Does it make sense to install and use the Garritan library in Dorico? I have installed Dorico on a Mac mini M4 but Finale is running on my older iMac. Since I’ve a license for Finale 27 I was wandering of the sounds of Garritan are better than the custom build in Halion sounds from Dorico, especially for brass. ( I also have the Noteperformer installed)
And if its not to big of a hassle to use the Garritan sounds in Dorico
Better? No…
Different? Yes…
It’s all subjective…and all of the libraries have tremendous potential to be VERY musical.
It does give you some extra variety.
Worth it? Nothing to lose by installing it and giving at a try on some things. If you end up not using it in favor of other options, it’s quick and easy to remove.
I still use Garritan stuff quite a bit, but I also cheat with a host-in-host situation (bidule) that allows me to tweak a lot of things easily without digging into the SFZ files (dynamic curves, custom round-robin stuff, bouncing different CCs around based on logic/rules that I have control over) and I can also layer up different sounds from totally different libraries/plugins.
I also have NP4, and that’s my go-to with the standard library (not using the external library bridges for stuff like Sketch, HOOPUS, etc.) for composing stages with traditional Bb types of music (Classical Orchestra, Concert Wind Band Sketches, Traditional Stuff that requires a straight forward/low overtone approach). It’s just easy to use and not worry too much about playback while composing.
For what it’s worth, I still have an old external Roland Fantom XR that’s almost as easy to use as NP and get good dynamics and articulations. I really like the way I can make it sound…but it’s a beast of a box to carry around, and it’s not something I use as often because I know whomever I share a score with isn’t likely to be interested in picking one of these old beasts up. They are going to have in the least the rights to use Sonic with Sonic Selection library, possibly HSO and Sketch as well, plus, they can easily, and affordably get a copy of NP.
So, if collaboration (swapping scores) is part of the process, I’m more likely to stick with NP if I know my team mates also have it. I’ll go with Sonic/Sonic Selection sounds if they don’t. HSO and Sketch can be quite nice for some things as well, and Dorico Pro users have access to those for no extra charge.
I’m more inclined to use a Mix of HALion and Garritan libraries for more jazzy, pop, or ‘outdoor-marching-band’ sorts of projects. In these cases it’s rarely ‘out of the box’ presets though. Getting a good mix and score interpretation requires plenty of experimentation and tweaking things about. I do a good bit of ‘overlaying’ things inside bidule to beef up ‘big brass’ and ‘battery percussion’ sounds.
For cinematic stuff that requires a ‘working mockup’, I’m all over the map, mixing and matching anything I can get my hands on with instrument library choices. They all have different pros/cons and ‘characters’ about them. I grab stuff from East West pretty often (namely the Choirs and weird stuff that I can’t find anywhere else). They all work into a mix differently.
Yes, you can use the ARIA Player and Garritan libraries with Dorico. If you just have the Garritan Instruments for Finale (GIFF), I’d argue that Noteperformer will give you better sounds, particularly for Brass.
GIFF’s strength is simply in the range of instruments that it offers, not the quality of the sounds.
The hassle will be in setting up Expression Maps, saving “Endpoints” (VST configurations for selected instruments), and creating Playback templates. Once you’ve done that, it’s plain sailing.!
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