Thank you guys. I will look at these options you have suggested.

Guitar Hacker: I have a good detection of pitch. This synth is closer in pitch at lower range than it is in the higher range, where it is painfully noticable. It's not off by a 1/2 step. Maybe 1/8 or 1/16. Just enough to be a distraction.

Will let you all know about my progress on your suggestions. Thanks. again.

My ears are the same..... I can detect slight pitch variations and it is irritating as you have pointed out. 


If the instrument is a sampled instrument, where it was actually recorded live.....and the synth is playing back those samples...(many of the better sounding synths use this method) it is very possible that the musician was not careful with hand technique or tuning and that simply slipped the notice of anyone there in the studio.  The less expensive and homemade sample libraries do tend to suffer from this issue whereas the more expensive the library, the more likely it was recorded properly with many layers of samples, and tested extensively and properly before it was marketed to the users...us. 

I have used melodyne (not a cheap plug in, but very effective) to fix pitch issues on instrument tracks like you are describing. The cost to value ratio (of buying melodyne)  I guess depends on what you plan to use the tracks for. It is one of my favorite tools to use for vocals and instruments. 


NOTE: It is probably cheaper to buy melodyne than it is to buy a decent sample library of orchestral sounds.  As long as the sample library you now use sounds good, all you need to do is fix the pitch variations.....melodyne does that well. Last time I looked, melodyne was around $200 or so...depending on the version and features, but some of the better medium level sample libraries can easily exceed $500 and to see them at $1k and up is not uncommon for the better ones.  Some of the top of the line ones the film producers use will make you cry when you see the prices.

Yes, I agree with you. A concert flute is tunable (as are all other winds), and when it was sampled individually, the pitch was probably not checked properly. Pity, because all of the instruments in this library are true to life and believable.

Here's the latest: I did a search first for a flute VSTi plugin to replace that one track. Found plenty, but were mixed in with a lot of other instruments and very expensive. I'm not against spending money, but for just one instrument, it wasn't worth the expense.

Second, I searched for SFz files. Both searches took a few hours, but I found one that just had a concert flute (Cambridge). I tried that and there was a world of difference over what I had. I am quite happy now.

What do I plan to do? Although  I am now fond of Rock, country, bluegrass, jazz, spiritual and other genres, I grew up as a classical musician (Bassoon was main, plus other winds). I played in orchestras and ensembles a lot. Very satisfying. The pieces I am now collecting into MC5 are mostly quintets (Piano, oboe, clarinet, french horn and bassoon or a flute part instead of the piano. My intent was to have these all written out, then mute the bassoon part and play along with the rest to start practicing again.

Thanks so much for all your help. Will look into the software that you have recommended in case I branch out into something larger one day.

Best Regards

Guitarhacker


Pitch and tune might adjust the master tuning, but I have not used this synth so I do not know what the amount of adjustment would be or how to make it apply to the patch you are using. 

Have you tried the Sound center? I think it has flute in it..... 

I am quite busy and do not have a lot of time to play with a synth that I have not used...... maybe Beagle will be along shortly to answer this 

MC Sound Center has two programs: a Pan Flute and a Wooden Flute. Those don't sound like a classic concert flute. Kontak and Kore and Reaktor by NI doesn't appear to have any flute programs at all (Think I saw a Pan Flute in one of these).

Kontakt has orchestral samples in it. I have used the flute in it, but Kontakt is one of the medium priced samplers out in the market. It is considered the bare minimum needed to work in TV & film, with the higher end samplers being preferred. 

I suggest you try Dimension LE with the Garritan Pocket Orchestra.
It's on sale for $50 at the moment and I think the GPO sounds are very good.
You can download it, too, from Cakewalk:
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/DimensionLE/default.aspx
 

Yes, Greg is correct. GPO would be a big step up to better sounds if you are using the sfz samples and especially if you are doing like I did when I first started, which was to search the net for the free sfz sounds and use them. 

Besides, no more having to unpack the sounds and be sure you have the right ones for the player....

GPO just works like it's supposed to, and yeah, it has some pretty decent samples in it too.  A complete orchestra and more.

This is a postscript to this thread. For those of you who are interested in the results of your suggestions, I have posted the two projects (as MP3 files) on a share site.

First, the rocker of his time was Mozart. This piece was, at the age of 22, his best and most beautiful composition. K-452 for Piano, Oboe, Clarinette, French Horn and Bassoon.
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/t-RBJR4G/Mozart-K452__3_.html

Second, some of you may know this as the theme from the Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV show way back when. It's actually taken from a classical piece by Charles Gounod. Funeral March of a Marionette, adapted for Flute, Oboe, Clarinette, French Horn and Bassoon.
http://www.4shared.com/mp3/7q6uraxS/FMOAM-3.html

Give these pages time to load in your browser. There may be an advert before it loads. The upload process cut off the last few notes of each file. Don't know what's up with that. Sorry. Probably not quite movie score material, but I am quite happy with the results. It's close enough.

Thanks guys. I have a newly found respect for Music Creator. Can't wait to expand my horizons. It's fun!
 
Critical opinion always welcome.
 

You will not get many folks to listen if they have to sign up, register, log in, or download the files.

I would add one more recommendation:  Get a free streaming audio site. 

www.soundclick.com or www.reverbnation.com both offer good quality streaming audio for free.

I don't download or like to log in to listen to music.  

You need to sign up and log in to one of these sites (or other that provides streaming audio) and it takes a few minutes to set up a new account then you can load your music to the sites as MP3 and we can click on the link and hear the music. No sign in needed.

Sorry about that. I have one computer (no remote/neutral access) and didn't know that the "shared files" would require login/registration. It didn't say that. Apologies.

Hope this is better:

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=1261839

Regards,
Dan