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Garritan Jazz & Big Band 3


Bigger and more brassy than a Babs Windsor lookalike contest, Garritan’s Jazz & Big Band sample library will add some power to your budding big band arrangements… Words: D.P. Wilson


SRP: £109.00 Contact: Time + Space www.timespace.com


When I first took the plunge into the world of computer-based recording, the first sound library I purchased was the very popular Personal Orchestral library from Garritan. Weighing in as it did at the time at 2 gigabytes worth of samples I remember thinking what a colossally huge set of samples it was! Since then of course, sound libraries are routinely many, many times larger than this and offer lots of different velocity samples and articulations (playing styles). Whilst this has begun to become the norm, Garritan nevertheless plough an increasingly lone furrow of squeezing a full, if genre specific, instrument library into only a couple of gigs. The latest (third) version of Garritan’s Jazz & Big Band (JABB3) still maintains the small hard drive footprint of around 2 gigabytes and specialises in instruments specifically for Jazz and Big Band productions. The library itself contains: 16 Saxophones (ranging from Sopranino to Sub Contrabass), 6 trumpets (with different mute style options), 5 Trombones (with mutes), various wind instruments (flutes, clarinet etc.), Piano, electric piano and Jazz Accordion! Completing the package are various jazz styled guitars, basses, drums and percussion. All in all then a pretty comprehensive list of instruments which certainly would appear to be enough for the budding Count Basie!


De-restricted ARIA Rather than using someone else’s sample player, Garritan uses its own ARIA Advanced Instrument Engine. ARIA runs either in standalone or as a plug-in within the popular VST, RTAS and Audio Unit formats, meaning maximum compatibility. Looking at the recommended specifications even a fairly modest modern PC or Mac should be able to make good use of JABB3. The more RAM the better of course but 1 gigabyte should be


42 pickup


enough for a full band performance. The ARIA engine itself is a very simple affair, offering sixteen slots to load the sound samples into, with a simple mixer underneath. Things are rounded off with a user-friendly effects section and assignment controls for MIDI controllers. In use everything seems to work as expected and JABB3 performed flawlessly and efficiently as a plug-in in the variety of DAWs I tried with it.


Jazz hands


The sounds and instruments did what was expected of them but in many cases they seemed a little flat compared to some of the other libraries I’ve used. It was also apparent to me that JABB3 misses out on the more dynamic articulations of larger libraries; even a Staccato articulation would help add to the realism. However, one thing worthy of note is how powerful it sounds when used in context, i.e. constructing a brass section. Deploying the instruments as sections really sharpens everything up. The pianos, drums and basses are OK if not awe inspiring, although I quite enjoyed the organs and the vibraphone, which sounds particularly great. Experimenting with a jazzy/pop arrangement I have to be honest and say I was struggling to achieve the sort of


realism I have come to expect of late. In search of inspiration, I thought I’d check out some user demos on the Garritan website and I have to say that some of the arrangements featured there are of a different class, demonstrating that the JABB3 is actually a very capable performer when used within that strict Big Band feel. When used in the correct context the lack of articulations becomes much less apparent and by the same token, when you start layering on the instruments a lot of the lack of expression not to mention my initial disappointment with the actual sounds disappears. PM


baby


SHOULD I BUY ONE? Garritan JABB3 fi lls a very specifi c feature set and I made the mistake of thinking I could use it for small pop brass sections or funky wind quartets when it quickly became clear that this isn’t what JABB3 is designed for. However once I left my own comfort zone and started on arrangements more in keeping with its stated modus operandi JABB3 works much more convincingly. Anybody out there looking to produce quick, easy and convincing big band arrangements won’t go far wrong with JABB3, especially at the price, which does represent a bit of a bargain. Yes, if you wanted to you could obtain a range of specifi c sound libraries that would sound more convincing and probably more exciting but you’d probably be looking at 10 times to 100 times more hard drive space and lots more programming time, not to mention whether your current set-up would have the power to run all those individual libraries! Therefore despite my initial reservations, if JABB3 meets your musical aspirations you could do a lot worse than to take a listen and see if Garritan’s Jazz & Big Band 3 fi ts the bill.


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