The Sibelius Forum

Greetings! My problem is that I can't listen to copies of an instrument. For example, if I have 3 trumpet staffs, only one will play any sound. Any help? I use Sibelius 8.

Tell us how you created the three trumpet parts?

I pressed the "Add or Remove" button on the home page. I then searched for trumpet and added in multiples of that instrument to my grand staff.

Did you put any music on those extra staffs, e.g. by copying/pasting or filling in the bars some other way? Otherwise they will indeed 'play back' silence, i.e. rests.

I indeed put notes on the staff of the copy instruments. No sound plays compared to the first, original instrument.

So you have three staves with notes on them. Assuming the top staff works, when you select the first measure of staff two, and hit "P" on your keyboard, you hear nothing?
So open the mixer ( hit "M" key),hit the graph button in the upper left until the reverb slider appears, and make sure that trumpets are loaded into the first three channels, then make sure the second two are not muted. You'll see orange squares if they are.

So the three trumpets are on Slots 1, 2, and 3. I tried adjusting the Initial Playback Device to be the same, but only one of the three instruments could occupy a playback device. Would I have to set up more playback devices in order to solve my problem? I believe that would fix it, but it would require my computer to load even more instruments, so I would prefer if there was another way.

Sibelius likes to organise things its way, and it's when you start trying to 'adjust' things that it usually rebels. You can't and shouldn't try to use it like a DAW, for example (not saying that you are!).

You used the same trumpet voice for all three instruments? That may be a problem in itself. Just out of interest, change staves 2 and 3 to something else, like flute and clarinet. Do they work then?

There's a setting somewhere, that I can't remember without having Sib open in front of me, that's something like 'Use same slot for identical instruments'. Un check that box and see if that makes a difference.

Fixed it! I found the option "Use Same Slot for Similar Instruments" under Preferences > Playback > Slot and Channel Sharing

Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for!