# Using OT libraries and SINE Player in Dorico



## benwiggy (Aug 7, 2022)

I've been playing around with several OT sample libraries in the SINE Player for a year or so, trying to get the best out of them within Dorico. I've tweaked and re-tweaked my Ex Maps and presets until I'm mostly happy with them. Here are my 'findings’, some of which are general to creating Ex maps and Playback Templates, and some of which are specific to OT libraries.

*1. Don't use the “+LEG” Legato articulations. *
Firstly, the LEG artics can't play more than one note at a time (which supposedly how they work their transition’ magic’), so they’re no good for Divisi, 2 voices, or chords. Regardless, I just can’t get them to play well in Dorico, and they often just mush the notes together. It's possible that the Note Length values for Default and Legato notes in the Ex Map may need particular values for better results, but I've not found them. (For me, quite short note length values in the Playback Overrides, e.g. 65% to 80%, seem to work well with OT libraries, possibly because of their long releases.)

Dorico does now have an Ex Map option for cutting notes short if the next pitch is the same, and it’s worth setting this.

*2. Slow to start*
OT samples tend to be a bit slow in the attack, which I understand works fine for a DAW, where you can globally shift everything slightly (which is what OT suggested to me as the solution), but this is less easy to do in Dorico (without changing the underlying MIDI Playback offset for each note -- that's possible, though not done automatically within the Template/Ex Map).

Those with a faster attack, like accented samples can be used, perhaps with a compensated volume, for some ‘normal’ notes. (Dorico will add volume to a notated accent in any case.)

*3. Some things won't work*
I have the LA Studio Violins, which use the Variation CC3 for Vibrato/Non-Vib on some articulations, and the same CC for Whole/Half Tone on the Trills. So if you change the CC for a trill, there's no way within the Ex Map of resetting it to “whatever it was before”, which might be either high or low...!! (Well, you could re-apply a vibrato/non-vib Playing Technique in the score after every trill…)

In short: don’t expect to map every articulation in the List. Some just may not be useful in Dorico. 

*4. Balance the samples*
Some articulations seem to be much louder than others (even allowing for 'accents'), so I've saved a preset of each instrument with all the artics balanced for what seems to work. OT also seem to be quieter than my other libraries, overall, so I've bumped up the vol mostly.

Make sure you’re using CC1 and CC11 for dynamics; except for short, fixed-length samples like pizzicato and staccato, which are set to use Note Velocity. (You can change those sample’s configuration to use CC1 instead of Velocity in SINE Player, if you think that’s helpful.)


*5. Cover all the options*
In the Ex Map, if you use any "Conditions" -- e.g. Note Length -- make sure all the possibilities are covered. So if you want a different artic for Very Short Notes, make sure there's another expression for >= Short Notes. Dorico’s ‘logic’ can go a bit mad if it’s uncertain what to use. The same applies for Mutual Exclusion Groups. These are normally created automatic, but you may need to check that all options are covered. 

*6. One size does not fit all*
No Ex map will work out of the box for every piece of music. The nature of a piece of music may demand swapping some of the key switches around for a given expression — particularly note length conditions. A rhythmic piece with repeated pitches may need shorter samples for each note length condition; and of course the tempo will affect which note length condition will be used.

This does go against the grain of just applying a Playback Template and having everything work. But I guess those who want to twiddle and tweak will be making manual adjustments anyway.

*7. Misc.*
Generally, I have the most trouble creating realistic fast moving slurred notes with OT libraries in Dorico. There are also some other annoying ‘choices’ that OT have made, e.g. Miroire sustains not actually … err… sustaining for more than 5 seconds. 

For CC switches that have an on/off value either side of 64, I tend to use 10 and 100. This makes it easy to change by adding or removing the 0. 

One of the things about SINE Player that might yield fruit is the ability to configure how samples are triggered - Key switches, CCs, program changes, etc — and it’s possible that by heavily customising the articulation setup, it can be made more controllable from Dorico. 


I don’t consider myself an expert in this area at all, so I welcome help, guidance, and additional counsel.


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## Jett Hitt (Aug 7, 2022)

I invested a fair bit of time in using Dorico with OT samples, but I finally just gave up. It is just too silly. All that needed to happen for Dorico to work easily with the Sine player (or any other) was the ability to deploy key switches in a simple manner, but instead, we got a mind-bogglingly complicated expression map. The editors to manipulate the data are (finally) there, but I found it to be a constant battle with Dorico arbitrarily deploying its own rules behind the scenes. I really don't know why this had to be so complicated.

There should have been a simple and intuitive way to assign keyswitches to a desired articulation or text. For example, a dialog box wherein I can assign > to keyswitch G2 (a marcato patch) or _legato_ to C1 (legato patch). This should have been very simple, but it is a 27-step process, the results of which may be negated by some behind-the-scenes rule that Dorico is implementing. Dorico is just trying to be a little too smart for its own good.

I had high hopes for Dorico, but in the end, I just returned to StaffPad, which has fantastic playback and gives me the option to export the midi to my DAW or XML to my notation program. I had really hoped that Dorico would be one-stop shopping, but I found the cure to be worse than the disease.


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## benwiggy (Aug 7, 2022)

Jett Hitt said:


> For example, a dialog box wherein I can assign > to keyswitch G2 (a marcato patch) or _legato_ to C1 (legato patch).


Isn't that exactly what the Ex Map does? It's hardly "27 steps". Create an Ex map for your instrument; add an expression, and set the MIDI triggers for it. I don't know how they could have made it simpler without making it less useful. The UI may not be 'intuitive', I'll grant you; but a quick read of the manual or watching the relevant video shows you what to do.


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## Jett Hitt (Aug 7, 2022)

benwiggy said:


> Isn't that exactly what the Ex Map does? It's hardly "27 steps". Create an Ex map for your instrument; add an expression, and set the MIDI triggers for it. I don't know how they could have made it simpler without making it less useful. The UI may not be 'intuitive', I'll grant you; but a quick read of the manual or watching the relevant video shows you what to do.


"27 steps" was obviously hyperbole, but it is a bunch of steps, and it is easy to accidentally leave one out. And yes, I read the manual and watched the videos. I figured it out, but it just wasn't worth the effort. Perhaps at some point in the future, Dorico will assemble expression maps for the various mainstream libraries. I see they have one for Berlin Orchestra now. Perhaps it works well, but my days of trying to build expression maps for the Berlin Mains have come to an end. Too much work for too little reward.


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## Aldunate (Aug 7, 2022)

Jett Hitt said:


> "27 steps" was obviously hyperbole, but it is a bunch of steps, and it is easy to accidentally leave one out. And yes, I read the manual and watched the videos. I figured it out, but it just wasn't worth the effort. Perhaps at some point in the future, Dorico will assemble expression maps for the various mainstream libraries. I see they have one for Berlin Orchestra now. Perhaps it works well, but my days of trying to build expression maps for the Berlin Mains have come to an end. Too much work for too little reward.


You mean the Berklee one? Thats the only one I could find.


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## Jett Hitt (Aug 7, 2022)

Aldunate said:


> You mean the Berklee one? Thats the only one I could find.


Yes. They have done it and BBCSO (or someone did). You can easily see why they chose those because they are complete orchestras, and it is a lot simpler than doing each of the Berlin Mains or SSO. I keep waiting for a mockup made with these libraries and Dorico to pop up, but so far, I have not heard anything credible rendered with these combinations.


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