[Finale] Garritan band library
Bought the Garritan Personal Orchestra some months ago. The better depth and more richness in details compared to the fewer sound samples coming with FM2012 have pleased me and been helpful in my work. Now I wanted to do a brass band version of a recent project, where it would have been of benefit to work with cornet sounds over the GPO trumpets. Also to have access to the alto/tenor horn sounds over the orchestral horn sounds. Same for a greater variety of baritone, euphonium, and tuba sounds. So I listened to the sound samples on the makemusic site. And I was deeply disappointed by the artificial, glassy, orchestrion quality of the soundscape. Do I have a wose than usual ear-day, or have others had similar experiences? Is the band library being in version 2 over the GPO being in version 4 a hint that the band library is kind of outdated? Klaus ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Garritan band library
I can't speak to matters of taste, but i can say that there are a great many MORE brass samples in Garritan Band than in GPO. Euphs vs. baritones, etc. I find for brass band work it is quite helpful. Raymond Horton Bass Trombonist, Louisville Orchestra Minister of Music, Edwardsville (IN) UMC Composer, Arranger VISIT US AT rayhortonmusic.com On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 7:08 AM, Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre yorkmaster...@yahoo.com wrote: Bought the Garritan Personal Orchestra some months ago. The better depth and more richness in details compared to the fewer sound samples coming with FM2012 have pleased me and been helpful in my work. Now I wanted to do a brass band version of a recent project, where it would have been of benefit to work with cornet sounds over the GPO trumpets. Also to have access to the alto/tenor horn sounds over the orchestral horn sounds. Same for a greater variety of baritone, euphonium, and tuba sounds. So I listened to the sound samples on the makemusic site. And I was deeply disappointed by the artificial, glassy, orchestrion quality of the soundscape. Do I have a wose than usual ear-day, or have others had similar experiences? Is the band library being in version 2 over the GPO being in version 4 a hint that the band library is kind of outdated? Klaus ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Garritan band library
I certainly agree about the desirability of having the more varied selection of band specific brass sounds. The problems I perceived were with the upper overtones sounding shallow with the band sound samples But then I might use the orchestral woodwind sounds where I find them preferable. I like the clarinet sounds of the GPO. Thanks! Klaus --- On Wed, 4/24/13, Raymond Horton horton.raym...@gmail.com wrote: From: Raymond Horton horton.raym...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Finale] Garritan band library To: finale@shsu.edu Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2013, 2:25 PM I can't speak to matters of taste, but i can say that there are a great many MORE brass samples in Garritan Band than in GPO. Euphs vs. baritones, etc. I find for brass band work it is quite helpful. Raymond Horton Bass Trombonist, Louisville Orchestra Minister of Music, Edwardsville (IN) UMC Composer, Arranger VISIT US AT rayhortonmusic.com On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 7:08 AM, Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre yorkmaster...@yahoo.com wrote: Bought the Garritan Personal Orchestra some months ago. The better depth and more richness in details compared to the fewer sound samples coming with FM2012 have pleased me and been helpful in my work. Now I wanted to do a brass band version of a recent project, where it would have been of benefit to work with cornet sounds over the GPO trumpets. Also to have access to the alto/tenor horn sounds over the orchestral horn sounds. Same for a greater variety of baritone, euphonium, and tuba sounds. So I listened to the sound samples on the makemusic site. And I was deeply disappointed by the artificial, glassy, orchestrion quality of the soundscape. Do I have a wose than usual ear-day, or have others had similar experiences? Is the band library being in version 2 over the GPO being in version 4 a hint that the band library is kind of outdated? Klaus ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Garritan band library
There are a few points I might raise here: 1. Brasses are difficult to sample due to the complex overtones. 2. Homogeneous ensembles such as brass bands create problems as well. 3. The overtone situation Klaus describes can be adjusted via EQ. Go into the ARIA player and cut or boost frequencies to taste. 4. I find the base velocity in Finale's HP to be too low, yielding mushy attacks for brasses. Try increasing the base velocity to taste. 5.it is imperative to avoid simultaneous attacks. HP does that to some extent, but I haven't taken the time to determine how much. 6. Use reverb judiciously, avoiding extremes of wet and dry. 7.try panning similar tone colors on opposite sides of the stereo field if musically logical 8. Try automating reverb or EQ as a function of an instrument's dynamics or prominence 9. All the above would be MUCH easier if Finale's MIDI tool were easier to use. Right now it's a pain. 10. Don't expect anything just using the sounds out of the box 11. Not even the $5K libraries will do a great job of reproducing a brass band. Jim Sent from my iPhone, so please pardon all the typos. On Apr 24, 2013, at 8:41 AM, Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre yorkmaster...@yahoo.com wrote: I certainly agree about the desirability of having the more varied selection of band specific brass sounds. The problems I perceived were with the upper overtones sounding shallow with the band sound samples But then I might use the orchestral woodwind sounds where I find them preferable. I like the clarinet sounds of the GPO. Thanks! Klaus --- On Wed, 4/24/13, Raymond Horton horton.raym...@gmail.com wrote: From: Raymond Horton horton.raym...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Finale] Garritan band library To: finale@shsu.edu Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2013, 2:25 PM I can't speak to matters of taste, but i can say that there are a great many MORE brass samples in Garritan Band than in GPO. Euphs vs. baritones, etc. I find for brass band work it is quite helpful. Raymond Horton Bass Trombonist, Louisville Orchestra Minister of Music, Edwardsville (IN) UMC Composer, Arranger VISIT US AT rayhortonmusic.com On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 7:08 AM, Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre yorkmaster...@yahoo.com wrote: Bought the Garritan Personal Orchestra some months ago. The better depth and more richness in details compared to the fewer sound samples coming with FM2012 have pleased me and been helpful in my work. Now I wanted to do a brass band version of a recent project, where it would have been of benefit to work with cornet sounds over the GPO trumpets. Also to have access to the alto/tenor horn sounds over the orchestral horn sounds. Same for a greater variety of baritone, euphonium, and tuba sounds. So I listened to the sound samples on the makemusic site. And I was deeply disappointed by the artificial, glassy, orchestrion quality of the soundscape. Do I have a wose than usual ear-day, or have others had similar experiences? Is the band library being in version 2 over the GPO being in version 4 a hint that the band library is kind of outdated? Klaus ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Garritan band library
Thanks! One bad point about the sound samples at the MM site is that there is no brass band sample. I took the jump anyway and bought the band library. Even has it installed and sounds applied to the score sketch I am working at. First play back of the opening revealed a marked difference by using cornet versus trumpet sounds. I am aware I have to work with the parameters re. equalizing, panning, and balance. Klaus From: Williams, Jim jwilli...@franklincollege.edu To: finale@shsu.edu finale@shsu.edu Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 3:09 PM Subject: Re: [Finale] Garritan band library There are a few points I might raise here: 1. Brasses are difficult to sample due to the complex overtones. 2. Homogeneous ensembles such as brass bands create problems as well. 3. The overtone situation Klaus describes can be adjusted via EQ. Go into the ARIA player and cut or boost frequencies to taste. 4. I find the base velocity in Finale's HP to be too low, yielding mushy attacks for brasses. Try increasing the base velocity to taste. 5.it is imperative to avoid simultaneous attacks. HP does that to some extent, but I haven't taken the time to determine how much. 6. Use reverb judiciously, avoiding extremes of wet and dry. 7.try panning similar tone colors on opposite sides of the stereo field if musically logical 8. Try automating reverb or EQ as a function of an instrument's dynamics or prominence 9. All the above would be MUCH easier if Finale's MIDI tool were easier to use. Right now it's a pain. 10. Don't expect anything just using the sounds out of the box 11. Not even the $5K libraries will do a great job of reproducing a brass band. Jim Sent from my iPhone, so please pardon all the typos. On Apr 24, 2013, at 8:41 AM, Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre yorkmaster...@yahoo.com wrote: I certainly agree about the desirability of having the more varied selection of band specific brass sounds. The problems I perceived were with the upper overtones sounding shallow with the band sound samples But then I might use the orchestral woodwind sounds where I find them preferable. I like the clarinet sounds of the GPO. Thanks! Klaus --- On Wed, 4/24/13, Raymond Horton horton.raym...@gmail.com wrote: From: Raymond Horton horton.raym...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Finale] Garritan band library To: finale@shsu.edu Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2013, 2:25 PM I can't speak to matters of taste, but i can say that there are a great many MORE brass samples in Garritan Band than in GPO. Euphs vs. baritones, etc. I find for brass band work it is quite helpful. Raymond Horton Bass Trombonist, Louisville Orchestra Minister of Music, Edwardsville (IN) UMC Composer, Arranger VISIT US AT rayhortonmusic.com On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 7:08 AM, Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre yorkmaster...@yahoo.com wrote: Bought the Garritan Personal Orchestra some months ago. The better depth and more richness in details compared to the fewer sound samples coming with FM2012 have pleased me and been helpful in my work. Now I wanted to do a brass band version of a recent project, where it would have been of benefit to work with cornet sounds over the GPO trumpets. Also to have access to the alto/tenor horn sounds over the orchestral horn sounds. Same for a greater variety of baritone, euphonium, and tuba sounds. So I listened to the sound samples on the makemusic site. And I was deeply disappointed by the artificial, glassy, orchestrion quality of the soundscape. Do I have a wose than usual ear-day, or have others had similar experiences? Is the band library being in version 2 over the GPO being in version 4 a hint that the band library is kind of outdated? Klaus ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Garritan JABB V2 versus V3
I did buy the upgrade. It came with a really old version of Aria. You would think that, considering they only offer about 6 packages (x 2, one for Windows and one for Mac), they could get around to putting the current software into each package. After messing around for a couple of hours, I got a combination that worked adequately. The reverb effects displayed in the Aria player never did work, but I could activate the Ambiance reverb separately. That works intermittently, but seems to work about 90% reliably if you close down Finale altogether and bring up a score without making other VST changes. Regarding the mute changes, this does seem to work as long as you always select the instruments of the notation category. I don't know what else I might be giving up by doing that, but it seems to work OK. I'm happy to get it to the point that I can actually do some productive work now. This whole category of software (and I would include Band In A Box in this general area -- music composition software in general) seems to be very poorly finished. If you are willing to hack around for days, you can eventually get something to work. I'd think a supplier that can put out a product that works reliably without all that technical nonsense would be more successful than the current suppliers are. it really should not be necessary to keep a big notebook of all the things that don't work, or cause damage if you do them by accident. On 4/24/2013 12:42 AM, Craig Parmerlee wrote: I bought JABB a few years back. I haven't had it installed for the last several Finale releases because the supplied GPO voices were sufficient. But I'm working on a project where I really need the keyswitch voices (muted trumpets). So I installed this software on my Windows 7 Finale 2012 system. That was a trip, but I finally got that working (more or less). It seems there are all sorts of problems that maybe aren't outright bugs, but weak integration at best. For example, when I use the drum grove plug-in, it wipes out the bank and channel setting, and resets the track to the Aria player. I have to use the Kontact player with Version 2. One of the most annoying features is that the volume controls don't make any sense. I have every instrument in the score assigned to Kontact with a JABB voice. But only SOME of the voices can be controlled by the Finale mixer. The drum set, for example, does not respond to mixer volume changes, but saxes and trumpets do !? It seems that the Aria player is the future for Finale and Garritan, and it appears that JABB V3 is built around Aria. I wonder if my life would be easier if I swallowed the upgrade. It's 50 bucks, which isn't the end of the world. But if my life isn't likely to be any better with Ver3, I'll save the money. Any opinions about this? Thanks in advance. Craig ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
