Garritan Jazz and Big Band Sound Library

I have been performing live with MIDI, professionally, since 1988, and have performed in many of the best venues in the USA. I had learned how to get the most out of mediocre instrument sounds since the beginning, for sounds will never exactly match the instruments they're based on; you have to play them idiomatically. I now use a Mac Pro with a variety of VIs in Digital Performer. Garritan Jazz Band is running in Kontakt2 Player (2.2.4), and that is running in OSX 10.5.2 (Leopard). I create orchestral arrangements for a variety of purposes, as well as my own compositions. My playback system varies from Conrad-Johnson amps with Tannoy monitors down to measly Harmon Kardon "Soundsticks" with subwoofer that are my desktop computer speakers. Headphones are Sony MDR 7509 neodymium (best cans ever).

The interface is simple and obvious, except for a few advanced options that only appear when you dig through the various menus and screens. It is important to learn all you can learn about these. The manual is well-written, friendly, and complete. Installation and upgrading was smooth and easy, though there were several steps. Copy protection is well-done, and nothing like Waves -- the copy protection monster in the plugin closet. I had no trouble and did not have to call or write tech support at any time during the installation.

Getting a good sound out of any VI is a matter of experience and ability. Very few VI's are truly bad; they just drop out of most people's range of ability. The Garritan Jazz Band presupposes that you know how to play jazz. It cannot do that for you. Further, its winds (brass, saxes and woodwinds) are best played on a MIDI Wind Controller like the Yamaha WX-5. Keyboard players can get more out of these samples if they use a breath-control device in parallel with their keyboard. Some work through the keyboard, but there is at least one that is a direct MIDI device. Otherwise, dynamic nuances will never come through. Next best would be an expression foot pedal, like the Roland 300FC or the Yamaha expression pedal.

While all the samples are usable and at the very least, competent, some are outstanding. The bari sax, for example, is superb and possibly the best anywhere. Notably, nearly every type of saxophone currently in use is represented here, and this may be the only bass saxophone sample anywhere. The entire collection is worth the cost for the sax samples alone. Let me list a few: Sopranino, Soprano, Alto, C-Melody, Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Contrabass, and SubContrabass. Really now, where are you going to find those? The makers saxes include Selmer, Buffet, Conn, Yamaha, Bundy, Buescher, Orsi and Eppelsheim. (varies per instrument) The sounds range from strident to pure, but always with the jazz edge. Nothing legit-worthy here but possibly the lower few saxes, since they tend to be unavailable anywhere else.

There are lots of percussion and rhythm section instruments, including rainstick, jawbone, agogo bells, handclaps, fingersnaps, cajones, cuica, djembe, pandeiro, and much more, including of course, all the normal instruments you'd expect. Vibraphones, pianos, Rhodes, guitars, and accordions round out the rhythm section. Basses include fretless, fretted, and upright (bowed and plucked).

The brass are virtually comprehensive in scope, with mutes, and include trombone, Trumpet, and flugelhorn. When you count the different mute configurations there are over 70 trombones alone. If you know how to get the best sounds out of these instruments, you are looking at one of the best bargains in the world of VI's.

The sound of this sample library will of course depend on who is using it, as with all samplers. But I'm pleased to report that you can get incredibly good results. There have been recent breakthroughs in sample libraries, such as those of Wallander and Tommasini, which have raised the bar for expressivity, naturalness, and realism but I find that Garritan's jazz instruments still hold their own. You won't have the range of effects with a single sample that you will find in those I just named, but intelligent application of what is there will do the job and do it well. They have very similar qualities throughout the entire collection that make them work well together, as if you're recording the same players in the same room in a mix. I personally find myself tweaking sounds -- often within the Kontakt2 Player interface, but sometimes with EQ on the tracks -- to get closer to the sound in my ear. What can you expect? Everyone's different. We all have our "sounds." But within the limits of this older paradigm, I find this still to be an expressive library. The nearest thing to it is the Sony jazz library, but at a price of about 10 times that of the Garritan Jazz Band, and I'd be surprised if it can match this one.

Polyphony is real-world in scope. Brass and winds are monophonic, as they should be: you don't want two instruments phrasing and articulating exactly alike. Use another instance of the instrument for polyphony. Of course, guitars, pianos, vibraphones and so forth are polyphonic, and you can adjust the maximum polyphony.

If you're afraid of keyswitching, don't be. Garritan's keyswitching format is simple and straightforward. All you need to do is read what the keyswitch keys do. Also, articulation is controlled by pedal. (CC#64 -- sustain) I've found Garritan's approach to work very well, so that you avoid the annoying repeats of the articulations in fast legato passages which you find in some lesser samplers. The connection and legato is quite smooth. Again, I recommend a wind controller in conjunction with a foot pedal unit like the Roland FC-300 for complete control of these instruments. Any less and you will have to work harder to get what you want.

Various sample rates are supported, at least to 96KHz. If it supports higher sample rates, I do not know about it. The Kontakt2 Player features dozens of advanced controls, filters, preferences, customizable outputs supporting mono, stereo, 5.1 surround, and aux tracks. The built-in mixer includes inserts for a variety of plugins including EQ, compressor, limiter, phaser, distortion, reverb, convolution, and an impressive range of other plugins and settings. There is no shortage of control here. Speaking of control, automation is a cinch, with the ability to automate any parameter by dragging the controller from a list in the browser to the knob or slider desired.

In ranking the Jazz Band library, I am torn between comparing it relatively to what's out there at this time, or to what COULD be, if someone ever made the perfect jazz VI. I'm afraid of misinterpretations if I rank it relative to the latter, so I'm going to give it the highest rating possible, simply because at this time (April, 2008) nothing really touches it that I know of. It's been well-thought-out, and it's quite obvious at every stage that real musicians planned this and crafted it with love for what they'd like to have at their disposal. I think they succeeded. Will it work for you? The more telling question is this: can you play jazz? If the answer is yes, and if you can play each instrument idiomatically, preferably aided by a wind controller for the winds and maybe even for some of the percussion, then Garritan's Jazz & Big Band is the library for you. If you can wait until December, sometimes Garritan throws a year-end revolving sale, during which you can get various packages at deep discounts. I got it for $125. Otherwise, you will pay about $199. Either price is a tremendous bargain.

I absolutely love Garritan's products, and the support behind them. Gary himself is often on the website, plus you have other users who can help you if you need it, but the manual is really good, and really enough. I'm partial to the unbelievable range of saxophones. I'm thrilled to have these. I do not believe such a collection has ever been assembled, anywhere. I've played saxophone professionally for nearly 40 years, and a couple of these saxes I have not yet seen in real life. How amazing to have them to play on my WX-5. The paradigm is gradually changing, however, and we're starting to see intelligent instruments that are closer and closer to the real ones. While I'm thinking of Wallander's winds, and Tomassini's recent trumpet release, Garritan is actually at the forefront of this movement with his (and Tomassini's) Gofriller Cello and Stradivari Solo Violin, as well as his latest Authorized Steinway Piano. I think that in time we'll see even these jazz instruments moving toward that kind of control and realism, though the sheer magnitude of such a project may mean we'll never see such a broad and thorough range of instrumentation in a single library with such a treatment. So, consider this possibly the best that this paradigm has to offer, and make the most of it. Enjoy!

I have used both keyboards and computers to make music. I've done it all. I have little to show for it, but I've done it all. All this musical gear/computing knowledge.. good for nothing, but reviews. :P Running Windows Vista. It;s not as stable as XP. Oh well maybe some day. This is Garritan Big Band 1.0, with the instrument updates. I monitor with sweet JBL LRS monitors.

Same old Kontakt interface we're all sick of. Pretty antiquated now days (compared to say Fab Four). This version isn't even as good as Kompakt. This is simply the Kontakt player with little to no controls whatsoever. So the interface is a breeze to use (even though I HATE the tiny menus). I don't read manuals (attention software companies: if we have to read your manual, your software sucks, sorry) so I can't help there. Sure, you can call up instruments very easily, even though the categories are incredibly general (Trumpets 1, Trumpets 2, Trumpets 3, ahem).

I have to say I really like the grand piano. It is better than most sampled pianos I have. Strange. Oddly, the horns are really bad. I was expecting realistic horns, not Casio horns. I'm shocked they call this a professional sound set. The drum sounds are good. The other sounds are decent at best. This could be a very good set for a student writing arrangements. But it's not even CLOSE To ready for pro production.

It's a mediocre plugin and I would much prefer Quantum Leap Brass to this. Not impressed at all.