Sibelius+ VSL bassoon = weird problems!

[WillK]

Hi all I just started using VSL Special Edition with Sibelius, and (after quite a while I have to say!) everything seems to work fine now, except for one thing: Tha bassoon is the only instrument that doesn't get correctly played with playback...it's the VSL bassoon sound allright, but the rythms screw up, the dynamics don't stick,...and oddly it's the only instrument that doesn't work correctly in this way. All the others work fine...any thoughts on why? Thanks!

[andi]

Hello Will!

I have never heard about such a problem. Can you explain in detail what you have been trying to do and what happened? Is it only rhythm and dynamics of the bassoon that make problems? Do articulation changes work properly?

Best regards,
Andi

[WillK]

Well everything seems to work too late...articulation changes arrive too late, and the whole bassoon score is played rythmically late too...long notes don't last as long as they should...it's very weird! I've just tried in one opened sibelius score so far, and the bassoon line is extremely simple...slow, long notes. But for some reason, it's de-synchronised or something...

[WillK]

ok I just noticed it's the "slurs" that make it bug...when I take the slurs off it plays fine, but when I want to write the bassoon lines legato, everythings screws up!! (??)

[aptmusic]

you probably selected the wrong sound ID by accident. If sibelius is sending the wrong notes as keyswitches for the bassoon, that could result in some crazy notes. make sure you have the latest sound sets and that your using the correct one. maybe try exporting the midi file from sibelius. try comparing the keyswitch data with the way your VSL bassoon. Also, the wrong bassoon matrix could have been loaded or a MIDI setting could have been changed in the control section of the bassoon VI.

[aptmusic]

also, slurs trigger the legato patch which is monophonic, so if you have divisi notes on your bassoon part its going to sound weird.

[aptmusic]

sorry for third reply, but the notes not lasting long enough could be an issue with VSL, legato patches in particular. In my experience, after a certain note transition, the player would run out of breath before my phrase was done. This is probably because the engine is triggering an individual recording that was a note transition in which no looping was applied to the sample. There is probably a good reason for this, and in this case the solution is this: you have to go into a DAW and create a second bassoon track in which you loop another sample and blend it in with the instrument that had the problem.

[WillK]

no, I don't think it's a breath thing, because I'm simply trying to slur a few half notes (really nothing long...). Without the slur, it plays it detaché perfectly but as soon as I try to slur notes together, the bassoon plays in a syncopated maner (litteraly reggae style!) with short brief notes played on the downbeats ! It really feels like the bassoon legato patch weirdly loaded...should I just reload my bassoon alltogether?

[WillK]

I just reloaded the bassoon and it still has the problem...help!

[aptmusic]

There should be a way for you to view the bassoon during playback. i think its a gear icon in sibelius. on the vsl instrument view, navigate to the matrix view where all the patches are visible. watch it and see what patch it is changing to during the slurs. like i said, it sounds like this is probably something wrong with the sound set assigned to the bassoon in sibelius.

[WillK]

I just tried that, I looked at the matrix patch page and looked at what was going on during playback...when the bassoon is playing slur notes, the legato patch is on (appears), but it still doesn't play it legato... (BTW thanks for your replies!!)

[aptmusic]

is there a way you can you can upload your midi file to a server or send it via FTP so that I can examine it? If its not a soundset issue, then here are the other scenarios i can think of: 1. other parameters in the VI were changed 2. your installation of VSL and/or your harddrive has been corrupted in such a way that a legato patch isn't really loading a legato patch. Have you installed all of the updates? Vienna Instruments, Vienna Ensemble, and the "library updates" for the special edition". while you're at it you should check that syncrosoft license control center is updated.

[WillK]

gee I hope it's not scenario #2!! I only very recently bought and installed VSL SE so in theory I have all the recent updates. I would really appreciate it if you can examine my midi file... How do I "upload it" or send it to you via FTP?

[aptmusic]

the software will only be up to date if you explicitly downloaded each of those programs from your user area. i doubt the software on the CD is up to date. actually, i forgot that midi files are very small. you could email it to me as an attachment. my email is aptmusic9 ......at...yahoo dot com. (i did that to protect against spambots)

[Goldomic]

Maybe could you also create a new test score for solo bassoon and use the articulations/expressions which seem to work improperly. If everything goes right in such a score then it's certainly not the VSL bassoon which leads you into troubles.

Sometimes I have timing problems with Sibelius 6 when I play big scores. Have you tried to play your score after deactivating live playback, live tempo (blue lightning and conductor icons on the transport bar) and any rubato/expressivo style (Play --> Performance --> expressivo/rubato = "meccanico") ? That may solve timing problems on my side.

Wouldn't you have written accidentally hidden informations like a metric modulation for your bassoon part ?

Good luck anyway...

Michaël

[WillK]

Hi guys I just tried my bassoon in a solo bassoon piece and the problem still occurs. When using VSL as a standalone with a midi keyboard, I select the legato patch and use it just fine, but in Sibelius the legato screws up, so I guess it's a problem that has to do with sibelius, not VSL...but why is it only with the bassoon that I get this? I just downloaded the sibelius sound set from the user area only a couple of days ago, so it must be the most recent one. aptmusic I'll send you my midi file by email. thanks!