NOTION Music Forum

All right, folks, here is Version 0.9 of my custom rules for the Chris Hein Horns Compact library for Kontakt.

This is setup to use Group ID "chba".

Attached to this post is a ZIP file with the .prules file and a ReadMe file.

As explained in the ReadMe, much of which, I am sorry to say, you really will have to read, there are numerous settings that need to be adjusted in the CHH-C library instrument GUI in Kontakt to allow these rules to work. I have created settings presets for each instrument (01-53, and 60 for those who have it), to help you avoid this tedious work, but they are re-saved .nki files (without samples), which I have permission from Chris Hein to share for this purpose. Because of the size of these files, and the fact that there are 54 of them, I have not attached them here. If you want to download them, PM me and I will send you a link to a box.com folder.

You will also have to set up your Kontakt Multi a certain way, the rules use different MIDI channels for some different situations. See the ReadMe. I also have saved a sample Multi (which uses the saved presets) to demonstrate how to set this up; that file is included in the box.com folder noted above. If you're not using mutes (or the instrument doesn't have them), you don't have long notes over a crescendo, and you don't need fp and crescendo in the big band idiom, you could just set up one instrument in the Multi and leave it set to "omni" for the MIDI channel. The instrument settings will still need to be setup in the GUI though.

The ReadMe also explains all of the special markings you can use (in addition to the basic articulations and accents). These include doits and falls, vibrato and molto vibrato, shakes/trills, legato slurs, mutes for trumpets and trombones, and a rudimentary slide portamento.

In the ZIP file there is also a custom Kontakt Multiscript (in the Transform folder). This addresses the bug where Notion only sends CC#11 data on Channel 01, but will only be needed for instruments that need to play long, muted notes over hairpin crescendos. See the ReadMe for details and instructions.

Any questions, critiques, suggestions for improvement, please do not hesitate to post them here, or PM me if you prefer. I've tested these rules to make sure all the functions work, but I haven't had a chance to test them as thoroughly as I would like, which is why I call this version 0.9.

For everybody's information, I've noticed a few problems with my ruleset, which I'm working on correcting. If anybody has any other suggestions for improvement, please post here or PM me and let me know. See Item #2 below for what is corrected by the attached version.

1. Repeated notes under a slur get cut off. This isn't surprising and I should have anticipated it, since the note-off for the first note comes after the note-on for the repeated note and shuts it off. The condition test for "note-after-same" doesn't work, at least for me, so I can't use that to fix it. I have experimented with applying and testing the apostrophe x10 technique on the second note to trigger the hotkey for "play last note", which is intended by the plugin to allow repeated notes with legato, but so far I can't get it to work right. So avoid repeated notes under slurs for now, or you can mark all the repeated notes except the last one with mezzo-staccato or another duration-shortening articulation to "break" the slurred legato. Tenuto won't work, because it is interpreted by the rules as an accent and not a duration when marked under a slur (although maybe I will change that later as an attempted fix).

2. Some of the channel changes in the custom rules did not send the right information to my custom Kontakt Multiscript for proper redirection of the CC#11 data, so crescendos over long notes on some muted instruments didn't work as intended. The attached version should fix this. The new rules also redirect CC#11 data with every channel change, not just to designated long note crescendo channels, so if you want to use Velo. Fade instead of Velo. Key by default (channels 2, 6, 10, 14) you can do that. The benefit of that is you don't need to mark long note crescendos, they will just work naturally, and you will save duplicating the instrument on Channels 1, 5, 9, or 13. The disadvantage is that you lose the benefit of the Velo. Key mode having six velocity layers instead of four for the Fade modes, and the Velo. Key samples in the CHH-C library just sound better than the Velo. Fade ones.

3. Phrases with eighth notes don't sound as natural as I would like unless they are under a slur, which can get messy on the notation. I may need to adjust the speed detection settings, or make non-slurred notes a little longer than the current rules require, or make short duration notes play legato until otherwise labeled or unless they are followed by a rest.

4. Slide portamentos may sound a little better if you adjust the Tune Out settings to match the Tune In settings. They still don't sound realistic, but it seems a little better. Also, don't use "Velo. fade" with the instruments in the portamento channels (4, 8, 12, 16), use "Velo. Key" instead. Depending on where the velocity crossfade is, if the velocity happens to be close to where they cross-fade it sounds like two instruments during the portamento.

5. The instruments on the MIDI channels intended for crescendos on long notes, basically channels 1, 5, 9, and 13, should be changed to "Velo. Fade" instead of the originally recommended "Velo. Key & Fade". Velo. Key & Fade only crescendos with CC#11 data when the value crosses the initial velocity value, and the way Notion sends CC#11 data it doesn't always happen that way (the hairpin CC#11 data doesn't always match up with the velocity at the beginning of each note during a crescendo, even when the velocity maps are identical).

6. Velo. Fade seems to sound between 3 db and 6 db louder than similar velocities with Velo. Key, depending on whether the velocity happens to be near a velocity cross-fade point. I recommend setting the volume of the instruments on the Velo. Fade channels about 3db lower than the Velo. Key channels to compensate. I may work a more sophisticated correction into the rules that adjusts outgoing velocity to avoid those cross-over points when redirecting to one of those MIDI channels, but I'm not sure if it's worth that much work yet.

Just wondering if anybody has played with any of this, and if there are any comments, criticisms, suggestions, etc. Is it too complicated to setup?

One other thing I've been considering is converting to a Kontakt instrument bank system instead of the MIDI channel system. It has advantages and disadvantages. It would free up MIDI channels to be used for other purposes, and would allow for additional features (right now I'm already up against the 16 instrument limit for a Multi). The custom multi-script wouldn't be required, because you could put the instrument bank in Channel 1 and that would overcome the Notion bug regarding CC#11 on crescendos. But it would instead require use of one of the factory Kontakt multi-scripts to convert keyswitches to program changes, since Notion won't send program change messages. Also you can't access the Performance View of an instrument in a bank, so making changes to settings would require saving presets every time you want to change settings, or opening the script editor tab. Although you can access all of the settings under the script editor tab, you can't see the labels for any of the controls while doing it.

I also noticed recently in Notion that if you enter "Shift" and "U" three times, you get a shake marking that, when applied, appears to the right of the note head (instead of above like a trill marking). Definitely looks better for brass instruments instead of marking a shake as a trill. I believe I was already checking for the shake technique in the rules (in addition to the trill marking), but I wasn't sure how to apply it in the score. So I think the shake marking will work just as well as the trill marking to create a shake or trill depending on the instrument.