aeblog

personal orchestra

I recently purchased a copy of the Garritan Personal Orchestra to supplement my recording setup. This might just be the best $225 I have ever spent. This software is incredible in and of itself, but what I really love it for is that it is an enabler. No, not in the bad sense of that term, but in the sense that it opens up possibilities for me and for my music. All of a sudden I have an entire orchestra at my fingertips. An orchestra that sounds pretty darn good for being samples. I find these new sounds to be incredibly inspiring. All these instruments to choose from. Combinations that were never available to me before are now right there in front of me. Of course, these new sounds do not actually create any music, but they certainly are effecting it and driving me in a certain direction. To have a solo violin that sounds halfway decent at my disposal is really incredible; to have timpani that sound like timpani and horn sections that I can layer to Wagnerian proportions if I want is so exciting.

You have heard much of the GPO in my last two songs and there will be more to come. Of course, if I had no financial constraints, I would just hire a full-time real orchestra as there truly is no perfect replacement for that, but until then, I'm pretty pleased with my virtual one.