Garritan Orchestral Instruments

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Paige
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Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by Paige »

I am thinking of buying Garritan GOP 4 to use with DP 6 on my on my mac intel 10.5.8. Is this a good choice for nice sounds? Thanks

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stubbsonic
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by stubbsonic »

Just based on what I've used with Garritan and heard from demos, I didn't like the sounds very much at all.

The folks on here will be able to recommend a good library for your budget. What kind of sounds are essential for you?

Sounds like you need something that'll play nice with a slightly older system.
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by FMiguelez »

Paige wrote:I am thinking of buying Garritan GOP 4 to use with DP 6 on my on my mac intel 10.5.8. Is this a good choice for nice sounds? Thanks

Paige
DP 6 was terrible. You should go with at least DP7.24 if going with 8.06 is not an option.

I also don't like the Garritan sounds. What's your budget?
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cuttime
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by cuttime »

GPO is not high end stuff, but for the price it may be what you want. The Aria player that is included is just about the simplest sample playback engine you can get. The GPO sounds are a mixed bag, IMHO. The solo strings are the weakest link; some of the group string ensembles aren't half bad. There are some very good woodwinds, some pretty good brass, and some VERY good keyboards. There is a really good cathedral organ in there that isn't apparent in the demos. I know DP6 is a weak version, but the last iteration (6.13, I believe) for me, at least, solved most of the problems that people gripe about. So, yes, you probably should upgrade to 7.24, but GPO is good for mockups and other low end uses. Any sample library is going to require mastery of controllers to get you what you want, and even then, it can be argued that nothing beats the real thing.
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MIDI Life Crisis
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by MIDI Life Crisis »

While GPO is no as high end as other VIs it is a decent basic set. The solo strings are fairly nice and it's a good complete set for basic use. You might also consider Plug Sound Proas a supplement to GPO.
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by mikehalloran »

Another inexpensive library set is Miroslav. I won't go into the differences except to say that GPO is 64bit compatible and Miroslav is not. Should you ever update to an Intel Mac and DP 8, this will be important.

Still on a G5? You have little idea the performance upgrade an Intel Mac will be when you finally make the change. Even a late model Mac Mini or a 27" iMac will run circles around any G5. I like to joke that the energy savings alone paid for mine but it's truer than I let on. My studio air conditioner runs only a few days a year with my iMac instead of May - September with my G5.

If DP 6.13 still works for you, that's good but 7 is better. Although it's no longer being offered, a number of users who can't run 8 yet bought the upgrade and got a copy of 7.24 included in the deal. You would contact MOTU directly for that.
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by mhschmieder »

Not only is Miroslav inexpensive, it is currently on sale for $29.99 at AudioDeluxe. Not sure how long that sale will last.
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stubbsonic
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by stubbsonic »

Wow. I'm curious how the Miroslav compares to what is included with Kontakt.

Even though it's 32 bit, I could see myself working in 32-bit mode for composition & rendering tracks, then switch to 64 bit when I'm in mix mode (?).

Hmmm. $29 seems hard to pass on-- if it is better than what Kontakt includes, which I don't hate, but often seems like a near miss.
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stubbsonic
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by stubbsonic »

Does anyone know what kind of velocity switching it has in the Miroslav Philharmonik?

I couldn't find info about that on the IK page. No mention of velocity switched layers.
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cuttime
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by cuttime »

stubbsonic wrote:Does anyone know what kind of velocity switching it has in the Miroslav Philharmonik?

I couldn't find info about that on the IK page. No mention of velocity switched layers.
No velocity layers as far as I know, just velocity control of other elements (LFO, ADSR, sustain, filter, etc.). Some of the sounds are rougher than the pristine modern samplers, but the character that they possess can be just what the doc ordered. For $29 bucks you can't go wrong, but the IK Multimedia registrations can be a major pain.
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stubbsonic
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by stubbsonic »

Thanks, 2/2.

That's exactly the info I needed.

The demo gives the impression of a well recorded set. And $29 is a good price, but I think I just need to hold out for a better library than that. What I have currently (in Kontakt, Mainstage 2/3, and Peter Siedlacek's Advanced Orch is probably comparable.
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Tritonemusic
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by Tritonemusic »

stubbsonic wrote:Does anyone know what kind of velocity switching it has in the Miroslav Philharmonik?

I couldn't find info about that on the IK page. No mention of velocity switched layers.
Don't know if this is helpful; I just copy/pasted from this link:

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=103808
Velocity switched articulations

This can be a useful alternative to the AMV patches (or even used in conjunction with them!). Probably the most commonly useful configuration would be legato strings, switching to staccato or detache at higher velocities. This makes it really easy to play a line and intuitively have long, flowing legato phrases interspersed with short staccato notes or detache notes for faster runs or more attack.

To set it up, simply load the legato strings (I like the 11 violins, personally) onto one part, and the matching staccato into the next part. Set them both to respond to the same MIDI channel (click and drag on the black channel number to the left of the solo/mute buttons).
Go to the range settings for the first part (the button is just to the left of the "Env 1" button). We'll be focussing on the "Vel Lo" and "Vel Hi" controls - they limit the velocities that the part will respond to.
Set the legato strings so that Vel Lo=0 and Vel Hi=72. Set the staccato strings so that Vel Lo=73 and Vel Hi=127.


Now play! when you play at lower velocities, you'll get the lovely legato strings. When you want to play a fast run, simply play with higher velocity. This works especially will with Philharmonik because the two sample sets match perfectly - they were both recorded in the same space, by the same players. This means that when you switch articulations, it'll do so seamlessly and naturally.
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stubbsonic
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by stubbsonic »

I could see how that trick would create a useful alternative, but not the dynamic sound I'd be wanting.

Thanks for posting that, though.
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by mikehalloran »

but the IK Multimedia registrations can be a major pain.
How true! But the process can be sussed out. The latest version of the license manager works well. Unfortunately, last I checked, the documentation pointed to older versions that didn't. All solvable (mantra: It's only $29. It's only $29. .It's only $29. It's only $29...) Many of us have gotten through it.

It still works fine in DP 7.24 which is what I use for those rare times when I have to do something in 32bit nowadays.
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Re: Garritan Orchestral Instruments

Post by mhschmieder »

Just to clarify, I found out later that it's only the smaller Classik edition of Miroslav that is on sale for $29; the full edition is quite a bit more.
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