Volumes for GPO in Finale

[FossMaNo1]

I was wondering, when using the entire orchestra, what volume levels does everyone set the individual instruments of the orchestra? I was wondering because I don't think it's very realistic to put all instruments at 101, but finding that realistic balance is, for me, difficult.

[Raymond62]

Difficult to answer. The volumes depend on the orchestration. But to get it started, I use the following for fortissimo (ff).

Instrument CC#7 / Velocity

violins1 100 / 100
violins2 90 / 95
violas 90 / 100
celli 95 / 100
contrabasses 100 / 90

horns 100 / 110
trumpets 90 / 95
trombones 95 / 90
tubas 100 / 110

clarinets 85 / 90
bassclarinets 90 / 100
oboes 80 / 90
piccolo 90 / 100
flutes 95 / 90
bassoons 90 / 100
contrabassoons 85 / 110

percussion is rather different, timpani hits mostly 115 with velocity 105.

At rendering time with a decent DAW (sequencer) like SONAR, DP or else, these values may vary according to the situation in the piece, sometimes the brass must really stand out with a higher base-value, also achievable using CC#1 (modwheel:volume and modulation in GPO). Other sample libs may demand other CC for the same effects.

To test it for yourself, setup a full orchestral score, add those Vsti to the tracks and put one note on every line making a full chord from top to bottom at the strongest registers of the instruments. Satisfied? OK, otherwise alter these values.

Raymond

[FossMaNo1]

Thanks for the very detailed response, Raymond!

[SysExJohn]

Please also see my recent answer, touching on one aspect of this subject, in

Garritan Orchestra Strings
in answer to the question
"Any Ideas on how to make GPO4 strings sound better, using ARIA player?"

SXJohn.