No sound using VSL Special Edition and Sibelius 6.1 with sound set.

[kevjazz]

I’m having a problem getting Sibelius and Vienna Ensemble to communicate.  I have followed the procedure for enabling the Special Edition Sound Set for Sibelius 6.  I didn’t unzip the archive file from the website because I lookd in the sound files foler under Sibelius 6 an discovered that there already was a Special Edition sound set and a Vienna Ensemble  playback device available.  I assumed that’s what I needed, since I had all the appropriate options available in manual sound set under the playback devices in Sibelius 6.   Unfortunately, try as I might, I am getting no sound.  I recently upgraded my Vienna Ensemble from 2.x to 4.x.  I have both Sibelius 5 and 6 on my computer.  I have a string quartet which I wrote using the Vienna Solo Strings Sound Set and that is not working in Sibelius 5 as well.  I get the sense that somehow I don’t have MIDI routed correctly between either Sibelius 5 or 6 and the current version of Vienna Ensemble.  I may not have the right inputs and outputs assigned in Vienna Ensemble.  All inputs are Omni and all outputs are specific channel numbers from 1-16 as appropriate.  Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I’m doing wrong?

 Best, Kevin

[andi]

Hello Kevin!

Did you make channel and program settings on the Sibelius Manual Sound Sets page?
Can you see MIDI signals incoming in Vienna Ensemble?

Maybe you didn't set the correct output in Sibelius. This can be done in the Playback Devices/Audio Engine Options menu.

By the way: I recommend updating to Sibelius 6.2. The Sibelius guys did a great job in fixing a few playback bugs in this version.
You don't have to install the Special Edition sound set from our website, but it also fixes a few bugs in comparison to previous versions.

Best regards,
Andi

[cm]

kevin sent several replies to the server:

@Another User said:

Sorry for all the posts on this topic.  However, for the record, all the other sounds, such as my GPO 4, are located in a folder called

c:\Program Files\Sibelius SoftwareSibelius 6\Sounds.  This is not the path recommended in your tutorial video.  However, that's where thee is already a soundset file for Special Edition and all the other steps were doable with that file in that location.  Really don't get this.

Kevin

[andi]

Hello Kevin!

I will try my best and sort out your problems.

You can install VSTInstruments (dll files) wherever you want, but please be aware that Sibelius can only look up for VSTInstruments in one folder. So I strongly recommend installing all VSTInstruments you want to use with Sibelius to the same folder. The folder where Sibelius looks for VSTPlugins can be set in the Playback Devices/Audio Engine Options menu.

If Sibelius 5 can't find Vienna Ensemble anymore, you probably moved or uninstalled/reinstalled Vienna Ensemble to another location than Sibelius 5 looks for it.

The sound sets (xml files) have to be installed in a different folder. Where this folder is exactly located depends on the operating system you are working on. Please look up the exact location in the "Optimizng Sibelius Playback" manual. If you haven't done so yet, you can download it here:
http://www.vsl.co.at/en/68/141/460/576/655.htm

Best regards,
Andi

[kevjazz]

Daniel,

For the record, I also worked on getting multitimberal capability going in Sonar.  I did accomplish this.  So, I’m convinced that my settings in Vienna Ensemble are correct.  The Audio Engine Options are set to MOTU PCI ASIO (ASIO) Outputs ½.  If I load Vienna Ensemble before launching Sibelius, I will hear the one and only channel of sound I can get, playing half a step flat, as if there were a conflict between 44.1 and 48K sampling rates.  Everything is set to 44.1 as far as I can tell.  However, the point is that I get absolutely no sound from Sibelius notes in a score at all.  The test function doesn’t work when I assign an instrument and a channel in the manual sound set tab.  GPO and Sib Essentials work fine.  Also, it seems that this installation and update of my Vienna Ensemble has ruined the Vienna Solo Strings that I had working in Sibelius5.  I have no idea unless the updated Vienna Ensemble uses a different Custom Data Folder and won’t reference my Vienna Solo Strings playback configuration in Sibelius 5 for some reason.  

 

Would upgrading to Sibelius 6.2 have any effect?  I doubt it but thought I’d ask.  Also, in contravention of the VSL tutorial video on the subject, all my sound sets are located in C:\Program Files\Sibelius Software\Sibelius 6\Sounds, where everything but Vienna seems to work and all the steps needed to make it possible to work seemed executable.  My other VSTs are not located on my C drive.  They are on my D drive.  Does it matter that the folder location for VSTs in Sibelius is shown as being way under the C drive?

 

[andi]

Hi Kevin!

Sibelius won't find Vienna Ensemble, if it is installed to a location on your D-drive and you tell Sibelius to look for it somewhere else on your  C-drive. If you want to have your VSTPlugins on D, you will have to tell Sibelius in the Audio Engine Options menu under Virtual Instruments and Effects folder.

First you say, that the only channel of sound you get is a halftone flat. Then you say, that you don't get any sound at all. I'm confused.

Updating to Sibelius 6.2 will help in some matters, but it will not solve the problems you described.

The folder C:\Program Files\Sibelius Software\Sibelius 6\Sounds is ok for sound sets. VSL sound sets will also be found, if you put them there.

By the way: I'm Andi, not Daniel [;)]

[kevjazz]

Andi,

Here’s the deal.  What I meant by saying that I could hear sounds a half tone flat was that if I pressed a note on my MIDI keyboard in a case where I had loaded Vienna Ensemble prior to loading Sibelius, loading Sibelius would move all sounds down one half step.  The reason why I can hear music at all is because I’ve pretty well established that there is MIDI and audio communication between my controller keyboard and Vienna Ensemble in all cases.  Remember I did cure this problem in Sonar earlier an I have multitimberal functionality here.  The problem, as I see it, is that when a Sibelius playback configuration calling for Vienna Ensemble is requested, Vienna Ensemble is not opened by Sibelius as it used to be.  This is probably because Vienna Ensemble is no longer where Sibelius can find it.  This was probably caused by my installing Vienna Ensemble 4.1.7644.  I did not remove Vienna Ensemble 2.x before installing 4.x.   

            When Sibelius is opened and Vienna Ensemble is opened after the Sibelius configuration is loaded, the notes will play on my MIDI keyboard in the right pitch.  But only channel one is audible.  So, for example, if I choose the oboe staff, which I assigned to channel 2, I will play a note on the MIDI keyboard and I will see a note appear on the oboe staff, but a flute will sound because only channel one is audible in Vienna Ensemble.  Am I making sense?

Thanks,

Kevin

[andi]

Hi Kevin!

I don't really get what you are trying to do. If you want to use Vienna Ensemble with Sibelius, there is no use in starting the standalone version before Sibelius. In fact this might prevent Sibelius from having access to the ASIO driver of your hardware.

Maybe it would have been better to uninstall VE 2 first.

I recomend proceding as follows:
1.) Uninstall all version of VE you have on your machine.
2.) Install the latest version Vienna Ensemble (4.1.7644) to the VSTPlugins folder, where your other VST plugins are located.
3.) In Sibelius set up the VST plugins folder in the Playback Devices/Audio Engine Options menu under "Virtual Instruments and Effects folder". Choose the folder, where you have just installed the Vienna Ensemble plugin. That's the one where the file "Vienna Ensemble.dll" is located. If you want to use Sibelius 5 AND 6 on your computer, you will have to do that for both Sibelius versions.
4.) Close and restart Sibelius.

I hope this solves your problems.

Best,
Andi

[kevjazz]

 Andi,

I ended up rolling my system back to a restore point I made prior to installing Vienna Ensemble 4.x.  I now have functioning sound sets in both Sibelius 5 and 6.   I wonder if I failed to run the directory manager when I did the upgrade to Vienna Ensemble 4.x.  Would that have caused my problem.  Does one run the Directory Manager before installing Vienna Ensemble?

Thanks,

Kevin

[andi]

Hello Kevin!

If you didn't have the correct directory entries in Directory Manager, that would have prevented you from loading the patches. However, it doesn't have to do anything with being able to install Vienna Ensemble or any other software. You can run Directory Manager anytime.

Best,

Andi

[kevjazz]

 I get the active sense that I'm not making myself clear.  Here is my situation.  I was able to get both Sonar and Sibelius to communicate with Vienna Ensemble version 2.x.  I did this by rolling back my computer to a restore point which I created before installing Vienna Ensemble version 4.x.  When I installed version 4.x on top of version 2 without having first uninstalled version 2, I was eventually able to get Sonar to communicate with Vienna Ensemble.  But I was never able to get Sibelius 5 or 6 to communicate with Vienna Ensemble 4.x.  I'm running Windows XP Home on this machine.  I know that my directory entries are correct. 

Today, I undid the roll back I had done that brought my computer back to Vienna Ensemble version 2.x and, with version 4.x the current version, I completely uninstalled and reinstalled version 4.x.  Still, I couldn't get Sibelius to communicate with it.  My communication test involved bringing up a string quartet in Sibelius which used a Sibelius Vienna Solo Strings sound set I got from your website, and which was propperly installed and works under Vienna Ensemble 2.x.  When i opened Sibelius 5 with version 4.x, Vienna Ensemble would not open and the requisite Vienna Instruments and matrix files would not load. 

Since everything seems to work under version 2.x, I've decided to return my system to the old restore point with Vienna Ensemble 2.x and leave things the way they are.  Both Sonar 8.5 Producer and Sibelius versions 5 and 6 seem to be working agreeably at this time and unless there's some compelling reason to continue trying to figure out why it won't work, I'm going to simply leave things as they are until I buy a new computer, probably a Mac Pro, and reinstall everything under Logic, perhaps. 

One final thought.  All the installation of instruments in Vienna Ensemble and channel assignment is really no fun if your vision is poor.  Not only that, your directory manager doesn't even respond to screen readers.  The directory manager should, because it's a basic file folder structure that looks just like Windows Explorer which does respond to screen readers. 

Best,

Kevin

[kevjazz]

I’m hoping this is going to be the last of my inquiries about this subject.  As I said in my last post, I’ve given up on trying to update Vienna Ensemble to 4.x and have it work with either Sibelius 5 or6.  I’m working with Sibelius 2.x.  My last question is this. 

I have an orchestral template that calls for seventeen tracks.  I assumed that activating another instance of Vienna Ensemble within Sibelius5 would entitle me to add the seventeenth MIDI channel.  Interestingly, when I activated a second instance of Vienna Ensemble, after loading up my first instance with all 16 channels, I saw a master bus as I expected.  However, when I added my first instrument to Vienna Ensemble (2), I didn’t see a second input so that my channel 1 for the double basses at the bottom of my score would be distinguishable from the flutes at the top of my score.  All I have is Plugin MIDI IN for input 1 and “No Device” for inputs 2-8 in Vienna Ensemble.  How do I provide additional inputs for Vienna Ensemble when using Sibelius?  Do I have to choose the number of instances of Sibelius I want before I start loading instruments?  Is Vienna Ensemble 2.x limited to one instance only in Sibelius?  That doesn’t make sense if that is the case.  I may not have the most recent version of the sound set for Special Edition since I rolled back my computer to an installation that was at least a year and more ago.  But because I can’t get anything else to work, I’m not anxious to upgrade any software that I don’t have to.    

 

The other problem I’m having is that once I add a second instance, I can’t seem to get to the Vienna Ensemble interface for any of the channels that belong to the original instance.  Also, even after I’ve installed a second instance of Vienna, I still only have Plugin MIDI IN for input one and “no device” for input ports 2-8.  I’ve no idea what to do to get more than 16 channels in Sibelius 5 in Vienna Ensemble 2.  

Thanks for any help.

 

Kevin

[kevjazz]

 For the recod, I did figure out how to get back tot he first set of 16 channels in Vienna.  I now understand that adding the second instance of Vienna Ensemble in Sibelius opens a second interface which i didn't see initially.  But, the weird thing is that I stil can't get 32 distinct channels.

Kevin

[andi]

Hi Kevin!

Of course it's possible to use more instances of Vienna Ensemble with Sibelius to get a multiple of 16 channels.
As Sibelius is not VST3 compatible, you can only use Port 1 of every instance.
Please don't forget to make program and channel settings for all activated instances on your Sibelius/Manual Sound Sets page.

Best,
Andi