Garritan has announced that Personal Orchestra 4.0 is now available for purchase and download.

Garritan Personal Orchestra 4th Edition (GPO4) includes all the major instruments of the orchestra - strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion and keyboards – plus quality instruments such as a Steinway grand piano, Stradivari violin (with new controllable vibrato), select Project SAM solo and section brass samples (new for this version), concert harps, celesta, concert pipe organ, and many other fine instruments. Personal Orchestra allows you to make ensembles of any size from the individual instruments, ranging from groups of a few instruments to a full symphony orchestra.

Previous versions of GPO were powered by Native Instruments' Kontakt Player but Garritan Personal Orchestra 4.0 is powered by Garritan's 64-bit ARIA Player Sampler/Synthesis Engine, which is available for Windows (incl. x64) and Mac OS X in VST, AU and RTAS plug-in formats.

What's New in GPO 4.0:

• New ARIA Advanced Instrument Engine – ARIA, a new and highly-optimized instrument engine, developed in collaboration with Plogue Art et Technologie Inc. ARIA is intuitive, efficient and versatile, loads instruments quickly, and places very low demand on your computer's processor.
• New Price - Instant Download - GPO4 is available on demand. Simply download and play. The entire GPO4 sample collection can be downloaded with a fast internet connection eliminating the waiting time associated with shipping.
• Additional Sounds, Project SAM Brass & Ensemble Presets - GPO4 includes select brass samples from Project SAM that strengthen the brass section of Personal Orchestra. GPO4 also includes choir sounds, extended ranges for select instruments and Ensemble Presets.
• Auto Legato - GPO4's new Auto Legato intelligently detects when you are playing a smooth line with overlapping notes and automatically applies correct legato transitions between notes. Creating realistic phrasing is easy. Auto Legato also makes playable trills extremely easy.
• Integrated Ambience Reverb & Stereo Stage - GPO4 now integrates the high quality Ambience reverb with the ARIA Player with individual mixing sends for each instrument. Stereo Stage imparts spacious stereo imagery for GPO4 instruments.
• MIDI Playback and Recording Features -The Standalone ARIA Player allows you to load and playback MIDI files. You can also produce audio recordings of the MIDI file or record yourself playing live.
• Designed for Compatibility - GPO4 runs on both Macintosh and Windows and a variety of formats to fit your workstation and your workflow (VST, Pro Tools RTAS, and OSX Audio Units). It natively supports 64-bit platforms, works in Windows 7, and is programmed for Steinberg's new VST Expression, which simplifies the use of musical articulations. GPO4 is further optimized for use with the AKAI EWI Wind Controllers and integrates with popular notation programs such as Finale 2010.
• Tunings and Scala File Support - Put GPO4 exactly in tune with your ideas. The ARIA Instrument Engine supports control over individual instrument tuning, the frequency serving as the overall pitch standard, and Scala definition files, a standardized format for scale degree tunings.
• Graceful & Easy Authorization - ARIA authorization employs a personalized digital keycard. Simply drag and drop the personalized graphic card onto the ARIA Instrument Engine to authorize it and get playing in seconds.

Pricing & Availability

The GPO4 download has an MSRP of $149.95. Upgrades are $49.95.