I've not used Sibelius for a couple years, but need it now. Just reinstalled my S6 copy on a new computer. But my GPO set refuses to install because it wants to see Kontakt and doesn't.
I did install the Sib Sounds after installing the S6, but would assume that GPO is more complete for orchestral instruments. Is that true and do I even need GPO any more? The GPO DVD box reads Garritan Personal Orchestra Sibelius Edition, and below, "Sibelius Sounds." Do I already have those sounds installed if I installed the above?
Re Kontakt, I never did understand what the bleep that third-party app had to do with GPO or Sibelius. Now I have another sound set, Whole Lotta Country, that I want to install and use, but it also requires Kontakt or another "virtual instruments" app such HALion3 or others I never heard of. Apparently Sib does not install Kontakt so how do I get it so I can use the country samples? And once installed, can I drive the country sounds with Sibelius?
Kontakt Player is an example of an installable VST plug-in, which can be used by Sibelius (and other VST hosts) to play certain 3rd-party sample libraries. If the sample libraries require Kontakt as their player, then you need to install Kontakt Player inside Sibelius.
The latest version of Kontakt Player (version 5.x) is not compatible with Sibelius 6 or older Sibelius versions. If you want to install Kontakt Player in Sibelius 6, you will need to find Kontakt Player version 4 or older.
Sibelius 5 shipped with version 2 of Kontakt Player.
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Sibelius 7.1.3/6.2/5.2.5, PhotoScore Ult 7.0.2, Dolet 6 for Sibelius, Windows 7 32-bit SP1, 4GB RAM
Thanks Robin. My orchestral playback sounds fine with the first few older orchestrations I have tried, so I guess I don't need the GPO. But I do need Kontakt for the country samples.
I have Sib 3 and 4 discs, so if I install one, is Kontakt in there? I vaguely recall there was some rigamarole whereby one had to contact the Kontakt firm during installation with a serial number to get an authorized version.
I think you would do better to find a copy of Kontakt Player 4. Any web search engine will lead you to one. Some sources are safer than others. Choose wisely.
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Sibelius 7.1.3/6.2/5.2.5, PhotoScore Ult 7.0.2, Dolet 6 for Sibelius, Windows 7 32-bit SP1, 4GB RAM
Thanks, that was easy once you folks pointed it out. Now I have to figure out how to synchronize the country sounds with Kontakt and Kontakt to Sibelius so when I write something for these instruments I will hear a banjo and dobro and not generic oboe or harpsichord. It seems easy enough to point Kontakt to the country sounds, but not so straightforward to indicate Kontakt as the playback device within Sib. I see Essentials listed as the active device, but where is the Kontakt player?
One further problem: by digging deep in the Instruments I find the fiddle, banjo, acoustic guitar, dobro and of course double bass, but no mandolin. That's not an uncommon instrument, Mozart and Beethoven wrote for it. Is there one somewhere in the Sib6 Instruments collection?
If you are venturing into the world of VST plug-ins, I recommend a close reading of sections 4.12, 4.14, and 4.15 of the Sibelius 6 Reference (press F1 for the built-in copy).
If you cannot see Kontakt in the "Playback Devices" window, then it is possible that you have not yet installed the Kontakt VST plug-in to a location where Sibelius can find it. See page 343.
You will need to create a new "Playback Configuration" (the configurations that ship with Sibelius are fixed and unchangeable). Once that has been created and named, you should be able to "Activate" an instance of Kontakt into the right-hand column. Select Kontakt in the right-hand column and then click "Show" to display the VST user interface. Use the internal facilities of Kontakt to select the sounds you want on each channel.
Because there is no available pre-configured Sibelius "SoundSet" for the "Whole Lotta Country" sample library, you will need to create and configure a "Manual SoundSet" within Sibelius - see the Reference again. The Manual SoundSet has to match the channel-to-sound mappings you set up in the Kontakt VST.
Once you have Kontakt configured, and the Sibelius SoundSet configured, then remember to click Save for the Playback Configuration (this is not saved in the score).
The Sibelius instrument for Mandolin is available in All Instruments -> European Guitars -> Mandolin.
But there are no Mandolin or Dobro sounds within the Sibelius Essential sample library. If you try to play Mandolin or Dobro with Essentials, Sibelius will choose the next best sound it can find. You should be able to rectify this with the Manual Soundset routing those sounds to your Kontakt samples.
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Sibelius 7.1.3/6.2/5.2.5, PhotoScore Ult 7.0.2, Dolet 6 for Sibelius, Windows 7 32-bit SP1, 4GB RAM
Robin, thanks so much for the tutorial, you should be a technical writer.
I can usually figure most of these things out by myself but since there are three different apps that have to somehow work together it is trickier than usual. Much obliged for the tips.
Till very recently I never finished installing Kontakt or the country sounds discussed above. Now I really need the sounds so I'm getting back to this. Finally the initial installations are complete, but Sibelius does not see Kontakt in Active Devices. The auto installation process put the Kontakt 4 subdirectory into the Program Files directory instead of Program Files (x86). So I cut and pasted the Kontakt directory into the program directory where Sibelius itself is located. It's now inside the Native Instruments directory where the Sibelius Player and VST Plugins files are located. Restarted Sib6. Kontakt is still invisible. Huh? I see only Sibelius Player and Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth. There is no browse field where I can find Kontakt for Sibelius. I've studied the Help sections flagged above, but they are too general to be of help. Can any Samaritan show me the path?
Please undo everything you have done concerning moving Kontakt around, and leave Kontakt precisely where its own installer placed it.
Sibelius 6 is a 32-bit application and must be installed in:
C:\Program Files (x86)\
Kontakt is a 64-bit/32-bit application and must be installed in:
C:\Program Files\
Do not mess with the above structure, and do not move applications from where their own installers placed them.
During the installation of Kontakt, you were asked to nominate installation locations for:
(a) the main Kontakt folder;
(b) the 64-bit VST DLLs;
(c) the 32-bit VST DLLs.
You now need to recall those locations, or find them again.
The 64-bit VST DLLs and the 32-bit VST DLLs have identical names, so it can be difficult to tell them apart. You are looking for a file named "Kontakt 4.dll": note the space before the number. If you search drive C: for "Kontakt 4.dll" you should get six results: two each for:
Kontakt 4.dll
Kontakt 4 8out.dll
Kontakt 4 16out.dll
You can neglect the 8out and 16out versions, as Sibelius cannot usefully use them. You are looking for the 32-bit version of "Kontakt 4.dll". Once you have located a file called "Kontakt 4.dll", right-click it, select Properties, click tab Details, and look for the line "Product version".
The 32-bit version will have a "Product version" looking like: "4.2.4 (IA32)" and a size smaller than the 64-bit version.
The 64-bit version will have a "Product version" looking like: "4.2.4 (x64)" and a size larger than the 32-bit version.
For Sibelius 6, you need to locate the 32-bit VST DLL.
Once you have found the 32-bit version of "Kontakt 4.dll", you need to COPY (not MOVE) it (just that one file) into the folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Sibelius Software\VSTPlugins\
Then restart Sibelius 6.
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Sibelius 7.5.1/7.1.3/6.2/5.2.5, PhotoScore Ult 7.0.2, Dolet 6.3 for Sibelius, Windows 7 32-bit SP1 4GB, Windows 8.1 64-bit 16GB.
Thanks Robin. I restored Kontakt 4 to the 32-bit Program Files directory, easily found all the .dll files and pasted the one where you said to. Restarted Sib6. Kontakt was still invisible in Playback Devices. So I reinstalled Kontakt. Same deal, it does not show up.
1. In Windows Explorer, the folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Sibelius Software\VSTPlugins\
in view-style "Details" showing file sizes and modification dates.
2. In Sibelius, the dialogue "Playback Devices", and the dialogue "Audio Engine Options".
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Sibelius 7.5.1/7.1.3/6.2/5.2.5, PhotoScore Ult 7.0.2, Dolet 6.3 for Sibelius, Windows 7 32-bit SP1 4GB, Windows 8.1 64-bit 16GB.
Some progress made in the meantime, screen caps attached. With Robin's prompting and questions I figured out where to put the files so Sibelius would recognize Kontakt when loading. But now there's a new roadblock -- loading the country sounds within Kontakt. I am assuming that to end up with a bluegrass band that I can drive from a Sibelius score like I have done with orchestral sounds, that first I need to install the sounds in Kontakt, and then somehow establish pointers within Sibelius. Correct?
But the vendor Big Fish Audio apparently did not pay NI a fee for compatibility, so Whole Lotta Country will not load as a neat library package within Kontakt, as described in the Getting Started manual. This manual refers the user to the Reference manual for other sounds, which is totally unhelpful because a reference manual is by definition not how-to instructions -- it explains everything (much too much for the novice) without regard to sequence. And Big Fish has no documentation at all, only some general videos that don't mention WLC. I wrote Big Fish Audio a support inquiry, but they didn't even respond. Sibelius documentation and support have always been exemplary in comparison.
Am I missing some step-by-step instructions from Kontakt explaining how to load a new library of half a dozen instruments whose vendor did not pay to be "powered by Kontakt?"
On youtube a couple users mention Kontakt's Quick Load tool for handling third-party sounds, but I don't follow how to install WLC via this method so it will ultimately load as a band package within Sibelius. There are obviously several steps that I find nowhere laid out in clear sequence.
By the way, WLC also is programmed to work with HALion3, EXS24, MAchFive, and NNXT -- might any of these be more amenable than Kontakt to installation of third-party samples, and do they run within Sibelius?
In Kontakt, I suspect you will not be able to load your sample library as a library or band: you will need to manually load each sound that you want into a separate channel.
Then, in Sibelius, you will need to set up a "Manual SoundSet" that exactly matches the assignments that you have made in Kontakt.
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Sibelius 7.5.1/7.1.3/6.2/5.2.5, PhotoScore Ult 7.0.2, Dolet 6.3 for Sibelius, Windows 7 32-bit SP1 4GB, Windows 8.1 64-bit 16GB.
I'm using 6.2.0 build 88. But I'm not committed to this version, so if another version such as Sib7 (and I still have Sib 4 installation discs) would serve my purposes better, I'll upgrade or downgrade as appropriate.
How do I load instruments into channels? And the Kontakt documentation gives me no idea how to combine the sustain, slide, and other effects of a single instrument into one instrument channel like the orchestral sounds I've used. Does the Sibelius manual soundset then make a tidy band package for easy loading, or do I have to load all instruments every time? Lousy Kontakt documentation, in my opinion (and I used to write training courses and user manuals for computer and semiconductor companies in Silicon Valley).
Incidentally, browsing around looking for solutions, I ran across the Sound Set Project, some consultants in Ohio who specialize in customizing sample libraries and the like for Sibelius.
www.soundsetproject.com/company/services If I throw money at them, will my problem go away? I have the impression that they are offering useful services that Kontakt and Big Fish should have made superfluous by more user-friendly design, but they seem to be working with Sibelius and other big developers regularly and may not have time for small fishes.
Country-Kontakt.jpg