Peter Siedlaczek's Advanced Orchestra GigaStudio 3 Update

[Per Lichtman]

Peter Siedlaczek's Advanced Orchestra was ported to GigaStudio years ago and the recent IK Multimedia Peter Siedlaczek's Complete Classical Collection VST, at a budget price of 249 euros MSRP, brought AO back into the market eye. But that doesn't mean that all the older users (most of whom bought the GIGA package for 900-1,000 dollars) should have to feel let down.

That's why I decided to make the internal re-programmed GIGA files I use for my own work at BBMC, an unofficial update, publicly availble. After spending the night standardizing the nomeclature I've now made a .ZIP file of the .ART files for GS3 temporarily availble for download. This is part 1, the woodwinds. More will follow when time permits but this is generally considered to be the strongest section of the library. The .ART files are designed with compatibility in mind so the original programs remain intact and the changes are only made to additional ones in the same library. Though the programming changes are all very basic and utilitarian, here are some of the features of the update:

- All new patches are mapped at sounding pitches on the keyboard instead of the arbitrary transposition of the older patches. The older patches remain in their original configuration for compatibility reasons however.
- Round Robin Staccato patches.
- Velocity switched dynamic level patches.
- Single articulation patches for commonly used articulation: use of keyswitching/mod-wheel is now optional rather than mandatory.
- Patches now feature clear naming systems to make it easy to quickly find sounds you are looking for without needing to consult the manual or GIGA Editor.


If anyone would be willing to host the file(s) in a more permanent fashion, it would be appreciated. The link below is only active for 100 downloads or 7 days, whichever comes first. Depending on the level of interest, I most post updates for Project SAM Trombones Full and Horns as well as GOS Advanced. But really, the point is just to help other people out the way that a lot of people did on early forums when I started getting more into sampling years ago. Please keep in mind that I have no connection to the original sampling project and have only worked on this straightforward re-programming of the original library for my own work purposes, with the recent addition of certain standardization to make it more useful to others.

http://www.zirconstudios.com/AO_WW.zip

I've included the manual below and as a text file included in the zip.


Installation directions:

1) Extract .ART files to a temporary directory from the ZIP file.

2) Open GIGA GS 3 GIGA Editor and open any woodwind file named "...solo.gig", "solo basic.gig", "...section.gig", "section basic.gig".

---You may encounter a message along the lines of "illegal file structure" or "made with pre 2.2 editor" or "made with a program other than GIGA Editor". Click through this and keep going: it's a normal legacy issue on some system..

3) Go to File>Load Articulation File, and then choose the appropriately named .ART file from the temporary directory you extracted the ZIP file to.

Example:
Open "[AO ww_s] piccolo flute solo basic.gig" and then load the articulation file "[AO ww_s] piccolo flute solo basic PAL.art."

4) You should now see new patches in your program list, following the standard ones, all with the extension PAL. If the even that they do not, the .ART load was unsuccessful and you can try again.

5) After succesfully loading .ART file, go to File>Save. The new articulations should now be availble to load in GS3 or GVI, though a program restart may sometimes be neccasary before QuickSound sees them.

6) Repeat on the remaining relevant woodwind .GIG files until finished.

Glossary:
Sus = Sustained Note

SusV = Sustained Note with Vibrato

SusNV = Sustained Note without Vibrato

Leg = Legato articulation: doesn't imply interval sampling or legato tools, just
the lack of a strong attack so that the sample can be used for legato passages.

Stac = Staccato: has a short detached feel. Samples with this designation have a very limited duration and that cannot be extended by changing the duration of a MIDI note.

Flutter = A special effect best understood by demonstration: try it out.

Cresc. = Crescendo: the note sampled will automaticly rise in dynamic, in a pre-recorded fashion.

Gliss Up = An upward pre-recorded glissando: the instrument plays smoothly and very quickly through several notes, sliding through them in a fluid gesture with less defined gradation than in a run.

p = piano
F = Forte

VEL = Velocity switched: will automaticly switch between a "p" and "F" sample for the articulation based on the velocity played.

RR = Round Robin: automatic alternation between different samples sets each time the same note is played

KEY = Keyswitched. Program uses keyswitching to switch articulations.
C6 = By default, keyswitches start on C1 (in this case, the lowest C on an 88 keyboard) but low bass instruments, such as the contrabassoon, have keyswitches starting on C6 in order to make it possible to access the lowest pitches on the instrument without transposition.

CONCERT = Instrument now plays at sounding (concert) pitch on keyboard: original programs often transposed the notes several octaves.

[AKJ]

well, I did a similar thing for VSampler (ok some of it still not finished). When it's all done I am also thinking of making the VSampler files (of xourse without the samples) avaiabloe to the public.

good luck, akj

[Per Lichtman]

Exactly: There really is no reason why more people haven't been sharing their custom programming for older libraries like this. Good luck with the VSampler project.