Favorite Brass libraries ?

I have CH Brass and really like the soloists- very useful; dry and mixable. Not a fan of the ensemble patches though. The isolation booth recording style (that makes the soloists so useful) doesn't seem to work for the ensemble patch. I use the soloists in conjunction with Berlin Brass & Metropolis Ark 1. I also have Hollywood Brass and CineBrass. CineBrass seems to do everything that Berlin Brass cannot and vice-versa. I usually only use the F Horns from Hollywood, but if I'm trying to blend with Hollywood Strings, I'll just use HWB regardless. I had high hopes that Berlin Brass would do what CineBrass and Hollywood Brass would do but with individual players. It is a great library, but it doesn't cover all my bases. I still need CineBrass/HWB for intense dynamic timbres.

 

I'm in a transition period as far as brass goes. Having started with QLSO and Hollywood Brass a couple years ago and having used them to some success, I didn't think there was much better available. Well, with the exception of Berlin Brass and a few others that sparked my interest in terms of audio quality, although more for marketing hype and usage within Kontakt than general practicality or overall improvement. I liked them, liked the ideas behind them, but didn't really need them.

However, I picked up the SampleModeling brass bundle just last week on Mike's glowing recommendation for the trumpet and horn products. My expectations were very high and I can say happily that they were definitely met. While it's been a bear to learn coming from my exclusively software and piano background (had to pick up a breath controller for the first time), the playability is on a new level for me. The samples are dry, but absolutely pristine which I think is a welcome break from all the lingering idiosyncrasies of the Hollywood instruments. So far, I only have to contend with my lack of familiarity with mixing dry ensembles for a larger context and gluing different libraries together, but I'm sure that won't be a problem for you if you're interested in the Chris Hein offerings.

As to ensembles, there are simulations of up to 4 players for each section, which I think sound stellar together. The added flexibility of 4 subtly unique timbres and "playing techniques" between players makes for a very believable ensemble, both in unison and multiple parts. More or less, I plan to use these instead of Hollywood Brass for most situations when I come to grips with the controllers and mixing requirements. I may still grab the 6FH patches for all the giant glory of that sound, but the solo and small ensemble patches for any of the other brass will likely be permanently retired. Well, least the simpler articulations at any rate, as the FX patches are still pretty useful.

 

I use Hollywood Brass myself(I love the using the expression maps in Cubase to control keyswitches) and CineBrass Core & Pro. I feel both these libraries capture the Hollywood sound, I think a lot of what you want is how you would like your Brass libraries to sound. I tried using Native Instruments/Soundiron's Symphony Series and did not like it's sound. I hope this helps, I think it also depends on what type of music you tend to compose.

 

Another vote for Cinebrass (also own HW Brass) and it is great for that ensemble sound.

Also, have a look at Adventure Brass by Musical Sampling. Seems to be extremely playable and sounds great!

 

I'm using Spitfire Symphony Brass. I used Bravura Brass before, and while they are a great price point and have all you need, I like the sound of Spitfire better. They are not really suitable for those "fffff - I'm ripping your damn Horn apart" sounds, but as with every library you have weak and strong points.

Since my Orchestra is basically Spitfire, it fits right in and doesn't need too much work. But the baked AIR hall might be a dealbreaker when you mix it - since those libraries tend to be harder to mix with e.g. dry libraries like Samplemodeling.

 

I would check out CineBrass then, I think it sounds very classic sounding. That's just my opinion lol.

 

I started out being very skeptical of Berlin Brass (after the honeymoon period after buying it of course!) because the library has some big limitations. There are many articulations with just 3 (and some with just 2!) dynamic layers. As a result it's hard to get a true fortissimo sound from the library. Also the 4th Horn is quite bad to be honest... it's loud and out of balance with the other horns, and has a far more limited dynamic range than them.

However the more I use it the more I like it.... the library trades on 4 key strengths

1. It's VERY consistent. Instruments have the same articulations, and they're performed the same way. You can articulation-switch between 3 or 4 artics in a single musical line and things only "pop out" occasionally. The ability to switch back and forth between sustained and legato playing without any seams is especially useful.

2. There's redundancy. If you have a solo you can audition it with 3 or 4 instruments. Because of the consistency across the library, the difference between musicians is just enough that it's worth auditioning all the instruments but you don't really have to redo the MIDI/CC data every time.

3. C.A.P.S.U.L.E. is good for blending articulations, for example blending the Staccato and Staccatissimo articulations to get something in between.

4. It simply sounds like an ensemble of 11 musicians. You can't go back from that. The difference is really surprising next to all the "ensembles + soloists" libraries.


When you have to be productive and just get the notes down, Berlin Brass is pretty slow of course. It's 11 instruments when we're used to writing brass with 3 or 4 MIDI tracks. For that scenario I like Jasper Blunk's Angry Brass (also like the sound of Adventure Brass but haven't bought it yet). For truly balls to the wall playing there's Trailer Brass, Iceni, and Metropolis Ark. There isn't a single product that does all of these things...

IMO the two libraries that are getting left in the dust more and more are HWB and Spitfire.

HWB has many, many inconsistencies like 1Tp and 2Tp both have "short marcato" but they're performed differently. Berlin Brass goes down way quieter and smoother than the lowest layers of HWB, and HWB's trombones are especially obsolete in that matchup.

Spitfire's sampling approach with the "Consorts and Phalanxes" model, retrospectively just makes NO sense for traditional writing. The demos do a good job of hiding / working around it but seriously, what orchestra has 6 trumpets 6 horns and 6 trombones. Like a lot of Spitfire stuff: it sounds terrific but they already made some key creative decisions for you, it's not the same as looking at a blank score page...

Sample Modeling used to be super impressive but the musicality of sampling is advancing faster than the realism of spatializing software. Strezov Horns and Trombones have a very interesting sound, pity we won't get the rest of the orchestra.

 

Samplemodeling played by WX7 wind controller is great, even for unison lines (caused by the slight pitch variations of the pitch sensor in the plastic reed mouthpiece). It feels and sounds (more or less) like multitrack recordings of musicians close mike recorded one by one. I use it mainly for jazzy stuff. Here I used The Trombone and The Trumpet (saxes are real - sorry, it's not a good mix):

Adventure Brass sounds good in orchestral context and is very playable on a keyboard but is missing the lower dynamic levels.

Dimension Brass is a good compromise between the mentioned libraries. I made a set of staccato overlays to the legatos (which are polyphonic playable). This set is my Adventure Brass for lower dynamics.