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So, I'm using MuseScore and really like the versatility and user-friendliness of the application. My only question is... Where can I find good VST or virtual instruments for it?

After completing my latest composition - Scherzo in C Minor for violin/piano (which I will be uploading shortly), I sent the score and a Sibelius/GPO4 generated MP3 to several reviewers. My favorite response (paraphrasing slightly) was : "This is a great work for kazoo and piano!" I responded by saying that this was an insult to kazoo players everywhere. :) But I got the message. I had been using Garritan Personal Orchestra 4 and had never been happy with the sound except for the piano. As bad as the violin was, another composition for bassoon and clarinet was even worse - I would describe it as a duet for bass and soprano kazoos. After doing a lot of research I finally decided to get EastWest Quantum Leap Solo Violin. I didn't get the piano library since the Garritan piano (and the native Sibelius piano) are both reasonably good and I figured I could mix and match. I also got the Sibelius Sound Set to match from SoundSetProject.com. I was a bit concerned about getting anything from EW given reviews trashing their customer service but I thought it was worth the risk at about $100 plus the sound set. Even though I am a computer expert, I know almost nothing about MIDI. Installation was challenging and I needed help from Sound Set Project (their tech support was outstanding...). Eventually I got it working and mapped the violin to the EW library and the piano to GPO4. The resulting sound was amazingly good generated raw out of Sibelius (I don't have the skills to use a DAW to do sound editing). The violinist that will be premiering the work was also very impressed with the sound, although it is nowhere near at the level she will play it. I would describe it as at an advanced high school violinist level, which is all I was looking for coming directly out of Sibelius. If anyone is curious to hear the difference, I can post links to both versions. I then plunged ahead and purchased the EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Platinum Standard library (24 bit only) and the matching sound set. This is not cheap - total cost was about $700. I installed the sound libraries (all 117GB worth) last week, which took many hours. Today I installed the sound set and got it working with Sibelius 7. It only took an hour this time since I roughly knew what I was doing. Again, well worth it. The bassoon/clarinet duet actually sounds like a bassoon/clarinet duet - a major step forward! Bottom line - I highly recommend these two sound libraries and by extrapolation, I suspect most of the rest would be a similar quality level. But you may find installation challenging. I had to use a combination of a lot of Internet research to get the EW libraries installed and help with the sound set integration, but the final results made it all worthwhile.

I've been working with Finale 2001a for about the last 8 or 9 years. Then my brother showed up with Finale 2011 for me. Of course I would like to upgrade my old files, but first I have to fix some glitches... 1) How do I get Garritan sounds to work in an older file? (When I set Finale to play through VSTs, I hear nothing). 2) How do I fix the instruments? (Even when I play the orchestral works through MIDI, I hear only a 'string orchestra', it seems to ignore woodwinds and brass). 3) How do I fix the percussion hits? (In non-pitched percussion, no matter what instrument it is, the playback shouts a whistle blow)! I'd love to get some help from veteran users, esp. in playback issues (and Aria player). I'm a bit worried about the playback (have no problem in notation issues so far). Thanks in advance!