Am I the only one to be really annoyed that, in a world where every VST has been made with “really real realistic orchestra instruments and very super precise mics”, a Forte Timpani is not audible in the middle of piannissimo strings ?
The good old (and fast) General Midi does better in that feeling of balance (and attacks), and unfortunately, Dorico seems to be unable to switch to this simple set of sounds. I am compelled to either write something that is false (FFFF timpani), or not being able to listen to what i wrote. Should I switch back to Guitar Pro ?
What is the point of all this super sounding VST when basic things like attacks or balance are not here ?
you can easily adjust the dynamics in the key editor. There’s no such thing as a library which is perfectly balanced – in fact with my own orchestral library of choice, I often have to give the timpani a nudge towards the top so it is loud enough in f passages. If the overall dynamic is too low, then increase the bottom value in the Expression Map (which is what @benwiggy was hinting at).
Again it might be possible to be more concrete if we knew what your “super-sounding VST” actually is.
Thank you for your help. I’m using the built in iconica sketch VST.
In fact, What I would really love is a possibility to activate the good old General MIDI bank that sounds like crap but has a reliable feeling of attacks and dynamics (in my opinion, maybe).
I’m too often disappointed with “good sounding VST” because it feels soft and you have to fine tune complicated buttons everywhere. It feel like I am routing things in a DAW. This is not what a score editor should be focusing on, but instead have a quick and reliable result for composers. At least this would be more suitable for my needs.
Maybe there is a way to set an orchestra template with simpler sounds ?
But, again, I am kind of disappointed because even the 70€ Guitar Pro has an easily reachable option to switch from “Real sound engine” to “midi”…
I was thinking also of recommending NotePerfomer. The tone isn’t especially good,especially in the strings, but regarding ease of use and relatively good balance, it might be what you’re looking for. . As Arne has recently said, it’s primarily designed as a proofing tool, not as one for audio production. Still, it’s 1000 times better than general MIDI.
The main reason I use Dorico is because it actually enables good control of decent sound libraries so I don’t agree at all that that is not what a score editor should be about. But of course Dorico has a very varied user base from those who are simply engravers/publishers who have no interest in playback to those who just want Dorico to produce good looking scores with minimal user input so they can get on with the more interesting business of actually writing music and trying to get it to sound half-decent.