Sibelius and Logic Studio

[cgingrich]

Just a quick question...

Say I composed a piece in Siblelius (or any other notation software for that matter, ie: Finale) and I wanted to export it and bring it to Logic Studio to take advantage of the more realistic sounding instruments, what is the easiest way to do this?

Save as a .midi? or is there a special way to import a .sib file?

Thanks!

[zimv20]

does Logic really have better sounding instruments than sibelius 5? i'm a little surprised.

i export my sibelius AIFF files into PT for mixdown and some outboard reverb, but the sounds themselves are mostly from the included garritan library.

[pkoch1]

the included garritan library. Which isn't great. Sibelius does not add any human touch to the sounds. Sure, it might crescendo when you tell it to crescendo, or staccato when you tell it to play staccato, but the human touch is completely gone. If you put the MIDI tracks into Logic, you can add your own articulations and dynamics. That's makes a MUCH bigger impact on the sound than the actual instruments themselves.

Now the fact that Logic doesn't include solo strings...that's another story.

[zimv20]

Sibelius does not add any human touch to the sounds.

it doesn't? i'm no sibelius power user by any means, but there's all sorts of ways to customize how articulations, lines, etc. maybe i'm missing your point.

most of what i do is based on recorded audio, so i'm not well-versed at all in sound libraries, but i thought GPO sounded rather good. once i put it through some decent reverb, anyway (kurzweil rumour).

[BlakTornado]

I tested this for you.

I made a midi file in Sibelius (5 student) and imported it into Garageband. Works perfectly.

[scottlinux]

I do the engraving in Sibelius and > export as midi, and then open that midi file in Logic to mock up with samples.

The midi file from Sibelius will carry over all tempos, dynamics, and other midi data. Works quite well.

[pkoch1]

it doesn't? i'm no sibelius power user by any means, but there's all sorts of ways to customize how articulations, lines, etc. maybe i'm missing your point.

most of what i do is based on recorded audio, so i'm not well-versed at all in sound libraries, but i thought GPO sounded rather good. once i put it through some decent reverb, anyway (kurzweil rumour).

Well, it's not terrible, and if you REALLY know what you're doing, GPO can sound pretty great, but not by just importing a Sibelius or Finale file. As a film composer who has used GPO (as well as the nicer VSL and EWQL instruments) a ton in Digital Performer and Logic, I have seen that it is really important to add the mod wheel data (which controls velocity, but also changes the timbre to correspond with the velocity)to every single note, and sustain pedal data (which control slurs) for those that call for it. I really don't think that you can get anywhere close to having it sound like a real orchestra without it. A combination of that, and some great sounding samples (east west, vsl, etc.) can make it virtually indistinguishable from a real orchestra to the average listener.

I'd hate to be the uppity know-it-all guy, who thinks that anything less than the best is crap, so I hope I am not coming off that way. You can get some pretty great sounding orchestral mock-ups without going through all that trouble, but I think that if you want to make anything that sounds really professional, there's no other way.

[cgingrich]

Thanks to all who replied.

It seems the easiest thing to do is export each part as a midi file, plunk it into logic, add the desired software instrument, then tweak reverb, midi data etc.

[zimv20]

I'd hate to be the uppity know-it-all guy, who thinks that anything less than the best is crap, so I hope I am not coming off that way.

not at all. thanks for the post, you have a TON more experience than i do with composing. a pure amateur here.

the last time i did any kind of composing, i was using the dx-100 for piano and violin sounds. by that measure, GPO is a huge improvement! :-)

[HenrySpock]

But regarding importing midi into logic - if you are using GPO, will that cover the issue of 'logic not having solo strings'? (assuming you use the mod wheel/foot pedal).