I think this may have been a topic of discussion a while back and I have not seen much movement on it, so I thought I would ask this again, just to see if there are new resources or directions.
I am working on a set of ‘suites’ for lute (well, archlute and theorbo also) and was wondering if there are good VST’s out for playback mockups that don’t sound overly MIDI like and that have a decent range of sampled sounds. I know lute is more of a niche instrument these days, but I have a couple of contacts who play and I would be interested to submit music for them to try out and possibly record, etc.
The other caveat is tablature. I know I voiced support for lute tablature expansion in Dorico. I know a lot of people have a lot of wishes, but I think this would be a wonderful one to incorporate, as most lutenists I have been talking with prefer tablature versus notation.
Thanks for any insights! I am hoping to be able to use Dorico to write out and send scores (along with mockups for my own channel).
Orchestral toolsGrimm I do not have this one myself, but I like OT sample libraries in general (for some reason)
Fluffy AudioRinascimento (I would have purchased it when they had it on discount)
For Fluffy here are the lute samples (I have not checked in the last few years if any others have been added, it’s just the ones I have/use since I purchased it a few years ago, I should check if there have been updates I suppose), but as you can see they have the Archlute, Plectrum lute, Theorbo which you might find useful.
SonicoutureConservatoire Collection has theorbo and a “single-strung, 14 course instrument” which might be interesting to at least play with. I do not have this library but it’s been there for a while.
Edit: my recommendations which I forgot to add
For quick and easy, I use the Steinberg lute as it’s easy to use, sometimes eq it as needed, usually for simple “continuo” - type background. I have a real lute where sometimes I have to check what is playable or not, I have only basic lute ability (due to not practicing!) so sometimes its easier to notate with Dorico and it is usually with other instruments, so I am not too particular about the sound, and it usually is not the focus of the piece, in contrast to what you might be doing.
I have only created one solo lute only (for a Shakespeare performance) unfortunately it was easier to play/record it than construct it using a notation program (it was before Dorico existed.)
Sorry I cannot be of more help, others hopefully will respond with better suggestions.
Edit: Here is an example, “Betrachte meine Seel” from Bach Johannes-Passion. As Cantai doesn’t sing in German (yet), the Basso is replaced by a bassoon.
In the meantime, you can get about 80% of the way there by using a special font that replaces fret numbers with letters, as here. The stem durations are wrong, of course; and there’s no support for letters below the fretboard.
