I am not sure if this issue is specific to Finale 26. It seems that the latest update to 26.1 actually overwrote my copy of Finale 25.5, so I don't really have a way to check.
I use Vienna Ensemble Pro hosting mainly VSL instruments for playback. I use controller 1 for dynamics (using VSL's "velocity crossfade, so that I can take advantage of all the dynamic levels - not really important for this question...)
I have discovered that midi info about dynamics is not sending on layer 3 (haven't checked the other layers). For instance, I have a staff for horns - on layer 1 I have a solo horn, and on layer 3 I have a horn ensemble. If the music is in layer 1, all the dynamic data is transmitted. But on layer 3, there is no dynamic change at all, and I can see that no controller data is being sent. This is true whether I let human playback control the dynamics (i.e. with dynamics and hairpins), or if I turn HP off and enter in commands with the midi tool.
Is this a known issue, or am I maybe missing something?
Thanks!
Layer 3 Controller data not sending in Finale 26
Moderators: Peter Thomsen, miker
Dan Sonenberg
www.danielsonenberg.org
Finale 25.5
iMac Retina 5k, 27-inch, 2017. 32gb ram, and OSX 10.13.6 and MacBook pro 2018, 13", 2.7GHz Intel Core i7, 16gb ram, OSX 10.13.6
Vienna Ensemble Pro, Logic X, and lotsa samples
www.danielsonenberg.org
Finale 25.5
iMac Retina 5k, 27-inch, 2017. 32gb ram, and OSX 10.13.6 and MacBook pro 2018, 13", 2.7GHz Intel Core i7, 16gb ram, OSX 10.13.6
Vienna Ensemble Pro, Logic X, and lotsa samples
Dan, a few months back I had watched your videos and emulated your setup. After reading your post I experimented with level 3 and like you couldn't get it to respond to any dynamics when having notes in level 1 on the same staff. For playback I had assigned dynamic markings to their respective levels. I also tried assigning level 3 to a different bank but it didn't respond. Level 3 notes alone on a separate staff did respond. Also, if the notes on level 3 are moved to 2 with the corresponding assignments changed respectively it does perform correctly. Unfortunately I also removed earlier versions of Finale from the PC that has Vienna so I can't test that. I did try the test with Garritan/Aria player and the dynamics on level 1 and 3 responded correctly, so it would seem to be an issue with Vienna Ensemble.
Finale 27, Windows 10, VST: Vienna Instruments/Ensemble/Synchron, Cubase, Kontakt 5
As it turns out, this is an issue with Finale, not Vienna Ensemble, Kontakt, or even Aria. A staff in the Score Manager can only be set to a single layer for expressions; whatever layer it is set to - even if for a layer set to a different channel - will cause expressions to only respond to that respective channel. The workaround, like so many others, is to create a playback file with whatever extra channels are needed and then to use it to create a print-ready file. I don't use a DAW but I wonder if using one to control Finale playback would work?
Finale 27, Windows 10, VST: Vienna Instruments/Ensemble/Synchron, Cubase, Kontakt 5