Hello,

I was wondering if someone could help me with this issue that I am having.

I was successful in installing Kontakt player 4 and VDL 2.5.5 for the first time last night. I am using Finale 2012 on a MacBook. Native Instruments comes up on the channel list but VDL is not showing up on the percussion map area for the instruments in the instrument list. I am able to hear most of the VDL sounds during playback but I am having problems with some of them. How do I fix this? Thanks for your help.



-Mike

Thanks Dave. I was aware of all of those ways but it is not working with the channels.

Ted- I fixed the snare drum notation look. It was on bass drum for some reason. But still, the Hi Hat I have written is still on multiple lines and the Hi Hat percussion setup won't allow me to set it on one line. Do you know how to fix that? Also, I added a glockenspiel and set up the channel correctly, but when I play back the piece, the glockenspiel is not playing- what should I do? Also, when I do a mid-score instrument change, how do I change the channel as well?

Mike,

I think you're sort of in the same boat I am, just trying to get everything displaying and sounding correctly.

At this point, my understanding is there are basically three ways to alter your display/sound.

1) the Change Instrument function.  I have had some success with this, but often when I use this, the whole MIDI channel changes in the Score Manager.  I still trying to figure this one out.

2) You can use Layers, but as Ted pointed out, that's more tedious; which is probably why Finale created the Change Instrument function in the first place!

3) You can use the Expressions tool and by creating Banks in your Kontakt Player, have a plethora of instruments available for each part.  (This is covered very nicely in the DeMystified DVD by Brian) I've had the most success with this method at this point, probably because I think I understand it...

You can change the placement of the notes on the staff via the Percussion Maps as Ted indicates.

Hope that's helpful, or at least let's you know that you're not alone in your quest!

Dave

Thanks for the help, Ted!

I am familiar with the change instrument tool in Finale 2012, but if I use that, how do I set up the VDL sounds? For example, on my Percusaion 2 line, if I am trying to make a mid score change to Chimes and I use the change instruments option, how do I make it the VDL chimes sound if it is not assigned to a VDL chimes sound with a channel?

Mike,

Glad to hear that you're making great strides with VDL and Finale.

Changing Instruments: Using Layers is one method, but a bit outdated for Finale 2012. I would suggest using either the Change Instrument utility or setting up an empty Bank and using patch changes.

Percussion Layouts: This is what determines notehead selection and staff placement. Control of percussion layouts is found in the lower right corner of the Score Manager > Notation > Percussion.

Some confusion happens with Percussion MIDI Maps and Percussion Layouts. The MIDI Maps are the XML files that most be copied. The Percussion Layouts are part of the VDL Percussion Library. This Library is already part of the template files. It is available as an extra file to be used when working with Finale documents not created from the templates.

Hope this helps a bit. Continue to ask questions.

Thanks Dave and Ted for the advice.

Ted, this last weekend I purchased the templates from thewritescore.com and I am now achieving amazing results with VDL 2.5.5 in Finale 2012. I have watched the Demystified video and I have picked up some great tips from Bryan, especially with the velocities tool.


However, I am still unsure how to change instruments in the templates. I try to add an instrument with layers and when I set the channel for a layer, it changes the entire instrument. How do I fix this?


Also, how do you get notes for instruments that have different/sounds on the same line? For example, how do you get the marching snare to have the RH hits and LH hits on the same line?

As I understand, the VDL instruments don't show up as options in the Setup Wizard.  (Someone please correct me if I have missed something!). You can, however make corrections in the Score Manager.  In order to access the VDL percussion maps, you'll need to purchase/install them into Finale.  Use the Import Library function (in Finale) to install them.  If you are successful, you should be able to see the VDL percussion maps in the Score Manager.

Good luck, I hope I'm on the right track here.  If not, a more experienced user can correct me and I'll learn something new as well.

Hope you get the problem solved.

Dave

Mike,

The percussion midi maps (the XML files for VDL) are not showing up either because they were not installed properly if you purchased the templates from The Write Score, or because they have not been created. Percussion midi maps specific to VDL are not part of the Finale installation or VDL.