Muse Woodwinds Reviews

Given that this is a free product, I will compare it to MS Basic rather than the paid sounds. Timbre: these new sounds are very realistic, much better than MS basic by a long shot. Some issues in the high ranges, but overall very good. Instrument selection: A very odd selection of instruments. Not quite sure how contrabass flute made it in but contrabass clarinet didn’t. Missing A clarinet (see next point for why you can’t just use Bb clarinet). Bass oboe and bass sax would be nice to have as well. Instrument ranges: has improved significantly since released. Still missing some sounds such as the written low E for A clarinets. Rhythm: very, very inaccurate. MS basic does a much better job here. Anything beyond a slow tempo is likely to be very sloppy. Even simple quarter notes or scales can be uneven. For example, at quarter=120, just repeated low E-E-A-A quarter notes on bassoon will be inaccurate. This problem gets much worse with faster music. This is one of the biggest problems with Muse Woodwinds. MS basic is way, way more accurate. Intonation: has improved since initially released, not bad. Doesn’t stick out, not a concern in my opinion. Slurs: everything is slurred. This is the opposite of MS basic, where everything is tongued. Personally, I think having everything tongued in MS basic is a more accurate representation because the slurs in Muse Woodwinds can be very sloppy, especially large down slurs (this may be a contributing factor to the rhythmic issues). Balance: Not great. Different instruments stick out at different dynamics. The piccolo is the worst offender up high. Seriously, do not write for Muse Woodwinds piccolo up high above a mezzo forte because it is painfully loud. Again, MS basic does a better job here Articulations: The sounds themselves are pretty good. My only complaint is that the accents rely on tongue rather than air, but this is up to interpretation. However, the big problem here is that the dynamics are pretty unpredictable. Depending on both the instrument and marked dynamic, some articulations (especially staccatos and especially bari sax) can stick out like a sore thumb or be completely inaudible. Though MS basic does not have unique sounds, it is far more predictable. Which is better is up for debate. Playing techniques: Significant balance issues, would not recommend using. MS basic does not have different playing techniques. Trills: Holds the base note before starting the trill. Effective for solo writing, but makes trills completely unusable for fast music or ensemble trills. Other: plays fast notes (including grace notes) much louder than other notes Overall: Has the potential to sound very nice given the right score. Does well with legato, chorale-like writing where parts are rarely exposed. Does a good job making your ears happy with nice timbres, but does a bad job accurately representing what is notated. Would not recommend using this over MS basic for most purposes.