At the very beginning of any piece (using the VDL template) and any note directly after a rest comes in quiet. Anybody else run into this? Peace...

Does every instrument do this? Are you using Kontakt 2 by any chance? Only at the beginning? Give a clearer picture of what's actually happening.

thanks.

My apologize... I do not have Kontakt 2 and I am using Sibelius (for the first time) with VDL:2 (Virtual MIDI Cable: IAC Driver (apple)). The first note (an eighth note at the very beginning) plays quietly only on the snare (the first instrument), it actually doesn't even register on the mixer, though there is an audible sound. All others play fine at the beginning (and they do play at the very beginning). However, all other battery voices are playing quieter immediately after a rest. Example: 2 16th notes, 16th note rest, 2 16th notes - the second two 16th notes actually sound as if going from tap to accent (inverted) and have no articulation markings present.

I will continue to read through the Sibelius books and troubleshoot. If there is any other needed information I would gladly post again. It may be the late night getting to me.

I have also tested with live playback on and off. No difference.
I've also tried using different DFD settings as well as not using DFD beings that I am not loading too many instruments.

You might want to check to make sure the ";Performance"; setting in Sibelius (in the Play menu) isn't set too high on ";Espressivo";. Mecchanico is probably the safest bet, though admitedly a little square. That may not be your problem though.

You might want to ensure all staves (in the mixer) are assigned to the correct Virtual MIDI Cable ";device"; as well as being sent to their own unique midi channel. While your in the mixer, you might also check the settings of the volume sliders. These sliders affect MIDI VOLUME (which is different than MIDI VELOCITY). Most VDL2 expression is handled by VELOCITY, however if you have any MIDI VOLUME settings entered into your score (Controller 7), this can definitely have a negative play on your volume. If that were the case, it's possible you might hear a sudden drop of volume. By your description, I'm not really sure this is the case either.

Have you entered any dynamic markings? Those affect velocity. Are the softer notes (even though occuring after a rest) happening after a decrescendo hairpin? If so, you should insert another dynamic expression (i.e. ";mf";) to tell Sibelius exactly what volume you want the next phrase to start at.

Also, be careful with ties. Sometimes people errantly use ties as a ";l.v."; (let vibrate) indication, which can cause problems as when a note's tied, the NOTE-OFF message is never sent, which can conflict with later phrases.

Sorry for rambling. My guess is it's probably something simple. It might be helpful (if you're comfortable) sending the score to a Sibelius expert here on the forum for some advice. Feel free to PM me if you'd like.

I figured it was something simple like that (Espressivo setting). Just didn't know where to look. Seeing how simple things are with Sibelius and how many Sibelius people (and comments) are on this forum, things should be pretty easy to catch on to. Thanks again. Peace...