Re: Garageband Jam Pack Symphony Orchestra 101
Towanda Tuning
**Is there a way to get better orchestra sounds/instruments in Garageband than what is included?** I'm not talking about loops, but actual instruments. The ones included sound pretty decent, but I constantly see other purchasable programs that allow you to increase your sound library with realistic patches. Any leads? Thanks in advance.
AU Symphony Orchestra plays at least two major concert programs per season, each in repeat performances. The orchestra's repertoire consists of the major masterworks from the Baroque through the Twentieth Century.
Each year, AU Symphony Orchestra hosts a major event on campus, the Concerto and Aria Competition, in which undergraduate and graduate student instrumentalists and singers compete for the opportunity to perform in concert with the orchestra. Winners from a field of more than a dozen competitors are selected by a distinguished panel of judges from the Department of Performing Art's music faculty.
AU Symphony Orchestra frequently collaborates with the American University Choral Ensembles in performances of major works for chorus, vocal soloists, and orchestra. AU Symphony Orchestra also serves as a lab orchestra for conducting students in the Department of Performing Arts.
In 1998, KANSAS released an orchestral album; Always Never the Same, recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London. They followed with an orchestral tour accompanied by top-caliber symphony orchestras.
The bass instrument is set up like the guitar, where four strings can play various notes. However, the bass cannot play chords. Included are three electric basses, an acoustic orchestral bass, and four customizable synth basses. Like the smart keyboard and smart guitars, there is an "autoplay" feature.
Smart Strings were added in version 1.2 and consist of a string section made of 1st and 2nd violins, violas, cellos, and bass. They are capable of playing notes legato, staccato, and pizzicato depending on if the user swipes up and down, flicks or taps their screen respectively. The orchestra is customizable, including four different string styles (all with a different "autoplay" feature) and the option to choose which instruments to play. For example, one can play a chord made up of all the available instruments, or simply play a violin note.
On March 7, 2012, Apple updated GarageBand to 1.2, adding support for the third-generation iPad. It introduced the new Smart Strings instrument, a string orchestra of 1st and 2nd violins, violas, celli, and bass, capable of playing notes legato, staccato, and pizzicato. Additionally, it added synthesizers to the Smart Keyboard and Smart Bass instruments. It also added a note editor that allows users to fine-tune note placement and length and the ability to upload songs to Facebook, YouTube and SoundCloud, as well as the ability to upload projects to iCloud. It also included Jam Session, a feature that enables up to 4 iPhones, iPod Touches, and/or iPads with GarageBand installed to play simultaneously.
The group was forced to rename itself when Letterman left NBC, and NBC claimed that the name "The World's Most Dangerous Band" was its intellectual property. Around this time, the group released an album credited to "Paul Shaffer and the Party Boys of Rock 'n' Roll". The name "Paul Shaffer and The CBS Orchestra" dated from the start of the show on CBS in 1993. The band was not featured on CBS programming outside of the Late Show. According to the Late Show with David Letterman credits, the name "CBS Orchestra" is the property of CBS; CBS had not had an orchestra since The Ed Sullivan Show (whose house band absorbed most of the Alfredo Antonini-led CBS Orchestra that had served as the CBS Radio Network's primary band during its existence) ended its run in 1971.
The orchestra disbanded after the Late Show ended on May 20, 2015.[4] Jazz musician Jon Batiste was announced by new host Stephen Colbert as the new Late Show's bandleader on June 4, 2015,[5] with his band, Stay Human, becoming the show's new house band.[6]
David Sanborn on saxophone was an occasional guest member of the band during its NBC days. In February 2012, after longtime saxophonist Bruce Kapler departed the orchestra, a string of guest saxophonists (including Tom Timko of Will Lee's Beatles tribute band The Fab Faux) substituted for him until one of the substitutes (Aaron Heick) was named the permanent replacement. During the week of August 13, 2012, trumpeter Greg Adams from Tower of Power sat in with the band.
The $90 StaffPad product includes 55 instruments so if "notation" is a benefit that's probably a step up in
sample quality from Notion and a must have if you prefer using a pencil to write music notation. There are people that make those dots and can hear the sounds they make. The In-App Sample Libraries are
probably worth their prices on the desktop but come as a shock to us IOS buyers. But I'm sure they are
more thorough in other coverage of articulations needed to really simulate orchestral palates of sounds
you can notate and expect the orchestra to follow.
For superfast orchestral sound simulations without a lot of fuss the "Hybrid Acoustic" IAP for Roli Noise Melody is fun. ISymphonic and Beathawk are also great to create a cinematic impression easily and
many synths do great string sections and brass clones.
There are a few decent SF based sample players like Bismark but after a lot of experimenting I find myself using iSymphony for full orchestra ... and if soloing something or dropping a melody line on top I use the Audio Modelling SWAM banks in Roli's NOISE. Need a decent MPE controller to get the best out of them and not cheap but lovely ear candy. Will do till I get a real orchestra anyway.
Yes. I'm very happy with the features of Staffpads (sounds and handwriting scores). I'm currently looking into importing MIDI. I think I'll try improvising keyboard tracks and clipping out portions I like in Cubasis.
Then I can easily export/import the notes into StaffPad and orchestrate the ideas. Then I can render the
music into a wave file and pull that back into Cubasis and potentially add guitar, vocals or specific AUv3
apps. $90 is a huge investment but StaffPad is a whole new wrinkle on IOS production. The internal samples allow for articulations and precise details I can't imagine generating in a typical DAW.
But I am GAS'ing on the Solo Violin and Solo Cello and the SampleSet of Orchestral 1st Chairs (soloist for each orchestral selection) and on and on. Any desktop creator using this approach will know the impulse to collect more and more beautifully crafted sample products from SpitFire, CineSamples, Native Instruments, Omnisphere, etc. As an addict I need to be very, very cautious. "One day at a time."
There's a huge library or sound libraries that run across a gamit of styles. I'm coveting the
solo strings, the ambient collection of pads with a dreamy piano, the orchestral percussion and
on and on... a massive money pit awaits.
I'm yet to find a better solution for orchestral instruments than my old Alesis Nanosynth module that I picked up on ebay for 15 as a teenager and forgot about -- I toiled with multi-GB software libraries and samplers for years and the more high quality I found, the more detailed into editing/performing samples I dived, the more 'HD' the sounds, the more imperfection was apparent and the more it bothered me and felt 'unrealistic'.
Then I dug out an old sound module from a long forgotten case of old equipment and played around with it for a laugh .. Instant gratification!! 640 patches covering hundreds of orchestral and other instruments all packed into 8MB of ROM!! The sounds aren't as realistic isolated, but they're damn sure as nice to listen to. With a good blend (I have the full orchestra mixed inside the module by sending CCs 7, 10 and 91 for vol, pan, reverb) and some arrangement nuance, I've got more satisfying (and even 'believable' in context) results out of this as I have from any other source. Some of the patches also have vibrato on CC 1 and others have a subtle lo-pass dampening effect which allows for a bit more nuance.
If you're looking to actually pick up a module though I'd suggest to look for JV1080 units with orchestral add on -- I've not actually used one but the Nanosynth did make me work around some limitations to get good results (plus the pianos mostly sound terrible -- though the harpsichords are lovely) and those JV1080 units are legendary -- would love to get my hands on one with the Orchestral modules.
The VSCO Community edition comes with 19 unique instruments, and 3000 individual samples. The library includes the basic articulations of the orchestra. It allows you to create realistic mockups right out of the box.
MANKATO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA RECORDINGS - KMSU produced, recorded, edited and aired four high-quality stereo recordings of Mankato Symphony Orchestra (MSO) concerts for its Mankato Symphony Orchestra Recordings project. The project aimed to increase accessibility to local classical music by offering Southern Minnesota residents the opportunity to hear orchestra concerts. The live performances were professionally recorded using multiple microphones and digital equipment, then edited into four 60- to 90-minute shows for air. Performances included works by George Gershwin, Aaron Copeland, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The concerts featured as part of the Mankato Symphony Orchestra Recordings typically aired the Sunday following the live performance. Mankato Symphony Orchestra Recordings was a six-month project.
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