# Library articulations on different libraries



## Jacob Moss

*Redacted*


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## brandowalk

The only thing I miss with the Spitfire string libraries vs the Kontakt versions are the Sul G (or Sul C) samples.


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## Jacob Moss

Yes, that's true.. unfortunately


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## mopsiflopsi

Aside from the obvious ones like spic/stac, tremolo, pizz, etc. I have no idea how to trigger a lot of these. You think some of them are automatically switched on based on the line?


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## mopsiflopsi

Jacob Moss said:


> This is the def.xml file for Spitfire Symphonic Violin 1. It looks pretty straightforward, in fact it makes sense to me that a user could in theory edit this file and thereby incorporate more? It appears many are triggered by some sort of text/symbol combo as well. Very interesting stuff


This is very cool. Do you mind posting the xml for berlin strings as well?


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## mopsiflopsi

I'm on iOS so I can't peek.


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## brandowalk

Wow! This is the closest thing to a reference list of possible triggers that I have seen. I wish I had this a year ago when I started out. I had no idea that Spitfire strings had a “senza vibrato” trigger.

If one could edit the file, that would be useful for tidying up some workflow for default settings for names and levels, etc.


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## brandowalk

Again for Spitfire, I see the articulation for “molto vibrato” but no name trigger for it defined in the xml file. This would be nice to have available.


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## ism

This is great! Could anyone on Windows do this for Spitfire Chamber Strings?


(Or could anyone answer why Staffpad won't just be transparent about this this sort of thing?)


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## ism

Jacob Moss said:


> Here are the Spitfire Chamber Strings Violin 1 articulations:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And here is the def.xml file (how to trigger them):
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think Staffpad is trying to "hide" this per se, I think they probably just want the typical user experience to be seamless, not bogged down in the details of how to trigger each articulation, etc.



That's great - thanks!


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## Jacob Moss

From speaking with David, he advises not to edit these backend files, as they could make Staffpad unusable. It's better to suggest changes and have the team work them out and update everyone's devices accordingly--again with the philosophy of being seamless I think


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## mopsiflopsi

Jacob Moss said:


> I don't think Staffpad is trying to "hide" this per se, I think they probably just want the typical user experience to be seamless, not bogged down in the details of how to trigger each articulation, etc.


Having recently attempted to recreate a StaffPad piece in DAW-land, and pulling my hair out in frustration in the process, I have great appreciation of the magic of SP playback. That said, I think they could communicate library specific articulations a bit better, because the interface does not tell you whether the instrument you chose supports the thing you're trying to do.


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## Jacob Moss

That's fair.. but also, from what I can tell more articulations are added over time in the def.xml file, I imagine as StaffPad is better able to support them. It is interesting to me that they exist in the backend, without having yet been implemented for the user to utilize. All in due time I suppose.


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## Jacob Moss

In the meantime, if you want to know what's available just hit up a Windows user who can sneak a peak at the backend  hopefully this at least gives you some idea of what's available (as of right at this moment)


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## sundrowned

Great find thanks. 
Staffpad really need to release a list of what's available. I don't know why they haven't.


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## brandowalk

Jacob Moss said:


> On Windows you're able to look at the back end of StaffPad a bit. Here are the articulations available for Spitfire Symphonic Strings Violin 1
> View attachment 53244
> 
> 
> Here is the same for Berlin Strings Violin 1
> View attachment 53245
> 
> 
> Pretty interesting stuff, and pretty similar to their Kontakt releases (way to go Staffpad!)


Jacob - thanks for posting these!

2 triggers unknown to me for chamber strings:
- disco fall articulation using the fall symbol
- “tense” articulation triggered by text


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## Michael Antrum

I still find it mind boggling that they sell these libraries for £ 99.00, yet feel no need to provide even a basic articulation list, and how to trigger them.......


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## PhilA

Yeah I agree with that.
If anyone on Windows has Cinepiano I’d like to see if there’s anything hidden in there 😉


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## muratkayi

Michael Antrum said:


> I still find it mind boggling that they sell these libraries for £ 99.00, yet feel no need to provide even a basic articulation list, and how to trigger them.......


Rant ahead...
I have a mail reply that is pretty old by now which says they think that would be useful and they are working on it. 
I recently stopped hoping for this kind of reference.

I think it is really baffling that they expect you to KNOW how to trigger those things or keep GUESSING for hours. I am sure I mentioned this before, but one example that irritated me to no end was trying to find the *one patch* that reacts to the "fall" articulation text/marking when trying to make the horns perform a fall (as advertised). Only the a6 patch reacts to the trigger. None of the others like a2 or the like. 
Is it too much to ask to write that down somewhere, so I don't have to go through double-blind testing groups for a single sound?


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## sundrowned

PhilA said:


> Yeah I agree with that.
> If anyone on Windows has Cinepiano I’d like to see if there’s anything hidden in there 😉


Don't think there's anything hidden in cinepiano 

This is the xml 





And the sample folder


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## PhilA

Thanks for looking for me 👍🏻👍🏻


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## sundrowned

Just worked out how to do harmon mutes in the 2 cinebrass trumpets from looking at the xml. 
Staccato dot doesn't work but making it a very short note does.


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## zolhof

sundrowned said:


> Don't think there's anything hidden in cinepiano


The store description mentions "A special Cinematic mix, featuring softer samples and more reverb" leading me to believe there were two presets available, the main CinePiano and the Cinematic mix, like in the Kontakt version. Does anyone know how to switch to the cinematic mix? There are no additional presets.


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## gussunkri

I find the percussion libraries to sometimes be puzzling in terms of what articulations are available. Could a Windows or a Mac M1 user please be so kind as to post screenshots of the three percussion libraries (Berlin, CinePerc, Spitfire)?


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## zolhof

zolhof said:


> The store description mentions "A special Cinematic mix, featuring softer samples and more reverb" leading me to believe there were two presets available, the main CinePiano and the Cinematic mix, like in the Kontakt version. Does anyone know how to switch to the cinematic mix? There are no additional presets.


Totally forgot to write a follow up message—here's the reply I got from support when I asked about the CinePiano presets:



> The CinePiano we have for sale is a StaffPad Edition of the library and it is a single instrument with no presets. Some of the samples used at the lower dynamics especially are based on the "Cinematic" mix in the Kontakt version but there are no presets in StaffPad like you see in the full version for different mixes on the whole piano.



So there you have it, hopefully this will clear things up a bit.


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## gbogatko

Greetings,
As a new member, I offer this contribution: A PDF of all (ALL) the articulation trigger words derived from all the "def.xml" files that I could find in the Staffpad distribution. I have not tried them yet. I don't have all the collections -- just lists of the instruments included in each.

headers: 
COLLECTION is the name of the collection
INSTRUMENT is the name of the 'patch' in the collection
TEXT is what you can enter to trigger the effect
Example: BERLIN STRINGS -- Violin 1 -- you can use: "Non vibrato, senza vibrato, no vibrato, nonvib, Pizzicato, Pizz, Bartok pizzicato, Col Legno, col legno battuto, col leg" as possible markings.

NOTE: Not every instrument has associated 'text'. 
Hopefully this will save a lot of folks from pulling all their hair out.
Additions, suggestions welcome. I havn't tested all the markings.

George


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## muratkayi

Great job, thank you so much!


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## Denkii

Did I miss something?
New Staffpad library releases?!


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## Jett Hitt

Denkii said:


> Did I miss something?
> New Staffpad library releases?!


I think these have been in there for a long time. Seems like someone saw them about a year ago.


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## jadi

gbogatko said:


> Greetings,
> As a new member, I offer this contribution: A PDF of all (ALL) the articulation trigger words derived from all the "def.xml" files that I could find in the Staffpad distribution. I have not tried them yet. I don't have all the collections -- just lists of the instruments included in each.
> 
> headers:
> COLLECTION is the name of the collection
> INSTRUMENT is the name of the 'patch' in the collection
> TEXT is what you can enter to trigger the effect
> Example: BERLIN STRINGS -- Violin 1 -- you can use: "Non vibrato, senza vibrato, no vibrato, nonvib, Pizzicato, Pizz, Bartok pizzicato, Col Legno, col legno battuto, col leg" as possible markings.
> 
> NOTE: Not every instrument has associated 'text'.
> Hopefully this will save a lot of folks from pulling all their hair out.
> Additions, suggestions welcome. I havn't tested all the markings.
> 
> George


It looks many strings don’t have pizzicato?


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## gbogatko

Denkii said:


> Did I miss something?
> New Staffpad library releases?!


Dunno. There are "def.xml" files for them -- perhaps libraries in preparation?


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## gbogatko

jadi said:


> It looks many strings don’t have pizzicato?


That's entirely possible. Should I put up the raw spreadsheet so others can contribute? It could become a group effort.


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## Uncle Peter

gbogatko said:


> Greetings,
> As a new member, I offer this contribution: A PDF of all (ALL) the articulation trigger words derived from all the "def.xml" files that I could find in the Staffpad distribution. I have not tried them yet. I don't have all the collections -- just lists of the instruments included in each.
> 
> headers:
> COLLECTION is the name of the collection
> INSTRUMENT is the name of the 'patch' in the collection
> TEXT is what you can enter to trigger the effect
> Example: BERLIN STRINGS -- Violin 1 -- you can use: "Non vibrato, senza vibrato, no vibrato, nonvib, Pizzicato, Pizz, Bartok pizzicato, Col Legno, col legno battuto, col leg" as possible markings.
> 
> NOTE: Not every instrument has associated 'text'.
> Hopefully this will save a lot of folks from pulling all their hair out.
> Additions, suggestions welcome. I havn't tested all the markings.
> 
> George


Thanks for this 👍


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## jadi

gbogatko said:


> That's entirely possible. Should I put up the raw spreadsheet so others can contribute? It could become a group effort.


Good idea!


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## gbogatko

jadi said:


> Good idea!


Ok. Here's an .xls version. I had to zip it for uploading here. Hopefully, folks will contribute to it.


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## jadi

Can’t it be a document in the cloud so everybody can work on it at the same time and we have the one version?


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## gbogatko

jadi said:


> Can’t it be a document in the cloud so everybody can work on it at the same time and we have the one version?


If I knew how to do that, yes, so if someone wants to take over -- go for it.


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## rsg22

There's another articulation spreadsheet someone else started in this thread:




__





Spreadsheet of staffpad instrument articulation xml files


This might be useful for some people that can't get at the xml files. I've copied some of the main libraries into a spreadsheet organised by library tab. The files list all the samples, articulations and the different ways of triggering them. I learned quite a few things going through them...




vi-control.net


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## Gabriel2013

Denkii said:


> Did I miss something?
> New Staffpad library releases?!


I looked everywhere for the ETHNIC WINDS and did not find it, so don't know what is happening there.
A Shakuhachi will be a nice addition........

g


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## mopsiflopsi

Gabriel2013 said:


> I looked everywhere for the ETHNIC WINDS and did not find it, so don't know what is happening there.
> A Shakuhachi will be a nice addition........
> 
> g


Means it, and some other libraries, were on a dev build at some point, but never got finalized for actual release. They probably forgot to remove the references from XML files.


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