Hello,

I can run VD2 all day to write warm ups etc.
what i can't figure out how to do, is to get VD2 to work with the finale wind parts.

I am using pc, windows vista, with Finale 2007, and VD2

What i tried, was to do what the VD2 manual says.
I in the midi set up menu i select ";use native uinstruments to play finale";
then a window comes up and i select vd2 for chanels 1-16. then i click edit and load the battery parts into Kotakt player that came with vd2.
when I do this it will only let me use vd2 and will not play the wind parts.
if i de select the use native instruments icon, then i can only hear wind parts and not vd2 sounds.

I also tried using the GPO sounds in kontakt on chanels 1-16 and tired to load vd2 on chanels 17-32. when i try to select channel 17 for the snares in contact it only lets me choose up to channel 16.

I know vd2 also says i can use it as a stand alone plug in with finale, but i do not know how to do that either.

sorry for the book.
I have been reading everything and can't seem to find the answer.
please help if anyone knows.

Thank you!

Mark

I am on a very similar set up and here's what has finally worked for me:
First of all I am running Finale '07 and VDL2 also.  I am writing for our marching show next year so it combines wind parts and percussion just like you are asking.
I went through a very frustrating week last week trying to figure out a way that works and this one is the best so far.....

In finale I set up the midi like this: In MIDI Set up I use soft synth sounds for all the wind parts.  I am suing the MIDI out for slots 1 - 4.  I clicked on advanced settings and did slot 1) soft synth for base channel 1 and slot 2) soft synth base channel 17.
The next two spots i used for VDL2 (which I run as a stand alone, I'll get to that later).  Slot 3) Midi Yoke NT for channel 33 and slot 4) MIDI yoke NT for channel 49.  This gives me enough channels to do all that i need so far.

Next, you need to open up VDL2 on your desktop (or wherever it is on the computer).  After you open it once, click on the shortcut and open it again.  This should give you two windows of VDL2.  In the first window I loaded all of my battery parts (snare, tenors, basses, and cymbals).  Also in this window click on file and set up.  Go to MIDI and in the MIDI In section turning everything off except MIDI Yoke NT : 3.  Now go to the other window of VDL2 and load you Front ensemble instruments.  In this window click on File and Set up again. Go to MIDI In again and turn off everything except for MIDI Yoke NT: 4.  This links up Finale with MIDI slots 3 and 4 between your two instances of VDL2. 

The final and most important part is that you need to now go back into finale and make sure the finale instruments are going to the correct channels. You can do this in the instrument list window.  Here a list of what I have just for example:
Flute - Chan. 1
Clarinet - chan. 2
Bass Clar. chan. 3
alto sax - chan. 4
ten. sax - chan. 5
bari sax  - chan. 6
tpt 1 - chan 7
tpt 2 - chan 8
f horn - chan. 17  <--- You have to skip the previous 8 channels
trombone 1 - chan. 18
trombone 2 - chan. 19
Bariton - chan. 20
Tuba - chan. 21
All of these so far relate to soft synth channels in finale.
Snare Dr. - channel 33 <--- this is the first instrument in the VDL2 instance that is connected to MIDI Yoke slot 3
Tenors - Chan. 34
Basses - Chan 35
Cymbals - chan 36
Bells - chan 49 <--- this is the first instrument in the VDL2 instance that is connected to MIDI Yoke slot 4
xylo - chan 50
vibes - 51
Marimba 1 - 53
Marimba 2 - 53 <--- you could do two different channels if you want too
Timpani - 54
Sus cym - 55
Bass drum and Gong - 56


Sorry for the extremely long explanation but hopefully if helps.  The only problem I have right now is that everyt ime I restart VDL2 I have to reload the percussion instruments and make sure that they are in the same spots.

- Jon

Jon - great explanation, and thanks for offering some insight into how you're working. I'm sure it will be very helpful to others wanting to run VDL in stand-alone mode. Fortunately, the forthcoming VDL 2.5 update will allow you to save your multis so you won't have to go through the ridiculous hassle of reloading each sound everytime you sit down to write. Hang in there...no dates for this yet, but it is coming.

Mark - What Jon is describing is a setup that runs in stand-alone mode, meaning you're running VDL2 as its own program, and Finale as its own program, then connecting the two via a virtual midi cable. This works just fine, though won't allow you to host as a plug-in or bounce your finale score as an audio file directly from the program.

It sounds like you almost had it, but the one important detail you missed was that in Finale, channels 17-32 correspond to the SECOND Native Instruments plug-in channels 1-16. This is unfortunately a confusing configuration, and you definitely won't be the first person to have been tricked by it. See if this info helps:

Use this chart to see how FINALE channels correspond to PLUG-IN INSTANCE channels. Note, this is showing the new, upcoming Kontakt Player 2 interface, but it works the same in the old VDL2 interface as well:
[img]https://www.tapspace.com/images/forumimages/finaleplugchannels.jpg[/img]

Here's an example of how these various settings are configured:
[img]https://www.tapspace.com/images/forumimages/finalesetup.jpg[/img]

ok i think i get it,
one more question.
do i still need to use Midi yoke?
I thought with finale 2007 one was not needed?

Thank you for the great info.
Jim, Thanks for the incredible innovation.

I will try this tonight when I can get in front of my own computer.

Thanks again!

Mark

If you are going to be using The Finale GPO sounds and then VDL sounds, etc all within Finale then you DO NOT need a Virtual Midi Cable.�� This would be needed only if you are going to be running those libraries in Standalone Mode - outside of Finale.

However if you are going to be using the MIDI SOUNDS for your saxes and then want to use the VDL sounds also, you may want to check this post, as it may be more of what you are looking for.

https://www.tapspace.com/forums/index.php?topic=1508.0

OK, it's working now!!

Very cool!

Is there another way to get the VD2 sounds louder?
I have to turn the wind parts way down, and pump the midi% on the vd2 sounds to hear them.

Thanks again for the great info!

Mark

There is A lot of cool things that can be done with the MIDI TOOL in Finale, although I am hesitant to use it a lot unless I need.�� If you wanted to bump the battery sounds up permanently and keep the dynamics in relation to what they were before - just basically bump all their dynamics up - you could do the following:

1.) Choose the MIDI TOOL from the ADVANCED TOOL PALETTE
2.) Click first measure of your top percussion staff
3.) SHIFT-click the first measure of the bottom percussion staff
4.) hold SHIFT while hitting your right arrow and this will highlight those staves for the rest of the piece
5.) go to MIDI TOOL menu and make sure that EDIT KEY VELOCITIES is checked and then click on PERCENT ALTER
6.) Choose the percentage of change you would like....135% would be adding another 35%....then if that was too loud and you wanted to go back to where you were then you would need to choose 65%�� I hope that makes sense...not the most clear thing in the world.

[color=Red]I would only suggest doing this if you have already tried�� using the MIXER from the WINDOW MENU and that is not enough.�� Or if you have tried editing the volume of each staff in the VDL player itself.[/color]