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Orchestral cymbals (clash or roll)

Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 4:41 pm
by leshigginsq
I've been using Sibelius for a number of years but I've been constantly frustrated by the absence of proper orchestral cymbal sounds. This seems a glaring omission, given the important role of the cymbal in orchestral music.

I have seen all sorts of "fixes" proffered but all of them seem to launch into stuff that's way above my head in trems of jargon and technology. I was drawn to Sibelius because it seemed a more "musician" oriented program than a "geek" oriented program. Maybe I was just plain wrong.

Anyhoo ... has anyone got a solution (that can be expressed in non-geek terms, without acronyms, prefereably in a step-by-step format that a person of senior years can understand) to producing a good orchestral cymbal sound in Sibelius?

I am currently using 7.51 and I would pay the dosh to upgrade to 8.X if I knew this problem had been addressed adequately.

Thanks for any help!

Re: Orchestral cymbals (clash or roll)

Posted: Mon May 29, 2017 8:18 pm
by bobp
Well, I assume you know how to use the mixer, and keypad.
Try this.
Add Orchestral cymbals to you score. For playback you will need to turn the volume slider almost all the way up and mark cymbal crashes ff or fff. Add a quarter note to the cymbal line. Play.
For a roll, add a note the length of the roll to the cymbal part. Select the note. go to the third keypad layout (Beams/tremolos). Depending on the speed of the music, select either 64th or 128th tremolos for the most natural sounding roll. Not perfect, but not bad with other instruments playing. If you start it softer and end loud, it's even better,
For a part you would hand a real player, use the buzzroll symbol. That stinks for playback.

Re: Orchestral cymbals (clash or roll)

Posted: Tue May 30, 2017 12:06 am
by leshigginsq
@bobp

WOW! That's so simple - and it seems to work!

Now why has it taken so long (about 4 years) to find the answer to such a straightforward question? Probably because I didn't ask it in the right place with the right level of desperation.

Thank you!

Re: Orchestral cymbals (clash or roll)

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2019 10:06 am
by lenny1981
This is really useful but at the end of the note the sound doesn't die away naturally but rather stops suddenly. Is there anyway to solve this?

Re: Orchestral cymbals (clash or roll)

Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2019 7:44 pm
by bobp
If you mean the roll, I usually use a cymbal roll as a crescendo to the downbeat of the next measure on which there is another crash. Yes, the tail of the crash is easily covered up by other instruments.

Re: Orchestral cymbals (clash or roll)

Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 12:23 pm
by Rinari
Thank you so much! I have been killing myself for nearly six years trying to figure out how to get this sound with no joy... until today!