Rack Combo A & B, Where are the wind chimes?

[skershaw]

HI,
Going through the .ni files that are grouped under the combo instruments on the "rack", there are wind chimes included, but not reflected on the template.
Im assuming the best bet is to change the xml file and then edit the settings of the instrument (adding new note/note head, assigning 'custom' sound to reflect the xml midi sound)
Or
am I missing something?

thanks
-skershaw

[TBoliske]

They are listed as double row mark-tree and may be found in Rack Combo A, Rack Combo B, and Metal Combo/Rack.

[skershaw]

Thank you for your timely response. I will look for that.
This brings me to the next relative question. I have a score open with different wind instruments. I go to add something like Rack Combo A or Bass Drums
In Score Mananger
* I add a blank stave
* choose Kontakt 5 under device
* edit device and load desired bank/sound
* change notation style to "percussion"
* choose corresponding instrument from your template sub categories under percussion mapping
... and here's where the final step puts a kibosh on everything ... when I go to settings to choose/edit/whatever the map... your template choices are not showing up in the percussion layout section. Im perplexed, because when I created a score from scratch earlier, they were there.

is there something I am not doing?

[TBoliske]

If your wind score was not created from a TWS template file the percussion layouts are not included. They are part of the templates only.

Also, make sure you do things in the following order: create staff, assign playback device, load VDL instrument, assign percussion midi map, assign percussion layout. Don't confuse the percussion midi map with the percussion layout. They are 2 different parts of the same puzzle. The mid map is for playback, while the layout is for notation. The only connection between the 2 is the midi note number. It is used for note entry with a midi device and to assign a sound name to the layouts.

[skershaw]

I found the answer:
the missing piece.... LOADING THE APPROPRIATE LIBRARY (in this case, FIN12_VDL255 Percussion Library - which enables it showing up in the percussion layout... and without the layout, THERE ARE NO SOUNDS assigned to the percussion mapping, since they are linked via xml)

At the end of the day, you needn't open or use the actual .mus template file, but just make sure its set up identical to the template files (if one wants to use those template set-ups, which is extremely helpful in time efficiency. )

So its all working now.

[TBoliske]

When you load the VDL Library, know that you will get duplicate text expressions. This is because the Finale defaults can't be deleted, only edited. Also, if you are using a template file there is no need to load the library. It is included only as an extra in the event you are working with a non-template file.

[skershaw]

 Yes, the template files work as in order, my follow-up question was more about setting up your templates in existing scores or re-creating without having to "re-create" the mapping.
Im just happy to be able to use your mapping/layout with or without the actual .mus template! This is perfect for me!!!

Thank you!

[TBoliske]

If you're working with the same wind arranger(s) it might be easier to take the default template and create a full wind/percussion score that matches your group(s). This would at the very least save you the trouble of adding the same staves each time you start a new piece or show. Then you could save that file as a template, named after the arranger or group. A second option would be to copy/paste the wind staves into a TWS template. This does require you to have all the measures, time signatures, and key signatures created prior to pasting in the parts. A third option would be to use Score Merger to merge the wind score into the percussion score after the percussion score has been written,

[skershaw]

Good tips... Ive used ScoreMerger before with quite some success... thank you for the tips.
You nailed it on the head... As I am also the wind arranger, Im trying to set up about 10 different ensemble templates scenarios (but using your perc mapping/library/xml hard work ;-) to ease my pain.... WELL WORTH THE SMALL FEE!!!).

Thank you again for your excellent customer service and brilliant tips: it shows that you care about your product and reputation!

example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHOuR4k0W50