Exactly. If it doesn’t show up, restart Dorico.
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What a generous post - congrats on the journey. Just don’t forget to sharpen your axe from time to time. Watch Anthony Hughes’ videos. They are short and full of gems.
Now, you couldn’t try and convince @silver_mica could you???
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In addition to everything else that has been said about NotePerformer, realize that one can “rent” it for c. $12-13/month (USD), and once the monthly expenditures add up to the total cost of the program, one has a perpetual license.
Arne @Wallander has made purchasing the software about as easy as possible, and it is well worth the cost.
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Hang on a bit. I’ve been researching this for the past hour and also watched John’s (?) video on using NP with dorico, and now realise that if I use NP as playback, it just uses it’s own (NP’s) sampled sound library which is included.
If I want to use NP to playback other third party samples, ie BBCSO , i would also need to purchase it’s associated playback engine (e.g. the NPPE for BBCSO which is 69$). ( This also means that I will be spending a lot of time tweaking the configurations, which is really not a fun activity IMHO). What i gather is that NPPE’s “AI engine” is the thing working it’s magic to “humanise” those samples.
RAM requirements may also be higher than what my current PC could handle.
Am I on the right interpretation so far?
Frankly, even plain “out of box” dorico setup with it’s default HALion and ICONICA sketch playback is pretty OK for me , but I’ve switched to BBCSO Discover edition (cos it’s free) and I think I like it slightly better for the piece i’m writing now.
So again, back to the question of whether i should keep adding solutions to get better playback (if at all), or not. 
Decisions, decisions!
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Yes, renting is a good solution, that with the 30day trial i gather
If you use NP with NPPE and compatible libraries, you only need to load the libraries once (you can save templates in NP for this) and it works without need of complicated configurations. You can also test NPPE for the library you need for free: it works with 1-hour sessions for free, then you can reload it for further 1-hour sessions, and if you like it, you can purchase the engine:
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The NPPE’s are designed to be plug and play ideally without much tweaking. In fact, there are not that many possibilities to tweak them.
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Yes, using NPPE gets costly, but that’s mostly because of the cost of the libraries.
You need:
NotePerformer (includes the NPPE software but no access to libraries).
An NPPE licence for each library you want use.
The library or libraries.
Unfortunately Discover is not a supported library, you’d need BBCSO core.
There is the option of using Iconica Sketch with NP, in which case the NPPE licence is free, so you just need to buy Noteperformer and nothing else.
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It’s not surprising that you find Dorico slower after a day or two than you do after many years in Finale, but give it some time: I’m confident you will soon find Dorico comparable. I know that QWERTY keyboard-using Speedy Entry users are missing the ability to use the arrow keys to move the target pitch, and we’re thinking about that.
Both are excellent questions, but hopefully you will always find the relevant things under My Product Downloads, which lists the products for which you have valid licenses.
It doesn’t do any snooping. It does use a separate downloading tool called aria2 (no relation to the Aria Player that Finale uses for loading Garritan sounds) so you will see a bit of output related to that, and SDA will also look at various shared locations to try and determine which existing Steinberg applications you have on your machine, so that it can present an appropriate list of updates.
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HI @RichardTownsend
yep I got a much clearer picture of my “upgrade path” now. I get an educator’s discount with BBCSO Core, you see 
Oh, I see… so you mean that the $69 for BBCSO core (as an example) is actually a license fee, and not a piece of software. ? I thought it’s a separate installable. thanks for clearing that up for me
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Well, I think all the engines are downloaded with NPPE so you can trial them for free - then you pay to unlock them permanently.
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He seems to be a tough nut to crack, though… 
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The whole structure needed is:
- NotePerformer ($129 — for life!, if I’m not mistaken)
- NPPE(s) (separate purchase(s) for any third-party library/-ies
- Third-party installed library/ies (separate purchase(s))
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@judddanby
yep, thanks for clarifying!
so my upgrade path would be to just stick with dorico + BBCSO Discover now, (cos it’s free anyway and I like the sound)
Next upgrade- BBCSO core
And if I want to try to improve on that, add on NP+ NPPE library license.
From the demo vids I’ve heard, actually synchron prime or berklee sound the best (to me), but they are too pricey 
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Hmm, it’s not exactly designed for the sole purpose of tutti’s. It’s designed to better manage and control all the wacky variations between sample-based virtual instruments, even from the same library developer, where things like shorts and longs can have radical differences in volume, tuning, and timing if used with a normal expression map. It helps smooth out all those bumps in the most musical way possible, freeing you to focus on the music and use techniques and dynamics in a way that feels consistent and dependable. That’s essentially what it’s designed to do. It also allows you to combine techniques in a way most libraries won’t even have available - sul pont tremolo harmonics? con sord + sul tasto + slurred trills? etc. (though if using an NPPE, there are limitations here where it won’t exist or will ‘cheat’ the effect in a decent attempt). I believe it handles divisi automatically, too.
But yes, because it takes control of your instruments in order to do this, you have a bit less control yourself over certain details – but in general, you’ll find, you don’t really need to. It’s designed to handle all that library madness for you so you can just focus on music, rather than fiddling about with expression maps and plugins all day!
I would also add that while I agree it has a classical focus (and we’re all hoping they’ll add more support for jazz/big-band, modern orchestral and world instruments), it doesn’t necessarily have to “sound” classical either. I’ve used it with the NPPEs for solo instruments on very modern hybrid jazzy scores to great effect!
It’s an incredibly helpful tool. To the original question, they offer a trial but also IIRC you can even pay for NP in monthly installments, too.
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So far so good. The first learning curve is kinda big, and I’m making my way over it. Finished my first project. Even though it took more time I like the results. Not too much to clean up . I like the separation between write and engrave modes. I’ve also imported some fonts that I was using in Finale to Dorico that I liked. The Broadway Copyist Text font is great for modern arrangements and chord notation.
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I was mostly talking about NotePerformer’s own sounds, which serve me well enough that I’ve never bothered with the whole NPPE + another library route.
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Copy that. Yes, natively out of the box it can sound a little classical. I am hoping they will add better sounds and support for jazz and “non-orchestral” instruments and some more modern playing techniques, percussion in particular.
Dorico installs the Finale “SMuFL” fonts: Finale Maestro, Finale Engraver, Finale Broadway, F Ash, F Jazz, and their text pairings; but you’ll have them on your system anyway.
There’s also GoldenAge, which is both a music and text font rolled into one!
For standard NP sound set what you said is correct. It’s very transparent. If you’re using an NPPE, you’ll also need to start up the NPPE application outside of Dorico. If you forget to do so, NP just uses its default sounds.
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