Continuing my series on Orchestral Sample Libraries, it’s time for the Brass. In this article, I’ll look at a few of the libraries that I rely on when I need brass in my orchestral tracks. As I’ll mention for each family, as each library has its own sound and its own strengths and weaknesses, I tend to blend libraries to create a unique sound, rather than relying on one. I will, however, reveal my desert island choice at the end.
As previously mentioned, the biggest trade-offs are between the sound achievable, the workflow to achieve it, how hard it pushes my computer and how much I enjoy working with it.
If you haven’t read my article How To Choose Orchestral Sample Libraries - An Introduction, then use might want to bookmark this page, go and read my introduction and then come back to this page.
There are 3 libraries in my go-to arsenal for brass (not including genre-specific libraries eg Jazz + Big Band or pop). I’m also going to look at a 4th for those working to a tight budget. It’s not an exhaustive list of what’s available – just my personal preferences!
CineBrass Core + Pro + Sonore + Descant Horn
Berlin Brass (Orchestral Tools)
Sample Modeling Brass (The Trumpet, The Trombone)
EastWest Hollywood Brass Gold
To give you an idea of the differences between these libraries, here’s a quick mock-up of the first part of Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man (including a version for the stock EXS logic sounds for a comparison)
Thanks to my assistant Mark Fabian for creating these audio examples for me.
CineBrass Core + Pro + Sonore + Descant Horn
CineBrass in all its forms has become my go-to brass family. As mentioned in the Woodwind article, there are a number of reasons that I particularly like the CineWinds series.
It’s housed in Native Instruments Kontakt and works in either the full or the Free “Player” version. It’s quick to use, totally functional and well recorded.
Despite there not being dozens of articulations, I can make pretty much most things feel that they were “actually” played. Their velocity mapping system allows changes in short articulations (from super staccatissimo to longer marcatos) and a quick change to legato samples with note transitions via sustain pedal.
There are 4 libraries in the Cinebrass family, (and the other CineBrass libraries) with both solo and ensemble recordings of Trumpets, Trombones and Horns as well as tuba. These all include multi-articulation patches and real (“true”) legato patches. The ensemble patches are included with the core library, and the solo instruments (as well as other goodies) are in the Pro add-on.
Full Brass Ensemble patches are also available and even a dedicated Descant-Horn library for higher ranges without splitting any ears.
As mentioned with the Woodwind, the whole orchestral family has been recorded in the MGM scoring stage at Sony Pictures. It means that there’s a consistency of sound across the whole orchestra.
PROS:
It sounds stunning
Easy to use GUI, once you get used to the Cinesamples ecosystem
As with the Woodwind, playable out of the box without needing too many key switches. Good use of sustain pedal and modwheel for quick manipulation of sample transitions and lengths.
CONS:
Fewer articulation choices than some.
Honestly, I absolutely love this and don’t really have any bad words for it.
Berlin Brass (Orchestral Tools)
Berlin Brass is a bit of an enigma for me. It’s fantastically well recorded in a beautiful hall (on the Berlin Teldex Stage) and there’s a huge array of microphone choices across bundles of articulations. Articulations are presented either as individual patches or in a multi articulation patch.
I’m a regular user of multi articulation patches and key switches. But in Berlin Brass, this can be fiddly to use and I have to make sure I really want to spend the time with it when I do use it. If I need to get things done quickly, it’s not where I turn – but that said if I need something to sound totally convincing then I take the time to include some of the sounds. Particularly the 1st trumpet - which is outstanding!
Don’t choose this if you want something bone dry though! Even the close mics have a colour to them.
PROS:
It sounds glorious when used properly
Huge range of articulations
Independently recorded individual instruments (eg Trumpet 1, Trumpet 2 etc)
CONS:
The GUI isn’t intuitive
Expensive
Not quick for fast mockups (because each line has to be entered independently)
Sample Modeling (The Trumpet, The Trombone, French Horn + Tuba)
The first thing to understand with this family of products is that it’s not strictly speaking just a set of curated samples.
This is an ingenious “adaptive model” of an instrument based on the physical properties of the instrument and it’s performance characteristics, which were captured by recording top players in an anechoic chamber and analyzing the results. So basically they take a few samples and then “model” what these sound like played in different ways, and with different articulations. Clever isn’t it?
Because you’re not limited to producing the sounds in the way an original sample was performed, it’s much more agile and easy to adapt to different performances.
On the trumpet and trombone, there are mute options and even the ability to attach a wind controller (EWI) to play notes in as if you were really blowing an instrument.
It’s crucial to place these samples in a recording of a real space (either MIR Pro or Virtual Sound Stage – or similar). They do ship with some preconfigured spaces, but I don’t find these to be flexible enough for a range of recordings – so best to make your own.
I do wish they had a polyphonic option and have heard one or two composers saying they are using it in conjunction with a new Divisi Engine called Divisimate, but I can’t comment on this as I haven’t tried it.
These products are really well suited to small ensemble and solo performances but they do mix really well with large orchestral libraries to give them a feeling of live performance.
Don’t be deceived by the audio example in this article. I wouldn’t really use these on their own like this – but I’d always use them as part of a section for clarity.
Overall I wouldn’t be without them.
PROS:
Ridiculously easy to play.
Very quick setup,
Immediate access in one window to every articulation
Small footprint and doesn’t take up much disk space
Works well in conjunction with other libraries
CONS:
Easy to overuse the dynamics and vibrato
No polyphonic options
Adding the sound of a room (spatially) is essential
EastWest Hollywood Brass Gold
As with all of the Hollywood Orchestral series, this library runs in the proprietary EastWest “Play” engine.
Instruments from the entire orchestra have been sampled in their orchestral positions so that without touching any dials, the instruments sound where they would be placed in a live orchestral recording.
Because the sound of the room in which these are recorded (Studio 1 at EastWest) is not particularly reverberant, you’ll need additional reverb – but this is provided as standard within the engine and is surprisingly realistic.
There’s a huge choice of articulations from Solo Trumpet to Cimbasso (think monster tuba), from a six-horn-ensemble to trombone slides.
For me, it’s quite a bit brighter than both Berlin Brass and CineBrass, and a little fizzy for my ears – but the tuning, sonics and playability of the library are superb – and as part of the EastWest composer cloud it’s got to be considered as a useful addition to the arsenal of all media composers.
PROS:
Part of Composer Cloud so it’s very affordable
Detailed and specific
CONS:
Easy to overuse the dynamics and vibrato
No polyphonic options
Adding the sound of a room (spatially) is essential
My Brass Desert Island Choice
My Desert Island choice? Well, it has to be Cinebrass (the whole set) – but I would be hard-pressed to be without Sample Modeling Trumpet and Trombone too. I guess I’ll need a bigger suitcase!
What Is Next?
Next in the series, we’ll take a look at the Strings.