Noteperformer 3 For Sibelius Released Beta Support For Finale and Dorico Added

NotePerformer 3 for Sibelius released; beta support for Finale and Dorico added - Scoring Notes 9/4/18, 3)52 PM
NotePerformer 3 for Sibelius released; beta support

for Finale and Dorico added
June 1, 2018 | by Philip Rothman
NEWS
Earlier this week, Wallander Instruments released NotePerformer 3, a major update to its
plug-and-play sound library. The update is the first major update since the release of
NotePerformer 2 in March 2017. Incredibly, the update is free for all existing users, and the
price for new users continues to be $129 — the same price as when NotePerformer first
burst onto the scene in nearly five years ago.
Since that first release, NotePerformer has been an easy way to achieve high-quality
playback of orchestral scores directly through Sibelius, “reading” the music as human
players would, using the written markings that exist on the score. A NotePerfomer user
downloads and runs a simple installer that automatically configures NotePerformer to
work with Sibelius — and only Sibelius, due to technical requirements, at least until this
week.
Now, though, for the first time, NotePerformer 3 has opened its doors to Finale and Dorico
https://www.scoringnotes.com/news/noteperformer-3-for-sibelius-released/ Page 1 of 20
users, and a $129 license permits a user to run NotePerformer in any or all of those
notation programs that he or she may own.
However, NotePerformer support for Finale and Dorico comes with a caveat: It’s labeled
“beta”, with good reason. There are a number of workarounds needed to use
NotePerformer in those programs, with some limitations that are unresolved at the
moment.
Because NotePerformer’s appeal is that, unlike with many sample libraries, no special
knowledge of custom players, sequencers or separate loading of instruments is needed,
NotePerformer still works best with Sibelius. Finale and Dorico users will have to adjust a
number of settings in order to approach the same quality of sound that Sibelius users
enjoy out-of-the-box.
New features in NotePerformer 3
Speaking of that quality of sound, NotePerformer 3 offers a bevy of impressive

enhancements that will appeal to NotePerformer aficionados.
A promotional video of NotePerfomer 3 gives an overview:
NotePerformer 3: Arti.cial Intelligence-based Playback of Musical Notation
Here’s a more detailed run-down of the new features:
Shorter reverb
Wallander calls this “a different approach to reverb,” targeting the sound of a medium-sized
recording venue rather than a large recording hall, with stronger focus on early reflections
and a less pronounced reverb tail, and can be supplemented with other reverb choices.
Intelligent timing
Arne Wallander told me that for him personally, this was “the most interesting new feature
for Sibelius users. This is completely novel, not just to NotePerformer 3. In short,
NotePerformer 3 time-warps the performance of phrases, and intelligently synchronizes
the performance between different types of instruments, allowing them to perfectly tune-in
to the beat of each other. It may sound like a small addition, but it makes for a huge
impact. Apart from eliminating issues with uneven timing during melodies or series of
different articulations, it achieves a level of tightness between different instruments that

I’ve yet to hear in a sampled orchestra. If you double the trumpet with a timpani, it actually
sounds like two well-rehearsed professionals playing in sync, rather than the mushy mess
you normally get when stacking orchestral samples.”
Orchestral tuning per-instrument
Orchestral tuning via the MIDI CC (e.g. 440 Hz) can be set on a per-instrument basis, rather
than as a global setting for the entire orchestra.
Delay-free switching between playback devices
Switching back and forth between General MIDI and NotePerformer, which previously
resulted in a delay of variable length depending on a user’s computer, is now
instantaneous in Sibelius. The same is true for adding or removing NotePerformer
instances (or opening or closing scores) in Finale or Dorico.
Other playback improvements
Improved interpretation of slow music

Better humanization depending on context
Better vibrato rules, especially during slurred lyrical phrases
Better on/off bow handling in strings
Glissando/portamento for strings and timpani no longer distorts the timbre
Fixes for noise on soft attacks, trill, and electric guitar distortion
Installation improvements
Smaller installer size

Automatic uninstaller
Signed installer (removing the obstacles to installation on Mac and PC)
The NotePerformer web site has a full version history.
NotePerformer and Sibelius, with new plug-ins
For the first time, NotePerformer 3 includes a number of Sibelius plug-ins that help
automate certain actions features and actions that previously required laborious manual
editing, including:
Resetting the mixer

Overriding the default vibrato amount or speed
Building woodwind or brass sections via “a2”, “a3”, etc.
Changing the pipe organ registration
Setting orchestral tuning
I asked Arne Wallander about this. He said:
The plug-ins for Sibelius weren’t originally planned. But when I realized how convenient
the FinaleScripts were, I decided to take the concept to Sibelius as well. It makes using the
power-user features so much easier. In particular, the pipe organ registration is now
handled simply by ticking a few checkboxes of the stops you want. Before this, I couldn’t
even remember what CCs did what myself, but I constantly had to check the user’s guide if
I wanted to access e.g. “a2”. This is much better. The Reset Mixer plug-in is also very
useful.
The a2, a3, plug-in basically does what it says. It creates a MIDI command in the score
which corresponds to e.g. writing the technique “a2”, meaning that single notes are
performed by as many unison players as you specify. So in the case of a2, that’s two. And
if you write chords, they divide appropriately over the notes in the chord. The reason why
there’s a special command is because this family of techniques is not a part of the Sibelius
dictionary. Theoretically you could create your own staff text entries in Play >
Interpretation > Dictionary with the appropriate names “a2”, “a3”, “solo”, etc. and hard-
code them to set these CC values directly from the score when used as technique text,
which would be even more elegant.
Arne Wallander at the 2017 NAMM show in Anaheim, California
About NotePerformer 3, Sibelius senior product manager Sam Butler told me:
NotePerformer has come a long way since I first heard the WIVI instruments, its early
ancestor. The NotePerformer 3 improvements are another leap forward for the sounds
and score interpretation. Sibelius and NotePerformer are a great match, and anyone
needing a convincing mockup of their scores should look no further. The combination of
years of seamless integration of NotePerformer into Sibelius’s advanced playback engine,
continues to set it apart.
It’s worth noting that in addition to being available directly from Wallander Instruments,
NotePerformer 3 has also been released on the Avid Marketplace.
NotePerformer and Finale, with questions for Arne Wallander
The challenges of using NotePerformer and Finale are well-documented in the

NotePerformer User’s Guide. I decided to ask Arne Wallander directly about this, who was
completely forthcoming about the state of development.
Q: What were some of the challenges getting NotePerformer to work with Finale?
A: Some of the major challenges were “solved” by the inclusion of FinaleScripts, such as
being able to detect a wider range of articulations more reliably.
Some of the many FinaleScripts included with NotePerformer 3
Q: How did you get around the “deal-breaker” issues you previously encountered?
A: These “deal-breaker” issues weren’t at all worked around, but they’re still there, such as
the fact that there’s a 1-second delay at all times — even when entering notes with the
mouse or using your MIDI keyboard. The playback line is always one second ahead in the
score during playback, which is quite annoying. If you mix NotePerformer with other
sounds in Finale, they’re going to be one second out of sync. I ultimately decided to release
the Finale version “as is”, passing the baton to MakeMusic, in case they want to improve on
this in a future version of Finale, in which case NotePerformer should be ready for it.
Q: How did you arrive at your solutions for using FinaleScript?
A: Most things work fine without running the articulation/expression FinaleScripts.

NotePerformer does all it can to detect articulations using regular Finale Human Playback
(HP), in the spirit of the built-in sounds. But there’s only so much you can do with HP. The
scripts are for situations where HP isn’t able to detect the right articulation, or the case
where NotePerformer supports articulations not defined in HP — such as some of the
mutes, and a2/a3 functionality. You always need to run the “basic configuration” script,
however, to generate a custom playback style which maintains predictable note lengths
and doesn’t humanize the performance, because there’s no way to easily turn off
humanization in Finale. Turning off the playback style entirely also turns off ordinary
playback elements such as tremolos, trills and hairpins.
Q: If someone sets up a NotePerformer score with NotePerformer expressions using

FinaleScript, they can then save those expressions as a library or in a template, correct?
So that they don’t need to run your scripts on every score?
A: I can only assume that you can create a template for new scores with the right settings.
I’m not that well-versed in Finale operation yet, except for under-the-hood playback
features. NotePerformer simply assigns a particular CC change to an expression text in the
library, corresponding to an articulation switch in NotePerformer. It’s not a unique
approach in any way, except the fact that we include a plug-in which does the configuration
for you. You only need to do it once for an expression (or articulation) and it applies to all
entries of that expression in that score.
Q: Your user guide doesn’t mention it explicitly, but I assume ReWire does not work in
Finale for the same reasons as in Sibelius (no latency compensation)?
A: It will with all certainty *not* work with NotePerformer, because Finale doesn’t latency
compensate even without ReWire. Improper latency compensation over ReWire was always
the issue with ReWire and NotePerformer in Sibelius. If MakeMusic were to implement
latency compensation in the future, and they’re up to speed, maybe they can make ReWire
sync correctly as well.
Q: Regarding the NotePerformer mixer, does the user need to set any particular settings
in the Finale mixer in order for it to work best?
A: NotePerformer doesn’t respond to the Finale mixer at all. It’s completely cut off from any
level of control. NotePerformer only goes by the volume, pan and reverb settings in the
internal mixer. The reason for this is: with Sibelius, only the internal mixer settings are
saved with scores, but not plug-in settings. In Finale, however, the plug-in settings are
saved with the score. So it’s natural to use only the internal mixer in Sibelius, but a plug-in
specific mixer in Finale (or Dorico) to retain the same level of functionality as in Sibelius.
Neither of these ways is “better” to me. The Finale approach may be more 3rd party plug-in
friendly in general, and more in line of a DAW. But the Sibelius approach reduces loading
time and overall complexity for the end-user, and makes going between scores a no-delay
operation, because the scores share the same playback configuration.
An instance of NotePerformer 3 running in Finale
Q: What improvements would you like to see so that Finale works better with
NotePerformer (other than those already mentioned in the Users Guide)?
A: Setting things up in Finale, on a per-score basis, is a bit more cumbersome than it is in
Sibelius or Dorico. But when things are in place, Finale playback works very nicely and
pretty much on par with NotePerformer in Sibelius. So I’d like to see improvements in the
overall user experience and integration. Theoretically, everything that is now done by hand
with FinaleScripts could be done transparently by Finale, as a NotePerformer-specific hard-
wired implementation. It would also be great if Human Playback was extended to detect a
full set of articulations which weren’t limited to only certain instruments. For example,
there’s no reason why only brass can do marcato. And the current scheme of detecting
note articulations (accent, staccato etc.) in Finale’s Human Playback is also somewhat
limited or even flawed. It goes by the playback settings of the note, i.e. any articulation
producing a “50%” length decrease will generate the staccato HP event, regardless of
whether it’s visually a dot or a tenuto line. While this may make sense, there are situations
where note accents have no playback settings, or the wrong settings, e.g. due to user
intervention or error. Some articulations cannot be detected with this scheme, e.g. tenuto.
For lack of a better way to do it, NotePerformer’s “tenuto” Finalescript now uses a special
implementation where the velocity of the note is set to 1, and this is interpreted by
NotePerformer as a tenuto, and vice versa — a note velocity of 127 means it’s an accent.
This method is not pretty, and it’s very much a workaround, but at least it’s a workaround
for detecting these articulations.
Q: Did you receive a lot of requests to make NotePerformer work with Finale?
A: We’ve obviously had a lot of Finale requests during the years. Although much more so
the first year or two after NotePerformer was released. It seems most people gave up on
the idea of NotePerformer in Finale just in time for the actual release!
Running the Basic NotePerformer Configuration script in Finale
I asked Mark Adler, MakeMusic’s director of production and senior editor for his comments
on NotePerformer. He replied:
A few months ago, Arne asked us if we would beta test his new Finale version of
NotePerformer. As I was quite familiar and a fan of his NotePerformer plug-in for Sibelius,
I was very interested to see how it was implemented in Finale. From the first time I hit the
play button in Finale, I was impressed by the quality of playback and have continued to be
impressed. Arne’s years of experience fine-tuning his plug-in and sample library, will well
serve Finale users that are looking for additional playback options.
There are a few obvious sync issues, one in which the playback cursor is one second ahead
of the audio output, and another in which the sound on note entry is delayed by one
second. We’ve looked into both issues on our side and will be addressing both in future
versions of Finale.
NotePerformer and Dorico, with questions for Arne Wallander
NotePerformer is much easier to setup in Dorico than in Finale, and there are no issues
with latency. But it still has a number of teething pains. Again, questions for, and answers
from Arne Wallander.
Q: What were the key developments in Dorico 2 that allowed you to make NotePerformer
work?
A: NotePerformer was initially going to support Dorico 1.2, using a relatively cumbersome
scheme where sounds where assigned manually through a vast library of VST Expression
Maps. But luckily there were people at Steinberg who took great interest in making NP
work better with Dorico, despite the fact that they were pressed on time for their own
release [for Dorico 2]. This eventually led to some great improvements and the addition of
the customizable Playback Template, and it eventually grew mature enough that we
decided to officially support Dorico only from version 2. This was probably for the better;
since Dorico 2 was also given a new scheme for note playback lengths, NotePerformer
couldn’t possibly support these two Dorico versions at the same time, or at least playback
would greatly suffer.
Q: Regarding the NotePerformer mixer, does the user need to set any particular settings
in the Dorico mixer in order for it to work best?
A: As opposed to the Finale mixer, which is a MIDI-mixer, Dorico features only an audio
mixer. These correspond to the green-colored sliders in the fully expanded Sibelius mixer.
So the Dorico mixer can only be used to set the audio volume of each NotePerformer
device, and would typically be left untouched in the case of NotePerformer. The Dorico
mixer is much more useful for a sample library with a monotimbral sample player, i.e. a
virtual instrument where you create a separate plug-in instance and audio track for every
instrument in your score, rather than using multiple MIDI channels in a single instance. You
could, of course, use the Dorico mixer for putting your own supplementary reverb or other
effects on the Master Bus, on top of NotePerformer, if you wanted that.
NotePerformer 3 running in Dorico Pro 2, in Play mode
Q: The known issues are well-documented in the Users Guide. Anything else users should
be aware of?
A: We’ve tried to cover all known issues in the documentation, and will continuously update
the web site Quick Start guide (which is similar to the documentation) if new issues arise.
For the time being, articulation-handling in general isn’t fully mature in Dorico. You may
have issues with certain articulations not triggering, or not ending when you expect them
to. Actual articulation-selection is out of our control, and something that can be expected to
mature in a future version of Dorico. But in general, if you’re getting the wrong articulation,
try and see if you can trigger that articulation in an empty score. If you can, you’re probably
looking at something related to Dorico rather than NotePerformer.
Q: What improvements would you like to see so that Dorico works better with
NotePerformer (other than those already mentioned in the Users Guide)?
A: The most crucial aspect, from the perspective of NotePerformer, is for Dorico to provide
bulletproof articulation selection, and to support multiple articulations at once. You can tell
that Dorico has prepared for combined articulations in the VST Expressions dialog, by
allowing you to use different exclusion groups for articulations, which NotePerformer also
does. But it seems that all articulations are currently treated as if they’re in the same
exclusion group even when they’re not. Which means if you put an accent under a slur,
you’ll only get an accent. If you put a slur on a muted brass instrument, you’re (probably)
not going to get both the mute and the slur in playback.
Q: Did you receive a lot of requests to make NotePerformer work with Dorico?
A: We’ve had *tons* of requests for NotePerformer in Dorico. I’m guessing that’s partly
because so many Dorico users are also Sibelius users, or existing NotePerformer users.
Which is only natural, as these programs share a common history of sorts. But it’s also
because Finale’s built-in playback using Garritan’s sounds is more mature than Dorico’s
playback, giving Finale users less incentive to replace the built-in sounds with another
playback solution.
Billy The Kid Suite and NotePerformer 3 in Dorico
Steinberg product marketing manager Daniel Spreadbury had this to say about
NotePerformer and Dorico:
NotePerformer is a remarkable virtual instrument, and nothing comes close to it in terms

of ease of use, considering the nuance and detail of the musical interpretation it produces
automatically, and with much lighter demands on computer resources than larger sample
libraries. For many composers and arrangers who want a “set and forget” experience,
NotePerformer is ideal.
We’re very excited to have been able to work with Arne Wallander over the last few months
to bring Dorico and NotePerformer closer together. I can’t comment on what it must have
taken for Arne to get NotePerformer working with Dorico, but for our part, there was quite
a bit of infrastructural work involved in taking the mechanism that Dorico used to select
patches and assign appropriate VST Expression Maps for HALion Sonic SE and generalising
it so that it could work with NotePerformer, which takes a completely different approach
to loading sounds and handling VST Expression Maps. Having been talking to Arne about
getting NotePerformer working with Dorico for a couple of years, it was great to work with
him over the last few months to bring the two products closer together.
There aren’t really any particular caveats in using NotePerformer with Dorico: Dorico
doesn’t yet handle some combinations of playing techniques completely correctly,
including things like trills, but that is a general limitation [in Dorico] rather than anything
that would apply specifically to NotePerformer. Existing NotePerformer users who have
used it with other music notation software know what to expect, and if there are
NotePerformer users who have been clinging to their old copies of Sibelius because they
couldn’t use their favorite instrument with Dorico, now’s the perfect time to make the
jump. Dorico users who haven’t yet experienced NotePerformer before should give it a
close look, as I have yet to meet a single person who has bought NotePerformer and has
regretted their purchase.
Performance quality
I haven’t had time to test NotePerformer with a wide variety of compositions, so if you don’t
yet own NotePerformer I would encourage you to download the 30-day free trial and see if
it suits your musical styles and tastes.
As has been the case since day 1 of its release, though, when playing back most
conventionally notated compositions, I find that NotePerfomer far exceeds Sibelius’s
default and bloated Sibelius Sounds library, and usually trumps much more expensive and
sophisticated libraries as well — especially when you account for the amount of adjusting
one has to do in those libraries compared to NotePerformer.
As remarkable as NotePerformer is, though, it’s still a machine. While a listener might be
fooled for a few moments when comparing NotePerformer to live musicians, all but the
most undiscerning listeners will easily spot the differences. Despite the notable progress
made on slow and legato music, NotePerformer still does best on bigger and brassier
sections; it’s great fun hearing certain pieces played with NotePerfomer’s full power.
As an example, here’s an extended excerpt of Aaron Copland’s suite from Billy The Kid that I
engraved in Sibelius and played back using NotePerformer’s default settings. I reset the
mixer settings to NotePerformer’s recommended levels using the plug-in, but I did not take
time to insert the a2 MIDI messages. So what you hear is essentially what is marked in the
score and should give you a reasonable sense of what to expect.
Billy The Kid Suite and NotePerformer 3 in Sibelius
If you followed along in the score, you surely noticed places where, in a live context, a solo
or soli would be brought out, balance adjusted, interpretation refined, and the like. Keep in
mind, you can make all of these adjustments in your score using hidden markings and/or
MIDI messages, but that would be at odds with NotePerformer’s raison d’être, especially
when using Sibelius.
As far as a playback quality is concerned in the beta supported programs (Finale and
Dorico), Finale playback is more complete than Dorico. Finale intrinsically supports a wider
range of articulations in playback, and it readily supports combinations of articulations
(such as slurs + accents). Plus, it has FinaleScript, which can be used to access “hidden”
techniques in NotePerformer such as a2. These are all features which are currently missing
from Dorico. However, Finale takes some setting up, and you will need to run a few
FinaleScripts on a score-by-score basis. When properly set up, Finale playback approaches
that of Sibelius, although the latency issues on note entry and playback could be frustrating
for some users.
Recommendations
For $129, having an orchestra summoned at will that sounds as good as it does without any
such tweaking is the bargain of all time. I use NotePerformer as the default playback device
in Sibelius 100% of the time. It’s unquestionably the very next thing that anyone buying
Sibelius should purchase next, and, if one does so, the Sibelius Sounds are usually
unnecessary. It still feels so revolutionary that I can’t believe it’s nearly been five years since
I first installed it. We don’t give star ratings here at Scoring Notes, but let me simply say this:
If you’re a Sibelius user, buy NotePerformer — full stop.
The fact that this update is free for existing users — and that you get Finale and Dorico
support as well — makes the update an easy call — get it. You have nothing to lose, and if
the improvements aren’t to your liking, Wallander makes previous versions available.
Reverting is as easy as downloading the installer to the version of your choice, running it,
and restarting your notation software.
For Finale and Dorico users, the recommendation is more equivocal. At the price point, you
might find it worth it to have NotePerformer in your arsenal of tools and available to you
for certain projects. At the very least, download the 30-day free trial and test it out on a
variety of scores and see if the technical limitations are workarounds are surmountable
enough for you to continue to use it. The “beta” characterization of support for these
programs is accurate, and we’ll see if the hurdles mentioned by Wallander and the makers
of the respective software will be ironed out in due course. If so, and NotePerformer
becomes as easy to use in Finale and as complete in Dorico as it is in Sibelius, it will be
exciting indeed.
Full information about NotePerformer 3 is available at the official NotePerformer web site.
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NotePerformer 3 for Sibelius released; beta support for Finale and Dorico added - Scoring Notes 9/4/18, 3)52 PM

NotePerformer 3 for Sibelius released; beta support

New features in NotePerformer 3

Speaking of that quality of sound, NotePerformer 3 oﬀers a bevy of impressive

A promotional video of NotePerfomer 3 gives an overview:

NotePerformer 3: Arti.cial Intelligence-based Playback of Musical Notation

Here’s a more detailed run-down of the new features:

diﬀerent articulations, it achieves a level of tightness between diﬀerent instruments that

Orchestral tuning per-instrument

Delay-free switching between playback devices

Other playback improvements

Improved interpretation of slow music

Smaller installer size

Signed installer (removing the obstacles to installation on Mac and PC)

The NotePerformer web site has a full version history.

NotePerformer and Sibelius, with new plug-ins

Resetting the mixer

I asked Arne Wallander about this. He said:

Arne Wallander at the 2017 NAMM show in Anaheim, California

NotePerformer and Finale, with questions for Arne Wallander

The challenges of using NotePerformer and Finale are well-documented in the

Some of the many FinaleScripts included with NotePerformer 3

Q: How did you arrive at your solutions for using FinaleScript?

A: Most things work ﬁne without running the articulation/expression FinaleScripts.

Q: If someone sets up a NotePerformer score with NotePerformer expressions using

An instance of NotePerformer 3 running in Finale

A: Setting things up in Finale, on a per-score basis, is a bit more cumbersome than it is in

Running the Basic NotePerformer Conﬁguration script in Finale

NotePerformer and Dorico, with questions for Arne Wallander

NotePerformer 3 running in Dorico Pro 2, in Play mode

Billy The Kid Suite and NotePerformer 3 in Dorico

NotePerformer and Dorico:

NotePerformer is a remarkable virtual instrument, and nothing comes close to it in terms

Billy The Kid Suite and NotePerformer 3 in Sibelius

Shop Related Products

Sibelius: Complete Sibelius Steinberg Dorico CG Sibelius: Symphonies Nos.

$11.49 $9.99 $299.99 $739.99 $7.99

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