Apple Garageband Jam Pack: World Music Review

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(More customer reviews)I've bought three of the packs before and I just bought this one. At first I wasn't sure what it could really do for my sound, but it is absolutely amazing. The African choir will shock you, it sounds so good. The new instrument sounds will give your music a broader, more worldly sound. It's worth the buy even if you just want to pay around with it. It's the best one that I've bought yet.

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Apple Garageband Jam Pack: Symphony Orchestra Review

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(More customer reviews)The day before I ordered this Jam Pack, I had received an M-Audio 88es USB velocity sensitive keyboard from amazon (reviewed separately) Keystation 88es 88 Key USB MIDI Controller and sustain pedal M-Audio SP-2 US65010 Sustain Pedal Piano Style Sustain Pedal for Keyboards
The standard Garage Band 'Grand Piano' sounded just "OK", and there was no harpsichord. Those were my prime reasons for ordering this Jam Pack... and to have fun with the other sounds, of course.
The Steinway Piano in this pack is substantially better than the standard Garage Band piano. Neither is perfect - but this Steinway is great for the price. The difference is more than the soft hammer sound of a Steinway vs a hardened hammer sound of the standard piano. The velocity response and the behavior of sustained notes is much more realistic. The default settings have a fair amount of reverb - to simulate a concert hall. Adjusting that and other sliders can give a sound more appropriate to other settings.
It still does not sound like a real grand piano of course - there are no induced harmonics when the sustain pedal is depressed, for example. But, not bad at all.
The harpsichord is pretty disappointing in comparison. The lower register is amplified way louder than the upper - roughly everything below middle C as I recall. I haven't tried adjusting bass reduction effects etc to make it sound more 'correct'. Also, considerable reverb in the default 'Orchestra Harpsichord' to reflect a large hall. Lower that to get a chamber sound.
The variety of attack modes that are adjustable by keyboard control are pretty nice for instruments such as the strings and brass.
The huge quantity of loops (over 3 GB) will be of less use to me, but can be handy for making some quick transitions or tracks for videos - since Garage Band is basically THE sound editor for iMovie and Final Cut Express now. I had expected that the loops would be performances on real instruments, but many (most?) sound like sampled digital instruments to my ear.
If you want a better piano, a harpsichord and/or symphonic instruments, this pack is a great deal.
PS Not in the product description, so I just noticed: The Jam Pack comes with a selection of 'demo songs' reached from the File > Open Demos menu. (If shared, these reside on disk at Users > Shared > Symphony Orchestra Demo Songs.) Five symphonic themes as an orchestra of MIDI instruments and 8 loop (wave) compositions. Fun to mess with and good for learning purposes.

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Garritan Personal Orchestra Review

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(More customer reviews)I am surprised that this is the first review for GPO on Amazon, considering the growing following this collection has.
This is one impressive product - a comprehensive list of sounds, that work very well together. Obviously the samples in more expensive packages are more impressive in their basic sound, but if used with skill it is truly astonishing what can be achieved with this set - one has only to listen to the numerous user demos on their web site to see for yourself. The situation here is that the sum is in fact greater than its parts.
In this price range, there really isn't anything that can compare to it. The quality of the results achievable are good enough for professional use, and in fact it is getting considerable professional application in many different areas.
Anyone looking for orchestral sounds, but unwilling (or more likely unable) to the spend the thousands necessary for the big libraries should take a look at what is being offered here.
Really, bravo to the Garritan team for creating such an impressive library at a price point accessible to almost anyone.

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Whether you're a professional film composer who needs to produce orchestral mockups at a moment's notice, a hobbyist who wants to create great sounding orchestral music, or a student who is studying the art and craft of orchestration, Personal Orchestra will simplify creative work at a price that won't break the bank. In the studio, at home or on the road, Personal Orchestra is for every musician.Personal Orchestra contains samples of all the major instruments in a symphony orchestra-strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion-as well as instruments not found in other orchestral libraries-a Steinway® concert grand piano, a Stradivarius violin, Guarneri Violin, Gagliano Violin, Wurlitzer and Venus concert harps, Haynes flutes, Heckel bassoons, a Mustel celeste, a Rudolf von Beckerath concert pipe organ, a harpsichord, and many other exquisite instruments. There is everything one needs to create orchestrations of any size! In fact, as a whole, Personal Orchestra has the most expensive collection and highest caliber of orchestral instruments of any orchestral sample library ever recorded!Build ensembles one instrument at a time from individual solo instruments. This allows the user to construct ensembles or sections of any size - solo instruments, duos, trios, quartets, chamber ensembles, small orchestras, or a full symphonic orchestra.Personal Orchestra allows you to create realistic sounding orchestral music quickly and easily, right "out of the box." No confusin...

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