Bring back old Garritan solo Violin (Stradivari) and Cello (Gofriller) libraries

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MICHEL EDWARD Posted September 29, 2016 22:33

Please bring back the instruments from the old Garritan Stradivari Solo Violin and the old Garritan Gofriller Cello solo libraries.

Absolutely nothing presently offered in any of the Garritan products compares remotely to those two libraries.

The violin in particular is the most expressive violin I've ever heard next to the real live thing.

Sadly, starting with Finale 2014, neither of these libraries are supported anymore. And while I'm liking the speed enhancements and better stability in Finale 25, not being able to use the latest version of Finale to work on a piece of music for which I require the Stradivari is VERY frustrating.

If anyone wants to hear a recording of the old Stradivari violin library I'll happily supply a link to one of my pieces that uses it.

using Windows 8.1, Finale 2012, and Finale 25

have almost every Garritan library (except the organ and the vile "instant orchestra").

4 comments

Date Votes

MICHEL EDWARD Posted March 17, 2017 16:19

MakeMusic? Anyone?

Any suggestions for an alternate solo violin to use that's as easy to use in Finale as the Stradivari was?

Hello?

Anybody here?

Brian Roland Edited April 21, 2017 19:47

I'm not positive about this, but I suspect some of this library is duplicated in GPO5.

There is ONE new set of Solo Strings in GPO5 that's quite different from the Legacy GPO4 strings.

1. It uses an ADSR (Attack, Delay, Sustain, Release) method of control. You can shape the sound a good bit in real time, or with Continuous Controller expression techniques in your host.

2. While it's not perfect, I'm able to ramp up the attack amplitude enough to play really fast passages using not so well known CC119 events (Adjust Sample Starting Offset). Combine that with a legato switch (CC68 for notation versions, or CC64 for Standard), and we can finally bring out those technical runs in a mix.

3. Includes several alternate articulations, such as martele, sautille, staccato, spaccato, etc. It does take some practice and attention to learn to use these and make them sound good....currently they're not well implemented as a 'plug and play' option in things like Finale and Sibelius. The potential is certainly there though if you want to teach your host how to use them.

As for bringing out Solos with GPO4 (or Finale Bank) strings....

Be aware of this trick, as it helps a LOT!

If you've got a fast passage that isn't coming through (sounds sawed off, and won't play loud enough), find a way to send a "Legato" CC68@127 event (If using the notation version, or CC64 if using the Standard). In something like Finale or Sibelius, you can do this by putting slurs on everything (hide them if you don't want that printed). Alternatively, you can build some technique that'll send the Legato event and 'lock it in' until you enter the counter technique later (with CC68@0) in the score.

MICHEL EDWARD Posted April 21, 2017 22:19

No, none of this library is duplicated anywhere.
This was a product available before MakeMusic's by out of Garritan, and it had been discontinued by Garritan at the time of the buy-out.
The violins in GPO5 are much older, and are simply not of the same quality.

At this point, I've decided to look elsewhere for what I need, since MakeMusic appears to have little interest in the topic.

Brian Roland Posted April 22, 2017 18:30

Thanks for the update. I gathered they pulled some things from older libraries, but didn't know which ones specifically.

Good luck in your search.

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