More help over here in the UK I'm afraid!

For some bizarre reason my Spice Mon demo has started playing with all whistles etc and I can't seem to get it back!
I'm scared cos I don't want to mess up my settings for my usual writing etc!!
Heeeeelp!!!

cheers

Sounds like the score is probably sending its midi info to the wrong midi bank. If you've loaded VDL into its own bank of your soundcard, you'll need to be sure that sibelius is sending midi to that bank (in the mixer window).

A good standard procedure to get yourself back up and running is to first go to the "devices" window and click on your default output device (it should be higlighted). Then in the mixer, click "reset sounds". Next, make all your device settings for each staff (again in the mixer) for the following fields (Channel, Bank High, Device, and Program).

If you aren't using a soundblaster card, you can likely ignore the bank setting.

i cant even get it to play. every time i try to poen it, it says its has been deleted.

[quote="Scarlet"]i cant even get it to play. every time i try to poen it, it says its has been deleted.[/quote]

That may be a Sibelius bug. Make sure you have the latest updates from Sibelius. Have you tried opening the file through paths? Try opening the program first and then open the file.

Gabe

Actually, there's a problem with the SPICE MON demo file as it comes on the VDL disc. The file was named with quotation marks, which wreak havoc on windows computers. It opens fine on macs, but windows users should write in to tapspace, indicate when/where you purchased VDL, and tapspace can arrange to have a "windows friendly" version sent to you.

Hello-

I'm using the latest version of Sibelius and Mac OS 10.3.8. Under Layout Menu, Devices... I have DLS Music Device under the device column; Virtual Drumline (soundfont) under the Sound Set column; and VDRUMLINE FULL under the Soundfont column.

I'm using a G5 iMac with 2 gigs of ram. The file doesn't seem to play back correctly. I do hear some sounds (that I"m sure are from the library) but, for example, I hear nothing from the snare at A. The parts I do hear don't seem to exactly match the written rhythms. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[quote="augustson"]Hello-

I'm using the latest version of Sibelius and Mac OS 10.3.8. Under Layout Menu, Devices... I have DLS Music Device under the device column; Virtual Drumline (soundfont) under the Sound Set column; and VDRUMLINE FULL under the Soundfont column.

I'm using a G5 iMac with 2 gigs of ram. The file doesn't seem to play back correctly. I do hear some sounds (that I"m sure are from the library) but, for example, I hear nothing from the snare at A. The parts I do hear don't seem to exactly match the written rhythms. Any help would be greatly appreciated![/quote]

The solution will probably depend on where you've loaded your VDrumline sounds. Have you loaded them into a program like Kompakt? The "DLS Music Device" basically indicates that you've selected Quicktime playback as your default, which doesn't really work in the case of using VDL soundfonts.

On a Mac, the best thing to do would be to load them into your sampler (Kompakt, Kontakt, Reason), then tell Sibelius to send its MIDI out to the sampler via the IAC Driver (which can be activated at Applications>Utilities>Audio MIDI Setup). With the IAC driver setup as the INPUT in your sampler and the OUTPUT in Sibelius, the two programs should have no problem communicating.

[quote="Jim Casella"]

The solution will probably depend on where you've loaded your VDrumline sounds. Have you loaded them into a program like Kompakt? The "DLS Music Device" basically indicates that you've selected Quicktime playback as your default, which doesn't really work in the case of using VDL soundfonts.

On a Mac, the best thing to do would be to load them into your sampler (Kompakt, Kontakt, Reason), then tell Sibelius to send its MIDI out to the sampler via the IAC Driver (which can be activated at Applications>Utilities>Audio MIDI Setup). With the IAC driver setup as the INPUT in your sampler and the OUTPUT in Sibelius, the two programs should have no problem communicating.[/quote]

What exactly is the problem with quicktime? Is it a bug in quicktime or VDL soundfonts? I don't currently have an external player with the exception of Garageband (using a soundfont AU synth). Will GarageBand work? Should I just wait for VDL 2?

Thanks!

I'm not a Mac user, but I do believe that soundfont files will only load on PC's and not on Mac's.

It doesn't sound like it's a Quiktime or a VDL problem. It's a compatibility issue.

But like I said, I'm not a Mac guy so I could be wrong.

Actually, Mac OS X is completely SoundFont compatible, however the VDL1 soundfonts are not supported when loading them into the OS this way.

Typically, Soundfonts are loadable into OS X by placing them into Macintosh HD>Library>Audio>Sounds>Banks
Once placed there, they can be selected as the default playback set by assigning them via the "Music" tab in the QuickTime System Preferences. Apparently, the way in which the VDL1 sounds are multi-velocity layered, it causes them not to work very well. The soundfonts do work just fine however in more audio specific devices such as the sampler programs mentioned.

There's a little section on this in the Compatibility FAQ at:
https://www.tapspace.com/vdrumlinefaq.html

But long story short, the VDL1 soundfont format on mac is best used with an actual playback program, not loading directly into the OS.

VDL:2 will be completely different in that all the sounds are simply loaded from within its own player, so it should make this process much more simple, and unified regardless of OS platform.