Free Shipping on the Garritan CFX Concert Grand



GT_13005_AbbeyRoad_BlogHeader_FreeShipping

By now you’ve probably heard of the Garritan | Abbey Road CFX Concert Grand.

This is the latest Garritan virtual instrument, created by placing the awe-inspiring Yamaha CFX Concert Grand Piano in Abbey Road Studio 1, where it was captured by award-winning engineers using the world’s greatest mics and equipment. Check out the details on our new CFX Videos page.

The only thing that could make this virtual piano any more enticing would be if we gave it away for free. Unfortunately I’m told that’s not a sustainable business model. However, if you buy the CFX for $299.95 before the end of July, you’ll receive free shipping within the contiguous United States.

Live somewhere else? Buy the CFX before the end of the month and you’ll save $15.95 on shipping.

Click on FREESHIP to take us up on this offer. If you don’t see the free shipping or shipping discount in your cart, use promo code: FREESHIP

Act now – this offer ends Thursday, July 31, 2014.

Garritan in Logic: Multiple ARIA Channels



Planning to use Garritan instruments in Logic X or Logic 9? In an April blog post we shared two short, silent videos (best viewed in full-screen mode) demonstrating the steps to use one Garritan instrument in a project. This might be great if you’re using our CFX Concert Grand virtual piano.

But what if you’re using multiple Aria channels and assigning a Garritan instrument to each one (like when building an entire orchestra using a library like Garritan Personal Orchestra, or even using multiple different libraries)?

Today we’re sharing additional silent videos that show you how to load multiple ARIA channels filled with Garritan instruments into Logic. By following the steps below, you’ll save CPU power on your machine, and set your project up for easier mixing (also find the written steps below the videos):

Garritan in Logic X: Multiple ARIA Channels

Garritan in Logic 9 – Multiple ARIA Channels

 Here are the written steps of procedures shown in the above videos:

  1. Create a new Software Instrument track. Deselect the “Open Library” option. By default, this will assign to Output 1-2.
  2. On the left, click the empty box under I/O in Logic 9, or the Instruments box in Logic X. The plug-ins menu appears. Scroll to the bottom of the menu to find AU Instruments > Garritan > ARIA player > Multi Output (16xStereo). The Aria player will open.
  3. Choose the instruments you need. In our video, we select flute, and french horn.
  4. Change the output of the second instrument to output 3/4. Change the output for the third instrument to 5/6, and so on if you have more than two instruments loaded into this ARIA player. Close the ARIA player.
  5. From Logic’s main window, expand the “Inst 1” item in Logic 9 or the “Track: Garritan Aria” item in Logic X and change the MIDI channel from All to 1.
  6. Create a new track with the next MIDI channel. In our video, we use a keyboard shortcut to achieve this, which we programed ourselves in Logic 9. Scroll to the bottom of this article to find instructions!

You’re finished. By using the “create a new track with next midi channel” feature, Logic automatically assigns the next track to the next MIDI channel in the Aria player. In our example, Logic automatically allowed the second track to play through the French Horn sound we assigned in our ARIA player.

You may wish to re-name the tracks to match their instruments. I hope you’ve enjoyed this tip for loading Garritan instruments into Logic when you need multiple tracks. If you’re a Logic user and would like more tips for using your favorite Garritan Library with Logic, let us know in the comments section below. We take requests.

Happy composing!

New Track with Next MIDI Channel – how’d you do that!?

The keyboard shortcut in Logic X to create a new track with next MIDI channel is control + return.

Logic 9 doesn’t include it as a shortcut. But you can create it. Here are the steps:

  1. In Logic Pro 9, from the Preferences menu choose Key Commands. The Key Commands dialog box appears.
  2. In the Arrange Window drop-down menu, select New Track with Next MIDI Channel.
  3. Click Learn New Assignment.
  4. On your keyboard type the desired shortcut keys. We suggest that you use control+return as it’s what Logic Pro X uses for this function.

Garritan Weekend Challenge – Summer



[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/41068530″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

In celebration of the first day of summer, we simply have to have a Garritan Weekend Challenge.

Summer to me means creating as many lesson plans that can be taught outdoors. I like to set up the drum sets on the grass outside of my usual teaching classroom. Summer also means I need to gather up my collection of clothespins and chip-clips so my students and I can pin our sheet music to our music stands in case the wind finds us.

I’d like to hear what summer means to you? Depending on the region you live in, you may experience cold weather most of the year, and summer for you means busting out the flip flops and Hawaiian shirts. Or perhaps summer to you means road construction, thunderstorms or mosquitoes. Do you get a break from teaching in the classroom, or from your own kids while they’re at summer camp during the next few months? Tell us – musically of course! Share with us your tribute to summer.

As always, post your SoundCloud link in the comments section below, and we’ll share your new music. The Garritan weekend challenges have been a fun place to connect with composers from all over the world and hear fresh musical sketches. I hope to see some familiar faces in the results this week, as well as a few newcomers. Don’t be shy! Take the Garritan Weekend Challenge.

Happy composing!

You may remember how our challenges work if you are a regular to the Garritan Weekend Challenge. If you’re new to the Garritan Weekend Challenge, welcome! This is simply a chance for you to practice composing and using Garritan sounds so when your next big composing gig hits, you’re well rehearsed. You can share your music in the comments section below or publish your tune on SoundCloud. It is a great opportunity to have other composers review your work. Most of all, it’s fun.

Composer Spotlight – Jacob Hamil



[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/136268473″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

This week MakeMusic and the Garritan Blog interviews composer Jacob Hamil. In his interview with us, Jacob describes his background, workflows, tips, and inspirations.

MM: Tells us where you’re from!

JH: I’m originally from Odessa, TX but, now live in Lubbock, TX.

MM: What is your background in music? 

JH: My whole family is musical in one way or another. We all sing. I’ve loved music my entire life. My dream for a long time was to become a hard rock artist, but I’ve always had a sense and major love for movie soundtracks. I started playing guitar when I was 9 years old and picked up french horn in 5th grade. When I got to high school, I attempted for a year to be in band and choir, but the work load was a bit too much for a high school freshman. I had to leave band, but continued with choir through graduation through the fall semester of my junior year of college.

MM: In a recent post, you spoke about upgrading your DAW to reduce limitations? What software programs are you using these days and how have they changed your workflow? 

JH: I actually upgraded to the New Garageband 10 and found it really difficult to compose in. I do everything by ear and MIDI workflow. I’ve never been one to write sheet music, because there are too many difficulties for me in notation, and I can shift MIDI notes around without having to erase and figure out what key I’m in. MIDI has made me lazy in some ways, but much more diligent in others. I actually still point and click all of my MIDI, which is probably the more difficult way to do things, but I like having a snapped control with my notation and I don’t own a MIDI keyboard.

MM: You’ve composed a beautifully emotional piece called “My Desperate Prayer,” which was inspired by a trip to the Ukraine. Walk us through the piece and tell us a little more about what each mood represents to you. 

JH: The whole intention for the piece was to orchestrate Ukraine’s equivalent of “God Bless America” called “Prayer for Ukraine.” For the beginning of the piece I really liked having that ominous string tremolo because life in Ukraine, from what I could gather, was and is still up in the air. Things are not easy for them. When the first cello comes in, it’s that little bit of unease that you feel when you visit the country. There are a lot of amazing people there, but life is a difficult day to day process. So there’s a bit of the sadness I felt in the introductory phrases that I felt for the people there. The transition that is just the flute and the violin 1 leads the path to the “Prayer for Ukraine” melody carried by the english horn, then later by the french horns. This is my Prayer for Ukraine. When the louder trem ½ step strings come in, that signifies the recent, rising tension of the Russia/ Ukraine conflict. The SAM Brass is very Russian inspired. I love Russian music with big, thick chords. From there, it really is a hopeful mood. My hope is that Ukraine makes it through this conflict and comes out in a brighter place. Even, though this is terrible, it’s a prayer that things will turn out for the best of that beautiful country.

MM: Share a classic Jacob Hamil trick or workflow with our audience of Garritan users. Perhaps tell us how you achieved a certain effect you’re proud of from a recent composition?

JH: Copy and paste is your friend! Sometimes, I really love a phrase in the music, so I can copy and paste for revoicing in another instrument keeping it in that instrument’s natural range. This is really, really helpful in producing some great counterpoint. You can hear it in this particular piece several times.

MM: Tells us about your upcoming projects! Where can we find your updates on the web (website? Events page for an upcoming project?)

JH: My brother, Ross, and I own a production company called “Hamil Bros Studios” (www.hamilbrosstudios.com) where we do lots of video production for weddings, TV commercial, and short films. I love writing for all of those. Sometimes we use my compositions, and sometimes we find stock music better suited for that particular purpose. That website is the best for projects and updates. You can also find me at soundcloud.com/jacobhamil, on twitter @jacobhamil27, or on the Hamil Bros Studios facebook page.

MM: What advice do you have for composers or students who would like to follow in your footsteps?

JH: My biggest advice is carry a voice memo recorder of some type in your pocket at all times. You never know when a golden melody will strike you. Also, don’t spend too much time on a certain piece or you’ll get burned out. Sometimes, you have to step away from it for days, weeks, months, etc and let it breathe. Then you can revisit it and build something beautiful. My last bit of advice is, BUY THE GARRITAN PERSONAL ORCHESTRA. It works wonders.

Do you have a question for Jacob? Would you like to learn more about his music? Leave us a comment below.

Announcing the Garritan Abbey Road Studios CFX Concert Grand



GarritanCFXBox copy 400

It is with great pleasure that we announce the release of the Garritan Abbey Road Studios CFX Concert Grand. Every aspect of this inspiring new virtual instrument – the piano, the studio acoustics, the recording process – represents the very highest quality available.

The Piano
The mighty CFX concert Grand is Yamaha’s flagship piano. It represents the pinnacle of what is truly possible when no expense or resource is spared to create the ultimate concert grand piano. In fact, a team of 40 of the world’s most talented piano designers, craftsmen and pianists spent 20 years developing this piano; it truly is a masterpiece of craftsmanship, power and beauty. Each CFX is painstakingly hand-crafted by a small, dedicated team and each CFX has a fully removable action that can be specifically calibrated for the setting, performer and even the repertoire. Additionally, it has never been sampled for a software library before!

The Studio
Since it’s inauguration by sir Edward Elgar in 1931, Abbey Road Studio One has become one of the most famous and busiest recording spaces in the world. From the Beatles to Adele and from Star Wars to James Bond, it is almost certain that you have something in your media collection that was recorded in Studio One. It is the venue to which the world’s top musicians and composers turn when they require the very best.

The Recording
The sound of the CFX was captured by a team of highly experienced Abbey Road Studios recording engineers, each contributing decades of knowledge in recording pianos for a variety of applications. At their disposal was arguably the richest and most storied microphone collection available anywhere.

Microphone set-ups, also referred to as perspectives, have a huge effect on the overall sound of the recorded instrument. Each of the three included perspectives speaks specifically to various musical settings:

  • Classic — This most faithfully captures the natural tonal character, clarity and nuance of the instrument.
  • Contemporary — This creates a piano sound that is bright and hard with lots of attack from the hammers, but also maintains the piano’s warmth.
  • Player — This perspective offers the experience of playing the CFX from the bench in Studio One, particularly when reproduced over high quality headphones.

The entire Garritan team has endeavored to create a virtual instrument that is an organic, expressive and versatile tool for the creation of piano music of any kind. Garritan’s dedication to accessibility and excellence is epitomized in the CFX Concert Grand Library. Without this new virtual instrument, few would have access to Yamaha’s phenomenal CFX concert grand piano, let alone the opportunity to record in Abbey Road Studios’ historic Studio One with the greatest technicians and recording equipment in the world.

We truly hope you enjoy this stunning virtual instrument. Hear it for yourself today!

Garritan Weekend Challenge – Ancestry



EarthThe Garritan Weekend Challenge begins with a blog post, written in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, but receives original music responses from composers around the globe. This weekend, we’re challenging you to write music that represents you, or your ancestry. Give us a sample of the music you grew up with. Or, perhaps you could give us a sample of the kind of music your ancestors would have enjoyed.

If you haven’t yet explored the Garritan World Instruments library, take another look at it’s contents. You may find an instrument you’d like to use this weekend. The World Instruments library also contains some very unique Ensemble Presets that could be fun to try out.

Tune in after the weekend and listen to everyone’s musical submissions full of family tradition. Lets count how many regions of the globe we represent with our music!

Happy composing!

You may remember how our challenges work if you are a regular to the Garritan Weekend Challenge. If you’re new to the Garritan Weekend Challenge, welcome! This is simply a chance for you to practice composing and using Garritan sounds so when your next big composing gig hits, you’re well rehearsed. You can share your music in the comments section below or publish your tune on SoundCloud. It is a great opportunity to have other composers review your work. Most of all, it’s fun. 

Blending Textures with Instant Orchestra



Blending Textures with Instant Orchestra

Are you familiar with the orchestration technique that sounds like one ensemble is melding into another? This effect is easily accomplished in Instant Orchestra through the use of Blending Textures, a set of instrument patches designed to seamlessly fade from one orchestral texture to another.

The mod wheel on your MIDI keyboard is the slick way to activate this fade between orchestral textures.  Not sure how to do this? This week’s blog post was created just for you!

Watch as Isaac unfolds the mysteries of using the mod wheel when blending textures with Instant Orchestra in our fourth Get to Know IO video:


Feel free to use this blog to your advantage: Ask IO and/or orchestration questions, exchange film scoring tips, share links to your work, and join in the discussion.

Don’t own IO? You can download it today for only $179.95

buy now Learn More

Important Security Notice from MakeMusic



On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 23, an attempted intrusion to MakeMusic’s computer systems was detected and as an utmost precaution, all of our systems were taken offline. As a customer of SmartMusic, Finale or Garritan products, your access and/or software performance may have been affected. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

At this time, there is no indication of unauthorized acquisition of computerized data that would compromise the security, confidentiality, or integrity of personal information maintained by MakeMusic.

However, as an additional precaution, we are encouraging all of our customers to change their current password to a new secure, strong password for all MakeMusic related products and accounts.

As a next step, we are engaging a third party computer security firm to review our systems, as it is imperative that we take every possible action to prevent future events of this nature. We will continue to communicate with our customers when additional information becomes available.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our Customer Support team.

Composer Spotlight – Arun Sol



[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/27996807″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

This week MakeMusic and the Garritan Blog interviews composer Arun Sol. Arun describes how he recommitted himself to his writing while working in a rather un-inspirational warehouse, and how he now makes time every morning to compose…

MM: Tells us where you’re from!

AS: I was born in Melbourne, Australia. When I was a child, my family moved further north to Brisbane, but now I live in Montreal, Canada. Currently waiting for summer; apparently it’s coming.

MM: What is your background in music? 

 AS: When I was a kid, I took violin lessons – I never practiced regularly but when I picked up the guitar as a teenager, I discovered the joy of writing my own songs… Many years and a couple of bands later (one experimental, one folk/pop), I found myself working on my solo folk performances and, slowly, getting drawn into the infinite world of midi orchestration…

MM: What music software do you use if any? 

 AS: My main software tools are Garritan Personal Orchestra which I use in Cubase SX. The versions I’m using are fantastic but they’re about 8 years old, so I do plan to upgrade at some point to whatever else Garritan now offers… However, there’s something to be said for being very familiar with the tools you use – knowing their strengths, their limitations and how to work around them: it took me a long time to really get the hang of it. But I have made a promise to myself to buy new software when I eventually make some money from music.

In terms of hardware, I’m still using my 8-year-old iMac G5 (“ol’ whirry”, I call her). I don’t have a midi interface like a keyboard, so everything I compose is drawn by hand using a mouse in Cubase’s key editor. Although I’ve been told that other composers often prefer to work with a physical keyboard, I really like the note-by-note control I get. I’m not limited to what I can play, only to what I can imagine.

MM: You frequently post new music to the Arun Sol SoundCloud page. Do you practice composing everyday? We’d love to hear about your routine if any, or do you just write when inspiration strikes?

 AS: About a 2 years ago, I was working in a warehouse for minimum wage, feeling a bit down about things and not really finding much time/energy to work on music: this is a bad thing, it goes without saying! Anyway, I was talking to one of my colleagues (who was a writer in his spare time) and he told me that he would get up early every morning to write. I started giving it a go, waking up an hour earlier, making a coffee and working on the music… it totally transformed my day.

OK, I wouldn’t always get anything great done at 6am – technical glitches and tweaking can eat up countless hours – but no matter how crappy the day was that followed, I felt like I had developed my craft a little more and, when the weekend came, I would blitz through whatever I was working on. So, long story short, I don’t wait for inspiration: it comes and goes… in the meantime, I chisel and sand and tweak and polish.

Also, having a bunch of different projects on the go at the same time is really fun for me: I get too precious if I’ve worked on something for a long time, whereas a bit of time writing something completely different often brings me some healthy perspective.

MM: Tells us about your upcoming projects! 

 AS: I’ve written 11 pieces of music for a pirate-themed video game so I’m waiting for the game to be finished before I release the tunes… I’m very excited about this and had an amazing time working on it. I’ve written the soundtrack to an animated short film – waiting for that to be finished too.

I’m working on some other video game projects… Nothing’s finalized yet but please keep an eye out on my SoundCloud page for updates: https://www.soundcloud.com/arunsol/sets/orchestral.

MM: Share a classic Arun Sol trick or workflow with our audience of Garritan users. Perhaps tell us how you achieved a certain effect you’re proud of from a recent composition?

 AS: Recently, I’ve really been focusing on the dynamics of my pieces to create surges, silence, soft pitter-patters and everything in between. For each piece, I’m thinking “how soft, sparse, fleeting and delicate can I play it?” and at the opposite end, of course, “How intense can it go?”. I’m particularly proud of creating this sort of effect in some of my recent pieces, for example “When All Else Fails” and “The Penny Pincher”.

What I do to achieve this is definitely no secret, but it does take discipline in this world of “louder and more is better”… An effective way for me to get this sort of contrast is to push each instrument to its low volume/attack extreme (because I go for the other extreme out of habit). But perhaps more importantly, I really like to simply not hear a part – remove it, shorten notes, drop out instruments, only hear a part once in a song, or play it with a different instrument, or just cut out everything: silence is sometimes exactly what’s needed.

MM: What advice do you have for composers or students who would like to follow in your footsteps?

AS: I wish I could say I’m a professional musician and I was able to quit my day job… but what I can say is that I’m working on projects that are inspiring me and I’m creating music I’m truly proud of. I do have one source of inspiration in particular which I would like to share: there are many indie filmmakers, animators and game developers out there, working on their personal projects just as we work on our music. Get in touch with some of them and start collaboration if you’re game – it can really push you to create music you would never have dreamed of otherwise.

A big thanks to Arun for taking the time to chat with us. If you have a question or comment for Arun, please leave a comment below.

Garritan Weekend Challenge – Fresh Air and Warmer Days



 

Did you miss this Weekend Challenge? It’s never too late to submit. Create music, post to SoundCloud, and send us the link using the comments section below. We’ll promote your composition as well as add your music to this playlist. Find a short description of this challenge, inspired by Beethoven’s love of the outdoors, in the article below the playlist.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/31513584″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Fresh Air and Warmer Days

 

Ludwig van Beethoven loved being out doors. When not composing, Beethoven spent much of his time taking long walks through the country. Beethoven’s Symphony no. 6 in F major, also known as the Pastoral Symphony, is his tribute to nature. Read more about what each movement signifies. Join me in playing Beethoven’s Symphony no. 6 in your headphones this afternoon. 

This weekend, we join Beethoven in celebrating the great out doors. I’d love to hear what fresh air and warmer days mean to you in the music you create this weekend. Post a link to your music in the comments section below (most of us use SoundCloud to share these compositions). I’ll share your composition on Monday and throughout the week.

You may remember how our challenges work if you are a regular to the Garritan Weekend Challenge. If you’re new to the Garritan Weekend Challenge, welcome! This is simply a chance for you to practice composing and using Garritan sounds so when your next big composing gig hits, you’re well rehearsed. You can share your music in the comments section below or publish your tune on SoundCloud. It is a great opportunity to have other composers review your work. Most of all, it’s fun. 

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By viewing or browsing our site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Read our Privacy Policy for more information.

Accept