You don’t have to plug and unplug things - your audio interface should allow to hear Dorico output with audio in from your keyboard at the same time.
I really appreciate the input
It comes down to expectations for how I can work and there are limitations. For me that means what I hear in my minds eye is more wedded to what I hear. The instruments can be either inspiring or distracting
Also the language and logic of softwares feel nonsensical and difficult. I admire anyone who can do it
I’ve had my eye on libraries that I want to work with and not just for the playback but as the voice I’m working in. Joshua Bell violin, VSL piano & string libraries a beautiful harp, marimba etc.
I’ve already invested in all the CS libraries and BBC SO and they are terrific
Whatever the “strings” instrument is that’s shreaking away while I play alongside a string orchestration in CS or BBC SO is a noxious thing. Playing piano in lieu of strings is ok and is what I’ve done in the past
The ideal is hearing a beautiful instrument playing its line as you’re working in a score. I get the feeling that’s only possible with a DAW. If it means learning more softwares and building an elaborate system that might be what’s next
Both of which go against my original aim to keep life simple and if I had the phone number of someone I could pay to build all that I’d be dialing it now
Big part of this is just that I’m no good w software
I’ll quit beating the dead horse here
FWIW, I had requested the ability to always have a Piano sound while inputting 8 years ago in this post, before I actually even purchased Dorico, and many other people have since, so it’s not at all an unusual workflow request. I would think that it could be possible to design a way for the user to specify a fixed MIDI Thru sound, but at least as of D5.1.4 it’s obviously never made it onto the development roadmap.
Im also using noteperformer with Dorico so that might be complicating things
There’s a lot going on that wasn’t there 25 years ago when I left off
I imagine the people building all this stuff have to pick wisely where they spend time and resources
Wow, I tried out this (to me ignored till yet) possibility with MIDI thru switched off and an external piano VST sounding in parallel, for recording in Dorico: it works incredibly well and no issue of latency (due to different attack of different instruments)! And it is also less distracting. Thank you for this!
To my uneducated ear that sounds like a solution to the original problem(?)
Yes: you can load a Kontakt instance outside of Dorico, and load your CSS instrument.
