Garritan Personal Orchestra - time to buy!

[Cheez]

Read this:
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Dear Musician,

The GPO Revolution has taken the music world by storm. Acclaimed as "the most significant sample-based instrument library ever to be produced....With GPO, we may be witnessing history" (Music4Games). Before GPO most full orchestral libraries were thousands of dollars and out of the reach of most musicians and GPO was designed to proivde an affordable "orchestra library for the rest of us." (EQ Magazine and MacWorld). The goal of GPO was to open the doors to everyone so that nearly all musicians could have the sounds of an orchestra. In keeping with that goal, we want to reach even more musicians and what better way than a GROUP BUY!

A Group Buy is a limited-time special offer where many prospective buyers have the opportunity to buy a product in bulk and get steep discounts based on the number of buyers purchasing. As the quantity of purchases goes up the cost of a product goes down. As certain levels of group sizes are reached, the price of the product goes down further - even on all orders that have already been placed. Therefore, GPO cannot not be shipped until the final price is determined and the Group buy has come to an end. See rules below.

Already regarded as "probably the most amazing value ever" (Association of Independent Feature Film Producers), this Group Buy provides an even greater value. And if you may have other orchestral libraries, now is the time to expand your orchestral palette. Also, if you have plans to upgrade to GPO Advanced there will be a special upgrade price. Even if you already own GPO, now is a good time to buy a copy for your extra computers or as a gift for a friend or family member (e.g. early Christmas). So put in your Group Buy entry now to take advantage of this offer that is too good to pass up.

"Buy it now, before someone puts the price up." Sound On Sound



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GROUP BUY PRODUCT:
GARRITAN PERSONAL ORCHESTRA (Special Group Buy Version) - 3 CD-ROMs
(includes full Orchestral Library, Native Instruments Kontakt Player. GPO Studio host & Ambience available for download. Note: Cubasis VST and Overture are NOT included)

GROUP BUY DURATION:


Start: May 8, 2005
Duration: 1 month.
End: June 7th, 2005 at Midnight Pacific Standard Time.
This is a one-time promotion and this Group Buy will not be repeated for this product.

THE GROUP BUY COUNTER:


For the most recent tally, go to the GPO Forum on Northern Sounds.


GROUP BUY RULES

To join the Group Buy it is necessary to pay an entry fee of $139 USD which is the minimum amount the product will cost you. The entry fee will be charged upon receipt and the shipping fee will also be charged. The order will then be added to a growing tally which will determine the final price. The remaining payment will be the difference between the entry fee and the final price. We will not charge your credit card for any remaining payment until the product ships after the group buy has ended. If 200 units or more are sold, there will be no additional fee.


The final price is shown on the table below and depends upon the number of buyers that will take part in the Group Buy:

GROUP BUY SLIDING SCALE:
Number of Buyers Price
0 - 5 $249.00
6 - 24 $224.00
25 - 69 $199.00
70 - 99 $179.00
100 - 149 $159.00
150-199 $149.00
200 or more $139.00
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Link: https://www.amerifare.com/harps/GPO-GroupBuyForm.htm

This is the time to get it if you are thinking about it and sitting on the fence. Can't get any cheaper than this!

 

[bongman]

WOW!
Buy more, cost less!

 

[Cheez]

The good thing about group buy is that you don't have to form that group. As more people buys, they are added into the list. So you only have to buy one and hope more people join in (ie buy). I'm very sure that there will be more than 200 people who will buy it in the end, so the lowest price is quite certain.

More and more, sample developers are using these "group buys" strategy to get large masses of people buying.

Anyway, 139USD is really low for a full orchestral stand-alone sampler. I'll update this site on the accumulative number of buyers.

 

[veganbleu]

Yeah GPO !! It's really good! Highly recommended!

 

[Cheez]

Update: Times + Space is giving a slightly better offer.

http://www.timespace.com/specials.asp

At 84.24 pounds, it also includes Cubase VST and Overture, which the GPO site does not (for this group buy offer).

 

[Cheez]

Update ate 11 May

Number of Buyers = 45

Current Price = $199 USD

Days left: 28

 

[Cheez]

Update: As on 14 May

No of Buyers = 94

Current Price = $179 USD

Days left: 25

 

[Cheez]

Update: As on 16 May

No of Buyers = 136

Current Price = $159 USD

Days left: 23

Anybody from SOFT got it yet?

 

[Cheez]

Update: As on May 17

No of Buyers: 151

Current Price = $149 USD

Days lefts: 22

 

[Cheez]

OK. The group buy has reached the lowest price of $139USD with more than 200 buyers. Can't get any lower.

 

[Arthen]

No thanks. I'm saving up for Sonic Implants Strings collection and the Vienna Symphonic Library Horns.

I've got Storm Drum, G-Town Percussion and Sam Horns.

They're wonderful!

Teo

http://www.audivarius.com

 

[Cheez]

Which softsampler are you using? Since you've already got SAM horns, why go for VSL? SAM is already very good. Unless you meant the Epic horns, and unless you're dealing with heavy film music that needs that kind of sound, of course.


Can you post some music? I really would like to hear your music - esp since with the library you have, you sound like my kind of orchestral guy!

 

[Arthen]

I've got Sam horns, and i'm getting VSL Epic horns. Although the SI strings sound very good, but ultimately it would be best to get VSL Performance set.
But I'll never get there unless I break into the industry in the US successfully.
You can get violin repeated bowing of the same note WITHOUT getting the machine-gun effect. I need very versatile stuff, but of course it's all abt money at the end of the day.

Stormdrum, G Town percussion is fantastic, I never run out of ideas with them.

www.soundsonline.com and www.ilio.com cases one of the best samples in the real. Although samples can never replace the real thing ever, they're great for mockups and reduce lots of hassle, time, and money you spend hiring players, orchestras, studios, and at least the producers and directors can easily say "i don't like this part, i don't like that part", and you can simply go back and change it till they're satisfied, and THEN finally the orchestration and printing of scores for the players for the final recordings and mixes.

anyway, stuff's on my site.

http://www.audivarius.com

 

[Arthen]

btw i'm using Gigastudio 3 Orchestra, with Cubase SX2, Wavelab.
Managed to get a bank loan just to pay for GS3...slowly paying my debt off....

 

[Cheez]

Excellent! I haven't upgraded my GS2 because of the cost and I was waiting for it to get more stable (like now). Also, Tascam is terrible in their support (as usual) - Singapore tascam refused to reply my emails after a while re: upgrading for some reason; US tascam need me to call them up to get the upgrade (their website does not allow overseas GS users to purchase upgrade versions).

I don't know about mixing SI and VSL strings. Performace set is great esp for the legato. But VSL is basically a european orchestra whereas SI is US. Also, SI was recorded in the hall whereas VSL is dry. The sound is different; applying reverb or Gigapulse to VSL also makes it sound different to SI. However, there are people who still mix and match certain libraries. Anyhow, I'm the "old guard" - still using Advanced Orchestra. Still giving me good stuff - just need a lot of time to tweak it. Also using stuffs from Xsamples (harp), Yellow tools (e-basses), SI (B3, drums, e guitars), Wizoo, Ethno World, Spectrasonics (Symphony of Voices), etc etc etc. Also using the SAM trumpets (free version before the official version came out - still very useful) and their tympanis. I downloaded the free G-town stuffs sometime ago and lost it. Now G-town seems to be down. Very sad since I love their stomps and anvil esp.

Well, I really hope to get VSL Opus 1 and 2 - gives most of the things including the performance sets. I agree - VSL is the ultimate. But to run the entire pro edition will require more than 1 PC which I'm trying to avoid.

Also interesting to look out for GPO advanced. It is nothing like the old GPO since they have integrated GOS 2 entirely into it. So it is something really big. Unfortunately, of course, it is not in GS format.

 

[Cheez]

Heard your music on your website. Excellent stuff. That's my kind of music. Sorry nothing to share on my side. I don't have a website. My only music posted on SOFT was taken some time ago. And music is my hobby - no time to set up website to host my music.

Keep your music coming! What other libraries are you using? There's more to your music than just G-town, Stormdrum and SAM horns!

 

[Arthen]

My take is, mix and match anyhow you like, just make sure it sounds good at the end of the day. It's my instincts that usually make me more absorbed and engrossed in the whole thing rather than based on what I have discussed with others. And that has always worked for me. The trick is knowing exactly what you want for your piece, and then working towards achieving that kind of sound and mix.

I also know alot of guys who are more concerned about the samples themselves than the music, in which case alot of them turn out to be simply "sample-enthusiasts". These are the guys that are completely dependent on quality samples to jump start their ideas, otherwise they don't feel inspired at all. Which is not favourable of course....

 

[Arthen]

Loll I have a Korg Triton Studio 88, which has some really fantastic sounds. I use alot from there, and I have created several horn and string sample combinations from the programs in it, and have always been using those for quick sketches. I feel I don't really need that many kinds of soft sample libraries, because right now i'm not focusing on cool "accidental" ambient scores; I'm working on my melodic craft for now.

 

[Cheez]

Agree with you. Samples are tools. My focus, however, is not just the music but to make the music as realistic as possible. Even though AO is really old, I can still tease out some realism with it. But it just take too much time and effort.

Also, even with the best samples, that doesn't mean one can write and use it to achieve realism. Orchestration and arragement plays an important part. I have heard some really weird and terrible stuffs with people owning sample libraries that cost them a 5 figure amount.

Great to share with somebody with same kind of interest. What's more, a GS user! Please drop by SOFT more often.