I've had Music Creator (Version 5) now for a few years, but only got serious about it in the last few months.
I am a classical musician (Bassoon, Clarinette and Saxophone), but playing solo is not very satisfying
when one really needs to be playing in a band or ensemble. Music Creator helped me fill that void.
I began exploring first-rate (or acceptable) sound fonts and VST plug-ins and discovered that I could
have an orchestra to play along with! Music Creator is amazing!
Using only soft-synths and entering notes and events from a musical score in staff view, I have produced three
pieces by W. A. Mozart, each one being an improvement over the other.
The latest one, I would like to share, at the suggestion of a mentor from the Music Creator forum:
GuitarHacker (Herb).
 
I posted the MP3 of my project. It's a Mozart piece: Concerto for Bassoon and Orchestra, K-191, 1st movement: Allegro. It's actually written for Principal Bassoon, Two Oboes, Two French Horns, Violins, Violas, Cellos and Double Bass. Seven tracks in all.
 
The woodwinds (Bassoon, Oboe) are sound fonts, SF2's from a collection called florestan_woodwinds.sf2, available on the web. The French Horns are from the same source, florestan_frenchhorns.sf2. Strings are from a VST plug-in from DSK Music called DSK Virtuoso. All are creative commons licences and freely downloadable.
 
Here's my first orchestral project:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11854157
Enjoy!
 
Regards,
Dan

Hi Daniel, this was an enjoyable listen.  It does sound a bit bright though and imho could use a little reverb and compression. Fast repeated notes sound a bit "machine gun"-like  in places.

 Rik

Dan... again well done. 

If you do not already have it.... GPO is a nice ready to go synth to use for orchestral pieces. 

Cake has it bundled with DimLE for $50 right now.  http://www.store.cakewalk...ductid=10-DMLE1.00-20E

I used to use a bunch of the SFZ fonts when I first got started.... because you can find them for free.  As time went on, I ended up picking up the better sounding sample libraries. 

GPO was first, then I happened on Miroslav for something like $20 on sale.... if you keep a close watch on the software forum, other users here will clue you in to the sales going on. I generally wait until a price becomes one of those no-brainer things and then jump all over it. 

Well done BTW on the music. 

Dan, this is a fine piece of music, and you did a fine job of orchestrating this.  But, I do agree with Rikkie about the MIDIness of some of the passages.  If this were transferred to a program with better samples, this would be the bomb.  However, some of those programs cost several hundreds of dollars, so for freebies, this isn't so bad.

Rikkie


Hi Daniel, this was an enjoyable listen.  It does sound a bit bright though and imho could use a little reverb and compression. Fast repeated notes sound a bit "machine gun"-like  in places.

 Rik

Herb,
 
I looked online for Miroslav add-ins. I listened to some incredibly realistic samples. But, they were offered for sale from $700 to $900. You found exactly what for $20? While online with the various dealers, I listened to numerous orchestral sample songs and they were all good! All $100's of dollars.
 
 

Rikkie,
 
You are exactly right. The freeby plug-ins I had chosen are a conundrum at best. Some parts, as you have pointed out, are pretty bad, while other passages are pretty good. I admit that. I have been listening to sounds that are purchasable, and there is no comparison. I will revisit this piece, soon.
 
Regards and thanks so much for the critique!
 
Dan

Lynn, I have been looking at samples to purchase at the suggestion of Rikkie, Yourself, and Herb. I am amazed at the quality of samples that I have found. I will revisit this piece very soon.
 
Thank you for your critical evaluation and suggestions for impovement.
 
Regards,
 
Dan
 

Look at the cake store at the Dim LE and GPO combo for $50.

Some of the better ones are going to cost a bunch.... but you gotta keep your eyes and ears open..... these companies will drop prices on various products from time to time and offer some great prices. 

I picked up a limited version of Miroslav and a FREE version of East West..... yeah...E/W gave one of their nice sounding lower end products away for a very short period of time a few years ago.... I still use that one on occasion. 

Another good all around product is the Native Instruments Komplete or at the very least Kontakt. It is quality stuff. But it's not a low price VST.... but worth every dime. 

This is really enjoyable to listen and very well orchestrated. I'd love to hear this with some good quality sounds/samples (Kirk Hunter Strings, Session Strings for Kontakt, etc...).

Great job on the piece. The synths does not do justice as mentioned before.