In this second part of the article, we will look at the Brass section of the BBC Symphony Orchestra library.
The brass section includes horns, trumpets and trombones. For each instrument we have legato articulation, which allows you to play short and long notes smoothly. The plugin also has the loose joints, marked e multi-tongued which add realism to the performance, also includes trills e flutter articulations to create more interest. In addition to individual instruments, mic mixes capture the individual sounds of each instrument, while spill mics provide a more ambient sound of the section as a whole. Different sound profiles can be created, including a normal orchestral balance and a more hyped mix.
Let's take a look at the available sections
Available as soloist and for four, horns are the most majestic and noblest of the brass family. Legato articulation is designed so that you can play short notes and long notes by linking everything together in a very easy to use manner. Velocity control is set to the modulation wheel by default, but you can change it to set to any controller type. For example, by pulling it down we get a beautiful soft horn sound and in a very dynamic way, we can go from a soft sound to a very loud one. With the Marcato patch you get a rounded attack on the note which gives that kind of “majestic” feel, but if you want to shorten the notes, you don't need to play the notes all the way through, just let them go so you get the same rounded attack but with a shorter duration We have the "cuivre" which is a very metallic characteristic and aggressive sound, the "sforzando" instead is the complete attack, ie a strong attack and then the sound falls down. We have the multi-tongue which offers a variety of options, with double, triple and quadruple note. Playing the keyboard lightly enough and then harder results in an accented end of the note and you can program this with the staccatissimo and Marcato. Using multi-tongue brings us closer to a more real type of sonic performance, finally we have major second and minor second trills.
Trumpet
Available as a solo and a3 (three trumpets playing together), the Trumpets are the tallest member of the Brass family. The solo trumpet with the "Long" articulation starts with a low dynamics and a soft sound, rises up to certain points where a full and rich sound is obtained. Other articulations are staccatissimo (even with sordino), cuivre, effortless, smoothie, multi-tongue.
Tenor trombones
Available as a solo and a3, the tenor trombone is a deeply versatile brass instrument. It has a very warm and deep sound when played in the lower dynamics and a more raucous tone in the higher ones. By playing the Tromboni a3 patch, which are three trombones, we can see the difference with the solo trombone. Obviously the sound is less dense, but the Trombone patch is to be used when we want that overall sound that is obtained when several trombones are played together, ie we would not have the same sound if we played three notes with the solo Trombone patch. So comparing to the solo tenor trombone you hear a less dense texture and it's very useful to have access to these sounds to see what the difference is if for example you are writing for a real orchestra.
Bass trombones
Due to its different hole size, the timbre of the bass trombone differs from the tenor. Great for lower passages, but also blending in unison with the Tenor.
Contrabass trombone
A less used tool, but no less interesting for this. It requires huge amounts of breath, so care must be taken in writing the score.
Tuba
A very big sound with great harmonic potential, but using a close microphone you can also get a slightly comical effect. Because as it is known it is the room that gives sound impact to the brass instruments and we can for example increase the resonance using the mixes of Jake Jackson available in the plugin.
Cimbasso
With much smaller tubes than the Tuba, the Cimbasso has more definition and is more complementary than its bigger brothers when mixed with trombones. A kind of "hybrid" between a bass trombone and a tuba. The Brass section is very versatile, so whether you're a composer, arranger, or producer, this plugin provides a powerful tool for adding high-quality brass sounds to your music productions.
In the next article we will see the horn section of the library.
Useful Information
Product: Spitfire – BBC Symphony Orchestraa
Price: € 990
sale: Online only
