Snare drum rolls

Hi Robby, this worked like a dream. Question: do I have to do this for every project or can I save as a present? I really appreciate the trouble you took to explain how to achieve this “magic trick”. Thanks. Michael

You can export the percussion kit containing your edited instrument and then import it into other projects, but you can’t currently set it up as a default.

Thanks Daniel.

I am glad to hear you got it to work.

Robby

When I tried to follow this, in setup mode trying to get a tam tam roll, the option to edit percussion playing techniques is greyed out.

Perhaps you’ve got your tam-tam as part of a kit? If so, choose Edit Percussion Kit, then in the dialog, select the tam-tam instrument and click the Edit Percussion Playing Techniques button.

Thanks (2 years belated) for the nice write up, Robby. Worked great. The roll is a bit quiet, which will be my next challenge, but much better than the “measured strokes” I had before.

I am glad I could be of help.

Robby

Hi Robby,

I read your post here and tried it, but we’re in Dorico version 5 now and the playing techniques ands percussion maps are in different places (under ‘Library’). I tried to imply as closely as possible what you described here, but I can’t generate any sound at all. Could you explain the procedure in detail how to set the rolls up in Dorico 5?

Many thanks in advance,
Jos

If you did everything above but get no sound, there is a chance your percussion is not loaded. Do you know if your percussion map is loaded?

In Play Mode: Click on the cog next to the Port and Channel Number:

Make sure you have the correct percussion map loaded.

Let me know if you need anymore help.

Robby

All of the above, should all work the same. The only difference really is where the cog is to load the percussion map.

If what I said doesn’t work, please let me know. And we can look at other possible options for other fixes.

Robby

Hi Robby,

Thanks for getting back at me.

I did as you mentioned, but no Percussion map is loaded (although the bass drum, the glockenspiel and timpani play correctly). I noticed that there are 3 different Halion Sonic items (02-03-04) on top of the left window. And in my orchestral setup I have more than 16 channels. But even with a different Halton Sonic there there is indeed a Percussion map, the snare drum doesn’t play at all. Instead I hear the claves…

Here is a screen shot of my play screen


.

Hey Robby,

This was very useful indeed, I can now understand how this part of the software works… and it’s a welcomed change !!

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What does it show when you click on the cog next to ch. 2?

Robby

Edit: Forgive the late response, I never received an email stating you replied.

Just because you are hearing correct sounds for some instruments, doesn’t mean that you have things setup correctly. It’s hard to explain, but for some reason some instruments (bass drum in my experience) will play somewhat correctly even though it is not totally setup correctly.

When you click on the cog, the following window should open.:

In the percussion map column, you need to add the appropriate percussion map:

In a large score, it is NORMAL to have multiple instances of Halion Sonic (each instance can only run 16 instruments - so if you have 30 instruments you would have 2, etc. ). Percussion instruments can really add to the number of instruments. Tambourine, Snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle is a total of 5 additional instruments.

You need to make sure that you have the correct instance of Halion Sonic listed from the drop down.

If you are still having issues, we need a screen shot of:

  • ALL of your Halion sonic windows open, 1 per screen shot (if you have 4 instances, each instance in its own screen shot.

  • A screen shot of your percussion maps window

Please let me know if you have any other issues.

Robby

Hi there. I’ve been following/reading this thread because I’m in the process of creating Percussion maps for my VSL Synchronized Percussion set I recently purchased. I feel pretty successful with the Timpani setup, which is an Expression Map.
Now working on the snare setup in a Percussion setup.
Here are the screen shots of what I have set up in this test project:
VSL Synchron Player Snare Drum

End Point set up

Percussion Map

Play & Playback Tech. setup for Roll w/Snare On

Roll w/Snare Off

Percussion Instrument Play tech. Snare off

Perc. Instr. Play Tech. Roll Sn. On

So far with the PM setup, the “Snare On” & “Snare Off” seem to work.
I’m running into problems with the rolls, even though I’ve check many time the Key Switches, when played back, they don’t trigger as expected.
Wondering if anyone might know what I’m missing.
Here’s the project sample to look at.
Percussion Study SYCHized.dorico (1.8 MB)

Hoping all this makes sense, thank you for your time and consideration.

A lot to digest with that… and while I don’t have the sound library you are using, I believe you have the wrong note for snare drum rolls. You are using midi note 84 in the percussion map. I am thinking it needs to be 60, 61, or 62 (or 72, 73, or 74). Looking at the keyboard, I cannot tell where middle C is located. The rolls might be numbers in the 70s.

I can try to look more at this later. It might also be the snare on/off is causing the issue. At one time, years ago now, I remember running into an issue with using multiple playback techniques. I don’t remember the specifics at the moment, but it could be associated with that.

Robby

Another issue, I just saw is that you have 3 key switches occurring at the same time, in the percussion map. I am not sure if that is the issue. Do you need all 3 key switches keyed at the same time to get the sounds you want?

Robby

Robby, thank you for looking at this.
Here’s what I understand so far:
In VSL Synchron Player screen there are 3 columns:
Stroke Mode-Snare On/Off-Stack
Each column has 2 or 3 choices, which I’m trying to trigger with the respective key switches indicated next to each option.
I’m using C4=60 for my midi note table.
For a Normal Snare On Static Roll to play, I need midi notes 24, 21, 84. This is why I added those KS in the percussion map.
Make sense?