These two tracks are the first two parts of a new composition for the virtual orchestra 
 
www.jerrygerber.com/symph8mvt1.htm   (if you're using Internet Explorer, you probably won't be able to hear these pieces, the flash player doesn't seem to show up.  Workaround:  Use Firefox.
 
JG
www.jerrygerber.com
 
 
 

Nice.  Very cinematic.  Nice variations and movement that held my interest. Beautifully recorded, too.

Excellent! Beautiful arrangement and composition. You put a lot work on them. You can tell they are synths but they sound very good.

This is about as realistic as I've heard from a MIDI orchestra.  You have exceptional writing and arranging skills.  I can easily see this being performed by a real orchestra or used in any number of movies.  Bravissimo.

Fantastic, alot of hard work in there!

- Shawn

Beautiful tunes .. well done dynamic arrangements and orchestrations.. sounds good

The samples aren't state of the art, but it doesn't matter.  You clearly know your way around a score.   Very nicely done.  

Just curious as to what you are using for samples.

J

jsaras


The samples aren't state of the art, but it doesn't matter.  You clearly know your way around a score.   Very nicely done.  

Just curious as to what you are using for samples.

J

Those samples are from the $7000 Vienna Symphonic Library Orchestral Cube, the largest library from VSL.  They are considered to be among the finest orchestral sample available by people who are experienced using orchestral sample libraries. 
 
I have no desire to offend you, but what I am hearing is that either you don't know as much about  "state-of-the-art" as you think you do or your expectations are unrealistic as to what a virtual ensemble can sound like.  My guess is that you come from a performance background and are either consciously or unconsciously comparing this recording to how a live orchestra would sound playing the same piece.  
 
This is exactly why the title of this new work (parts 1 and 2 are complete, now working on part 3 & 4) is called "This is not a Symphony", to try to discourage people from comparing what I do to a live performance of an acoustic orchestra.  People who insist on doing so will not get my work.  MIDI and sampled instruments are its own medium, to compare it to a live performance is a waste of time.  It's like comparing a photograph to a painting, or a film to a live play.  In each case, the medium of photography and film are mediums in their own right, they're not "mock-ups" of anything.  It is very hard for many musicians, especially those who are eager to get their works performed by others, to understand that.  Someone once asked me if I am trying to "fool" the listener (into thinking its a recording of an acoustic orchestra).  I asked if he thought a filmmaker was trying to "fool" the audience into thinking they were seeing real people and real action on the screen, when in fact they are seeing individual still frames moving so fast that it creates the illusion of movement, the illusion of motion.  My goal is not to convince people this is a recording of a live ensemble, but rather to heal, to inspire, to give people something that has real meaning and musical interest.   This is not possible when the listeners's most important concern is how close the recording sounds to a live ensemble.   
 
JG
www.jerrygerber.com
 

Jerry,

Take a deep breath. 

I have VSL Special Edition (the complete version).  Although I have better samples, I continue to use VSL because of its immediacy and playability, but they are behind the curve.  With the advent of LASS, Cinematic Strings, Cinebrass, Cinewoodwinds, the newest "Hollywood" stuff from East West, etc., VSL is considered to be long in the tooth.  

The folks that I know who do mock-ups professionally (I could "name-drop", but I won't) only use VSL for woodwinds these days, and even that is being phased out of their templates.  

My hearing is fine, BTW.

Peace

jsaras


Jerry,

Take a deep breath. 

I have VSL Special Edition (the complete version).  Although I have better samples, I continue to use VSL because of its immediacy and playability, but they are behind the curve.  With the advent of LASS, Cinematic Strings, Cinebrass, Cinewoodwinds, the newest "Hollywood" stuff from East West, etc., VSL is considered to be long in the tooth.  

The folks that I know who do mock-ups professionally (I could "name-drop", but I won't) only use VSL for woodwinds these days, and even that is being phased out of their templates.  

My hearing is fine, BTW.

Peace

After taking three deep breaths, you've explained it well to me.  I have absolutely no interest in the "Hollywood sound".    If that were my ideal I would have never left Los Angeles to get away from the commericial conformity, the bizarre worshipping of name-dropping and wealth and the utter indifference to the fine arts.   In the world of commerical scoring, the sonic fads of today become the "old-hat" of yesterday, such is the nature of a business that is about 90% about profit and 10% about art.    It is probably no wonder that I prefer the older VSL European library because, well, frankly, the European sensitivity to musical depth is almost built into their culture.  The superficiality of 90% of Hollywood scores (and they're getting worse each year) is evidence enough and I am grateful I don't have to participate in that world. 
 
Best of luck to you and I wish you much success, however you define success for yourself.
 
Jerry