Hello all! I was wondering if I could get some help with setting up VDL:2 for a marimba quartet.  I know I'd need to load four marimbas in the Kontakt player, but how would I go about setting up the template for that?

Any help would be awesome.

Thanks,

UKperc10

If all you are using is four marimbas, then you don't need a template of any kind. Just set-up your four staves and assign your VDL sounds to those staves respectively.

Unless I'm missing something, I think you are over-thinking the task at hand.

It also seems to me, you only need to load one marimba into the Kontakt player, and set each stave in your notation program to use sounds from that marimba.  Not knowing what notation program you are using, I can't be more specific than that.

Good luck.

[quote author=csloan link=topic=1959.msg9817#msg9817 date=1188317950]
It also seems to me, you only need to load one marimba into the Kontakt player, and set each stave in your notation program to use sounds from that marimba.�� Not knowing what notation program you are using, I can't be more specific than that.

Good luck.[/quote]

For instruments with a lot of sustain, channel sharing like you described can sometimes cause some dropped/odd behavior.  Particularly if you're trying to layer mod wheel changes and other effects. 

In theory you should be able to do this, but I know on my slower laptop I sometimes get some odd hiccups when sharing channels.  In contrast, the Mac Pro handles about whatever I throw at it, including shared channels.

However, if you are sharing channels, all players must be using the same technique (rolls, shafts, or dead strokes) which doesn't happen often. Plus... it's only 4 marimbas... Most semi-recent computers should even be able to handle 4 FULL marimba sounds. You can then pan the marimbas into the desired setup... which when writing complex material can help separate it for your mind to understand.

Easy setup- just use either Finale or Sibelius's new file wizard, and put 4 marimbas on there (no need for the VDL template for marimbas only) then assign the 4 channels to the 4 marimbas. That simple! Hope it helps.

also, dont forget to change the panning for each marimba so you can hear them better + it really adds realism to the sound.

Thanks for the insight guys.  Sometimes I think more about conserving resources, but you guys are right on the money.