How do you create a custom percussion map in Sibelius?

This is done by creating a customized percussion "staff type" in Sibelius. You can find this in the "house styles" menu, and more info can be found in your Sibelius documentation.

AB

Perhaps I should be more specfic. I have a midi keyboard that only has three octaves on it, and it can't switch octaves. I successfully altered the percussion maps on Finale to accompany my keyboard - how would I do so on Sibelius? I referred to the user guide, and I tried changing the MIDI input pitch on the Edit Staff options, but when I input the changed notes, I don't hear anything. The notes I left alone, however, work fine.

OK, I see what you mean now. By your description, it sounds like it should work. Are you sure that the "staff types" in question are assigned to the appropriate staves? Also, is the "use MIDI pitch" checkbox checked for each individual mapping/notehead that you've altered? This might also be something you might ask the folks at Sibelius tech support as they may have more info.

AB

A few questions. 1) Is the sound set important? I'm using Giga samples with Kontakt, and I have the sound set on Virtual Drumline|[Giga/Kontakt/Kompakt], but I see an option when editing the sound set to "Use for Kontakt." If I check this, then I can no longer select in it the Play --> Devices menu.

2) Should "Input pitch" remain unchanged, or be the same as the change "Midi Input pitch" for the percussion map?

3) When I open the "Spice Mon" demo in Sibelius 3, I cannot hear the snare part. (this is on an unaltered percussion map). Similarly, I couldn't hear the snare parts [the only instrument I had to adjust] I changed for my new percussion map. Is it likely that these are connected, or is Spice Mon known to not work in Sib 3? (I received a message upon opening that stated that it "Was made with Sibelius 2.1, and may have conflicts with Sibelius 3.")

4) On the template for Sibelius 3, there is a Staff called "Virtual Drumline Snare 5 lines" and "Virtual Drumline Snare 1 lines." Which one should I use? I assumed the 1 line snare.

[quote="Fuzzy"]A few questions. 1) Is the sound set important? I'm using Giga samples with Kontakt, and I have the sound set on Virtual Drumline|[Giga/Kontakt/Kompakt], but I see an option when editing the sound set to "Use for Kontakt." If I check this, then I can no longer select in it the Play --> Devices menu. [/quote]
The sound set is not mandatory, and is more of a convenience tool than anything. Don't be confused by the "use for Kontakt PLAYER" option in Sib3's edit sound set window. Kontakt Player is NOT the same thing as Konakt (the actual program). By assigning the "giga/kontakt/kompakt" soundset to your desired playback device/driver (in the devices window), you'll be able to select your instruments more quickly in the MIXER window. You can always make channel/program/bank assignments manually though.
[quote="Fuzzy"]2) Should "Input pitch" remain unchanged, or be the same as the change "Midi Input pitch" for the percussion map? [/quote]
If you are trying to alter the percussion map so that your input pitches are all accessible from your 3-octave keyboard, this would be the element that you'd change (the input pitch). The "Use MIDI Pitch" setting (checkbox checked, and midi pitches below it) should NOT be changed. Keep in mind each note has its own setting which is accessed by first clicking on the note in the top window. Then its parameters can be altered in the "edit note" section below. You'll need to know which notes correspond to which VDrumline sounds, so it'd be a good idea to print out the giga keymap from the VDL Helpfile so you know which midi pitches (G#5 for example) correspond to which sounds.
[quote="Fuzzy"]3) When I open the "Spice Mon" demo in Sibelius 3, I cannot hear the snare part. (this is on an unaltered percussion map). Similarly, I couldn't hear the snare parts [the only instrument I had to adjust] I changed for my new percussion map. Is it likely that these are connected, or is Spice Mon known to not work in Sib 3? (I received a message upon opening that stated that it "Was made with Sibelius 2.1, and may have conflicts with Sibelius 3.")[/quote]
Do you have your snare instrument properly loaded into Kontakt (the actual program), and it's set to channel 1? Is the "device" in Sibelius' MIXER window set to the correct driver (whatever you are using to connect to Kontakt)? It sounds like there's simply a setting that's incorrect for your snare staff. This shouldn't have anything to do with the conversion from the Sibliues 2.1 file to version 3.
[quote="Fuzzy"]4) On the template for Sibelius 3, there is a Staff called "Virtual Drumline Snare 5 lines" and "Virtual Drumline Snare 1 lines." Which one should I use? I assumed the 1 line snare.[/quote]
This is up to you. They both perform the same way, but some folks prefer the traditional look of a 5-line staff while others simply use one line for snares.

AB

I was changing the Midi pitch and not the input pitch! D'oh! However, it still appears not to be working. I used the original Template (for v3) again, and this time changed ONLY the "Input Pitch" for the snare, and it still doesn't seem to work. I press the keys that should have changed, and they don't trigger anything. I've made sure the Mixer is set properly, and that the files on Kontakt are set at the correct channels. I have one question: on the mixer, it shows the "Program" for the snares is 127. For tenors, it's 119, and for bass drums, it's 120. Also, the device is set for {Apple IAC Driver IAC Bus 1}, not "Kontakt."

On a side note, Tapspace is truly an example for customer service, with helpful people like AB around. For any other product, this exchange of information would have taken weeks: instead, it took one day. My greatest thanks and appreciation for all the help this forum has rendered to me thus far.

Glad we're able to give you some guidance. Now, if we could only solve your problem... :)

When you made the edit to the input pitches (in the snare staff type), were you editing the 1-line, or 5-line staff type? Whichever one it was, it'll be important that this be the staff type assigned to your snare staff in the score.

The percussion mapping features in Sibelius can be a little tricky to get working properly, so be patient. Many times, when something isn't working, it might just be one of those dumb little errors that you didn't think about.

Also, you might not hear sounds playing when you strike your keyboard unless you've first clicked on the staff in question (snares for example), then clicked "esc" twice (so you don't accidentally insert notes into your staff). If you want to switch voices, simply click on the staff in question (say, basses this time), then click "esc" twice. Then when you tap on your MIDI keyboard, you should hear that instrument. This is strictly for purposes of doodling around, and tapping on the keyboard to hear sounds. Also make sure "Midi Thru" is ON in Sibelius' "devices" window.

Since you're using Kontakt (the actual program), the "program" setting in the mixer shouldn't really matter. Kontakt doesn't actually use program numbers. For kicks, you might try setting all those to 1 and see if you have any different results. Your snare staff does say channel 1 here, right?

You are correct in having the "device" set to Apple Driver IAC Bus 1 since this is the driver that will go out to Kontakt. Which leads me to my next suggestion. In Kontakt, open the MIDI Setup window, and ensure that this driver is the ONLY one set to "on".

Okay, we'll get this fixed eventually! :wink:

I'll tell you exactly what I do, every single thing, so we can figure it out.

First off, I open up the unaltered VDL Sibelius 3 template (I redownloaded to make sure it was the original). I ensure that I can indeed hear the sounds that my keyboard can play in its 3 octaves with no problems. They work fine. On the template, I confirm that I see a one line staff for the snare. (How do I change the snare staff assignment so that it's assigned to the 5 line staff?) I then go to House Styles --> Edit Staff Types. I click on the Pitched Percussion button, and then click on Virtual Drumline Snares (1 line). Then Edit.

I click on, let's say the "Hits Right," which is a G# on the fifth octave. I change the Input pitch to C# on the third octave, leaving the Midi pitch alone (and checked). I then click "OK" on the Percussion Map window, and close out of the Edit Staff Types window. I then check, and confirm that Sibelius does not recognize the new assignment for "Hits Right." I also try this for both tenors and bass drums, with similar results. They don't register when I hit escape twice and experiment with midi through, and they don't register on the playback. I even saved the template under a different name, restarted, and still no luck.

One other funny observation: on Finale 2004, I did all of this and it worked, but when just tapping on the Midi keyboard to preview sounds, they reverted to their original settings. The playback worked fine, however.

To change to a new staff type, click on the first measure of the snare staff so it's highlighted. Then go to the "Create" menu and select Other>Staff Type Change>Percussion>Virtual Drumline Snares (5 line). Once you've done this, you should see the appearance of you staff change instantly. For the record, you can do this mid-score as well...

As for the sounds not playing back, this is still a little perplexing. When you re-assigned the G#5 pitch to C#3, then tried to access the sound, are you finding that NONE of your notes work any longer, or just the newly assigned C#3. If it's just the C#3, I wonder if the C# that you're playing might actually be a different octave (like C#4). The majority of people call "middle-C" C4, but I've seen it called C3 and C5 before, so it's possible that your keyboard may be in a different octave. I'm just brainstorming...not sure if that might spark an idea on your end.

If you really wanted to be ambitious, you could build your own staff type from scratch. You probably have the hang of how it all works. Just one word of caution. If you are going to use more than one of the same-looking notehead on the same line, Sibelius will only recognize ONE of them. So the workaround is to create a NEW notehead (that's identical), name it something different (in the edit noteheads window), then assign it to a unique pitch. Yes - it will be a hassle beyond belief, but I'm sure you could do it. Perhaps just by starting with the essential notes/sounds, you can get up and running without wasting too much time. Sorry for the ongoing frustration...

[quote="Adam Bacon"]
As for the sounds not playing back, this is still a little perplexing. When you re-assigned the G#5 pitch to C#3, then tried to access the sound, are you finding that NONE of your notes work any longer, or just the newly assigned C#3. If it's just the C#3, I wonder if the C# that you're playing might actually be a different octave (like C#4). The majority of people call "middle-C" C4, but I've seen it called C3 and C5 before, so it's possible that your keyboard may be in a different octave. [/quote]

Yeah, what happens is that the newly assigned sound doesn't work, but everything else does. It also seems like my other keyboard sounds are assigned to the correct keys and octaves so the the "Middle C" on my keyboard is in fact C4.

What I'll do is make my own percussion map...should only take me a day or two to bust it out. Thanks for the help!

OK Fuzz. Good luck!!

Okay, this is frustrating, heh. Even if I make a new percussion map, it still won't register the sounds that I have changed that would be considered the "original" set up. No matter what I try, I cannot for the life of me assign a certain sample to a certain key other than the one that it was intended for. I know I'm doing it correctly!

Only two options left: persevere, or wait for the next paycheck and get an Oxygen8.

Fuzzy - I haven't tried doing what you're doing yet, so I can't speak from experience. Be sure however, that the NEW sound set you're creating is the one assigned to the staff you are trying to hear. You may have already done this, but it's one of those things that's not immediately obvious in Sibelius.

Also (if you haven't already), you'll need to create several new noteheads to use in conjunction with your new staff type. Since you can't have more than one of the same notehead sharing the same display-line, you need to create duplicate (though unique) noteheads that look the same. It's also important that you name the noteheads differently. This is all done from within the "edit noteheads" window. I think Sibelius has around 24 noteheads by default. The VDL template has 49, so there's considerable adding that needs to be done.

AB

Yeah, I've done both of the things you've talked about. Fact is, I think this cheapie keyboard I have (eKeys 37, ~$50) is just not working well with Sibelius. Perhpas you can put some kind of warning somewhere, that this is not an acceptable keyboard for VDL. The fact that it can't switch octaves, and that is has apparent difficulties with the software needed to use VDL, make it quite the hassle.

Is there some way I could still get the price cut that one would normally get by purchasing VDL and the Oxygen8 together?