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Articles by Mark Nowakowski
No Piano in Church
It may seem odd to exclude an instrument that is a touchstone of the musical West, and a king of instruments among the musical tradition that grew organically out of Christendom. The piano is so universal an instrument that many pedagogues consider it as specifically representative of the Western musical system, and music students must all practice theory on the piano and learn to be competent keyboard players.
How to Tell If Your Church Music Is Ugly
There is controversy over whether liturgical music should include pianos. Is the piano a perfectly valid and equally good choice, or is it too profane for the Mass? Knowing that this issue can set off a firestorm of opinion on both sides, we may be better served to first examine Catholic principles of beauty and sacred music as presented clearly by the Church.
Crow Hill Company Pocket Strings
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ 4/5 Stars New from Crow Hill Company is a fun little instrument titled Pocket Strings. At a bargain price of £$10 and placing only very modest demands on system resources, the idea here is to provide a portable string instrument which packs a creative punch, both as an excellent sketching tool and a colourful addition to existing libraries.
Steinberg Dorico 6
Steinberg deliver a slick update to their scoring software. The rapid evolution of the Dorico notation software has, in a mere handful of years, somehow brought us to a sleek version 6. With the storied Finale platform being retired and a resultant wave of notation refugees seeking a new home, Daniel Spreadbury and his team at Steinberg had every incentive to deliver a knockout update.
Steinberg Dorico 5
Steinberg’s Dorico inches ever closer to full DAW status... The evolution of Dorico from a notation application contender with a storied development cast and some real potential to the innovation‑driving rising star it has now become has been well‑documented in the pages of SOS, including the reviews of Version 3 in the February 2020 issue and Version 4 in June of 2022.
Realitone Nightfall
Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars Billed as a hybrid/organic strings toolkit, Nightfall by Realitone is a follow‑up to the company’s excellent Sunset Strings. While it takes a darker turn from its predecessor, it still offers users the opportunity to create musically satisfying hybrid instruments between organic and more synthesized textures via crossfading or mixing.
Inlet Audio Clarinet Drama Textures
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars Emerging company Inlet Audio bill themselves as creators of “artist‑driven sample library products”. Here they add an intriguing new effort to their (thus far) string‑dominated catalogue: Clarinet Drama Textures, built in collaboration with Chicago‑based clarinetist and composer, Brandon C Stanley.
Orchestral Tools Salu
Orchestral Tools get up close and personal with some intimate soundscapes. Orchestral Tools have recently been stretching out into new sonic territories, with their offering Salu, subtitled Close‑up Soundscapes, being the more adventurous companion to last year’s luminous Tallinn library.
Spitfire Audio Fractured Strings
Rating: **** 4/5 Stars Built in collaboration with Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers Music collective and featured in the BBC’s Frozen Planet II, Fractured Strings features a chamber ensemble of eight string players, along with patches featuring violin and cello soloists. Hosted in Spitfire’s own dedicated plug‑in, it has 12 mic and three macro mix options, and also includes the useful Evo Grid featured in other recent releases.
Fluffy Audio Simple Opera Singer
Rating: 4/5 Stars **** Fluffy Audio instruments tend to be vibrant and highly musical, and Simple Opera Singer is no exception. Working in Kontakt (full version required), users encounter three patches. The first, ‘fast legato’, gives users a keyswitch option between ‘oohs’, ‘ahs’ and random word legatos. These first two options present a clean legato with tasteful portamento between leaps, easily the equal of similar options in far more expensive packages.
Spitfire Audio introduces Abbey Road 2: Iconic Strings (Music software review)
CANTON, Ohio – Just when you think Spitfire Audio has taken enough of your money, they come at you with another compelling product. This time around, the iconic sound of Abbey Road Studios is melded with beautiful recordings of string soloists to bring you Abbey Road 2: Iconic Strings.
Benedict XVI Institute’s Requiem Mass for the Homeless Transcendentally Beautiful
Composer Mark Nowakowski reviews Frank LaRocca’s creation that was presented Nov. 6 at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco. What did Christ mean when he told Peter to feed his sheep? What is the Christian’s responsibility to the poor, and what are the bounds of the meaning of poverty and our moral response to it?
TALLINN by Orchestral Tools: A virtual instrument review
CANTON, Ohio – Having previously reviewed concerts performed by the luminous Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, it only seemed fitting that I return to the pages of CDN and document a real achievement in the world of virtual instruments. Namely, TALLINN, the capturing of this fine ensemble as a virtual instrument by Orchestral Tools.
Best Service Emotional Viola
Rating: ***** 5/5 Stars Best Service and Harmonic Subtones have finally delivered on the missing member of their Emotional family, the Viola. Despite its somewhat generic‑sounding name, the new Emotional Viola features a rich close‑miked viola with the same depth of colour, wealth of articulations, and seamless ornamental transitions which featured in the previous Emotional Violin and Emotional Cello releases.
Strezov Sampling Jade Ethnic Orchestra
Rating: **** 4/5 Stars As a follow-up to our exploration of Strezov Sampling's charming Mountain Girl VST, we're going to take a deep-dive into their massive multi-instrument release the Jade Ethnic Orchestra. This compelling effort combines the sound of Mongolian and Chinese ethnic instruments — performed by regional musicians — into a collection of 50 instruments and over 100 individual patches.
Felt Instruments Blisko Collection
Felt Instruments’ Blisko Collection offers a unique blend of sound and motion. There is a particularly austere and engaging aesthetic to Felt Instruments products, which seemingly emerges straight from the soil of Polish culture. Trapped for years behind the Iron Curtain, the country managed to maintain a unique cultural and international profile instead of just melting into a larger Soviet soup.
Strezov Sampling The Performers Mountain Girl
Rating: **** 4/5 Stars The Balkan spirit has come to your DAW courtesy of Sofia-based Strezov Sampling, a virtual instrument company founded by composer George Strezov. Billing themselves 'by composers for composers', the creators at Strezov have recently garnered positive attention for their powerful and original choral libraries.
Heavyocity Vento Modern Woodwinds
Rating: **** 4/5 Stars Heavyocity's Vento Modern Woodwinds is the most recent follow-up to their FORZO Modern Brass and NOVO Modern Strings library. The key to the product is what is meant by 'Modern'. Heavyocity have combined traditional woodwind scoring with extensive sound-design capabilities, allowing you to go from 'standard' to 'sci-fi' within a few clicks. Patches are organised into Traditional and Evolved folders, with each instrument giving access to a large menu of presets once loaded.
Spitfire Audio offers superb BBC Symphony Orchestra library: A review
NORTH CANTON, Ohio – If you Google “BBC Symphony Orchestra” today, you might be surprised to find that one of the very first links that comes up – and the main videos which are suggested – have to do with a once obscure company out of London called “Spitfire Audio.” Somehow this little outfit, which produces beautiful and musically raw (in all the right ways) virtual instruments, has grown to the point where they could contract the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBCSO) for over 80 recording sessions...
Impact Soundworks Ventus Winds Duduk
Rating: **** 4/5 Stars Founded in 2008 by composers Andrew Aversa and Will Roget II, Impact Soundworks is an ever-growing company which has been filling various sonic gaps with their innovative and affordable electronic, acoustic and hybrid instruments. Their Ventus Winds series has included lovely renditions of pan flutes, ocarinas, an Indian bansuri, the tin whistle and the Shakuhachi. Now they add the always evocative and useful Duduk.
Steinberg Dorico 3
Steinberg's innovative notation package reaches version 3 — and maturity? Steinberg have released the third major iteration of their Dorico scoring package, packing powerful new features and a number of important bug-fixes into a comprehensive update that is sure to tempt long-time users of rival software.
Spitfire Studio Woodwinds: New software instrument review
NORTH CANTON, Ohio. We admittedly find ourselves behind the 8-ball on this particular review. That’s especially true when considering the momentous video announcement Spitfire just made regarding their new BBC Symphony Orchestra virtual instrument, the Spitfire Studio Woodwinds. But later is better than never when it comes to test-driving a fantastic product like this one. And certainly, in the case of the company’s new package, the word “fantastic” doesn’t always do it justice.
Spaces II by Eastwest: A significant update to the original. Product Review
NORTH CANTON, Ohio. In a March 2014 CDN article titled “Reverb Wars,” I had the great pleasure of doing a side-by-side comparison of Altiverb and the new Eastwest “Spaces” convolution reverb. The new Spaces product held up remarkably well against the great granddaddy of software convolution reverbs, and in certain cases (such as the now famous “Hamburg Cathedral” preset) struck me as more musical. Now in 2019, without a major Altiverb update in sight, we arrive at the second iteration of Spaces.
Hans Zimmer Strings by Spitfire Audio: Virtual instrument review
NORTH CANTON, Ohio. As 2019 arrives, we take a look back at one of 2018’s most interesting – and somehow underreported – virtual instrument releases. Spitfire Audio’s Hans Zimmer Strings hit the market last summer. It provides composers with a gorgeous-sounding, truly revolutionary string composition tool. Not that we fault the music tech press for overlooking, somewhat, this significant release. Spitfire – the company by composers, for composers – seems to be shifting into overdrive lately.
Komplete 12 from Native Instruments: Product review
NORTH CANTON, Ohio. The New Year started out with a bang for this writer. A brand new package from Native Instruments containing the Komplete 12 Ultimate Collector’s Edition arrived for a fair and unbiased product review. A number of other columns and blogs will undoubtedly cover this product’s astounding and robust array of pop-oriented virtual instruments.
Embertone releases its new Joshua Bell Violin virtual instrument
NORTH CANTON, Ohio. The brainchild of composer Alex Davis and Jonathan Churchill, Embertone is one of the most fascinating and ambitious of today’s emerging virtual instrument companies. Embertone’s stated mission is to offer deeply sampled virtual instruments to composers at the lowest possible price. In their most recent release, the company somehow convinced the legendary and internationally honored violin demi-god Joshua Bell to digitize himself.
Eastwest’s Voices of the Empire: New software instrument review
NORTH CANTON, Ohio. In a literal meeting of East and West, Eastwest’s (EW) collaboration with multi-genre and polylingual vocalist Uyanga Bold has yielded their newest software instrument, Voices of the Empire (VoE). Produced by Doug Rogers and Nick Phoenix, this long-awaited sequel to Voices of Passion (VoP) presents a new, musically intriguing instrument. The package offers composers and musicians the potential for diverse applications in numerous musical genres.
Dorico 2: New version of music notation software answers user requests
NORTH CANTON, Ohio. Several weeks ago we decided to follow up with Daniel Spreadbury and his team over at Steinberg to inquire as to forthcoming developments with Dorico. Their reply to our list of interview questions was a review copy of Dorico 2. Apparently trying to cement their tantalizingly unpredictable reputation, they’ve now sprung this excellent surprise on the rest of the music world. Indeed, in this new package, there is a great deal to be excited about.
Review of new virtual instrument package
CANTON, Ohio, March 24, 2018: One of the most hotly anticipated virtual instruments in years has finally hit the market. Eastwest’s Hollywood Choirs arrives to us with a new WordBuilder plugin, many promises and numerous questions as well. We test-drove this impressive new instrument using a Macbook Pro, 16 GB RAM, running El Capitan, with the samples residing on an external USB SSD hard drive. A Scarlett 2i4 provided the audio.
‘Dominus Choir’ from FluffyAudio: Music software review
Please hold for illustrations and final. -T CANTON, Ohio, December 13, 2017: In a holiday season filled with high profile choir releases, the intrepid folks at FluffyAudio give us “Dominus Choir,” a self-described “lyrical emotional choir” for users of Kontakt 5. Dominus Choir brings the composer an instrument that seems to channel the mystical nature of great modern sacred choral recordings. It also includes a Latin-based word builder which opens the door to greater creative potential.
Cinesamples’ Viola da Gamba virtual instrument: New product review
CANTON, Ohio, November 26, 2017 – While recent, laudable efforts in sampling Baroque, Renaissance and ancient European instruments have emerged, one glaring weakness in these various new products has been the lack of a quality Viola da Gamba. Stepping in to fill the gap is Cinesamples. Launched back in 2007, the company now brings us their glorious new Viola da Gamba virtual instrument for Kontakt (full version, 5.5 or higher).
Review: Spitfire's Albion Tundra and LCO Orchestras
CANTON, Ohio, August 9, 2017 – The company “by composers and for composers” has struck again with a new offering. Built as atmospheric scoring tools and evocative add-ons to Spitfire’s standard string libraries, the Albion Tundra collection and London Contemporary Orchestra Strings now provide compelling tools for the scoring and mock-up process that were previously unavailable to composers.
Review: 'Rinascimento' virtual instruments from FluffyAudio
Rinascimento may be the virtual instrument many composers have been waiting for in this age of renewed interest in the early music genres. CANTON, Ohio, July 4, 2017 – As this column is always eager to review products which fill an unmet or underserved musical need, it was a natural fit to take the new “Rinascimento” package from FluffyAudio for a test drive.
Blood, Forgotten: Composer Mark Nowakowski and the Voxare String Quartet
WASHINGTON, June 7, 2017 ? CommDigiNews writer and composer Mark Nowakowski, Eric Peterson, violist with the Voxare String Quartet, and Voxare violinist Emily Ondracek-Peterson are releasing a new CD, Blood, Forgotten, (available June 9 at Amazon.com). The disc is a musical tribute to the people of Poland, who have lived through often impossible conditions over the last three centuries. Polish-American composer Nowakowski offers this release as a tribute to this strong nation’s spirit of survival.
DORICO Notation Software V. 1.2: Was it worth the wait?
Steinberg Media packed their new release of Dorico with a plethora of exciting features and functionality to lure would-be users into giving their package a try. NORTH CANTON, Ohio, March 3, 2017 – While the producers of Steinberg Media Technologies’ new “Dorico” Notation software may officially deny it, there was something indeed unexpected about the seemingly sudden release of the company’s potentially industry-shaking new software package.
New ethnic music releases from ECM: A luminous triple play
The ECM label's three most recent releases all come from composers, performers, and ensembles spanning from Armenia to the Baltic states. CHICAGO, Dec/ 4, 2015 – ECM may be the world’s most listenable and interesting new music label, providing a veritable passport to a global variety of pioneering musical efforts. The label’s three most recent releases all come from composers, performers and ensembles spanning from Armenia to the Baltic states.
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