claysf
03-27-2007, 11:02 PM
Computers are a royal pain in the ol' seat cushion. GPO is one of the few applications that, in theory, could make all those aches and pains worthwhile. The frustrations being expressed currently on the Forum about the KP2 update--the brunt of it being born heroically by Gary and his staff at Northern Sounds--can't detract from this intoxicating promise. At least not for yours truly.
I first got GPO early last year and installed it with the KP1 player on a PC laptop. The installation and registration process was a two week marathon of aggravations and interminable waiting for NI tech support (when I called Garritan for help, Gary answered the phone himself and did everything he could to set me on the right track.) At last I got up and running. Things then sank into a low-grade migraine of serial frustrations (unresolvable pops and clicks; continuous struggles with Cubase's other-than-intuitive architecture, audio interface blues, etc. etc. etc....ad nauseum.) Nevertheless, I somehow cobbled together some short pieces for solo strings and woodwind quintet, no more than student pieces really, but still I was amazed, simply blown away by the quality of the sounds. It was the realization of a lifelong dream of orchestrating music that I hadn't even acknowledged to myself that I had! Then, in late August, a burglar broke into my studio and made off with the laptop. Of course everything musical except a CD of .wav files went with it. At that point, I was tempted to take this as a Sign from On High against the sheer folly of my aspirations.
But I was too deeply hooked. So I bought a MacBook Pro, started to learn Logic, worked out the interface problems and other kinks. And waited for the MacIntel release. And waited....
And waited....
And waited. Until, last week, Yreka!
Like many of the rest of you, I pounced on the update. Pounced with grimly clenched jaw-- fully expecting a new plague of techno-gremlins to descend upon me shrieking like horribly detuned violas. I downloaded, installed and registered the new KP2 player. Well, dang it, whaddaya know! Everything installed seemlessly. The Strad and GPO came up without a hitch in the lovely new KP2 screen. After putting the .nks files in the right place (with quick responsive help from this Forum), I was ready to roll...the closest yet to a trouble-free setup that I've experienced in my decade or so of fooling around with midi and computers.
Logic Pro and KP2 seem to communicate perfectly. I spent one evening loading up a full orchestra on 32 tracks, mostly using the included KS multis. And this past weekend, when not attending to my 5 year old daughter, I started to patch together some new music, including one great big blasting tutti that rattled my teacup in its saucer. I was (literally except for my wrinkles) like a kid in a toy store.
To Gary and your colleagues including those at NI:
Thank you, thank you. Thank You!
There are so many improvements in this update that I'm sure I haven't found them all. But to name a few:
*Ability to load 16 instruments per Player, instead of the 8 before
*Parameters customized to each instrument
*Improved dynamic response across the orchetral palette
*Ease of loading and saving setups
*Death of "Mod wheel resets to zero"
*"Intelligent" midi channel setting when adding to previously loaded instruments
*Adding all those sweet tremelo articulations to the KS section strings
What else is in there still to be discovered?
I've only had a few hours so far with this stuff, so I probably haven't unearthed all the treasures yet. But enough, in any case, to feel compelled to openly express my admiration to Gary and all involved-- for your collective idealism, dedication, and techical prowess. This is the midi equivalent of getting into a new Porsche after a year of driving a sporty but lemony Alfa.
Vrooom!
I first got GPO early last year and installed it with the KP1 player on a PC laptop. The installation and registration process was a two week marathon of aggravations and interminable waiting for NI tech support (when I called Garritan for help, Gary answered the phone himself and did everything he could to set me on the right track.) At last I got up and running. Things then sank into a low-grade migraine of serial frustrations (unresolvable pops and clicks; continuous struggles with Cubase's other-than-intuitive architecture, audio interface blues, etc. etc. etc....ad nauseum.) Nevertheless, I somehow cobbled together some short pieces for solo strings and woodwind quintet, no more than student pieces really, but still I was amazed, simply blown away by the quality of the sounds. It was the realization of a lifelong dream of orchestrating music that I hadn't even acknowledged to myself that I had! Then, in late August, a burglar broke into my studio and made off with the laptop. Of course everything musical except a CD of .wav files went with it. At that point, I was tempted to take this as a Sign from On High against the sheer folly of my aspirations.
But I was too deeply hooked. So I bought a MacBook Pro, started to learn Logic, worked out the interface problems and other kinks. And waited for the MacIntel release. And waited....
And waited....
And waited. Until, last week, Yreka!
Like many of the rest of you, I pounced on the update. Pounced with grimly clenched jaw-- fully expecting a new plague of techno-gremlins to descend upon me shrieking like horribly detuned violas. I downloaded, installed and registered the new KP2 player. Well, dang it, whaddaya know! Everything installed seemlessly. The Strad and GPO came up without a hitch in the lovely new KP2 screen. After putting the .nks files in the right place (with quick responsive help from this Forum), I was ready to roll...the closest yet to a trouble-free setup that I've experienced in my decade or so of fooling around with midi and computers.
Logic Pro and KP2 seem to communicate perfectly. I spent one evening loading up a full orchestra on 32 tracks, mostly using the included KS multis. And this past weekend, when not attending to my 5 year old daughter, I started to patch together some new music, including one great big blasting tutti that rattled my teacup in its saucer. I was (literally except for my wrinkles) like a kid in a toy store.
To Gary and your colleagues including those at NI:
Thank you, thank you. Thank You!
There are so many improvements in this update that I'm sure I haven't found them all. But to name a few:
*Ability to load 16 instruments per Player, instead of the 8 before
*Parameters customized to each instrument
*Improved dynamic response across the orchetral palette
*Ease of loading and saving setups
*Death of "Mod wheel resets to zero"
*"Intelligent" midi channel setting when adding to previously loaded instruments
*Adding all those sweet tremelo articulations to the KS section strings
What else is in there still to be discovered?
I've only had a few hours so far with this stuff, so I probably haven't unearthed all the treasures yet. But enough, in any case, to feel compelled to openly express my admiration to Gary and all involved-- for your collective idealism, dedication, and techical prowess. This is the midi equivalent of getting into a new Porsche after a year of driving a sporty but lemony Alfa.
Vrooom!