Hello All,
I'm writing a chamber orchestra piece. At the beginning I have string sections sustaining tied notes for a long time, and I want this to be pianissimo throughout. I put in dynamic markings and turned on Human Playback; my problem is that over time, the sustained notes get louder and louder and LOUDER. I tried repeating the dynamic marking every measure, but that caused unwanted dynamic changes rather than the constant level I'm after.
This piece will be performed by a live orchestra, so it doesn't have to play back perfectly for now (and I can't spend a lot of time fighting with it), but I do like to use playback as an aid to composition, and this unwanted crescendo is extremely annoying.
I'm using Finale 25 on a 2017 MacBook Pro. I'm using Garritan Instruments, and I would like to be able to use different sounds for different layers (arco, pizz, solo), though I think I read somewhere that this can cause playback issues. I tried changing to one sound per section and clearing MIDI data, but the problem persists.
I made a new file and copied and pasted staves into it. Same problem.
I might just turn off HP, but it would be nice to have some approximation of the dynamics I want.
File is attached.
Thank you in advance for any help!
Tied notes get louder over time despite pp marking
Moderators: Peter Thomsen, miker
-
Djard
- Posts: 919
- Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2010 2:23 am
- Finale Version: Finale 26
- Operating System: Windows
Yes, the contrabass harmonics compound over time, and the volume of the instrument naturally oscillates, which you want for authenticity. But I think also that the human ear becomes sensitized to the sustaining note (the brain starts releasing NE).
You could add hidden hairpins and additional hidden pp indications along the track, or assign a different sound to the instrument, keeping the nomenclature. You have 21st Century as the HP. Changing it to Standard did not help. I would consider breaking up the sustain with an 1/8th G note below the A at the end of 4 measures then a Bb above the A at the end of the next 4 then repeat the punctuation. Just a thought.
BTW, you have 36 set for the key velocity of pp, but in playback the value is set to 60. But that should not account for the gradual crescendo, which Finale is perhaps convinced is an inherent characteristic of the instrument.
You could add hidden hairpins and additional hidden pp indications along the track, or assign a different sound to the instrument, keeping the nomenclature. You have 21st Century as the HP. Changing it to Standard did not help. I would consider breaking up the sustain with an 1/8th G note below the A at the end of 4 measures then a Bb above the A at the end of the next 4 then repeat the punctuation. Just a thought.
BTW, you have 36 set for the key velocity of pp, but in playback the value is set to 60. But that should not account for the gradual crescendo, which Finale is perhaps convinced is an inherent characteristic of the instrument.
