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Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 262
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 262 |
Last night I got an Garritan newsletter announcing the availability of the new GPO 4.0 with integrated Aria engine. Aria is the replacement for the Kontakt Player which was the original engine for all of the Garritan samples.
The upgrade price for owners of GPO is only $50 a generous and very worthwhile price in my opinion. The download was not quite 1 Gb and took only about 35 minutes over 6 mbps broadband. Installation was fast, consisting of about 4 steps. You can simply install everything to the default C: drive, or put the samples, for example, on a different partition or drive.
Once you have installed it all, you start the program and you are asked to activate your copy. You do this by using the registration "card" which consists of a graphic (png) that looks like a credit card with your name, e-mail, city, state, and phone number. You simply drag and drop this "card" onto the Aria player. Successful activation is confirmed by a short message. It did not work when I simply dragged and dropped from the Garritan Registration site following the instructions, but worked fine using the copy that had been e-mailed to me. Compared to the Kontakt registration, this is very quick, painless and, in my opinion, a superb way to satisfy both customers needs and the publisher's need to prevent piracy (this activation is not at all like the activation used by Microsoft, Adobe, and other software publishers).
The Aria engine is very user friendly and it took only about 5 to 10 minutes to figure out how to get it to work with my EWI wind controller. You can set up 16 instruments at once and you can save all of your settings. The Ambience Reverb makes the instruments sound superb.
Aria appears to be very efficient with both RAM and CPU overhead and I was able to run a single (melody) instrument in Aria and BnBox at the same time. I avoided any of the Realtrak stuff, until I figure out and implement running Aria and BnBox on different audio channels of my Echo Audio card.
The Solo Flute is the best flute I have ever found as is the Solo Piccolo Trumpet, along with the Solo Bassoon. Right now, until I figure out what tweaks are available for live wind controller playing, I'm not too crazy about the solo strings in general (the Ketron SD2 violin sounds better to me) and the trumpets are also disappointing on first hearing also. Don't misunderstand, I've heard these GPO samples playing from notation and they are superb - I'm talking about playing these samples live with a wind controller. I have not tested it with a midi keyboard. These are just my first impressions having only spent about 3 hrs having fun.
To sum up, the new GPO 4.0 w Aria is a great deal, super easy to setup and use and the sounds are superb. If you've never owned it, it costs $149, for previous owners the upgrade is only $50. In either case, it's an incredible value. Go for it.
Thanks for listening,
Last edited by Dan Tong; 08/17/09 04:21 PM.
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697 |
Great review Dan, thanks. I have JABB and got the same email last night and was wondering about it. Keep us posted on how it works for you.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,889
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,889 |
Thanx Dan for the great review.
I got the email announcing the GPO also and I’m very interested. I would love to hear what you think about it after a day or to playing with it.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,122
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,122 |
Songsmith came with the Aria engine and some really good sound sets. I wonder if it's possible to somehow use that in BIAB or RB , PTPA etc.
Could it be added into the lineup, along with the Roland VSC, and Forte' and other soft synths?
If so, Songsmith is cheap enough, even if you just used it to have access to the aria engine and sounds.
Anyone savvy enough to figure this out?
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 13
Newbie
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Newbie
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 13 |
Great news about the GPO-4 update. I have Akai EWI-USB that come with ARIA. I just can't get it to run in BIAB. The fine folks at BIAB couldn't do anything and either can AKAI. Does the new GPO-4 package work with both the EWI and BIAB.
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 29
Enthusiast
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Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 29 |
I got it and the Aria engine is way better than the old Kontakt interface. The sounds have been improved from GPO3 and the only thing I miss is the Honky Tonk piano which seems to have been replaced with various Steinways. ( Nothing wrong with the Steinway's but they dont sound Honky tonk )
The Harp is luscious! The ensemble's are the Aria equivelant to Kontakts multi's and all sound good.
If you already have GPO the upgrade cost is easily worth it. Plus you also can retain your old version of GPO3
There are 2 dl files associated with Aria. Once I chose the correct one I had no problems running it in Biab.
Last edited by dachilles; 08/18/09 08:24 AM.
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 57
Enthusiast
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Enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 57 |
I was considering upgrading from East/West Silver to Gold when I stumbled upon the Garritan Personal Orchestra 4.0 online. I played the samples and was so impressed that I immediately downloaded the library off the Garritan website for $149. Boy, am I glad I did. These orchestral sounds represent a significant improvement over the Apple Orchestral JamPack as well as East/West Silver. The variety of string articulations is impressive and I love the oboes and trombones in particular.
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 134
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Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 134 |
Anybody have any tricks to getting this to work with Band in a Box?
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,697 |
It should work however, just like all the other big samplers like Sampletank, Halion etc it doesn't work well. The reason is this is not your basic GM soundset like the VSC or Forte. These samplers will not simply load and play with different Biab songs. You have to open up the Aria player and manually set up each channel for each individual Biab song. You can get Biab sounding great this way but it's a pia to have to do that for every song. Also, there's a delay involved with the program loading a sample if there's a program change being generated by Biab and this can happen often. Since Biab is playing in real time, if there's a program change like switching from a nylon guitar to an electric in the middle of the song, there's no time to load that new sample so Biab will lock up. That's not Biab's fault, it's because of the sample loading times. A GM soundset only has a few different versions of sounds like strings, two acoustic pianos etc while GPO and other samplers have gobs of them. They can certainly sound killer but it takes time for you to decide which patch you want for a given song. This is why the VSC and other basic GM players work so well but only sound decent, not great. There's a limited number of samples and they have to be small enough that they can all load into RAM so they're instantly accessible by Biab.
If you're into creating finished masterpieces of your songs, going in track by track and tweaking everything to make it perfect then certainly this could be the way to go. Oth, if you like going through your directory of Biab songs and running through a bunch of them in one sitting or playing a live gig, this is no good at all.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Off-Topic
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 203
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 203 |
The first time I eveer heard garritan personal 4, what a great sound. Would this take the place of Real tracks? does it work the same as Forte or VSC? Thanks Ed
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Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 897
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 897 |
I like to use either a sampling keyboard - like the Mo88 -or even better, a hardware sampler/midiplayer/synth, like my Akai S-5000 (Akai has other great ones)...but if you look, you could find one for about the same price as some expensive software program, used. Of course hardware music equipent is usually improved over time with FREE upgrades, unlike most software approaches. Another advantage is that you can take a hardware sampler that has features like midi playing and controlling/setting up song and set lists, along with selecting the specific samples you want, ON THE FLY, without loading time because they're part and parcel of the performance hardware. That's why these hardware-based machines are preferred in complicated Broadway Productions and Concerts where there are a number of sounds, effects are called up in specific sequence...without unnecessary delay or set transition delays. I use software sequencing and samples myself... Pulsar, Sonar, etc., at home, but I feel more comfortable...and it's less stressful and more fun (for me, to invest in sampling hardware too. If interest in used HW Samplers/Synths, check AkaiPro.com or other sources on EBay, etc. Akai S-5000 Hardware Rack Sampler/Synth Yamaha Motif 88-key Workstation/Sampler/Synth Ensoniq EPS+ keyboard sampler/synth Roland XV-5080 Rack Module Sampler/Synth Yamaha CS6X keyboard Sampler/Controller Yamaha Motif Rack Roland M1+ Keyboard Roland G-1000 Arranger Roland GR 303 w/ GM-70 Midi Converter 2 Roland M3R Rack Modules Korg Triton Keyboard/Sampler Korg Karma Keyboard/Kontroller/"Brainiak" Korg PS-80 Keyboard Synth/Arranger Behringer Ultra-Dyne Pro Multi-Compresso Lexicon L-1,L5 Rack Effects  
Yamaha...Motif ES-8, Motif Rack, CS6X
Korg...Karma,Triton Classic, PA-80, M-1+
AkaiSampler-S5000, Roland.. X5080 Rack/G-1000 Arranger
Various Guitars/Basses Amps Pedals Rec.Equip.
Plus, BIAB 2015 and Sonar Platinum 2015 Upgrade from Cakewalk's Sonar X-3
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
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