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What are people using for Orchestra sounds?


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There's a lot of tricks you can use to make GPO sound better. Make it sound real? Some asshole will always tell you it doesn't have x or y so it doesn't sound real at all. It's impossible to please some people regarding this. Samples have gotten better since GPO, however, and shit can sound almost real. Many composers I know will actually use a mixture of samplebanks to create their productions. They'll use, for example, GPO glockenspiel, QLSO horns, Miroslav strings, or whatever unholy orchestral sample mickeymouse formula they've developed and gotten comfortable with.

Am I wrong or did GPO get an update to its samples recently, though? I still think of the GPO from 1997 or something and sounding slightly better than a Roland SC-88

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The only Garritan samples I've used are the orchestra samples that came with Finale 2006. Compared to VSL, which is what I'm using currently, they're a little, I don't know, dense-sounding. VSL seems much airier. They're not bad samples, though, but since they're tied to Finale I was never able to properly use them in a DAW.

Also, regarding reverb: If you can find decent impulse responses for it, use a convolution reverb unit (SIR 1 is free). I haven't used anything else since I downloaded it, and the impulse responses I'm using aren't even anything special.

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I sorta got the idea of this Convolution verb. but what are impulse responses? it's askin me to open a .wav file for them.

An impluse is a wav file that contains a sample of the reverb decay of a particular room. Usually they'll record some sort of sound akin to a loud snap. The convolution reverb can then look at that file and mimic the natural reverb in that room.

As far as Orchestra samples go, I've mostly just been sticking with the ones that come with Reason. While they're not great, you can still make them sound pretty decent if you know what you're doing.

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Recently I've been using Complete Symphonic from SONiVOX, but I've also used GPO, EastWest / Quantum-Leap Silver, Edirol Orchestral, and even the TTS-1 synth that comes with either Sonar 3 or 4 (can't remember) with great success. The key is not just the samples themselves, but it's also how to use them to give that realistic performance that, even I admit, is difficult to obtain.

One thing to remember, and this is not just in orchestral writing, is that silence is as powerful of an expression as sound. If your writing style is epic, listen to those types of tracks and get a good idea how each instrument is utilized, taking the space between the notes into account (that concept alone improved my clarinet performance). Writing something slow? Listen to actual recordings of that style. A live performance does wonders as well, as you'll be hearing those instruments with your own ears instead of through recording technology.

Do lots of listening of orchestral works, which I believe will help your ability in writing music. Hope this helps!

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