GPO Sibelius Edition vs GPO w/ Sonar..?

[Mikel33]

Hi,

I am currently learning everything I can about Sonar, signal processing, dynamic processing, mixing, mastering, etc, etc.. just so I can get my music to sound as real as the demos on this page.. Would I be able to avoid all this if I buy the GPO Sibelius Edition?.. And which one produces better results vs time spent learning?

This really concerns me because I do ALL of my writing with Sibelius and use GPO as my MIDI, but it doesn't sound nearly as real as the demos that use programs such as Sonar and the such..

I hope you can understand what I am saying/asking.

Thanks and any input is appreciated!

-Mike

[Skysaw]

I have both Sonar and Sibelius. I use Sonar to make my realizations, and Sibelius to make my printed scores, and I view them as two totally different tasks.

You certainly have more control over the sound when creating in Sonar. It will allow you to input as much painstaking detail as you want through individual MIDI messages and envelopes. Further, you can create individual busses within the program to process different instruments or sections in different ways, and automate those busses as well.

I've heard some good demos using Sibelius/GPO, but if you really want to get your hands dirty, Sonar is the way to go.

[Mikel33]

Ok, thanks for the reply.

So you feel that I would recieve the realism I'm looking for through Sonar rather than GPO Sibelius Edition.

Now my question is: Is learning all the things mention in my first post worth learning compared to the results with GPO Sibelius Edition?

I guess that's more what I'm asking,

[Skysaw]

So you feel that I would recieve the realism I'm looking for through Sonar rather than GPO Sibelius Edition.
To be clear about this, it takes not just Sonar, but also lots of love, sweat, and time. Without these, it may not be worth the extra purchase to you.


Now my question is: Is learning all the things mention in my first post worth learning compared to the results with GPO Sibelius Edition?
If your goal is realism, then its worth it to you to learn as much as possible about MIDI, Sonar, GPO, acoustics, psychoacoustics, music theory, orchestration, instrument limitations, bowings/fingerings, EQ, compression, latency, mixing techniques, and other aspects of digital signal processing. It also helps to listen to *lots* of recordings of real orchestras, or better still, listen to them live in concert.

You don't need to be an expert before you start hearing results, but everything you learn will contribute to the overall sound.