OK - I don't think this is a new topic, but I can't find the old thread I thought I once saw.  I am using VDL 2.5 and Finale and want to both notate and playback suspended cymbal hits (and maybe ride) on the Xylophone and Glock staves. I know that the Vibe and Marimba have the suspended cymbal ";built-in"; and I use it there with a staff style change - no problem. How can I use Finale (2008) and VDL 2.5 to see and hear suspended cymbal on the xylophone/glock parts?

David

One of the really cool things about Finale is that you can assign different playback channels to each layer in Finale. So in the [b]Instrument List[/b] window, you could load a Xylo into layer one on its own channel, then in layer 2 load a separate channel for, say, 18"; suspended cymbal. When you need to notate a sus cym part, simply enter it into layer 2 (using the appropriate staff style of course).

That would be my first suggestion. Doing this would obviously entail loading a xylo (for example) into its own slot into one of your hosted instances of KP2, in addition to loading a cymbal patch into its own channel as well.

Thanks Jim,

I am going to ";get radical"; and refer to the manual regarding your suggestion on layers. I have an abstract awareness of this mechanism in Finale, but did not consider that as a possibility! BTW - I just tried out the knowledge from the Tips and Tutorials regarding exporting Finale files as MIDI and them importing them into a sequencer for playback (I tried Sonar) and it was SO nice. I have started saving my set-ups in the Kontakt Player and they made it VERY easy to import the MIDI, configure the player and bounce to track. I wish I had tried it sooner!

Thanks again,

David