Shnootre said...
Is there a simple way to do this?

nordensten said...
I use the filter thus: I put hidden codes in the staff names (E.g. [VSL] Flute 1) and then the filter setting will be "If Staff Name Contains: VSL". Then that technique will only work for the staves containing "VSL". You can vary this scheme depending on you setup. Works great.

Shnootre said...
nordensten - that's great. I actually just started playing with that, but it didn't occur to me that I could make the lib. name hidden (I assume that's how you do it?)

I have a couple of questions - and YOU'RE it for tech support on this subject :)

1) Does the order of placement matter in the list of instruments?

For instance, if I have specifications for Clarinet, and list them before the winds, is it assumed that those specifications take precedence over any for general Winds?

2) Does the system deal well with multiple instruments using different libs? I have two clarinets and two trumpets, each split between two different companies. As long as I set up both w/ the filter as you describe, it should work?

3) I don't see how to make the "custom text" option work. When I select it, I don't seem to have an option to put the custom text in anywhere.

I think that's it for now... Thanks for chiming in!

Shnootre said...
It's just not working very well for me. What happens is, when I'm looking at the actual instrument - say a Kontakt instance, I can see that the keyswitch is being pressed, but it's being pressed in addition to, not instead of, the previous keyswitch.

I'll give you an example. I'm using a Spitfire Trumpet for my trumpet 1, and I've hidden "Spit" in its staff name.

So I create an HP pref for 1/2 tone trills. I'm attaching a picture rather than tell you everything I did w/ that. You'll see that the half-tone trill should cause keyswitch 31.

Then, I press play on Finale, while watching the Kontakt instance w/ the Spitfire trumpet. And I see that KS 31 IS pressed (G1), but it is pressed in addition to C1, which is the basic setting, and no change occurs.

This must be in some way connected to the fact that I am having strange artifacts in playback. Stuck notes - and clear instances of keyswitches occurring that I haven't entered in any way. I thought it was because I just hadn't deactivated the VSL preferences on non-VSL SE instruments. But that doesn't seem to be it.

If I enter the same keyswitch (G1) in as a hidden note in layer 4, it works as it should. I keep deciding I have no time to fight this fight anymore, and I keep jumping back in! Success feels so close...

Shnootre said...
But... just discovered something new in connection with the above. If you have an instrument change (and corresponding staff name change), the HP preferences don't recognize the new staff as the staff name. I had a tpt (spitfire) switch to a muted sound (vsl), but I discovered the keyswitches were still connected to the Spitfire.

I guess it makes sense to try to bring this things into line as much as possible. That's why I love VSL's and Orchestral Tools' interfaces where you can put the keyswitches wherever you want them.

Shnootre said...
This is all VERY helpful actually. I have been thinking I need to get up to speed on the Spitfire UACC codes - it's very difficult because Spitfire provides no documentation with anything, and I haven't found a clear explanation of how to use UACC. If you cld direct me to something I'd be much obliged.

I'm dealing w/ many of these libraries. I picked up the basic vol. of VSL SE just because I thought it would work better w/ HP, and be a step up from Garritan. And that seems to be true, although I am also having some real issues with unwanted keyswitches being generated by the HP settings; and as soon as you mention VSL to Finale, or Finale to VSL, they're more or less OUT as far as tech support goes!

Shnootre said...
One thing I do, and I wonder if others do, is that if I have an actual channel change to make, I tend to set it up as an instrument. So for instance, for my C Trumpet 1, I have a different patch for harmon mute, and another one for straight mute (coming from 3 totally different libs). So I set up Bb Trumpet in the instrument list to have no transposition, show up as C trumpet, and have my harmon patch. And I set up D trumpet to be the same, and have my straight mute patch. (And actually right now, I've got a third patch - cornet - for flutter tongue). This is sort of a pain to set up, but the advantage once it's working is that playback is always correct, no matter where you start. (Sometimes w/ the keyswitchy stuff, you don't get the right sound if you start after a certain keyswitch has been pressed - though I tend to think HP is supposed to handle this?)

nordensten said...
Yes, indeed, it makes sense to unify the articulation switching between libraries as much as possible. That's the reason why I use custom matrices in VIP (a thing you normally can't talk about as it confuses most people apparently ::)) If you switch instrument and channel on the same staff, then the filter I mentioned initially will not work. But I'd guess "If Midi Channel is:" could work, even though it would probably be ideal if one could have two filters in such cases... Staff name changes are probably ignored, but I'm on thin ice here. Firstly, because channel switching hasn't worked on my system since F2012 (haven't yet tested it thoroughly in 25), secondly because I only use Sample Modeling Brass, where all the mutes is a simple controller code sent from an expression.