Percussion

[BFingerhut]

Hi there,

I've created a percussion stave with 5 lines.

When I assign the correct sound in the Playback Devices/Manual Sound Sets, and click on apply for the percussion, it says (none) under the Sound ID tab.

So when I go to notate a bass drum (or anything for that matter), it sounds like a sort of castanet...

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Ben.

[andi]

Hi Ben!

The Bass Drum is not included in the Percussion Matrix (in Vienna Ensemble), nor in the Percussion Program (in Manual Sound Sets), but in the Drums matrix and Drums program.

Best,
Andi

[BFingerhut]

Ok then, but everything else, no matter what key I press down comes out as the same sound...

Same with the Cymbals matrix, i can only hear a cymbal when I press down a B on the piano...

:S

[andi]

The sound you will be hearing depends on the instrument you have chosen in Sibelius. When you have chosen Bass Drum, you will hear a Bass Drum. When you have chosen Percussion (5 Lines) you will hear different drums, according to the note you have written.

Andi

[BFingerhut]

But that's the problem! I don't hear the note that I write on the percussion 5 lines.... Only a sort of castanet sound for all the notes...

Does it matter that when I load any percussion instrument in the Playback/Manual Sound Sets it says (none) under Sound ID?

For something like the cymbal, to get different articulations what do I need to do? because there are so many notes that sound differently, but only one cymbal stave... (one line)

Ben.

[andi]

As I said before, if you hear a castanet sound instead of drums, you are triggering the wrong instrument in Vienna Ensemble. Castanets are included in "14S Percussion". Drums are included in "12S Drums". Please check your settings (channels and programs) on the Manual Sound Sets page.

Sound ID (none) is correct for Percussion instruments.

For the Sibelius instrument "Cymbals" you have four different variations.
C6=Normal Variation 1
C#6=Choked Variation 1
D6=Normal Variation 2
D#6=Choked Variation 2
By default C6 gets played. If you want the other sounds you have to create commands in the Sibelius Dictionary.
For C#6 you need a command with Sound ID change "+choke". I personally would choose the word "choke".
For D6 you need a command with Sound ID change "+2".
For D#6 combine both commands.
To reset the Sound ID of an instrument write "ord." or "normal" or "natural".

If you want the suspended cymbal instead of the "a2 Cymbals" you have to create an instrument with Sibelius, as this is unfortunately not predefined. Here is how to do that:
1.) In Sibelius go to House Style/Edit Instruments
2.) Select the instrument Cymbals (you find it in Orchestral Unpitched Percussion)
3.) Click "New Instrument"/Yes
4.) Change the names from "Cymbals" to "Cymbal" (or whatever you want...)
5.) Click Edit Staff Type
6.) Click on the first note and then on "Choose Sound"
7.) Select metal.cymbal.suspended
8.) For the other notes you see choose the sound metal.cymbal.suspended.roll

With the commands written in the previous paragraph you can also switch to 2nd variations and choked sounds with this new instrument. Plus you can adress the roll sounds.

Best,
Andi

[BFingerhut]

Thank you, that's cleared a few things up...

However when I add a Sound ID change to the dictionary, it doesnt seem to do anything...

Is there a list that I could have of all things to add to the dictionary and exactly how to do it?

Thanks,

Ben.

[andi]

Hi Ben!

If you download the latest versions of the sound sets from our homepage, you will also get a readme file where you find things that you might want to add to your dictionary.

What exactly did you add to the dictionary that did not work?

Andi

[npavkovic]

Thank you for this thread -- I'm beginning to understand how to notate/sound the percussion. But it would be great to have quick access to all of the sounds within one of these patches. When you load Percussion or Drums or Cymbals within VE, you can play all of the sounds in the patch using the virtual keyboard. Can one create a single staff in Sibelius that operates the same way, i.e., just sends a note without specifying the actual instrument in Percussion is being played? (If I'm just trying out a rhythmic figure on castanets then woodblocks then the triangle or crotales ... it's a lot of work setting up and deleting the individual staves.)

Thanks again,
Nick

[andi]

Hi Nick!

You could do the following thing:
1) Add an instrument (for example Others/Unnamed Treble Staff)
2) Add Percussion (or Drums) on the Manual Sound Sets page
3) Add a Vienna Instrument with the Percussion (or Drums) matrix loaded
3) Set the channel for the this instrument in the Sibelius mixer
4) Now you can try different "pitches" (or in this case sounds) on that instrument

Best,
Andi

[ChoPraTs]

@Igilibo said:

When I assign the correct sound in the Playback Devices/Manual Sound Sets, and click on apply for the percussion, it says (none) under the Sound ID tab.

So when I go to notate a bass drum (or anything for that matter), it sounds like a sort of castanet...

I think that Sibelius automatically set a Percussion instrument as an "Unpitched Instrument". Vienna uses the pitched notes of a Keyboard for different percussion sounds, so if you didn't change the "Percussion Instrument" on Sibelius from "Unpitched" to "Pitched" you will always hear the same sound.

To change that, go to "Edit Instruments", select the instrument that you're using (for example, Percussion 5 lines) and change it to "Pitched".

Then you'll need to write exactly the notes corresponding to the sounds you want to hear. You can search it with the virtual Keyboard of Vienna Instruments, and then write it on Sibelius.

Probably, using "Transpose" options you can get the same sound in the central line, if you're interested to do that, but I don't know how to do that.

[BFingerhut]

Thank you so much!

That has helped significantly :)