To clarify, "Mega" is the official scientific/mathematical term for "itsy-bitsy" and "kilo" is the term for "really itsy bitsy." For instance, a piano with 88 keys required far more memory to record the full decay of each note (which could exceed 40 seconds for lower notes,) and each note at different volume levels, than any sampler could make available at the time. Basically, that meant (in technical jargon) “not much” because RAM size for the time was on the order of 640 kilobytes and 1, 2, 4, or 8 megabytes. The total RAM size determined how much sample material could be loaded for use at a given time. For years samples had been limited by static RAM memory size in hardware samplers.
#Garritan personal orchestra 5 demo software#
The software technology was named Gigasampler. To understand my Garritan association we must travel back to that far away mythical place called the late 1990s when a new music sampling technology from a company called Nemesis was introduced. The Garritan Corporation is now owned by Makemusic (producers of the premiere music notation program Finale) of Minneapolis, MN. Go to Garritan Sample Libraries for information, demos, awards, and endorsements beyond what I show here. They were given numerous awards throughout the music industry.
These compositional tools included the Garritan Orchestral Strings, Garritan PersonalOrchestra, Garritan Jazz & Big Band, and Garritan Concert & Marching Band. I designed these typesof libraries relying upon my experience as a musician andcomposer to make useful decisions about their construction. Composers can choose, within the software, the desired instrument(s) and then compose music using MIDI data or notation to trigger these emulative counterparts, thus allowing them to hear the music as they compose it. These virtual musical instruments include, but are not limited to, all standard acoustic categories like violins, violas, cellos, basses, harps, oboes, bassoons, clarinets, trumpets, trombones, tubas, timpani, cymbals, pianos, organs, drums, etc. A sample library is computer software consisting of musical instruments that have been recorded note-by-note (sampled) and programmed into a form (virtual instruments) that composers can control from within other host computer software or run as a standalone application. I designed and programmed sample libraries for composers. I was Director of Programming, later doubling as Vice President, and then, finally, doubling as President of the Garritan Corporation for the final year before my retirement. I remained with the Corporation for 10 years until my retirement. I joined as Director of Programming a couple of years after its inception. Founded by Gary and Marianne Garritan in the late '90s, it became one of the most successful sample library companies in the world.
The Garritan Corporation designs software tools in the form of sound libraries to aid in music composition and production. The cover photos show Jim Coile on tenor sax, Chuck Israels on bass, Tom Hopkins on trumpet, and Alan Hashimoto on drums. Garritan Jazz and Big Band (JABB) packaging cover art. Garritan Personal Orchestra (GPO) packaging cover art Garritan Orchestral Strings (GOS) packaging cover art You want a ham and cheese on rye with a dill pickle. Stepping outside for phone calls at the NAMM show.
Garritan's Concert and Marching Band had a somewhat different approach to programming as it used recordings of sections of woodwinds and brass rather than utilizing the ensemble building techniques using solo instruments employed in GPO and JABB. The picture above is linked to the archived text of the original article. I contributed a sidebar from the programmer's perspective. Gary wrote a feature article in May, 2002 for Electronic Musician magazine on the development of the GOS library. Larry (off in the distance!) on alpenhorn. Larry Johnson with real horn and conch shell Below are a few photos of the more unusual instruments I recorded at the VFZ for Garritan: