Acousticsamples VHorns Brass Section

Acousticsamples VHorns Brass SectionWe have been planning a horns project for awhile, (our first recordings were back in 2012) but many things prevented us from doing it until now namely the fact that we wanted to avoid the need for too many keyswitches, in favor of being able to just control the air flow. Thanks to our recent work on a hybrid technology blending samples and modeling, we were able to overcome both of these problems and take advantage of having the best of both worlds:

We have been planning a horns project for awhile, (our first recordings were back in 2012) but many things prevented us from doing it until now - namely the fact that we wanted to avoid the need for too many keyswitches, in favor of being able to just control the air flow.
 
Thanks to our recent work on a hybrid technology blending samples and modeling, we were able to overcome both of these problems and take advantage of having the best of both worlds: impeccable authentic sounding horns with a simple, powerful way of playing them.
 
This new technology is called HAT (Harmonic Alignment Technology); it allows us to accurately reproduce the timbre evolution from very soft to very loud playing.
 
We found a way to combine both technologies by using samples as the sound source, while the rest utilises modeling techniques. This allows V Horns to weigh just around 90Mb per instrument (retina graphics and presets included), to truly sound like a real live Horn instrument being recorded with all of its imperfections, as well as having fully continuous response with incredible playability.
 
And we are confident in saying that to our ears, and hopefully yours too, VHorns is the most realistic and easy-to-use VST available today. Here are a few performances from real musicians and what we recreated using VHorns (and used for our demos).

The VHorns Brass Section interface

• Trumpets
• Trombones
• Flugelhorns
• Mix
• Virtual Space
• Preferences

6-Instrument Bundle
The VHorns Brass Section contains 6 instruments: 2 trumpets, 2 trombones and 2 flugelhorns.
Each of them has a distinct tone and was recorded by a different player.
You can also purchase them separately
Trumpets - Trombones - Flugelhorns

The HAT - Air Flow Control
Thanks to our proprietary HAT (Harmonic Alignment Technology), VHorns is not just another heavily multisampled instrument - you can play articulations yourself like a player would, with just a MIDI controller (or by drawing in automation)! There are no complicated keyswitches involved to play staccatos or anything else, it's just a matter of playing it that way. 
All you need to do is play a note and adjust the air flow, that's it! You can even automate vibrato if you want.
Air flow is controlled by the middle knob on the front interface.
When set to 0, there will be no sound coming out of VHorns, same as if you didn't blow any air into a trumpet.
You can of course control this value with different CCs. We set it to the modulation wheel by default because it's available on almost every digital keyboard, but you can use anything else you like, for example CC2, which is the default for most breath controllers.
All you need to do is click on the small dot next to the CC number and move a knob or value on your controller.
As we mentioned above, vibrato can be controlled with the air flow as well. When you move the air controller up and down, it will start adding some pitch variation to the sound. To enable/disable it, go into the PREFS panel and change the "allow vibrato with air flow" value.
In some rare cases and when using MIDI files imported from softwares like Sibelius, you only get velocities, so at the bottom of the CC list, we added the possibility to control the air flow with the incoming velocity, just select "VEL".
Also if for some reason, you want to use the pitch bend as the input CC, you can do so by choosing "P. BEND" from the list.

Authentic Vibrato
We carefully measured the different parameters that change when a player uses vibrato and combined everything into a highly realistic and adjustable vibrato for VHorns.
There are multiple ways to control the vibrato: automatic, automatic depending on time, and completely manually.
Vibrato is controlled with the left knob on the front panel.
Right below the knob, there is a small menu with 3 options:
1- Auto: this enables automatic vibrato and the knob will control how much vibrato is added to the sound.
2- Auto time: This is similar to Auto mode, but a time envelope will control the amount of vibrato. You can edit this envelope in the preferences by clicking on "edit auto vib". This opens a small panel that displays a table and lets you control its duration.
3- Manual: This is for advanced use and conrol over vibrato. In reality, a trumpet player changes the shape or position of their mouth on the mouthpiece to change the pitch up and down. In this mode, the neutral position (with no pitch change) is the middle value of the knob and a value of 0.5 (and CC at value 64). Values below 0.5 will result into a pitch down and values above 0.5 will result into a pitch up. This is very useful for creating vibrato that doesn't have a fixed speed.
As mentioned above, there is a fourth way to create vibrato only with the air flow control. The "allow vibrato with air flow" setting has to be set to yes in the preferences and you then need to perform a fast up and down variation in the air flow controller you choose.
In the preferences, you have access to a few things to control vibrato (this affects all 4 modes).
1- There is a small knob that controls the overall amount of vibrato. This can be set to some very high values that will sound very unnatural to some, but that is necessary for using some dedicated wind controllers that have a narrow CC range.
2- You can change the amount of volume modulation: vibrato isn't just a change in pitch, it's also timbre and volume changes; you can control how much of this you want.
3- You can change the amount of pitch modulation as well.
Some controllers like the EWI use the pitch bend as the vibrato source, so we added the P. Bend option to the bottom of the CC list in case you want to use it for the vibrato and not bends.

Legato Transitions
A large part of what horn players play are legatos, so we spent a considerale amount of time and effort to carefully extract every little aspect, pitch changes, noises, etc. and make ours indistinguishable from a real performance.
They go from fast note changes to slow bends, with and without extra attack. We covered all that and let you choose how to control them.
The legatos behavior can be adjusted and even randomized for more life-like performances
When you play a legato on the keyboard (when you overlap two notes), our engine will automatically kill the older note and play a legato instead of a normal sustain.
This is exactly what happens on a real trumpet when the air flow is continuous while the player changes the note. There are a number of ways to play these legatos and we gave you access to everything so that it can be controlled in real time.
1- Velocity to attack / sustains : This controls how new sustains notes are played, for example if the air flow is at a CC value of 75 and you play a note at velocity 20, our engine will ramp the air flow from 20 to 75 and thus create a quick volume raise. If on the contrary the velocity is above the air flow value, it will create a quick attack. The duration of this ramp is controlled by the velocity to attack time value.
2-  Velocity to attack / legatos : This controls how legato notes are played, for example if the air flow is at a CC value of 75 and you play a legato note at velocity 20, our engine will ramp the air flow from 20 to 75 and thus create a quick volume raise. If on the contrary the velocity is above the air flow value, it will create a quick attack. The duration of this ramp is controlled by the velocity to attack time value.
Glides are often played on brass insruments, and we of course allow you to use glides, as well as choose how to can trigger them.
1- Mode: velocity. In this mode, any velocity below the threshold value will trigger a glide and its duration will depend on how low the velocity is. For example if the velocity is at 20, it will be a fast glide (comparable to a legato time), but a velocity of 1 will trigger a slow glide at the duration of the max length value you set.
2- Mode: CC. In this mode, you can control the glide duration with a MIDI CC, again it will go from the Max length value when the CC is at value 1 to standard short legatos when the CC is set to value 120 and above.
3- Mode: Manual. In this mode, the glide value is fixed and the glide speed can go from 50ms to 500ms. We added a randomize time value to give it a natural feel, just remember that when increasing the randomize value, the engine can technically receive a value below 50ms in which case it will play a slow legato. This setting works quite well with the trombones.
4- In addition to these, you can glide using the pitch bend and the max pitch bend value will determine the bend range. The quality of that bend will greatly depend on the "use advanced pitch bend value". Just remember that using the advanced pitch bend will use more CPU even when you don't play bends.
When a brass player plays a note, legato or new note, if they are very precise, they will directly land on the correct pitch and create a very precise attack, but it is often also "missed" on purpose and a quick flutter attack then happens. You can use the Transition flutter value to control how much of this you want. If you want to, you can right click on this slider (just like for any other slider) and control it with a MIDI CC or a host automation.
Another very important aspect of legatos is what happens during the transition. On a trombone, there are no valves, so the transition is just air change. On valve instruments, however, there is something called half valve which happens while the valve is being pressed. This effect can be noticed on two occasions: while playing gliding legatos or when using the pitch bend. You can control how much of that effect you want for each situation.
 
Multi Microphone Recording
Recording a horn can be done in various ways and at different positions. We used 4 different microphone positions so that you can get the exact sound you want, as if you chose the microphone placement yourself.
This can yield even better results when using the "virtual space" which is detailed below.
You can apply reverb and EQ to completely mix it to your liking.

MIX Tab
We recorded each of our instruments with 4 different microphones at 4 different positions to capture their unique sounds. And you can mix them however you like. At the top you can also change the routing, as we will explain below; we created the Virtual Space that places the instrument in a virtual environment which is technically a virtual room mic pair that you can move around. Here, you can choose if you want the source for the virtual space to be just the close mic or a mix of the 4.
We also added a 3 band EQ, which you can also decide if this will be applied to the source sound for the virtual space.
You can also mix the result of the 4 microphones and the virtual mics. We added a pan and delay for each to deal with phase problems that always occur when multiple microphones are involved.
You can also add impulse response reverb to the whole mix, control its decay and how much is sent from the close microphones and from the virtual space. The amount on the mix panel is the same as on the front interface.

Virtual Space
The virtual space perfectly reproduces what a real recording of an ensemble would be using convolution. When you record a big band, you usually place a pair of microphones in front of the musicians and they naturally take position in the stereo field depending on where they are in the room.
The Virtual Space does exactly the same thing: you can place the musician wherever you like.
When using this with multiple tracks, you immediately have the feeling of being in front of a real horns section.

Virtual Space tab
Just using panning to place elements in the stereo field does not sound realistc as so much information is left out, so we recreated a whole room placement simulation based on impluse responses where you can set the position of the instrument in the actual room.
Since setting up an ensemble recording can be done in many different ways, regarding both musician placement and microphone pair selection, we decided to include as many possibilities as we could.
You have access to 21 positions divided into 3 rows and you can select which microphone configuration you want to use (ORTF, AB, XY, Binaural and MS), as well as control the stereo width for a narrow or wide section.

Mutes
Mutes are part of the sound that defines horns. We recreated these using a variety of mutes and a specific experimentation process.
If you want to use a Harmon, a plunger, a straight mute, a cup or a bucket, VHorns has you covered!
Just select which one you want from the main interface and start playing.

Advanced Editing
There are many ways to play a brass insrument, and we had to make a choice on the default settings, however many of the options can be customized to your taste.
Even better, most settings can be randomized for natural and unpredictable results.
We already detailed many features above, but here are the few that are left. Note that all of the features in the preference tab that have a small die next to them can be randomized for an even more natural performance. Randomize means that the value for that setting will be randomized for each new note between the minimum value and the value you set.

• Pitch section:

1- The max glide interval controls the maximum interval that you are able to create a continuous glide for. On a trombone for example, the maximum possible glide you can do is from position 7 to position 1, so 6 semitones. We allow for more than 6, but to play something natural, it's better to lower that value as technically most players will glide a maximum of 3 or 4 semitones and "cheat" the rest. Above that value, our engine will "cheat" as well and skip some notes while still ending up on the target note.
2- The note pitch imprecision is just what it says, it will play slighly out of tune and completely random between 0 and the value you set. 100% will randomize +-1 semitone.
3- The attack pitch variation is a bit different, it is technically a bend ramp that is often present in real performances. You can control how much bend you want and the attack pitch variaton time will decide how quick that ramp is.

• General section:

1- The growl/flutter value conrols how much growl/flutter effect is added to the sound. Just like for the rest, you can assign a MIDI controller to control it in real time.
2- The natural variation air and pitch values control that very quick and imperceptible variation that even the best brass players can't avoid when they play. Since the air flow is never always perfectly constant, the timbre and pitch vary all the time and you can control how much of each you want. By default, it is set to 100% which is representative of a very good player with the least variation possible and you can go above that to make the playing more natural.
3- The valve noises let you control how much valve noise you want
4- The tongue noises lets you control the volume of the small noise produced by the tongue as it blocks the air flow when a note is stopped. 
5- The round robin menu let's you control if you want no round robin, a 3x round robin alternating on adjacent notes all the time or a smart round robin alternating only in fast passages.

• MIDI section

1- Pitch: You can pitch the whole insrument up or down up to +-12semitones. This affects the tone of the instruments and can be useful to cover other instruments that have a different range. Pitching the flugelhorn down can make it sound similar to a trombone for example.
2- TRANSPOSE: This is just a MIDI transpose, so for example, a value of 2 semitones will play a D instead of a C. If you use the pitch and transpose at the same tome but opposite values, you will keep the correct note and only change the timbre and range.
3- The Ensemble will be detailed in the ensemble section below.
4- The type of controller you use can induce a few internal changes. The EWI for example requires some tweaks to play legatos when it should as it does not overlap MIDI notes by default. Here, you need to select the type of controller you use from that list.
5- Next to the controller selection, there is a small knob that controls the reactivity of the controller. On some keyboards for example, the mod wheel can be non continuous and have small gaps that lead to some very unnatural variations. To fix that, just increase that knob value and it will go away. If you use a breath or wind controller, though, make sure this value is set to 0 - otherwise it will be hard to get very sharp attacks. Selecting the right controller will take care of this value change for you.
6- You can change the position on the keyboard of the few keyswitches we use. Here is what they do:
C#1 will create a fall from any note you are playing.
D1 will create a pitch fall from any note you are playing.
D#1 will create a rise from any note you are playing.
E1 will repeat the note you were previously playing, this is known as a "static tonguing"
F1 will create a half valve bent half a semitone down.
F#1 will create a half valve bent half a semitone up.
G1 will create a half valve effect with no pitch change and its velocity will control how much half valve effect is added to the currently playing note.
F1 will create a half valve bent half a semitone down. We already detailed many features above, but here are the few ones that are left. Note that all of the features in the preference tab that have a small dice next to them can be randomized for an even more natural performance. Randomize mean that the value for that setting will be randomized for each new note between the minimum value and the value you set.

Keyboard, Breath Controller or Wind Controller
VHorns can be played using a keyboard by selecting the notes on the keyboard and controlling the air flow with a MIDI controller like the modulation wheel or a breath controller.
You can also use a wind controller like an EWI, an Aerophone a Sylphyo or any other brand, in which case you need to use the appropriate controller menu in the MIDI section.

Ensemble
If you load multiple instruments at the same time, it will play unisons exactly at the same time.
We added some smart features that first can change the timbre of the instruments, transpose everything by a fixed interval and also act on the MIDI performance.
For example, you can have all 6 instruments with a different transposition value play the same C minor scale, so no matter what you play on the keyboard, it will sound in key.
Playing ensembles with VHorns is easy, as you can see in the overview video. You can adjust a few things in the MIDI tab.
1- The Transpose values can be changed to get the desired interval change.
2- You can then select a scale and root on which the instrument will be forced to play, no matter what you play on your keyboard. If you select C Major, then whatever you play on your keyboard will stay in C Major even when using the transpose value.
3- The timing value will create a randomized time delay each time a new note is played, this way when you play a note on the keyboard, not all instruments will start at the same exact time just like a section of musicians would do in real life, no matter how good they are.
There are a few things to add if you really want to make the prformance convincing. Here are a few tips:

• Make the natural variation value quite high (air and pitch) and randomize them.
• Use the round robin feature if you are using the same instrument twice
• To add some variation to the velocities, select the dice next to the velocity to attack for sustain, legatos and time.
• Set a value for the flutter transition and randomize it as well.
• The most important part will be the pitch aspects, so increase the note pitch imprecision, as well as the pitch variation and pitch variation time and randomize them.
• Once all this is set, it should have plenty of variation, but a good solution to make it even more convincing is to go a step further and just have two different MIDI files with randomized note positions as well as slightly different air flow controls. The best solution would even be to just play the performance twice as it wil introduce all of the necessary variation.