Partial sound in Sibelius with multiple VE instances

[KATHYWATSON]

Hi, I've tried to configure Vienna Instruments with Sibelius, and have gone over every printed instruction set, online video, and Forum post, and am still stumped.

I am using Sibelius 8.4.1 and have the latest Vienna Special Edition Plus and Sibelius soundset files installed. I'm using Windows 7 Professional 64-bit on a homebuilt computer with a SoundBlaster Recon 3Di card and good stereo speakers.

The score I'm trying to play has 42 instrument lines, so I require 3 instances of Vienna Ensemble. I have configured all three correctly (the third one has only 10 instruments); the first one uses MIDI Port 1 and Channels 1-16; second one MIDI Port 2 and Channels 1-16; third one MIDI Port 3 and Channels 1-10. All three VE instances show in the Sibelius Playback Devices list, and all the manual sound sets agree with the VE channels. When I test each instrument within the VE instances, they sound correctly. But when I play the score in Sibelius, only the instruments in my VE first instance (MIDI Port 1) play. Instruments from all three instances show visually in the Sibelius mixer, so I know the signal is getting from Vienna to Sibelius. But only those instruments in the first VE instance actually sound.

What am I doing wrong?

Thanks, Ken

[andi]

Hello Ken!

Sibelius doesn't support VST3. So you can only use MIDI port 1 of Vienna Ensemble. Please make sure that you have the MIDI ports of all Vienna Ensemble instances set to 1 or Omni.

Best regards,
Andi

[Bill]

Or better yet, use the Event Plungin to handle ports2 and 3

[KATHYWATSON]

Thank you! That got almost everything playing. I still have no sound for cymbals, snare drum, bass drum, or marimba. I think I've selected the right sound files. The Sibelius mixer does show signal visually.

Also, I just noticed another issue. At some points, some of the voices don't sound, but switch randomly between other channels. It's like several are trying to share the same channel.

Yes, I'm a newbie to this.

[andi]

Hello Ken!

Such a problem can have different reasons. Please check out the Troubleshooting chapter of the "Optimizing Sibelius Playback" manual.
http://www.vsl.co.at/en/MyDownloads/Notation_Related

Best regards,
Andi

[KATHYWATSON]

I'm sorry, but I still can't get VSL to work completely with Sibelius. I'm having the most difficulty with percussion instruments. I bought the Vienna Special Edition Complete Bundle, and also installed the Sibelius Soundsets.

I created a new score, with just triangle, cymbals, snare drum, bass drum, and marimba. I imported the VSL house style into Sibelius. I created a Vienna Ensemble instance and chose the instruments from Sibelius --> Percussion 1.4 --> Single Instruments --> Single Instruments Standard. I assigned each instrument a unique MIDI channel. Within the VE instance, these instruments showed keyswitches, but no active keys on the keyboard in order to hear samples.

Back to Sibelius, I used Manual Sound Sets, chose Percussion for the Program name, and assigned each instrument the same channel corresponding to the VE instance. But I could not find anywhere the specific instruments: triangle, snare drum, or bass drum. Still, I saved the setup before trying it. Even so, none of these five instruments make any sound at all.

I have pored over the VE_Optimizing_Sibelius_Playback, VE-Percussion_Soundset, Youtube tutorials, and other text files, and cannot figure out how to make this work.

What am I missing?

[andi]

Hello Ken!

According to your description, you have loaded VI presets for the Percussion single instruments, which you don't have. All VI presets for Sibelius for the Special Edition Complete Bundle can be found under Sibelius/Special Edition 5.2.

Please also make sure to use the sound set "VE Special Edition PLUS". For the instruments of your score, assign the programs Percussion, Cymbals, Drums (2x) and Marimba on the Manual Sound Sets page.

Best,
Andi

[KATHYWATSON]

Okay, I think I'm making progress. All 5 instruments play, but they play the wrong things. My triangle plays a castanets sound; the cymbal plays a small gong sound; the snare drum plays a snare drum; the bass drum plays another snare drum; and the marimba is correct. I selected all these instruments from VE Special Edition 5.2 Vol. 1. None of the other Volumes (including the SE+ Volumes) have any percussion.

Is there a keyswitch I need to enter? If so, how? Or do I need to re-enter all the percussion notes using a different MIDI keyboard key?

Thanks so much,

Ken

[andi]

Hello Ken!

I can only guess. Maybe you have the wrong instruments in your score. You will only get a Triangle sound, if you have a Triangle staff in your score. For the Cymbal and the Bass Drum it's the same.

There's no keyswitch that you need to add. On single-line staves the notes should be placed on the line (b key).

Best regards,
Andi

[KATHYWATSON]

No, I have the correct instruments identified in the score. I even tried adding a new Triangle (etc.) after re-importing the VSL house style. But the new instruments play the same sound as the old ones with the same name. I'm attaching a small test score here. Maybe you can tell me where I've gone wrong.

The Vienna Ensemble instance for this score is as follows:

Triangle: Port All, Channel 1, Instrument 14S Percussion (from SE 5.2 Vol 1 33 Percussion}

Cymbals: Port All, Channel 2, Instrument 13S Cymbals-Gongs (from SE 5.2 Vol 1 33 Percussion)

Snare Drum: Port All, Channel 3, Instrument 12S Drums (from SE 5.2 Vol 1 33 Percussion)

Bass Drum: Port All, Channel 4, Instrument 12S Drums (from SE 5.2 Vol 1 33 Percussion)

Marimba: Port All, Channel 5, Instrument 08S Marimbaphone (from SE 5.2 Vol. 1 32 Mallets)

VSLU0020PercussionU0020Test.zip-1696285990752-136tg.zip

[andi]

Hello Ken!

Your example works fine here. I couldn't check your playback configuration though. Sibelius saves playback configurations in separate files and not with the score. Maybe that's still the problem. Did you create a playback configuration as described two posts earlier?

Best,
Andi

[KATHYWATSON]

Yes, I did. I called it "VSL Percussion Test" and identified Vienna Ensemble as the active device. I Manual Sound Sets I have 5 channels:

1. Percussion

2. Cymbals

3. Drums

4. Drums

5. Marimba

The only selection that has a Sound ID is Marimba. When I test the others it sounds like a quick run-through of everything in that Program name (e.g., the Percussion sounds like a rapid castanet jumble with a single triangle ding at the end). That makes me think that it is running through all the keys on the virtual keyboard from bottom to top. But I don't see a way to select a specific sound.

I found the playback configuration and am attaching it here. I hope you can help me figure out what I need to change.

Thanks again for the time you're spending to help.

VSLU0020PercussionU0020Test-sib-config.zip-1696285990982-kprho.zip

[andi]

Hello Ken!

I have seen in your playback configuration that you have chosen the sound set "VE Percussion". This sound set is for our Percussion and Elements instrument collections and single instruments. Please use the sound set "VE Special Edition PLUS". Then everything should work fine.

Best regards,
Andi

[KATHYWATSON]

Hallelujah! I knew it had to be something simple I had missed.

Thank you very much!