Pizzicato Sounds Hollow

Discussion of playback and midi issues go here.
Feldspar
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2017 2:42 am
Sibelius Version: 8
Operating System: Windows

Post by Feldspar » Wed Mar 29, 2017 3:01 am

Sometimes when I load Sibelius, the pizzicato parts play back hollow. Other times when I load Sibelius, the pizzicato plays with its correct fuller sound. The difference is distinct and obvious. I can tell immediately simply by clicking on the note. It does not matter what sound configuration I use, Lite or Full. It does not matter how many instruments staves I have (1 or 25). The only way to hope for a fix for this problem is to shut down Sibelius and reload the program. Reloading just the score does nothing to fix the problem. Sometimes it takes 8 or 9 reloads before it loads the correct pizzicato sound (and I rejoice!). Sometimes I have to give up. I use an ASIO audio engine. This sound problem is retained if I export to mp3. I have not modified or edited any sounds. It's all default.

This problem with pizzicato occurred in version 7 and, although I had hoped for a fix, it still occurs in the latest version. Anyone have any ideas for a solution?

Thanks!


bobp
Posts: 1182
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:53 am

Post by bobp » Thu Mar 30, 2017 7:20 pm

Feldspar,

I don't think I've ever had a problem with pizzicato. Please list your computer OS and specs. It makes a difference.
As I understand it, the audio driver you use is for Sibelius playback only. It is not involved in the making of a sound file because there is no sound in that process, only the digital information that makes up the sound.

In the past (after v 6) there were two folders that needed to be deleted to get proper playback.
Bob Porter
Sibelius 7.5, W10,i5,16 GB ram,desktop

Feldspar
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Mar 29, 2017 2:42 am
Sibelius Version: 8
Operating System: Windows

Post by Feldspar » Thu Mar 30, 2017 9:12 pm

Thanks for your response!

I would be very surprised if it has anything to do with my computer hardware.

I run Windows 10 (x64 based); AMD FX - 6300 Six-Core processors; 16 GB RAM. I run my sound through good headphones via a USB audio codec. It is plugged through a Behringer Guitar Link connector.

The pizzicato hollowness I describe is almost as if the note's fundamental is missing, and all I am hearing are overtones. The frustrating thing is that sometimes Sibelius loads the score and plays back fine. And as long as the score is loaded, it will continue to playback fine. But I can open a different score, and if it plays back with a hollow pizzicato, I can copy the troublesome part from the bad playback score to the good playback score, wherein, it then plays back fine. It is the strangest phenomenon! C=

This will occur with only one instrument and a few bars of music in the score. So it is not dependent on the number of instruments in the score. And since it sometimes loads and plays back fine, I don't understand how it could be anything other than a bug in Sibelius. (Then again, I am not a computer programmer.)

Thanks!

bobp
Posts: 1182
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:53 am

Post by bobp » Thu Mar 30, 2017 11:47 pm

Some things to try:

If you haven't already, in Sibelius, go to File/preferences/playback. Set the number of cores to two, and number of channels to 128.

For the purpose of troubleshooting, Don't use the guitar link. Use your headphones directly into the computer and change the audio engine driver to DS (direct sound).

I assume the guitar link has the ASIO drivers. Make sure they are the latest.

Good luck.
Bob Porter
Sibelius 7.5, W10,i5,16 GB ram,desktop

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