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I would like to challenge you all to see if you can get MIDI tracks to sound as close as possible to the real instrument. So here is the challenge. Create a small 16 bar song, and include these following instruments:
Brass and Horns- trumpet, trombone, saxophone, tuba, or anyother type.
Wind Instrument- food, or above, clarinet, bassoon ect
Guitar
Bass-upright, or electronic
drum kit
No effects eq or compresstion can be used. Please tell us what vsts you used.
Last edited by Islansoul; 04/21/17 06:24 AM.
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To be fair, that would imply that the real instrument plays the same melody as the MIDI instrument, otherwise you compare a carrot and a leek...
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"food"? 
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I would like to challenge you all to see if you can get MIDI tracks to sound as close as possible to the real instrument. So here is the challenge. Create a small 16 bar song, and include these following instruments:
Brass and Horns- trumpet, trombone, saxophone, tuba, or anyother type.
Wind Instrument- food, or above, clarinet, bassoon ect
Guitar
Bass-upright, or electronic
drum kit
No effects eq or compresstion can be used. Please tell us what vsts you used. Why no effect? Some RTs have reverb don't they? Do you know for sure that RTs don't have any EQ or compression? Don't some guitars have overdrive?
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
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Why no effect?
Some RTs have reverb don't they? Do you know for sure that RTs don't have any EQ or compression? Don't some guitars have overdrive? Presumably because it's supposed to reflect "classical" music  But of course even classical music uses effect touches like reverb, so I took this restriction to mean something like additional vst audio effects. You are just never going to make anything sound natural or "realistic" without reverb. Edit: I'm still wrapping my head around where "food" comes into the picture! 
Last edited by Icelander; 04/21/17 08:59 AM. Reason: Afterthought
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Fine, You can only use reverb.
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......... Edit: I'm still wrapping my head around where "food" comes into the picture! Were you eating something when you posted? Do you mean we can eat while we are composing? Or did you mean flute? Inquiring minds want to know 
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Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
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You have to add effect to simulate the instrument. Place a grand piano in a sound-proofed studio or place the same piano in an empty concert hall. Do the same with a Saxophone or Trumpet or Human Voice. The recorded sound will be completely different in those different environments.
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You have to add effect to simulate the instrument. Place a grand piano in a sound-proofed studio or place the same piano in an empty concert hall. Do the same with a Saxophone or Trumpet or Human Voice. The recorded sound will be completely different in those different environments. I completely agree. That is why I asked about the no effects rule. I think that all effects should be included but that is not my call.
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Yes, you're of course right Mario.
The challenge is "to see if you can get MIDI tracks to sound as close as possible to the real instrument".
Well that should mean do whatever is required to make it sound real, just as long as you use a MIDI instrument. Why impose any restrictions except for 'it must be MIDI'?
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The challenge is "to see if you can get MIDI tracks to sound as close as possible to the real instrument". It depends also of the genre you play. For example, a jazz saxophone would be more difficult to perform than the same saxophone playing a classical melody.
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Yes, and it also depends on whether you just used a keyboard or a wind controller to create the MIDI (e.g. sax, brass etc) sound.
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My personal problems:
1) Limited to VST, which I feel are inferior to better hardware synths and synth modules. Personally, I've never found a software synth that sounds better than my hardware synths.
2) No FX, perhaps no outboard FX but most synth instruments have FX built right into the synth sound, it's part of making it. Could you reproduce a distorted guitar without some distortion FX?
3) If it's a contest, how do you judge?
4) Are we judging just the solo instrument or the entire song?
5) Bitrate of the sample
Sorry, I'm picky.
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Don't forget also that some MIDI sounds are not always very authentic when played as solo, but they can sound in a very acceptable way in a mix.
In fact, ther are many criteria to evaluate the MIDI simulation of real instruments.
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Yes, and it also depends on whether you just used a keyboard or a wind controller to create the MIDI sax sound. And before someone notes "He's thinking classical, like Mozart, Beethoven et al", then I'll just observe that the same very much applies to oboes! I actually have a strong feeling that this whole idea came about because the OP was simply looking for ideas on what are decent VTSi choices for classical music - but why he didn't just ask that question in a post, instead of this poorly thought out "competition"...I don't know At any rate, this "for fun" thread seems to have gone quite sour pretty fast.
Last edited by Icelander; 04/23/17 05:14 AM. Reason: Afterthought
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
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No problem here Icelander. Specifying classical or semi-classical music at the start would have been very helpful.
I do not think that this thread has gone sour. I know myself and possibly others that that all genres were to be included thus thinking that was true was when I started questioning about effects. Most other genres use effects while classical or semi-classical would only use reverb. It makes sense now.
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You know, now that I myself read it back again, his original post doesn't actually specify genre after all, you are quite right!  I guess I must have deduced "classical" because of the list of instruments he did mention and the 'no fx' restrictions (both of which seem to indicate a "go for natural/acoustic" intentions). I still don't get why he didn't just go for a "What VSTi would you recommend/use?" kind of post
Just because you can, doesn't mean you should!
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You know, now that I myself read it back again, his original post doesn't actually specify genre after all, you are quite right! I guess I must have deduced "classical" because of the list of instruments he did mention and the 'no fx' restrictions (both of which seem to indicate a "go for natural/acoustic" intentions). I still don't get why he didn't just go for a "What VSTi would you recommend/use?" kind of post OK, if you want the most realistic classical music sounds then be prepared to spend a lot of money! The best stuff cost the most. Garritan is the cheapest I would go. Not as good as the more expensive packages. I would call it fair. https://www.garritan.com/products/personal-orchestra-5/Miroslov Philharmonik 2 is better. Again not as good as the more expensive packages but a lot of people use this. I had the lite version but somehow I lost it. http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/philharmonik2/index.php?pp=philharmonik2-infoKontakt has some good orchestra sounds but wait for a half off sale: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5/The good thing about Kontakt is the third part sounds. I have Kirk Hunter's Diamond Orchestra and it is very good. But it is on the expensive side plus you need Kontakt to run it. The lasted Concert Strings are better but this serves my purpose. https://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/products/diamond-symphony-orchestra/I also have is Spotlight Solo Strings and it is another very good package. https://www.kirkhunterstudios.com/products/spotlight-solo-strings/I have East/West's Symphonic Choirs and they are excellent. http://www.soundsonline.com/Symphonic-ChoirsTheir orchestras sound great also. http://www.soundsonline.com/Classical-and-OrchestralWait for Kirk Hunter and East/West stuff to go on sale. I understand that SampleTank 3 has some good sounds but I can't comment as I don't own it. Listen to the audio sample of the above to get a feel of whats available. Just remember that pro MIDI musicians put those songs together. If you have a lot of money their are other orchestra sounds that go a lot more expensive. They are out of my price range. In fact right now everything is out of my price range. The above are of course just my opinions and I'm sure other may disagree. I hope this helps.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
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If the OP wanted a VST shoot-out, he worded the post wrong. Been there, done that myself.
It's difficult sometimes when not getting immediate feedback to get your point across, as there is no one with a confused face to immediately mean, "What do you mean by that?" or some other clarifying question.
Me? I've tried a few VSTs and don't really like any of them as much as my hardware. But I suppose in time and as computers get even more powerful they will improve to the point where they equal dedicated modules.
So the way the original post is worded, it seems like a MIDI challenge in title and a VST challenge in the post itself.
So I ask: "What did you mean by that?"
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