GPO5 - Tell Me What you Want, What You Really Really Want

[fred1028]

What I really. really want is:

Every solo instrument to have controllable vibrato, portamento, Trills and in addition those expressions/articulations that are unique to each individual instrument.
As an owner of GOS I'd love to see ALL the articulations available directly in GPO 5

Fred

[Ron.]

I've been complaining about this for 10 years on the MM forum and it was suggested I have a go here: can we please have percussion instruments that can be heard? I have never been able to hear the triangle, jingle bells, or several other instruments. Percussion instruments, by their very nature, should be loud enough to be heard, not sounded by a timid player hiding in a closest.

[Eisengrim]

Hi Gary,

First off, thanks for asking us. It's always nice to hear from the top.

As for the question: I very much agree with the other posters about the strings, especially the soloists. I know that for the price, we can't expect as many techniques as, say, someone like xSample provides, but at least some of the ones that Finale already has HP set up for, like sul ponticello. I have the Ultimate Collection, but I still find it a bit ridiculous to have to switch to Instant Orchestra everytime I want a string harmonic. The small ensemble option would also be nice -- I'd probably be willing to pay a little extra for these features.

Also, I fully support Ron's requests re: percussion, both in terms of mapping and of volume. Having this worked on in tandem with the Finale developers would be nice too. Some extra variety in the cymbals -- there isn't one that really sounds like a pair of clashed cymbals left to ring to my ears, and extra variety in the rolls. Also, include the bowed crotales and vibraphone from IO, and add bowed cymbals. Essentially, I'd like to see (or hear!) the percussion built up again from scratch.

Those strike me as the essentials. Better choir sounds would be pleasant, but I can wait till you just put out a choir library.

And not that you asked, but if you're looking for ideas for what to work on once you're done with GPO5, a historical instruments library would be fun. There's a huge gap in the market there -- other than the Birmingham Conservatory (with its grand total of ten instruments) and Era Medieval Legends, there seem to only be random instruments here and there. As far as I can tell, Medieval Legends is the only easy way to find any sort of viol, and they only have the one.

Anyhow those are my few cents.

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Bring the bass clarinet range up at least a full step to sounding G since the bass speaks very much in tune that high, while not so above it, in my opinion. Solo music now being composed which uses this range. Also, much better quality of sound is needed on the very low notes, which now have a fluttering sound, particularly when sustained. And,of course, a not exaggerated vibrato would be big improvement also. Thanks.
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[Galandar]

I would really like:
1. A realistic-sounding steel (table guitar).
2. A dot on the Aria engine keyboard for middle C. I'm not a keyboard player, and it always takes me a while to find it especially when I'm trying to go back and forth from the manual to the keyboard for things like different percussion notes.

[Derrek]

Building on Galandar's suggestion #2:
A roll-over pop-up on each key of the ARIA keyboard showing the MIDI number would also simplify matching sounds (particularly unusual ones such as percussion or GWI sounds) with keys on an outboard keyboard.

[Brad P.]

Definitely higher quality solo string and brass instruments with more articulations and dynamics! The notation compatibility with Finale and Garritan is amazing and it would cut down on using other sound libraries with Finale and would save bundles of time and energy! And better sounding voices would be a huge plus - even maybe with additional vowel wounds (not just the "ah").

[Eisengrim]

For the choir samples -- a division into male and female voices, so we can avoid that awkward 'Is that the latos or the tenors?' problem.

[Jun Yamamoto]

I wish more realistic solo strings. Garritan Strad and Gofriller were very cool. The current technology, I believe, can go much further.

[fechan]

Gary,
I think other people's comments are very valid and it's great to know you are thinking about GPO4 revision.
I would like to see even more realistic sounds available especially in strings and brass. I do all my composing in Sibelius 7.5 and within that framework a number of sounds have an uneven and unpredictable volume so that suddenly there is an obviously quieter or louder note than should be.

I bought Instant Orchestra where it has the lush and multi-instrument samples which save building up individually as in GPO4, but so far I have not tried to use it in Sibelius as I believe it needs its own soundset (which is not available for Sibelius yet???)

It would also be helpful to give the Aria Interface Screen a sizing facility.

Finally, perhaps you could give an update on what you think of people's suggestions so far and where you are in building an update to GPO4. Maybe you have done so but I haven't found it.

And thanks very much for continuing your support for musicians of all sorts. GPO4 has been fantastic but the update will be brilliant!

Richard Davies (UK)