String harmonics playback

Dorico
1

In the example Dropbox - Public - Simplify your life the harmonic in bar 4 is correctly played back when it is selected. When played back from the beginning, everything is played back except the note in bar 4.

2

I donā€™t have that Cremona Quartett software
but if I choose the Halion Violin, it works like wanted.

3

In your expression map, you should transpose -24 your Flageolett and Flageolett con sord. entries, and then they will play back correctly. (You can see that without the transposition, Kontakt is trying to play the note, but it is out of range.)

Edit, in my earlier reply, I said transpose -12, but I think itā€™s actually -24. What I think is happening is that during playback, Dorico interprets the harmonic into what it thinks is the correct pitch. So for a touch-4, it transposes to +24. The problem is, the Cremona patch is already +24. So transposing -24 in the expression map brings you back to the correct pitch.

Whatā€™s weird is that when you select the touch-4 note, Dorico does not do the +24 transposition. So now, because the expression map is doing -24, you will not hear that note when selecting it, only when playing it back! A bit confusing!

1 Like
4

Thank you very much, Chester! It does work now correctly. John_at_Steinberg would say to your last paragraph!

1 Like
5

Chester, this story has not ended for me, as I stepped into a new problem.
I give you an example file. You see some notes played by ā€œI. Geigeā€ and ā€œII. Geigeā€. I. Geige has an Expression map with Transposition -24 for harmonics, II. Geige not. I. Geige plays the first bars correctly, but in bar 6 the transposition of the EP is nort executed. In II. Geige, which has no transposition in the EP, the transposition is executed in the notes itself - and the sound is correct.
In this thread: Problem with a transposing expression map entry - #23 by SampoKasurinen has found out: "I investigated this a bit further: Itā€™s not only harmonics, but it seems that the transpose -function in general does not work if a playback technique with articulation type ā€œdirectionā€ is triggered.

Steps to reproduce:

in your expression map (for any library), assign arbitary transposition value to for example pizzicato -technique

in the score, place any playing technique with articulation type ā€œdirectionā€ before it. It may be listed as an add-on technique in the expression map, but that doesnā€™t actually matter.

Pizzicatos are not transposed anymore (but are still triggered)

I hope Iā€™m right with this, since I donā€™t want to waste your timeā€¦ :slight_smile: But this seems how it behaves on my computer."

In this folder you can find the dorico file and the nkm-file for Kontakt 6: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/pbtjz8y5y49qdpewjs9s2/h?rlkey=8vpi3xkfx3oshli1rdbythvnu&dl=0
Do you have any idea how to solve this problem?
Thank you, lupus2

1 Like
6

Hi Lupus2,

I have to admit, this is a bit puzzling, but it seems like a quick fix would be to go to your Playing Technique Senza sordino and link it to the Playback Technique Natural, instead of Open 1. That seems to work!

7

Thank you, Chester, for your proposal. Yes, it works, but it does not solve the problem in principle.
In case the expression map does not transpose for now I am preferring to add an extra staff and insert there the notes two octaves lower. Please look at the examples:

9

Thank you for your mail! I am sorry but your proposal does not solve the problem; the note in bar 6 is played back with the wrong pitch. Paul Walmsly has given a workaround which works:

| PaulWalmsley
July 25 |

  • | - |

Hi Lupus,

Apologies for the delay in replying. Iā€™m not usually able to respond to direct requests, however I have had a brief look at this issue. I think the problem is that the note in bar 6 has an active technique of ā€˜Natural harmonic 1 + Open 1ā€™. It looks like it should be playing back with the ā€˜Flageolettā€™ switch, but I think the presence of the ā€˜Open 1ā€™ (from the senza sord) has confused it. Iā€™ve found a workaround though: duplicate the Flageolett switch in the Expression Map and add the Open 1 technique. It should now play back the correct pitch in bar 6.

10

You probably want to look into exclusion groups. My understanding is that itā€™s intended for cases like this, where you either want one or the other articulation, but not both. (Like, for instance, a snare drum can have the snares either on or off, not both simultaneously on one drum)

That is a very complex part OF a complex part of the software and I donā€™t claim to actually understand it in depth.