Classical music on GB?

As far as solo violin, viola, cello and bass (yes, sadly missing from JP4, but hey, it's $99 and it provides very nice loops)you would do yourself a great favor by looking in to Garritan Personal Orchestra. Now if you REALLY want to get into the intricacies of the violin, check this out from Garritan. Now, I have not used the Stradavari package, but I have used Garritan Personal Orchestra in Garage Band with great success. The strings are warm with many articulations available.

brunoberu,
I will answer your questions one-by-one...

1 the soundfont synth, when downloaded show up with the INTEL logo, does this mean PC or the Mac duo processor?

This is a Universal Binary version created for the latest Macs and will not work on your G4 (and will not work at all on a PC). Contact Andy Drabble and ask if you could obtain the 2.1 version to try on your computer.

the soundfonts have the suffix XXXX.wav so they are not readable by the GB3

You do not use .wav files, you use .sf2 files.

You choose the soundfont, which will reside in the same folder as SoundFont Synth. Then you can choose the instrument contained in the soundfont from the pulldown menu. But first you need to get SoundFont Synth going first. Let's start there. Contact Andy and obtain the earlier version.

This is a Universal Binary version created for the latest Macs and will not work on your G4 ...

Universal Binaries run on all Macs. In the case of SoundfontSynth, you get two components when you download it, one for Intels and one for PowerPCs ( no Universal Binary). But also no need to go back to an earlier version!

Hmmm, will Universal Binary work on a G4? I have never tried.

Perhaps he did not install it in the right place? SoundFont Synth and all gather SF2 files should go in your Library>Audio>Plugins>Components folder.

Hmmm, will Universal Binary work on a G4?

If it's running OS X.

SoundFont Synth and all gather SF2 files should go in your Library>Audio>Plugins>Components folder.

I think with SoundfontSynth you can even pick soundfonts that are anywhere on your disk, you get an Open dialog. Mine are in Library/Audio/Sounds/Banks.

That is where I used to keep them. But I ran into a bug on my Intel iMac where the sound would stop working and I would have to rechoose them. When I put them WITH the component, this behavior stopped.
I have been talking with Andy about it. DLSMusicDevice does this as well.

Good to know!

I'll check out the Garritan Personal Orchestra.

What I need is more RAM, though, for a proper symphony orchestra. I wish I had bought the 1gRAM when I had a chance to do it (ie...I had the extra money). Now, I'm barely getting by. But there is a symphony in my heart waiting to be written. Maybe, I can do it it many smaller parts 8-)

Here are a slew of demos and samples: http://garritan.com/mp3.html

Yeah, RAM is a big need. Especially with GPO. In order to prevent latency, it loads all the samples in RAM. And if you load the full Steinway-ugh! Although, to me, the GPO Steinway Lite sounds just as good.

Here is what I would do. Go ahead and create that symphony that is in your head using JamPac 4. Though JamPack 4 does not have solo strings, create a solo string track if you need one. Make it sound just like you want (or at least close) and save your songs accordingly. If the amound of RAM will not allow as many instruments as you would like, use SoundFont Synth and choose Quicktime Synth instruments instead. Yes, it will sound terrible, but hey, the point is to get the file ready.

When you can afford the RAM and Garritan, replace all the instruments with the Garritan equivalent. Then you will hear the symphony the way it is suppose to sound. The rest will be tweaking here and there.

Something else you need to remember about Garritan (though I have fought with the author about this). The emphesis of the instruments (ie bow or wind pressure)is governed by the modulation wheel.

I did a version of Tchaikovsky's Chinese Dance with only Jam Pack 4 instruments:

http://www.macjams.com/song/15445

I find the best way to make classical music work is to pick arrangements that make the best use of the best instruments. As people have said, some packages have better features than others. JP4 is lacking in the string department but I think the pizzicato, displayed here, is very nice. I haven't found one package yet that has great sounds for every instrument, but I will say JP4 has some excellent organ sounds, an English horn that passes for a lovely oboe, and a realistic harp, in my opinion.

And no, I'm not an Apple employee!

I find it best to put soundfonts in Library>Audio>Sounds>Banks>
And Soundfont Synth goes in Audio>Plugins>Components.
eorg103a.sf2 is a fantastic English church organ with huge number of voices or stops.