Merge Playback Configurations with ease!

So, here's a tool I wrote for internal use while developing sound sets: specifically to easily generate the "With NotePerformer" and "With Sibelius 7 Sounds" playback configurations. Having to continually recreate playback configurations is a major pain with Sibelius, and renders multiple-library use impractical: while you could always avoid recreating one of the configurations (by using it as a starting point), you would always have to recreate the others.

Well, now you don't.

This tool is available in all of the paid sound sets too, but not as a standalone. So while it's not been extensively tested to my knowledge, I haven't had any complaints about it either, except that it was using up too much vertical screen space: an issue I fixed now.

This tool was actually horribly complex to write because it intelligently analyses the playback configurations and merges them sensibly, including creating sound ID preferences to allow everything to slot together. It also quietly adds information to improve performance of external libraries with NotePerformer.

Whatever libraries appear in a playback configuration, you'll still need to import the house styles though. Sibelius managed to find a way to make that buggy, which I cover in the "Using your sound set in existing compositions" document.

Some quick hints: (1) don't use the mixer unless absolutely necessary (which it is if you have two libraries sharing sound IDs - none of mine use the same sound IDs as NotePerformer, which means custom instrument staves is totally the best way to use them. (2) if you're going to edit a playback configuration in Sibelius, do it before pressing play. Then you can avoid double loading of preset data.

Not that anyone will read this ;-) Prove me wrong, people!