Portato Articulation for Playback with Halion Sonic Library Trumpet

Have stepped through the recently posted YouTube series: Dorico Playback Tutorials, facilitated by Antony Hughes. –an excellent tutorial series… Thank you, Antony Hughes!

After reviewing this series, I’ve been able to produce a somewhat reliable playback of my brass quintet. There are, however, issues with (1) sforzando & sforzando-p attacks; (2) crescendos/diminuendos are—at times—somewhat feeble; and (3) portato articulations—i.e., tenuto + staccato articulations—I’ve designated in the score are all played back as staccato.

I know that I can use the Dorico’s Key Editor in order obtain more realistic (1) sforzando & sforzando-p attacks; (2) crescendos/diminuendos. But I’m at a loss as to how to get the Halion Sonic Library’s brass to play back the desired portato articulations.

For example, I can see that the expression map that I’m using for the trumpets—Iconica Sketch Picc, Fl, Ob, Cor, Cl, Bsn, Tpt—has five mapped Base Switches:

  • Legato
  • Marcato
  • Natural
  • Non vibrato
  • Staccato

But, within the Halion Sonic Library’s user interface, I’m at a loss as to how to find whether the brass instruments I’m using 1) have a portato sound available or, if not, 2) whether the Halion Sonic Library has other trumpets sounds that do contain the desired portato sound.

Any feedback that more experienced Dorico users could provide in this regard is much appreciated… Thank you!