Author
Topic: Marimba Rolls Not Doing Crescendos/Diminuendos

Houston Youngman

I hate to be back so soon, hope I'm not bothering you too much. However, no matter what I seem to do, my marimba rolls do not seem to follow the crescendos and diminuendos when I notate them. For example, if I have a measure roll that should crescendo to forte from piano, it will stay at piano until it hits the next measure and then it will go to forte. This isn't a huge issue, but it is very annoying when every other instrument goes from fff to p in a measure, but you still have your marimba blaring over everything. If you could somehow help me, it would be appreciated! I checked the Maps PDF that came with the template, and I didn't seem to find any information on the crescendos and such of the mallet instruments, so if you could that would be great. Thanks, and have a nice day!
I am running macOS Sierra on a 2016 MacBook Pro with Sibelius 8.5 and Virtual Drumline 2.5.5

Houston Youngman

Hugh Smith

Sibelius treats that (sampled) roll as one attack, thus the entire duration is played at the same "volume". I believe you would need to run the "Cresc./Dim. Playback" plugin to get what you want. See attached image.


Cresc./Dim. Playback

"The Cresc. and Dim. plug-in works by recognizing the normal 'hairpin' crescendo and diminuendo markings in the score, and adding MIDI volume change messages as appropriate. To use the plug-in, select the bar or bars that contain the cresc./dim. hairpin markings in question, or just select one or more cresc./dim. markings, and then run the plug-in again. MIDI volume numbers are specified in percentages (%)."

Hugh Smith

Houston Youngman

Thanks for replying!

Now the rolls are getting louder, but only to a certain point. The roll will increase in volume from p to maybe mp/mf, and then stay that volume for the rest of the time, then jump back up the dynamic. I made sure to follow the percentages the plug-in gave. The attached screenshot show the volume. The red line shows when the crescendo hits its constant "mp/mf" volume and stays there. Then it will just jump up. If you can help, I would really appreciate it!
I am running macOS Sierra on a 2016 MacBook Pro with Sibelius 8.5 and Virtual Drumline 2.5.5

Houston Youngman

Hugh Smith

You'll need to play with the settings to figure out what gets what. Also, you can view hidden objects - in this case the MIDI messages that the plug-in adds - by going to View > Invisibles > (check) Hidden Objects. Again, see attached image.
Hugh Smith

Houston Youngman

I'll do my best, but I don't know exactly where to look for the settings for crescendos and such. I'll do my best, thanks!
I am running macOS Sierra on a 2016 MacBook Pro with Sibelius 8.5 and Virtual Drumline 2.5.5

Houston Youngman

Hugh Smith

What did you have selected when you tried running the plugin?
Hugh Smith

Joe

Quote from: houstony97 on June 13, 2013, 06:36:23 PM
Thanks for replying!

Now the rolls are getting louder, but only to a certain point. The roll will increase in volume from p to maybe mp/mf, and then stay that volume for the rest of the time, then jump back up the dynamic. I made sure to follow the percentages the plug-in gave. The attached screenshot show the volume. The red line shows when the crescendo hits its constant "mp/mf" volume and stays there. Then it will just jump up. If you can help, I would really appreciate it!
The trick to making the cresc/descresc plugin work is to tell Sibelius to start the crescendo at the maximum dynamic. So, in your case, you need to tell Sibelius to start the roll at "fff" and end at "fff". The reason for this is that the cresc/descresc plugin controls the volume of the sampled roll (like moving the slider in the Mixer window), while the dynamic marking controls the velocity. To get the notation to look correct to a player, you can use a hidden marking; in this case the starting dynamic would be entered as "p~fff". As a rule, Sibelius automatically hides the tilde and anything after it, but always follows the last marking. For example, if you enter expression text of "f~mf~fff~p~mp", Sibelius will play back at a dynamic of mp.

Here are my steps for using the cresc/descresc plugin with sampled, fixed dynamics rolls so that they sound like crescendo rolls. This is useful for any VDL instrument with a sampled, fixed-dynamic roll (timpani, mallets, concert bass drum, tam-tam, marching snare/tenor buzzes, etc.).

1. Enter the desired rolled and unrolled notes.

2. At the beginning of the roll, enter expression text for the desired notation starting dynamic, followed by a tilde, followed by the ending dynamic.

3. At the release of the roll, enter expression text for the desired ending dynamic.

4. Enter the hairpin for the crescendo.

5. Select the measures in which you want to apply the effects of the plugin.

6. Run the cresc/descresc plugin.

7. Choose an appropriate starting level. The plugin uses percentages from 0 to 100, but you are really controlling a parameter (volume) that has 128 possible values (0 through 127). I find that somewhere between 40 and 50 works well. Keep in mind that the plugin only detects hairpins and disregards any dynamic markings before, during, or after the hairpins.

8. Enter an ending level of 78. This 78% is equal to 78% of 127, or about 99 out of 127.

9. Select the volume radio button.

10. I like to place the text above the staff, but this is a matter of personal preference.

11. Press OK. You now have a roll that crescendos from 40-50% of its maximum volume to 78% of its maximum volume (the default volume).

12. Play back the staff and listen to the crescendo. If you don't like it, undo and try a different starting value. If you like it, move on to step 13.

13. On the release note of the roll, add text "~C7,100". This ensures that volume is restored to the normal position at the end of the roll.

14. Go to the beginning of the score and add text "~C7,100" at the beginning of the staff you are working on. This enures that playback will always start at the correct volume when starting from the beginning of the score.

If the staff you are working on happens to have a volume marking than is not 100, then you will want to adjust the ending value for the plugin accordingly. The formula is [ending plugin value] = [normal staff volume]/127. The idea is that crescendos always start below the normal volume and arrive at the normal volume.

Hugh Smith

Thanks, Joe. I can't say I've actually used that plugin much.
Hugh Smith