Hello Timothy!

Thanks for the screenshots. Unfortunately they don't say a lot. I guess that the Vienna Ensemble instance that you have open is a standalone instance. The Vienna Ensemble plugin can only connect to Vienna Ensemble Service. I would try to open Vienna Ensemble Service (64-bit) manually from the applications folder and then connect again. If this doesn't work, please make another screenshot of the error message you get.

Best regards,
Andi

Ok, so now it says it's connected and I see channel levels moving as the score plays back, but I don't hear anything. Any ideas?

Hello Timothy!

It can have different reasons why you don't hear anything.
Where do you see channel levels moving? If you see them in the Vienna Ensemble mixer, please check, if they are routed to the Master Bus and the Master Bus goes to OUT1/OUT2. If this is already the case, please check your driver and output settings in Finale. Vienna Ensemble sends the audio signal back to Finale.

Best regards,
Andi

Hello Timothy!

I can see in your latest screenshots that audio gets routed to OUT1/OUT2 which means that it gets routed back to the host application (in your case Finale). If you don't hear the audio signals, please check your driver and output settings in Finale, the audio output of your audio device, your outboard equipment and loudspeakers.

Best regards,
Andi

Thanks for your helpful tech support. Most everything seems to be working now, but I have a few more followup questions. Any advice on how to make the horn and trumpet sound better? I'm pleased with the sound quality of the woodwinds, but the horn and trumpet sound very artificial. I'm also interested in buying the saxophone standard pack. Does that work ok with what I have. Last thing is on percussion: A couple of my channels keep re-setting to timpani after I've selected percussion. Any ideas?

Thanks,

Tim

Hello Timothy!

I'm glad that most things seem to be working for you now.

To make instruments sound more natural and less artificial there are many things you could do. You can finetune chosen articulations, dynamics, note start positions and durations and the mix. All these things are easier to edit with DAW software than with notation software.

Learning resources on how to get the best out of our instruments can be found here:
https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Academy/Other_Resources

All our instrument collections can be used with Finale, but please note that only the Special Edition Volumes 1 to 4 will work with the "VSL - Special Edition" Human Playback Preferences. For the Instrument collections (like Saxophones) you can add keyswitches and MIDI CC commands with the keyswitch dump file that we provide. If you want to stay with the Human Playback Preferences, you could chose Special Edition Vol. 2 Woodwinds (including Alto, Tenor and Baritone Saxophones) and maybe Special Edition Vol. 4 (inlcuding Soprano and Bass Saxophone).
https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Special_Edition_Vol2/SE_Vol2_Woodwinds
https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Special_Edition_Complete_Bundle/Special_Edition_Vol4

I don't fully understand the percussion problem. Where did you select "Percussion" and where do the channels reset to "Timpani"? Can you elaborate?

Best,
Andi

Thanks again for your prompt responses. The issue with percussion is that if I don't drag the specific area to the top of the instrument choices then it doesn't use that. For instance, I drug percussion to the top of the menu options and placed it above timpani. It plays percussion now for my percussion 1 part (channel 14), but now the issue is that it only plays the toms, and I can't seem to get the snare to playback. Any idea? Attaching photos of vienna ensemble and score manager indicating that both are channel 14.

Also, I tried to purchase the woodwind package you suggested back in November, and I'm not sure what happened as it didn't show up on my bank statement and there's no listing under my products or invoices for this purchase. Just attempted to purchase again, and it seems to be the same problem. please advise.

Hello Timothy!

Thanks for sending those photos.

I recommend only using one percussion instrument on one channel. If you want to switch between different matrices on one channel, you will have to add the according keyswitch note to your score.

By the way. We offer Finale percussion maps for Special Edition Vol. 1. They will help you trigger the right sounds and can be downloaded here:
https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Notation_Related

Your order didn't come through to us. Please send a description of what you have done exactly and which message(s) you have received in resonse to sales@vsl.co.at. Our sales team will take care of your problem.

Best regards,
Andi