Improving playback sounds

[hk106]

Hi,

I'm an amateur musician with no instrumental skill and no musicians to perform my music. So I rely entirely on playback to enjoy the music I create.

I've been using Finale PrintMusic 2009 for several years, but I'm wondering if I can do better as far as the playback quality is concerned. Whatever library of instrumental sounds I'm using is whatever came with the software when I downloaded. I've heard before about being able to find add-ins to get higher quality, more realistic instrumental sounds, but I've not been successful in finding much pertaining to that topic in my web searches.

So I'm wondering if anyone here can help me with the following questions:
1) As a user of Finale PrintMusic 2009, is there a way for me to download a library of instrumental sounds that are more realistic than what comes with the software?
2) If not, do other versions of Finale, such as the Academic and Professional versions, feature improved instrumental sounds?

I greatly appreciate any wisdom on the subject!

[bvstudios]

Hello and welcome.

Five years ago, I was you, in a way. I had been using PM since 2000, but it was finally time to get serious about it and bite the bullet if I ever wanted my playbacks to sound better (or if I ever wanted more staves in my work).

While I am by no means an expert in this field, you might want to look into the possibility of an upgrade to the full version of Finale. There is an entire world of control functions that are simply not available to PM users which go a long way to help you get more realistic sounds from your music. While nothing beats a little (sorry- a LOT) of practice, having the tools to practice with has never hurt, either!

The full version is not cheap (though it is less expensive than some other similar applications), but folks who already have the "entry level" version are usually given a bit of a break as incentive to do the upgrade. Even though this was how I bumped myself up to "full" Finale not that long ago, I'm hesitating here because your version of PM (2009?) is getting quite long in the tooth and the lower price offer may not extend that far back. However, there's nothing to be lost by writing to Support and making the inquiry. If not, maybe you can update to the latest PM and then to Finale and still save a little money, who knows?

The other thing that might help you would be to look into simply upgrading your sounds to Garritan Personal Orchestra. The instruments there are far more robust and flexible when compared against the basic (Garritan) versions that come with PM, and for that matter with full Finale. GPO is surprisingly inexpensive and still one of the best "bangs" for the buck on the market. Then, if you're looking for something a little less symphonic, there are other offerings in the same line which are tailored to differing types of music.

All that said, don't spend money on sounds that won't work with PM, should you decide to keep it for now. Check with Support at Make Music to see if the upgraded Garritan sounds are compatible with PM (They were when I got into it, but that was five years ago and things could have changed)

Good luck !

[hk106]

bvstudios,

Thank you for the response! I have been giving serious thought towards upgrading and I'm willing to spend some extra if it means better sound.

[bvstudios]

There's no doubt it will help, but in the end it's not so much the tools as the way they are used... And that, to be simple, just means "lots of practice".

Best of luck!!