Hey all, I'm trying to make music here on my computer. I'm using VSTs here in Sibelius 5, it uses the Kontakt player for the VST stuff. The VSTs it comes with are selections from the Garritan products. Oh, I'm trying to make orchestral sounding tracks here. What I'd like to know is how do I go about making it sound not so computer like? I've heard that the VSTs from Garritan aren't the best and that something like Vienna Symphonic Library are much better. Is this true? Will I notice such a big difference? My track doesn't sound like MIDI, but it defenitely doesn't sound like it's from an orchestra. Are there any secret things I don't know about to make my VSTs sound better? I've read around and have added chorus and reverb and tweaked around a lot and I've made a big difference, but it still isn't where I'd like it. Oh this is like my 4th day at this, so even the most beginner stuff wouldn't be out of the question. Though I have some 15 years music experience, just not on the computer. Any help or suggestions, links, recommendations would all be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

The Garritan stuff is fine, but you might have a cut down version. It's not the 'best', but you don't really need the best just to make it sound not so computer-like.

Far more important is how you're going about inputting the music. If you're clicking in the piano roll, then you're not going to get an organic sounding performance. Using a MIDI controller (typically a keyboard) captures the nuances of your playing style which is noticeable in the final piece.

There are other parameters besides velocity that can apply to the instruments, and programming those in can make a lot of difference. How to do that will again depend on the software you're using, the input method you use, and the capabilities of the VST instrument.

Oh, and don't add chorus - the chorus effect is not really appropriate for orchestral stuff and is more suited to processing rock vocals and guitars, as it adds an unrealistic quality.

Just a few other notes...

Producing realistic orchestral tracks are a lot less tool dependent as most of the top line developers would have you believe. Whether you have the VI freebees or the full Vienna lot (which I believe runs about 20,000.00 without the hardware), you're not going to be able to create anything convincing without spending a good deal of time studying orchestration and MIDI programming techniques. There really aren't any "tricks" that differentiate pop music for strings from sweeping, authentic orchestral tracks.

My advice, spend some time really understanding what makes orchestral music "orchestral". Orchestration books and study scores are fairly cheap and can give you a good fundamental understanding of concert music. There are a lot of VI and sample library developers who advertise "The Hollywood Sound", but I really think that this is more marketing than science, that "sound" is far more expertise than equipment.

I haven't tested the VSTi's you mentioned, but there's one VSTi worth looking: East West Symphonic Orchestra. I bought it last spring and it's sound quality is quite convincing. It is also quite inexpensive: actually East West has a christmas sale going on until December 31, and for example the Symphonic Orchestra Gold Bundle costs only $495. It contains about 30 GB of sampled orchestra instruments. www.soundsonline.com has many sample scores composed with the Symphonic Orchestra.

But of course, excellent software doesn't make you an excellent composer. It is far more important to first learn the best practices in composing for orchestra.

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm actually half decent at orchestral arrangements and have read a lot about the whole concept.

I'll have a look at the stuff about programming VSTs and see what I come up with.

Thanks lads.