I notice sometimes my VSL SE instruments play the rests in Finale 2010. For example, there might be a passage followed by an eighth rest, followed by some more notes. This happened in a trumpet part, and the trumpet played a very short note on the rest, the same pitch as its previous note.


I replaced the rest with an articulation control note, and then the trumpet was silent. I think that may be because the note is out of range, so it can't play, and that forces a silence.


At other times, instruments may play a short note at the beginning of a rest after a passage...for examples, if strings had a long arco note, sometimes after it there's a kind of "pizz" sound in the first rest after the passage.


What causes this, and how does one avoid it (without putting out-of-range notes all over the place)?


Thanks for your help.

Hi,

I have a problem with certain staves unable to do the right articulations. Usually they're stuck on the "staccato" articulation. I can go into Vienna Ensemble and manually change the "Patch Assign" to legato or sustain, but that just masks the problem because it's not responding to the articulations in the score. This can happen with instruments that have worked fine in the past.


Earlier, when I had this problem, I was given some recommendations, but I find that even when I do everything "right," the problem still happens. Here's what I'm checking:

1. Make sure the instruments are all assigned to different channels in VE (e.g., none of them say "All" and none of them have the same number). CHECK.
2. Make sure the Vienna Instruments SE file is attached to the file under Human Playback preferences. CHECK.
3. Make sure the instrument name, staff name, and assigned General Midi patch all match something related to the instrument...e.g., if it's a flute, they all say "Flute" or "flute" or possible "flute 1" etc. CHECK
4. Either have HP on or apply the HP plugin to the staff or selected area in Finale. CHECK.

After this, I'm out of things to check. I know there's a workaround where I can add notes that direct it to change articulations, or have an additional staff for each instrument dedicated to putting in those notes. However, since this feature of having it know based on the articulations in Finale works SOME of the time, I want to know if there's a way to get it to work all of the time.


Is there anything else to check to ensure that this feature would work other than what I've listed?


Thanks for your help!

Never mind, I answered my own question. I had forgotten the step about copying the XML file to a different spot. It's working now...sorry about the false alarm. :)

Hi,

   I upgraded to a new computer. Things are working fine with Vienna SE and Finale 2010 except for this: Percussion tracks for files that were written on the old computer play different sounds when they're played back on the new computer. For example, I have a file where the old computer has a low gong, but on the new computer, it comes out as a very high-pitched going. I think somehow the mapping of the percussion instruments is different. Why is this happening, and how do I resolve it?
   I also notice that on a particular file where I tried to add a note to a cymbal/gong staff, Finale crashed every time I tried, so I had to create a new staff for cymbals/gongs. I'm wondering if this is related.
   Thanks for your help.

Thanks, this gets me a little closer. So, I downloaded VIP and was able to enter the demo license (after rebooting). Sure enough, when I select VIP instead of VE, the violin can play double-stops in legato mode. However, there's a new problem: when it tries to do legato double-stops, it does some weird slide on the top note sometimes. For example, suppose, the violin is playing a C major scale in thirds upward from middle C:

EFGABCDE
CDEFGABC

And suppose that we do that under slurs...either one big slur, or divided up with one bow for every two notes. In either case, here's what happens: The first two notes are in tune, and so are the 5th and 6th notes. But the other four notes have some odd sliding around on the top note, as if the violinist having trouble with the fingering on the upper positions...so pitch-wise, it comes out sounding something like this, with glissandi between the F# (which I don't want) and G, etc.:

E-F-F#GG#AB-CC#DD#E-
C-D-E-  F-  G-A-B-  C-  

Obviously, to play scales in the thirds, some sliding is required, but in real life, the violinist would tend to smooth this out, and the sliding would occur between the notes, whereas here it's on the beat. How can I disable that weird sliding behavior and have it play the notes in tune?

One other issue: When I use Vienna Ensemble, it appears that it's still using Vienna Instruments as the back end, not VIP, because it's doing the bottom notes as grace notes again. So I looked around for how to make VE "connect" with VIP.

At first, I thought I had it: Right near where I can add a "New Instrument," there's something that says "Add VI Pro." I thought aha, this is it, but whenever I select that, all it does is bring up a message box that says something like "Vienna Ensemble has stopped working" and telling me that Windows is trying to solve the problem, and then asking me if I want to send Microsoft information about why VE stopped working.

So I'm still stuck...How do I make VE use VIP and not give this message about it not working?

Thank-you very much for your response. Unfortunately, I am somewhat confused about the various products. I started out using Vienna Instruments (VI) but found it didn't serve my needs because it deals with only one instrument at a time. So now I'm using Vienna Ensemble (VE). But, as revealed in this thread, it has a limitation of not being able to perform double-stops in "legato" mode. Hence, the suggestion that I should try Vienna Instruments Pro (VIP). But won't that have the limitation of only supporting one instrument at a time (just like VI), putting me back at square one? However, when I look at the description, it seems to have many advantages, such as microtonal tunings and range extensions, that aren't listed in Vienna Ensemble Pro (VEP). So suppose I want all the advantage of VIP, but I need more than one instrument at a time. Does VIP work "together" with Vienna Ensemble in some way so that I can have multiple instruments but the advantages of VIP? Or does VEP contain all the advantages listed with VIP, even though the page on VEP doesn't list these? Or does VIP support multiple instruments (unlike VI)?

Thanks for your help!

Ah, that explains it, thanks. That's exactly what's happening.


So basically if I pay 145 Euro for this software, it will basically play everything the same except without the various bugs and glitches? But for existing projects, will I have to set up all the instruments again? Or can I save the VSL project and then open it into the VSL Pro? (Hard to believe that will be possible without making Finale crash but we'll see....)

Also, one thing...I'm using Vienna Ensemble, since I need multiple instruments at once. So that would mean that to have it be bug-free, I'd have to go up to Vienna Ensemble Pro (235 Euro), not Vienna Instruments Pro, right?

For people who know Finale, is there anyway to force a given VSL patch (e.g., sustain) on a given note? I always wondered about this too, because on some instruments, VSL doesn't always follow the appropriate patch for Finale's notation...e.g., sometimes the trombone plays staccato unless I select sustain in the VSL ensemble player, and that sometimes does the trick although occasionally it makes it just stay on whatever patch I selected, whereas what I really want is for it do whatever patch is appropriate at a given time.

Hi,
  I'm having the following two problems with strings using VSL Special Edition on Finale 2010:

1. On long sustain notes, sometimes the strings run out of bow. With real strings, a violin player would just shift bows imperceptibly; in orchestral strings, the players can switch bows at different times. Sometimes, by taking less bow, one could also play a long sustain note without running out of bow. However, VSL seems to run out of bow sometimes. Is there any workaround for this?
2. On some double stops, VSL plays one of the notes very short, like a grace note, and then moves to the other note. So it's not a true double stop. This does not happen on all double stops. For example, using the solo violin, I notice that it does this on major third double stops, but it does sixths correctly. Although sixths are easier to perform as double stops, thirds are certainly possible, even by a relative beginner. These are not technically difficult double stops, so I don't know why VSL breaks them. Any suggestions on how to get around this behavior?

Thanks!

I realize what I did wrong...I had forgotten to make the staff name or MIDI-choice match the instrument name that one night. Sometimes I have had problems with certain instruments like guitar even if they seem to be named right, but I'll check it next time I use one of those instruments.

I see. Actually, I realize the fact that I can't adjust the pitch above 460 or below 420 is unrelated to the 200-cent limit. 200 cents above 420 would be 471. 420 and 460 are each a little bit less than a semitone on either side of 440.

Anyhow, regarding other articulations, if they're not in SE, can they be purchased separately if I decide I need them?

Thanks,
-Jonathan

I'm having a problem with articulations, which seemed to work sometimes in the past but often they don't.
Basically, I downloaded the HP preferences for Finale, which has stuff like D0 for sustained, D#0 for legato, etc.
Sometimes this worked, but then I was noticing it wasn't working, with the result that everything is staccato.
What I realized was that if I load a matrix, all the patches are C0. So presumably, I have to change each one individually to get it to match the keystrokes that will activate each articulation.
Once I do that, it works, but that's quite a pain to set that for every articulation in every instrument
So then I thought maybe I should load the preset, even though I don't like that because it uses memory for instruments I may not be using.
But when I loaded the preset, then each patch is E7. So I would still have to go through manually and change each one.
Surely there must be an easier way that I'm overlooking?
Thanks,

  -Jonathan

PS...I partly answered my own question. I see that I can tune the "Master Tune" in Vienna Ensemble up or down to integers other than 440, from 420 to 460 for a given instrument.
I actually wanted to tune it to 461 but am having no luck. :-| (Looks as if 200 cents is the maximum limit one can set.)
Still wondering though how about slides....
Thanks,

-Jonathan

Hi,
 Is there a way to get Vienna Ensemble / VSL SE to do pitch bends, portamenti (smooth glissandi), and tuning changes, either in Finale, or in a DAW?
  In Finale, when using the Garritan instruments, there's an easy way to re-tune an instrument, at least if one wants the entire instrument retuned. One simply sets the "pitchwheel" setting for playback, assigned to an expression mark.
  Similarly, if I can write a glissando between notes, and Finale plays the notes for Garritan instruments like a "slide."
  However, with VSL instruments, the pitchwheel setting has no effect. Similarly, if I write a glissando, I get lots of notes, like a scale, rather than a smooth "slide" like a get with the Garritan instruments.
  Surely there must be a way to change the tunings of VSL instruments and to get a "slide" effect?
  If not in Finale, is there a way to do it when using other software?
Thanks,

-Jonathan

Right, that's what I've been doing, thanks. :-)


I would mention though that as a feature request, it might be nice if sometime in the future, VSL were to provide the requisite TXT file for inclusion in Finale's Setup Wizard, just to make it easier and more convenient.


Here's a response that someone else got from Finale's customer support and just emailed me, which confirms that a TXT file would be nice, even though it's not absolutely necessary:


"A ".txt" file is required in order for additional sound libraries to show up in our Setup Wizard. Unfortunately the Vienna Symphonic Library does not come with a text file that allows it to automatically show up in the Setup Wizard. What you can do is set up your document using instruments that are closest to what you are looking for and then go to MIDI/Audio > Instrument Setup > Audio Units Instruments to manually load in the sounds you would like to use."


Thanks,

-Jonathan

Okay, sorry, I misunderstood because you said to use the setup wizard. The percussion map seems to be working now. However, if I use the Setup Wizard, I have to select another library, and then change it to VSL later.

Thanks,
-Jonathan

The problem I'm having with that is that Finale's Setup Wizard doesn't "see" VSL. (Apparently, some special file is needed.) Please see my comment at http://community.vsl.co....27677/180856.aspx#180856

  Thanks,

  -Jonathan

Hi Andi,

In the Needful Things/Finale section, there's a zipped .mus file from which I can import HP settings, and there's an XML file for the percussion map.
However, if you look at an installation of Finale 2010, you'll see there's a directory like C:\Program Files\Finale 2010\FinaleVST which includes, in addition to VST plugins, text files such as TapSpaceinstrument2k10.txt and GIF2010instrument.txt.

These have data in a format that looks like this:
[VSTINFO]
Name          = Garritan Instruments for Finale 2010
PluginID      = GA2k
PlayerChannels      = 16
LibraryID      =

As I was told in the Finale forum, this is how the Setup Wizard automatically selects instruments for you. The Setup Wizard in Finale does all the work of selecting the channel numbers, making them match the instrument list, etc., so it makes it much easier to assign instruments.

Unless you can tell me another reason why the Setup Wizard isn't seeing VSL even though everything else in Finale sees VSL, I would assume that this file needs to be included to integrate VSL with the Setup Wizard.
Thanks :)

-Jonathan

Thanks, that gives me a better idea. So if I understand then, the things that I see under matrices are already set up from existing patches, and I can create new matrices by selecting more or fewer patches than the existing matrices, and then I can create presets from matrices.

I've been looking for information about the Audio/MIDI preferences in Vienna Ensemble. I can't find anything in the PDF explaining what the various options mean. For example, under Audio Device, I have "DirectSound: SigmaTel Audio" selected. There are other options such as "ASIO SHTDA." Why would one use that one...are there any advantages? Also, I have "Def" for Sample Rate and for Latency. In what situation might one change those?
Thanks,

-Jonathan

In the Vienna Instruments booklet on page 20, there's a technical explanation of presets, matrices, and patches.


I'm wondering though if someone could help me make a little more sense of how to use these. What I get is that if I select a Preset, it uses a lot more memory than a matrix because it's loading all the instruments for that preset into memory. And then if I click on Matrix Assign, I can see all the Matrices for that preset and assign them to my channels.


But since I could just as easily assign each of those instruments into the separate channels without going to the Preset first, and I still have to click on each of those instruments that the Preset loaded to assign to the channels, what good does the Preset do for me? Are there settings that come with the presets that aren't there when I just select the instruments from the Matrix view directly without going to the Preset first? Or is it just a matter of having the instruments load all at once instead of having to wait for each mouse click while loading instruments?


Talking about clicks....Suppose I like to start in the Matrix view. Is there a way to get it to default to that when I go into Vienna Ensemble?


As to patches, what I see patches as is a way to fix problems with articulations missing in a matrix. For example, if I select guitar, it only plays short notes, so I have to go to the patch and double click on the sustained notes, and then the guitar is sustained. Is that basically what the patches are for?

Thanks,
-Jonathan

Okay, I'm having the same problem here. I put the XML file into C:\Program Files\Finale 2010\Finale MIDI Devices, as instructed in the Readme file. Then I closed and reopened my Finale file, and created a "New instrument" for my percussion tracks, assigning the Vienna percussion map from the dropdown, and giving it the channel number linking it to my Vienna Ensemble instance.

But then I have two problems:
1) When I reopen the Instrument List, the "Perc MIDI map" is gone; it doesn't "stick" from what I did. I can keep redefining the instrument and selecting it again and again, but when I come back to that screen, it's never there.
2) When I'm entering notes in Speedy or Simple edit, it doesn't tell me what instrument I'm playing when I click on a certain staff line. This is (from my standpoint) the only purpose of the percussion map. So I have to tell "by ear" what each line does.

Related to that, is there a "cheat sheet" that explains which line on the staff is being used for which instrument? When I try to read the XML file in IE, it's not that easy. I guess I could import the XML file into Excel and then use a formula to convert these note numbers into staff pitches...A cheat sheet would also be helpful for any percussion instruments that aren't on the map (if any)
...Hopefully, though, there's a way to just get the percussion map to work...
Thanks,

-Jonatahn

PS...On the MakeMusic/Finale forum, they said some sort of text file is required to tell the Setup Wizard how to set up the VST library. I see the format of the files is fairly simple, but there's a lot of information in them. Does VSL supply such a thing?
Thanks,
Jonathan

One other thing: You mentioned "Please make sure to only add instruments with the Finale instruments wizard." Finale's Setup Wizard allows one to add staves that are linked with Garritan-for-Finale, smartmusic, and tapspace libraries.

Is there actually a way to make the Wizard's dropdown include Vienna Ensemble also? Everything is working with Vienna right now; it plays back, etc. ...but the Setup Wizard doesn't know about Vienna.

Thanks,

-Jonathan

Hi,
  I'm just curious here...If I ever wanted to use one of the VSL products that require huge amounts of RAM (like Mir, etc.), and my machine's memory isn't expandable to that extent, would technologies such as ReadyBoost and eBoostr, with the appropriate flash drive, allow the machine to satisfy the memory needs of such products?

  Similarly, would such technologies significantly improve the performance when running other VSL products? Thanks,

-Jonathan

Glad to find out from this thread that the Kipling poem in my project files is just something that VSL programmers put there.
This morning, I've been searching my entire hard drive for evidence of any virus putting that into files randomly, checking the registry and searching my hard drive for an infamous worm that's known to use the same text, and getting ready for a whole lot of time searching for malware to solve that mystery.


Nice to know that you folks have a sense of humor. :)


Please, in future versions, consider not scaring us users like that. (This all got started because someone couldn't open my project file and thought there was something wrong with it, but that's probably because he has a Mac and I have Windows.) From a user standpoint, it would have been much nicer if it had said "Rudyard Kipling, courtesy of the VSL team." Also, how about a shorter quote?


You have a great product though, and I appreciate all the support through the forums. I'm also I'm happy and relieved that it's not there because of some sort of malware.