I’m a 60+ enthusiast/hobbyist actively studying music. My bare-bones workstation is based around a 2008 iMac which has no internet capability. I use Musescore & EasyBeat software for music notation applications & have the Symphony Orchestra & Rhythm Section Jam Packs installed. I’m trying to learn simple arranging for horns a la “The Electric Flag”, & basic string quartet harmony. With all that I have no solo instruments such as violin, viola, cello, trumpet, or trombone, and no saxophone available, only “sections”. I’m not particularly interested in loops as much as writing tracks & importing them as midi files, assigning them to the specific instrument sounds I want. What can I do to get a fuller complement of instruments more suited to my needs? Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Hi Workingman - One obvious option would be to upgrade to Logic -- you'd still have all the same GB instruments plus many more, including the articulated Studio Strings (sections) and Studio Horns [solo brass & sax], which are more sophisticated / more playable than the Jam Pack sounds. For solo strings, there are many libraries available, and the best of them offer very musical response, as long as you take the time to master the controller technique needed for the most expressive playing. You could check out third-party libraries form NI, EastWest, Vienna, plus many others, and if expressive playability is important, the Audio Modeling strings, which use their SWAM engine for notably expressive response (they also have brass & winds as well)..

Thanks; the computer I work on runs Mac OS 10.5.8, and as I mentioned, is not internet connected. Safari must have been deleted somehow before I got it & I see no way of restoring internet capability. Actually it’s not that much of an issue; I can transfer most files via flash drive to our main computer, which is only a couple of years old. Is there even a version of Logic compatible with my old iMac? I did a lot of surfing & couldn’t find much info. Best case scenario for me is a physical copy; I bought my Jam Packs on eBay. If it makes any difference, I’m in the USA. Thanks again for your reply. Michael

Ah, ok, I missed the part about the older Mac.. So you must have a very old version of GarageBand as well. Unfortunately there's no version of Logic you can get from Apple any more for that OS version, and the instruments I was describing would only be in relatively current versions of Logic anyway. Unless you can find a very old Logic copy [with the dongle they used to use to authorize the program] that's not really an option. In fact, many [if not most] of the high-end instrument plug-ins I was thinking of may need a newer OS to run anyway -- I guess you could check the specs on some libraries to see if they support a much older OS. You could possibly update the OS for greater compatibility with current s/w, but Apple usually doesn't make that easy.. Anyway, some of the bigger libraries may not be happy with the older Mac -- I had a 2011 iMac till about a year and a half ago (though with a more recent OS, 10.12 I think?), and it was struggling at the end.. Did you try calling Apple to see if they can point you to a compatible OS version or Safari, or maybe see if there's a version of Chrome or Firefox you can download [on the other computer, obviously] and install on the Mac, to restore internet access there..?

Thank you for your thorough reply; much appreciated. I know it’s a Hail Mary; I’ll have to figure out a work around...