Best Solution for VI + Finale

[peter0302]

Hi All -
I finally bought Vienna with the introduction of the Special Edition. Wonderful library.

Finale 2007 has the capability to fully utilize all the articulations of the VI series. However, obviously it doesn't support VST.

The only solution, as far as I can tell, is to use Finale with a sequencer that supports VSTs and connect VI to the Sequencer with a MIDI Yoke. In the sequencer, I'd configure each track to have one instance of VI, which would respond to MIDI input on only one MIDI channel. MIDI through is enabled on each track.

I tried this with Cakewalk Sonar, but the results were disappointing. The response time of the VSTs to the MIDI messages was sporadic and slow. Music played back almost had a s"swing" to it. However, when I simply recorded the MIDI from Finale, and then re-played the MIDI from Cakewalk, everything was fine.

Cakewalk seems to be doing a fine job of recording the MIDI from Finale, but not of relaying it in real time to VI.

Is there any program out there that would be better for this? I was thinking maybe Sony ACID or Cubase. What do other people do?

Gee wiz, if the VI standalone would just respond to different MIDi channels this wouldn't be a problem, ehem, ehem.

[stevesong]

I do this all the time with Logic - using Logic as a sample player for what I write in Finale. I access Logic through the MacOS's IAC drivers. In fact this is my basic work format since I tend work from notation. If what I want is a highly detailed mockup, then when I am done writing, I make a MIDI file and transfer it to Logic.

On a Mac G5 the configuration of Finale playing Logic works very well - especially if one interposes a confinguration of Pete Yandell's MIDI Patchbay (which seems to reduce MIDI errors) between Finale and Logic. I've been able to bounce to audio in this fashion - Finale playing Logic's audio instruments, several instances of Altiverb instantiated in Logic with Logic recording an audio file of the result. Whether something similar is possible with any of the available Windows sequencers, I, unfortunately, don't know.