VST Playback vs. MIDI Playback
Finale users without prior experience with sampling or digital audio software may be somewhat confused by the new and possibly unfamiliar terminology relating to Garritan playback in Finale.
VST and GPO
VST stands for “Virtual Studio Technology.” VST is an audio plug-in standard developed by Steinberg (creators of the Cubase, a digital audio workstation application). VST plug-ins, like Audio Units plug-ins, can be virtual instruments or effects, which can then be used by any audio application that supports VST plug-ins.
GPO supports VST. Finale 2012 was designed to take advantage of the best audio plug-in architecture, allowing Finale to load virtual instruments (like the Garritan instruments) and effects (like Ambience Reverb) directly, without having to rely on a separate application to host them.
Finale also supports a whole range of additional VST samplers, synths, effects, and instruments — see the Finale website for details. Any of these instruments can be combined with the instruments from Garritan Instruments for Finale, full GPO, and JABB — the only caveat being that instruments from separate AU/VST libraries must be loaded into separate banks (unless they have been updated for the Kontakt Player 2) - (see the section on Channels for more information about banks).
VST and MIDI
When Play Finale Through VST is turned on, regular MIDI playback — including SmartMusic SoftSynth Playback, and MIDI sent to external devices — is disabled. That means it is not possible to mix sounds from an external synthesizer/sound card or a software soundfont (like the SmartMusic SoftSynth) with Garritan Instruments. It’s either one or the other — you must choose either standard MIDI playback, or VST playback.
If your score requires instruments that are not included in the VST instrument libraries you own, you may be wondering what to do. Here are a few possible solutions:
- Make substitutions. Play back the staff using the best available substitute instrument. For instance, if your score calls for soprano saxophone but you don't own JABB, you might consider substituting an oboe or clarinet from Garritan Instruments for Finale.
- Purchase a third party instrument library that includes the instruments you require. If you do a lot of writing for orchestra, you may want to upgrade to Full GPO to gain access to the expanded range of orchestral instruments. If you are a jazz or pop composer or arranger, you will probably want to acquire the Garritan Jazz and Big Band library. If your music uses a lot of world music instruments, you may wish to purchase a third-party sample library that includes them. Identify VST/AU Plug-ins for use with Finale in the Manage VST/AU plug-ins dialog box.
- Purchase a Finale-compatible sampler. The full version of Native Instrument's Kontakt 2 software can also be loaded directly in Finale as a VST plug-in, but unlike the Kontakt Player, the full version of Kontakt can import instruments from a variety of sound formats, including soundfonts (like Finale’s SmartMusic SoundFont). This solution will allow you to use soundfont instruments and Garritan instruments simultaneously, or import instrument libraries that are not directly compatible with Finale.
- Use Garritan Studio. This solution is only available to owners of Full GPO or JABB. Garritan Studio is a host application that works just like an external MIDI device. While Garritan Studio is not as convenient as Finale's integrated VST playback, this method does allow you to combine GPO instruments with external MIDI devices (like a hardware synthesizer or soundcard), or a MIDI compatible software synthesizer. For details, consult the documentation that came with your Garritan instrument library.
- Join multiple audio files. This solution only works with software synthesizers, like Finale's SmartMusic SoundFont. Create two separate audio files, one including only Garritan instruments, and one including only the remaining, non-Garritan instruments. Then merge the two audio files in a multitrack audio editor, like Audacity. For more details, consult the entry on Saving an Audio File.
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