Sound on Sound Review“In my view Garritan Personal Orchestra has always been a great resource. Its complete instrumentation and super-fast loading are a boon for mock-ups, and though it can’t rival today’s big orchestral collections for sonic depth, some of its instruments are superb. GPO 5 builds on the legacy: it’s a versatile, musically solid collection with something to offer both budding orchestrators and experienced professionals, and, as ever, it’s very reasonably priced.” GPO 5 builds on the legacy: it’s a versatile, musically solid collection with something to offer both budding orchestrators and experienced professionals, and, as ever, it’s very reasonably priced.” Read Dave Stewart’s full review from the February 2017 issue. |
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MusicTech Review and 9/10 Rating“Garritan’s Personal Orchestra has always been a great value-for-money, highly efficient orchestral library with a fast workflow and respectable sampled instruments. Version 5 is even better, with improved sounds and a helluva lot more of them.” “This is a brilliant orchestral library.” “… it’s packed with every orchestral instrument any composer, arranger or student might need to write classical music, whether for large or small ensembles… and is probably the most complete library of its type.” Read Keith Gemmell’s full review from the June 2016 issue. |
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Computer Music Review, 9/10, Performance Award, Value Award
“Overall, version 5 continues the software’s tradition of value and flexibility, and is a superb option for the thrifty producer looking for quality orchestral sounds in a flexible, easy-to-use package.” See the full review from the July 2016 issue. |
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Music instrument Professional Review
Garritan Personal Orchestra 5 delivers a fantastic orchestral ensemble, which is more than flexible enough to meet the demands of producers and academics who are looking for the sound of more expensive libraries but without paying the cost associated with them.” “In general, GPO5 is the ultimate orchestral solution for any budding producer or academic on a budget, without compromising on sound quality or flexibility. If you’re looking for a comprehensive orchestral library that can be customised to individual tastes, then look no further…” Reviewed May 9th 2016. Read the entire article. |
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Bedroom Producers Blog Review, 92% Brilliant Score
Reviewed by D Smolken on April 4, 2016. See the full post. |
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Urban Sound Studio Review
“With all you get here, it’s a best value.” – Todd Urban, 2016 Review |
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Sound on Sound Review“…GPO offers everything you need to get started with computer-based orchestration straight right out of the box….A thoroughly comprehensive orchestral library which omits no instruments of note, and throws in some rare ones…. despite its modest price, this library features some of the best sampled woodwinds I have heard…. its samples are well chosen, versatile and expressive.” “…this intelligent orchestral package may well buck that trend; its affordable price, comprehensive nature and user-friendly attitude are sure to attract many musicians…For composers and arrangers chasing deadlines, and musicians who like to get fast results, GPO could be the perfect solution…buy it now, before someone puts the price up.” |
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SCREENTALK Review “GPO & The Magic Bullet”
“Thanks to sample master Gary Garritan, you too can have a complete (and I mean complete) orchestral sample library for the low, low price of $249. Yes, that’s right. $249. Garritan has turned the sample world on its head by offering us the Garritan Personal Orchestra, a superbly recorded and, better yet, superbly programmed library. In my opinion it’s so good that every musician and moviemaker should immediately put down this magazine and buy a copy. Don’t believe me? Head on over to Garritan’s website garritan-com.go-vip.net and listen to the dozens of user demos available…And prepare to be amazed…” “I suppose it’s unbecoming of a reviewer to gush over a product. But screw ‘em. I simply love GPO.” |
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Recording Musician Review
“A new vision of the orchestra : Gary is a pioneer…. he didn’t hesitate to rethink the orchestra. GPO is decidedly for everyone and complete. It’s a new way, closer to real music than a program. The long-awaited human dimension benefits many musicians and shows what technology can do. This is a tool for the apprentice composer as well as professional… In this perspective, the simple way it is laid out, the savings, service and clearly-defined objectives are worth the successes GPO deserves.” |
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Keyboard Player Review
“Now, as far as the quality is concerned, I can sum it up in one word. Awesome! ‘Nuff said! I think that GPO is brilliant! ” It’s more than proved its worth to me already….You get superb quality sounds with a user-friendly interface, and plenty of help on tap to boot. What’s more, you get all of this at a very reasonable price… If you need quality orchestral sounds, you can’t go wrong with this one…It’s a ‘must-have’ product that will get an awful lot of use. If words don’t convince you, by the way, just try downloading some of the demos on the Garritan website. You’ll be as impressed as I am.” |
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TraXmusic Review
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EQ Magazine Review“This is the orchestral library for the rest of us inexpensive, great sounds, awesome usability, and plenty of support…” “… the orchestral library equivalent of a compact car – but one with leather bucket seats, a hi-fi sound system, and surprising acceleration.” |
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Cakewalk.NET Review
“Would you mind very much if I skip ahead to the verdict right here? I know it’s customary to save conclusions for the end so as not to ruin any surprises. I suppose there is the risk some of you won’t read any further because you don’t much care about details and were just planning to skip to the end anyway, and now that I’m giving you a shortcut you might not even accidentally notice any of the details. I’ll take my chances, though. Here goes: Garritan Personal Orchestra raises the bar for affordable, realistic, playable, and just plain fun orchestral simulations. There, I’ve done it.” “If you’re a musician who has been frustrated by past attempts to realistically and musically emulate orchestral instruments using sample players and/or synthesizers, GPO may just be what you’ve been searching for.” |
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Tape Op Review
“Garritan managed to create an affordable orchestral program…” “For me, the program does exactly what I had hoped (yes, I bought it)….Download some of the demos at garritan-com.go-vip.net and hear for yourself. GPO is the exception that proves the rule – sometimes you do get much more than you paid for.” |
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Pro Sound News
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Musician’s Magazine (Musikermagasinet – Sweden) Review
“GPO is, simply put, a revolution. John Williams had better watch out, the competition is about to get serious!” |
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The Guide To MIDI Orchestration 3rd Edition Review“The quality of sounds range from very good to excellent….The strings have the ability to produce beautiful and lyrical lines…as well as powerful and forceful articulations….The library’s solo strings are well presented…The keyboard instruments are particularly good and frankly probably worth the cost of the library by themselves….One of the most powerful features of GPO is its ensemble assembly functionality….As far as I know, GPO is the only library that offers this type of flexibility and control….” “GPO is without a doubt one of if not the best value I have seen in the world of MIDI orchestration…Bravo to Gary for another well thought-out, well-executed product.” Reviewed by Paul Gilreath in 2004 |
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Keyboard Magazine “How To” Featu
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Showreel Magazine – Magazine for Independent FilmakersIn a comparison between GPO and a library costing four times as much, GPO fared very favorably. “It’s hard to ignore the price of the GPO and the way in which you feel more involved in the playing via the expression controls and sculpting of the orchestral sounds. The solo instruments are very good and, as a solution for temping and low-budget soundtrack orchestral replacement, it works very well. ” |
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Macworld Review
“With big, professional libraries, you will end up spending lots of time wading through long lists of patches hunting for the right instrument, and prices are well outside the reach of most musicians. So – time for simplicity, sanity and affordability in the form of the Personal Orchestra.” “Macworld’s Buying Advice: There can be no doubt about it – the Garritan Personal Orchestra does exactly what Gary Garritan claims, and is great value for money. It has everything you need to get started making orchestral music…” …I can recommend this package to anyone who wants to get started with orchestral composition on the Mac at a very affordable price.” |
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Muzikus (Czech Republic) Review
“…Although GPO is a virtual orchestra, it is amazing, how much realism has Garritan put in-there: like with the real orchestra… Garritan’s sense for detail gets even beyond that – one can play with such a things like bowing, breathing, tuning… to obtain the ultimate realism. Most of the control aspects are flexible and musical; that way, it is really up to the mastery of the user to achieve great results with GPO….” |
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Computer Music Review“It’s possible to make this sound like a sample bank that should come with a four-figure price tag.” ” What excites us most about GPO is the way it uses real-time MIDI controllers … undeniably high levels of realism – you can truly breathe life into your compositions….lush, natural, realistic…Fantastic value for money….Pretty impressive.” |
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CM2 (Computer Music – Italy) Review
“The GPO has an excellent quality/price ratio, and it was conceived to make everything very easy and intuitive rather than just programming music. It is particularly playable, so you can use it for every kind of music. I too am using it in some professional pop-productions… you can gain similar results as libraries costing ten times as much.” “The expression in GPO is amazing. … the ensemble maker gives to GPO an advantage over other libraries, not to mention the high quality of the sampled instruments.” Reviewed in April 2004 issue |
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Game Developer Review“With the need for high quality orchestral software packages growing every day, the Garritan Personal Orchestra is a worthy contender, especially considering what you get for the paltry price tag…. it is the quality of the instruments that drives this package. Each instrument is perfectly represented, a true feat when compared to the price tag most MIDI instrument packages of this quality carry….” |
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Music4Games Review
“… Garritan Personal Orchestra library a complete all-in-one sample based instrument orchestra library and software package, is not only revolutionary, but also the most significant sample-based instrument library ever to be produced.” “GPO has brought the affordable symphonic orchestra to the masses and their laptops, and the repercussions will be felt throughout the music world for years to come. Perhaps the next modern day Mozart is right now loading his or her laptop with GPO and preparing to write their first note of music…. GPO is a high quality product. With GPO, we may be witnessing history.” |
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Sound on Sound – Garritan Orchestration Competition
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Keyboard Magazine – From Software to Symphony Hall GPO Orchestration Competition“Replace an Orchestra with software?” asks Gary Garritan, creator of the Garritan Personal Orchestra. No way. I want my software to inspire composers to write music that’s good enough to be played by a real orchestra.” “To that end, Garritan created the GPO Orchestration Competition Contest in which over 200 entrants submitted orchestral compositions created entirely using their audio/MIDI sequencer or notation program and GPO. Co-sponsored by Keyboard the constest culminated this past March in a gala performance by the Moravian Philharmonic in the Czech Republic.” |
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MacUser Review
“Being able to perform each instrument individually, rather than applying a blanket ‘string quartet’ preset, results in a richer sound.” |
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