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  • Vienna Ensemble volume variations

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    I use Vienna Ensemble in standalone mode (Windows XP SP2, latest VE update) and have a custom template for Woodwind. I normally drive it from Sibelius and use velocity cross-fade driven by expression/controller 11 but the following occurs even when just starting up Ensemble and using the mouse to 'play' notes via the Ensemble 'keyboard'.

    As an example of my problem, one slot is set to French Oboe with the default VSL Special Edition patches. The staccato patch volume seems very low now but wasn't historically, almost as though a setting's been reduced and not reset. If I add a new instrument slot and make this also the same matrix/patch and select exactly the same I/O output with exactly the same volume set on the patch page (I haven't changed any of the default volume fader settings on the master bus screen) the new oboe volume is fine. Both the original / old have identical settings as far as I can see and neither use any extras e.g. VST effects - including starting velocity cross-fade / expression levels on the VE 'perform' page

    I assume I'm forgetting something pretty obvious here but can't see what! Any pointers?
  • D
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    Go to the VI GUI and check:

    • Expression level
    • Volume level
    • Check in Control that the patch hasn't somehow been set to a lower volume

    DG
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    DG

    Thanks for the quick reply. The VI loaded with the same matrix, looking at the same staccato patch has volume max, expression max and if I set the volume to the same level as VE, then it is as loud as the 'new' slot instance.

    I'm not sure what your last point means - the 'volume' to the right of the keyboard and/or as shown on edit-cell patch is max
  • D
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    I'm starting to get confused now. Please can you confirm which version of Sibelius you are using.

    DG
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    DG

    The midi file has controller 7 / 11 settings hardcoded at the start of each stave but other than that I just rely on Sibelius to adjust volume using a modified version of the Sibelius VE soundset which for Oboe uses expression to control volume and I use the Sibelius dictionary to control volume through hairpins / expression marks e.g. forte. I've also got the Sibelius "reset controllers" setting on in Playback.

    I don't understand your original answer given that if I add a new slot to the Woodwind VE instance with the desired matrix/patch the volume is OK. Even if Sibelius has somehow altered a parameter I can't see any volume related parameter that's different in VE when just loading up an instance with the Woodwind template and adding in a new slot with the French Oboe. ie the difference seems related to the slot parameters rather than the underlying sample parameters?

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    DG

    Just saw your request on the other thread so a couple of extra points.

    I remember having this problem before and the only way I had of fixing it was to delete the affected instrument in VE and re-create it. This was before I changed to using Volume Cross-fading so that latter is unlikely to be related.

    I haven't systematically checked but when an instrument becomes quieter I believe it's affecting all the patches in that instrument slot - it's just that it's more obvious with short patches like stacatto.

    I have used this midi file / config quite a lot so the effect seems ad hoc rather than easily repeatable.
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    OK, I was getting confused because you mentioned standalones, and you can't use standalones with Sibelius 5 on the same PC.

    I think that there are other things which can affect the playback in Sibelius (such as the volume setting on the Sibelius mixer), but this seems very unlikely in your case. Do watch out for Sibelius sending volume changes though, as I've found that this sometimes happens when I'm least expecting it.

    DG
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    DG

    Thanks for looking at this. The Sibelius mixer setting is OK but my main confusion is that I can recreate this just loading VE, playing the affected slot/patch and adding the new slot/equivalent which is much louder even though I've set the volume/expression to the same level in VE and I'm using exactly the same i/o path and same treatment (ie no added effects / reverb / limiters etc)

    Even if Sibelius has impacted something whether volume / expression I can't see which parameter is different when looking at the two cases in VE.  Still at least the behaviour is logged so if anyone else has similar issues maybe a comparison of context will shed some light on it.
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    I really don't know what else to suggest, except to say that it might be worth contacting Sibelius support, so that they can look at files which exhibit this behaviour.

    DG