Brass II

A Towering Powerhouse of Sound

Brass II contains the instruments for large-scale orchestral arrangements, i.e., the “Wagner orchestral brass”. Oriented toward Wagner’s “Ring”, there are the bass trumpet, the contrabass trombone, Wagner tuba and contrabass tuba, all with the standard single note and Performance articulations such as Interval Performances, Repetitions, Trill Performances, etc. As an alternative to the Viennese horn, Brass II also contains a new solo horn, the triple horn, Yamaha’s master instrument in F/Bb/high F, recorded down to the lowest register (A1). Further, there are the piccolo trumpet, the cimbasso, and of course the famous “Epic Horns”, an impressive sounding body of eight double horns that not only fulfills the sonic ideal of the theatrical late Romantic orchestra but also meets the challenge of “larger than life” scores for modern movie scores.

Brass II - Instruments: Piccolo trumpet, Bass trumpet, Triple horn, Horn ensemble (8 players) – Epic Horns, Bass trombone, Contrabass trombone, Contrabass tuba, Wagner tuba & Cimbasso

ARTICULATIONS

Performances

• Interval Performances: legato, marcato; slow & fast
• Repetition Performances: legato, portato, staccato; crescendo & diminuendo
• Performance Repetition upbeats: slow, medium, fast
• Performance Trills
• Solo instruments – Grace Note Performances: minor and major 2nd, up and down

Single notes:

• Short notes: staccato and portato with various attacks and note lengths
• Long notes: sustains with various attacks and vibratos
• Horn ensemble: blared sustains
• Dynamics: crescendo & diminuendo in various note lengths, various vibratos; fp, sfz, sffz, pfp
• Solo instruments – trills: half tone, whole tone; crescendo & diminuendo
• Flutter tongues: normal and crescendo variations

Library Content

• Standard Library: Samples 27.348 | Download Files Size 17,3 GB | Installed File Size 39,1 GB

• Full Library: Samples 98.870 | Download Files Size 17,3 GB | Installed File Size 39,1 GB

 

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After five and a half years hard labour with no time off for good behaviour, the Vienna Symphonic Library samplists have finally released their definitive Symphonic Cube orchestral masterwork in the form of 10 Vienna Instruments. Solo Strings, Chamber Strings, Orchestral Strings I & II and Woodwinds I were reviewed in SOS July 2006, and these are now joined by Woodwinds II, Brass I & II, Harps and Percussion.

Woodwinds II adds piccolo, second flute, alto flute, Viennese oboe, two English horns, small 'E' flat clarinet, bass clarinet, and contrabassoon to the basic set in Woodwinds I. Most of these instruments made their debut in the 2004 Pro Edition, though the small clarinet and second English horn were previewed later in the VSL Horizon title French Oboe. All have been expanded with numerous extra performance styles and variations, resulting in a 63.4GB collection.

Nothing on the market beats the Vienna Instrument Player's Performance Legato facility, which produces beautifully joined-up melody lines by automatically selecting real-life intervals as you play - this style sounds particularly sweet on the beautiful second English horn. New Fast Interval and Performance Trills legato deliveries make it easy to program liquid-sounding fast runs and life-like, 100-percent-controllable trills. Played with no vibrato, the Viennese oboe boasts a comprehensive set of perky mordents (double grace notes) and its upbeat repetitions (fast double pickup notes) would be handy if you were attempting a cover of Roxy Music's 'Virginia Plain' (please, no Bryan Ferry karaoke impressions).

The new four-note arpeggios played by piccolo, flute, and oboe sound very lively, and the contrabassoon has had a powerful new overblown special effects version added to its 16 crescendo and diminuendo options. I also enjoyed the alto flute's grace notes, which give the instrument a mournful shakuhachi-like quality in the low register. A couple of minor complaints: this flute's so-called legato arpeggios are over-articulated, and the advertised English-horn arpeggios and mordents, alto-flute arpeggios, and bass-clarinet grace notes are missing.

While Woodwinds I is fine for basic woodwind arrangements, certain instruments on Woodwinds II are indispensable for serious orchestral work. The combined cost of the two collections is hefty, but quality usually comes at a price; if you need a comprehensive woodwind section capable of every musical nuance under the sun, the pair offer an immaculate solution.

The 78.5GB Brass I provides solo trumpet, French horn, tenor trombone, and tuba, as well as trumpet, trombone, and horn ensembles, all of which first appeared in VSL's First Edition. The collection's new content focuses on performance samples, but a more significant innovation is the inclusion of muted samples for the trumpets and trombones and hand-stopped horn-ensemble performances.

Despite their attenuated, slightly cutting 1930s dance-band tone, the muted-trumpet ensemble samples have enormous warmth, presence, and charm. I wish the old comedy mute 'wah' effect had been included, but I guess that falls outside VSL's remit. The muted trombones match the trumpets' vintage radio sound, but the hand-stopped four-horn ensemble samples are altogether more stately and formal; their crescendos swell inexorably from a wiry hum to a piercing and dramatic metallic blast.

Brass I's new four-note arpeggios (played staccato at two speeds, upwards and downwards in all keys in major, minor, and diminished scales by the solo trumpet and trombone and by all the ensembles) are faultlessly and confidently executed - the same goes for the upbeat repetitions, a huge menu of single, double, and triple upbeats. Played at eight or nine different tempos, these are a great rhythmic resource.

Although nicely played, the three trumpets' big-band-style falls lack the uninhibited raucous delivery of jazz players - the same goes for their 'rips', an almost apologetic semitone bend up to a sustained note. 'Out of tune' sustains (which eventually drift into pitch) introduce a Portsmouth Sinfonia flavour, but if I wanted out-of-tune samples, I'd hire real players! (Sorry - couldn't resist that one...) Continuing the dissonant theme, the three trombones' atonal clusters evoke the downbeat, introspective atmosphere of a 1950s black-and-white art film.

Brass II (53.5GB) offers piccolo and bass trumpets, bass and contrabass trombones, contrabass tuba, Wagner tuba, and cimbasso from the Pro Edition, an impressive eight-player French-horn section and a new 'triple horn'. This has an extended range, and produces a more intimate and powerful tone than Brass I's slightly distant-sounding French horn. The triple horn player deserves triple pay, delivering tightly synchronised glissando samples which, when played as a chord, all arrive simultaneously at their target pitches. If you want more control of the glissandos, the Performance Glissandi patch inserts a real played glide between two notes. It's a shame there are no really fast horn glissandos - I miss that exciting 'whoop' effect.

The piccolo and bass trumpets both gain useful new styles: the little one's set of mordents and bright, martial marcato Performance Legato samples are excellent, while the bass instrument contributes ballsy falls and a (literally) pulsating set of 'duophonic' glissando noises. When applied to brass instruments, the new trademark Performance Trills style can produce a rapid, free-jazz burbling - not necessarily desirable, but it's amazing to get this effect using samples! Speaking of obscure arty noises, every single instrument and section on both brass collections has flutter-tongue samples. It beats me why manufacturers feel obliged to include this style - can we please have a flutter-tongue truce?

Formerly released as the Horizon title Epic Horns, Brass II's mighty eight-piece French-horn section is one of VSL's big sellers, offering a Hollywood sound at a Cricklewood price. The Epic Horns content has been transferred wholesale to Brass II with no additions.

5 STARS Review: VSL Woodwinds II, Brass I & Brass II - Vienna Instruments  Sound on Sound, November 2006After five and a half years hard labour with no time off for good behaviour, the Vienna Symphonic Library samplists have finally released their definitive Symphonic Cube orchestral masterwork in the form of 10 Vienna Instruments. Solo Strings, Chamber Strings, Orchestral Strings I & II and Woodwinds I were reviewed in SOS July 2006, and these are now joined by Woodwinds II, Brass I & II, Harps and Percussion.

Woodwinds II adds piccolo, second flute, alto flute, Viennese oboe, two English horns, small 'E' flat clarinet, bass clarinet, and contrabassoon to the basic set in Woodwinds I. Most of these instruments made their debut in the 2004 Pro Edition, though the small clarinet and second English horn were previewed later in the VSL Horizon title French Oboe. All have been expanded with numerous extra performance styles and variations, resulting in a 63.4GB collection.

Nothing on the market beats the Vienna Instrument Player's Performance Legato facility, which produces beautifully joined-up melody lines by automatically selecting real-life intervals as you play - this style sounds particularly sweet on the beautiful second English horn. New Fast Interval and Performance Trills legato deliveries make it easy to program liquid-sounding fast runs and life-like, 100-percent-controllable trills. Played with no vibrato, the Viennese oboe boasts a comprehensive set of perky mordents (double grace notes) and its upbeat repetitions (fast double pickup notes) would be handy if you were attempting a cover of Roxy Music's 'Virginia Plain' (please, no Bryan Ferry karaoke impressions).

The new four-note arpeggios played by piccolo, flute, and oboe sound very lively, and the contrabassoon has had a powerful new overblown special effects version added to its 16 crescendo and diminuendo options. I also enjoyed the alto flute's grace notes, which give the instrument a mournful shakuhachi-like quality in the low register. A couple of minor complaints: this flute's so-called legato arpeggios are over-articulated, and the advertised English-horn arpeggios and mordents, alto-flute arpeggios, and bass-clarinet grace notes are missing.

While Woodwinds I is fine for basic woodwind arrangements, certain instruments on Woodwinds II are indispensable for serious orchestral work. The combined cost of the two collections is hefty, but quality usually comes at a price; if you need a comprehensive woodwind section capable of every musical nuance under the sun, the pair offer an immaculate solution.

The 78.5GB Brass I provides solo trumpet, French horn, tenor trombone, and tuba, as well as trumpet, trombone, and horn ensembles, all of which first appeared in VSL's First Edition. The collection's new content focuses on performance samples, but a more significant innovation is the inclusion of muted samples for the trumpets and trombones and hand-stopped horn-ensemble performances.

Despite their attenuated, slightly cutting 1930s dance-band tone, the muted-trumpet ensemble samples have enormous warmth, presence, and charm. I wish the old comedy mute 'wah' effect had been included, but I guess that falls outside VSL's remit. The muted trombones match the trumpets' vintage radio sound, but the hand-stopped four-horn ensemble samples are altogether more stately and formal; their crescendos swell inexorably from a wiry hum to a piercing and dramatic metallic blast.

Brass I's new four-note arpeggios (played staccato at two speeds, upwards and downwards in all keys in major, minor, and diminished scales by the solo trumpet and trombone and by all the ensembles) are faultlessly and confidently executed - the same goes for the upbeat repetitions, a huge menu of single, double, and triple upbeats. Played at eight or nine different tempos, these are a great rhythmic resource.

Although nicely played, the three trumpets' big-band-style falls lack the uninhibited raucous delivery of jazz players - the same goes for their 'rips', an almost apologetic semitone bend up to a sustained note. 'Out of tune' sustains (which eventually drift into pitch) introduce a Portsmouth Sinfonia flavour, but if I wanted out-of-tune samples, I'd hire real players! (Sorry - couldn't resist that one...) Continuing the dissonant theme, the three trombones' atonal clusters evoke the downbeat, introspective atmosphere of a 1950s black-and-white art film.

Brass II (53.5GB) offers piccolo and bass trumpets, bass and contrabass trombones, contrabass tuba, Wagner tuba, and cimbasso from the Pro Edition, an impressive eight-player French-horn section and a new 'triple horn'. This has an extended range, and produces a more intimate and powerful tone than Brass I's slightly distant-sounding French horn. The triple horn player deserves triple pay, delivering tightly synchronised glissando samples which, when played as a chord, all arrive simultaneously at their target pitches. If you want more control of the glissandos, the Performance Glissandi patch inserts a real played glide between two notes. It's a shame there are no really fast horn glissandos - I miss that exciting 'whoop' effect.

The piccolo and bass trumpets both gain useful new styles: the little one's set of mordents and bright, martial marcato Performance Legato samples are excellent, while the bass instrument contributes ballsy falls and a (literally) pulsating set of 'duophonic' glissando noises. When applied to brass instruments, the new trademark Performance Trills style can produce a rapid, free-jazz burbling - not necessarily desirable, but it's amazing to get this effect using samples! Speaking of obscure arty noises, every single instrument and section on both brass collections has flutter-tongue samples. It beats me why manufacturers feel obliged to include this style - can we please have a flutter-tongue truce?

Formerly released as the Horizon title Epic Horns, Brass II's mighty eight-piece French-horn section is one of VSL's big sellers, offering a Hollywood sound at a Cricklewood price. The Epic Horns content has been transferred wholesale to Brass II with no additions.

5 STARS