Classical Composer

[TheRat]

I'm a learning classical composer, and I use Finale 2009 to write my compositions. I was wondering if there are any programs I can use in addition to Finale to produce better audio quality for the audio file. Any responses would be much appreciated!

[Khuskan]

The best orchestral soundbanks and VSTs are extremely large (GBs of data) and incredibly expensive, and are also damned near impossible to use to any great effect without careful tweaking of your midi data in a DAW.

Sibelius is a score editor considered many to be far superior to finale which also has support for VST plugins, as well as native support for the Garritan Personal Orchestra VST, which produces decent-sounding stuff straight out of sibelius. That being said, you will still not have anywhere near the control over the VST parameters as you do in a DAW, meaning you won't get something that sounds truly realistic.

[ChemicalReaper]

At 6/18/09 07:49 PM, Khuskan wrote: The best orchestral soundbanks and VSTs are extremely large (GBs of data) and incredibly expensive, and are also damned near impossible to use to any great effect without careful tweaking of your midi data in a DAW.

Sibelius is a score editor considered many to be far superior to finale which also has support for VST plugins, as well as native support for the Garritan Personal Orchestra VST, which produces decent-sounding stuff straight out of sibelius. That being said, you will still not have anywhere near the control over the VST parameters as you do in a DAW, meaning you won't get something that sounds truly realistic.

The orchestral VSTs that I use are produced by EastWest. You can check out their website at http://www.soundsonline.com/

Their products run from US$350 upwards. Their most expensive and complete orchestral VST - Symphonic Orchestra Platinum - costs nearly $1,000 on its own.

But... they do produce some of the most realistic sounds without hiring a real orchestra.

Finale 2009 is what I use, and what I consider superior over Sibelius. What Khuskan neglected to mention is that Finale, too, has VST support (in fact, Finale 2009 opened itself up to allow any and all third-party VSTs to be used). Finale also comes with - and has native support for - Garritan Personal Orchestra. Finale comes with its own basic, stripped-down variant of GPO (GPO Finale Edition).

Garritan Personal Orchestra is pretty good considering it only costs $300, and you're getting woodwinds, brass, strings, and percussion. But, if you really want to produce high-end, high-quality stuff, then you need to invest some serious dough.

If you want the absolute best VST, you'd buy Vienna Symphonic Library. But that costs more than my car, my computer, my software, my gaming platforms, and my entire Weird Al CD collection combined - VSL costs over $12,000.

So if you want realistic sounding stuff on a budget, I'd say go and buy the full GPO (like I said, the version that you get with Finale is essentially a 'demo'). If you have the extra money to spend and want higher-quality, more realistic sounds, I'd say buy EW's Symphonic Orchestra which, contrary to what Khuskan said, actually produces some pretty good sounds right out of the box.

[Tysuru]

If you have a GREAT computer... haha

I can recommend Omnisphere.

I don't actually have it, but from what I've seen, it is VERY promising.

[nathanallenpinard]

A word about EastWest libs. Get the PLAY compatible lib at all costs. If you buy the other formats, it requires a 3rd party sampler, and the realism will not be anywhere near the PLAY libs.

EastWest disappointed me for a bit, but the new PLAY libs actually add a lot and are impressive.

[ChemicalReaper]

At 6/18/09 11:39 PM, nathanallenpinard wrote: A word about EastWest libs. Get the PLAY compatible lib at all costs. If you buy the other formats, it requires a 3rd party sampler, and the realism will not be anywhere near the PLAY libs.

EastWest disappointed me for a bit, but the new PLAY libs actually add a lot and are impressive.

Oh, by the way, OP - EastWest is coming out with a new library of strings soon using a newer, updated version of the PLAY engine called - wait for it, you're gonna love it - "PLAY 2" (true story!)

So if you want to get the best stringed instruments on a (reasonable) budget, I'd say wait until the new library is brought out. Otherwise, Symphonic Orchestra is great - it even has a harpsichord (I fucking LOVE harpsichord!).

[TheRat]

Ok, thanks guys. Another quick question. If I use these, can I still write it as a normal score so that a band could read it? A college band is playing one of my pieces in November, which is why I am wondering.

[TheNossinator]

At 6/20/09 12:19 PM, TheRat wrote: Ok, thanks guys. Another quick question. If I use these, can I still write it as a normal score so that a band could read it? A college band is playing one of my pieces in November, which is why I am wondering.

The sounds you apply will make no difference to the score (this is my experience with Sibelius, but I believe that while Finale is inferior =D, it works similarly). The only reason it would be different would be if you specifically tweaked the score to get the best sound out of it, rather for readability.

[nathanallenpinard]

At 6/19/09 04:35 PM, ChemicalReaper wrote:

At 6/18/09 11:39 PM, nathanallenpinard wrote: A word about EastWest libs. Get the PLAY compatible lib at all costs. If you buy the other formats, it requires a 3rd party sampler, and the realism will not be anywhere near the PLAY libs.

EastWest disappointed me for a bit, but the new PLAY libs actually add a lot and are impressive.

Oh, by the way, OP - EastWest is coming out with a new library of strings soon using a newer, updated version of the PLAY engine called - wait for it, you're gonna love it - "PLAY 2" (true story!)

So if you want to get the best stringed instruments on a (reasonable) budget, I'd say wait until the new library is brought out. Otherwise, Symphonic Orchestra is great - it even has a harpsichord (I fucking LOVE harpsichord!).

I really hope they took out all of the expression in the sample itself. That is the sole reason why I got VSL, since it allows you to crossfade velocities and the notes sustaining are consistent. EW's are not.

[Tombor911]

SIBELIUS 5!!!

[Tombor911]

Sorry i mean SIBELIUS 6!!!